Ok, now onto the Stereo.
I have had a few different setups in the last 9 months, each getting bigger, louder and better. I will keep it basic to make it a bit shorter.
First setup: Cheap DVD headunit, Cheap 7" motorised screen with TV - Total cost $260 new (very cheap and nasty)
2 weeks later I found a 12" sub in a pawn show that was the same as the 15" I had in the Lanos. I got that and an amp for about $100. That was nice but it wasn't enough for me, so I found another one the same for $50 a week later and it improved things nicely. I needed to build a new box for them as 1 was in a sealed box and 1 in a ported box, so I build this and swapped my amp for a bigger one which only cost me $200
Fusion Powerplant 12" Subs (FPW-1200) in new box
New amp
I got sick of the cheap DVD unit about 3 weeks later, so I went out and got a Pioneer DVD unit on sale for $250. This unit was pretty good an entry level DVD unit and made it quite a bit easier to tune. After having a 15" sub previously, 2 x 12's were never going to satisfy my need for bass. I stumbled across the same model 15" on Ebay that I had in the Lanos, so I bought it
Fusion Powerplant 15" (FPW-1500)
This was great, except that it came in a sealed box that had lots of leaks. So I built a new box for it from 1inch MDF
It was now perfect, huge amounts of loud and low bass
This brought a new problem into the picture, way too many rattles. I decided to do some panel deadening
Boot lit. I did more but haven't taken pics
I did the entire boot floor and walls, including the inside of the rear quarter panel
After doing this in January, I entered my first sound-off. I ended up doing 140db which I was very happy with considering that the box was tuned to play music and not for SPL. About this time I realised that I needed to upgrade the rest of my speakers. I purchased a pair of Kicker 6" components for the front and found some old JBL 6.5" 2 way's laying around my grandfathers shed. I installed these and it made a huge improvement. After doing this, I realised that I wanted more tuning ability from the head unit, so I went out and got an Alpine CDA-9887 with the Imprint microphone which will tune the system for you. Up to this point, the new head unit made the biggest difference to the sound, so much clearer and defined. My parcel shelf was still causing quite a bit of rattling, so I got some closed cell foam and laid a layer under it which stopped all the rattles.
I had found out after playing with the 15" sub, that it had a damaged voice coil and it wouldn't last very long with the abuse I was giving it. I decided to call Fusion to find out if they had any recone kits for them so I could rebuild it. They didn't have any but said they were getting some old Competition 15" subs from another country that couldn't sell them. I made the arrangements and after waiting for them to come into the country, I got one. It came in a metal carry case and included a recone kit for when you blew it up, it weighs about 20kg without the metal case. It is rated at 2000wrms and 4000max.
Prety case
Not the prettiest sub ever made, but should be bloody loud
aaahh, there is the pretty bit
The amp I had wouldn't run the sub as it wouldn't wire down to the required impedence so I had to get a new one. After a long time considering what to buy, I ended up getting a big amp commonly referred to as a surfboard as it is about 42" long. It is an Epsilon EA-5000D, they were made for a local car audio chain so most people wouldn't know aboutt hem. They were made to very similiar specs to the Fusion Comp amp (FCA-4000D) which is the same size. It should put out about 4000 - 4500wrms @1ohm @ 13v, but this is only a small portion of what this amp is capable of . It can run at upto 18v and be wired as low as 0.25ohms which I believe would result in about 7000-7500wrms.
Me holding the amp
That is a pack of smokes on the corner there
You have to love 0gauge terminals
I only picked up the amp today so I haven't had a chance to install it yet. This week I will be getting some 70mm2 welding cable to run from the battery to a distro block to split into each power terminal to start with and will eventually upgrade to 2 runs, 1 for each terminal. I also need to build a new box designed for SPL to suit the new sub.
Anyway, that is my car up to now and I will update it when I get some more done.
Thanks for reading, any comments and feedback are welcome
Cheers
Chris
stick it into the boot, where the wheel was, and strap it down, thus you have 2 batts, and ones a deep cycle, that is meant for the shaking. :P
