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In the name of wieght savings but still wanting more sound that door speakers can make I am gonna try to do something I would have never considered back in my car audio days.Back before the evolution of fiberglass enclosures.I'd see a guy with an uncovered ply box and some subs and just shake my head.I never heard one that sounded very good.

I am gonna build up a lite frame,add thin plywood sides and fiberglass the thing inside for stiffness.

I am not worried so much for the box being stiff enough not to flex.I am just wondering if it's gonna be dense enough for the sake of sounding good.From others experience'is this a waste of my time?

Another thing I thought of was that by the time I build it outta 1/4 or 3/8 pky,reinforce/brace it internally then "glass" it how much liter is it really gonna be.

I saw a saturn LS on a web site once that had a nice looking box built for for 10's firing from behind the back seat and ported.The guy just used 1/4 ply and a lot of internal bracing.Built it for the weight factor.

I have a saturn SC2 coupe.i did have a huge heavy box in the trunk with 2 15's but they were cheap and they fried.Not to mention the car really noticed the weight(100 plus #'s counting the subs)

Any input on how good plywood can be made to sound.I am a bit/lot sceptical.

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well if you want weight savings thats an idea

the problem i see is that the fiberglass is ok for weight savings but it is not made for vibration or pressure

so with that in mind, my feeling is that it would crack and you would end up getting glass bits into the cooling vent in the back of the sub.

 

but in your quest to find weight savings maybe you might want to try aluminum

sure the sound would be bad but if you line the inside with dynamat i think we might have something

making it stabe would be much easer.

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It will work, but not work well.

 

 

The more flex the box has the less SPLs it can build.

 

 

 

I like building my sub boxes outta 5/8, 3/4 MDF, use FG to form your contours over it or make one side FG, but do many layers so its super thick. Door speaker pods aren't as critical- those you can get away with 1/4-3/8" walls.

 

 

 

 

Better than putting them in a shoebox tho- don't laugh, I've seen it before.

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My favorite is when somebody would come to me wanting a box built and they have the woofers in the boxes they came in all taped up and playing(well;kinda)

i am a firm believer in denser the better;hence the scepticism.

A whike back;myself and a friend at work built a box for a old kicker 18 with 2 layers of 3/4 hdf.Had about 10 cubic ft of airspace.This went into the back of an isuzu trooper.That thing must have weighed 500#'s or more.Sounded awesom enev with just a punch 150.

Nothing that big for my starion.The saturn really isn't that fast anyway so I have more plans for it stereo wise.

I haven't built or heard one of these fiberglass enclosures.Hard to imagine it sounding really good.That would have to be some very thick FG.

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If fiberglass was weak......you wouldn't build boats or wave runners out of it. I'll show you how to build it and you can SIT ON IT! :shock:

 

 

 

That is fine and good, but I bet when you sit on it, it flexes somewhat. This kills your SPLs. Even boats huls and such will flex somewhat.

 

 

Like I said- not that it wouldn't work, it could be done different to work way better. Granted a cardboard coated, FG'd box will sound way better than a stock type setup, it would be way tighter and louder if you do it different. You layer it 1/2"-5/8 thick it would be lighter than MDF and work as well, but that's alot of work.

 

 

 

Guess I'm not one of those guys who's willing to sacrifice sound for weight.

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Go into "BEST" and look at the big --------------- sub woofers boxes. It's all plastic.

 

Even with one coat on each side (w/fiberglass) the enclosure is pretty tuff.

You can add more layers if you want.

 

That 3/8" plywood is glued on with Dow High Viscosity, Betaseal U-418 HV

quick cure urethane adhesive.......used to retain windshields. :wink:

 

I'll show you some woofers that have a rubber cover around the mounting

surface.

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plywood vs mdf is like a tambourine vs a bass drum. Professor's speaker panel system is nice looking and lightweight, but you're not going to get the nice deep chest pounding bass that you'd get with a properly sized enclosure made of the correct material.
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But it did. I thought it would need more FG and insulation. When selected "LP" (low pass) on the amp....it damn near blew the windows out.

 

Dynamat......I've heard other people say it's expensive and don't work that good.

 

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/Professor-Quest123/STEREO/Z18B.jpg

 

That FG in the top right corner.......it is also used to hold down the STRINGERS (wood) that ENGINES are mounted to with ONE LAYER! No fastners to retain it to the hull :shock:

 

And if you look at the topic......you'll see some programs on TV that FG is used to make the enclosures ALL OVER a vehicle.

 

Now.......I agree with whatever materials you want to build with. You can walk into Pep-Boys and buy the enclosures with the thick, HEAVY materials pretty cheap or build them. :wink:

 

I guess what it comes to is how DEEP DA BASS is. Enough to give you a headache. :lol: :lol: :lol: My amp and the stereo has SO MANY WAYS to change the sound already it can ring your head. :lol:

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plywood vs mdf is like a tambourine vs a bass drum. Professor's speaker panel system is nice looking and lightweight, but you're not going to get the nice deep chest pounding bass that you'd get with a properly sized enclosure made of the correct material.

 

That's not true. Besides....in Albuq, NM you'll get a ticket if the cops hear that BASS SO DEEP you bother other drivers. If I'm sitting next to another vehicle at a light and you are SHAKING MY CAR............. :roll: I'm gonna get away from this IDIOT as fast as I can. :lol: :lol: :lol:

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the main problem with fiberglass boxes, or any enclosure that flexes for that matter, is resonance. Sure, it might play lound (actually REALLY loud and at the resonant frequency), but it will sound like a**. Of course, if you're running some p.o.s. sub with a pyramid amp then it's gonna sound like a** no matter how nice of an enlosure it's in. :lol:
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also, prof, the plastic roto-molded enclosures are popular now because they're dirt cheap to manufacture. it can almost all be done by machine, and it's easier to do vehicle-specific enclosure that way. take a look at any competition-quality sound system. you won't see any "plastic". take a look at any expensive home speaker. they use mdf or hardwood plywood and finish it with a veneer.
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When selected "LP" (low pass) on the amp....it damn near blew the windows out.

 

 

That sounds like something a 16 year old kid would say.............

 

I wouldn't believe it came anywhere even close to rattling the rear view mirror off the windshield, much less blow the windows out.......

 

Stop watching "DC CAB"....that stuff doesn't really happen.

 

 

And setting the amp to "LP" or low pass will not make it louder or deeper, all it does is cuts the high frequencies out of the signal that the subwoofer or subwoofer cannot produce. It should be activated with a setup like yours.

 

 

 

 

Turborusty

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Your mirror are attached to the ROOF not the windshield......and that about talks about what you knew about my stereo system. You've never even heard it and you talk like trash.

 

And since you have never ever BUILT ONE......ain't got any pics, you just talk more trash.

 

I'm sitting on my MARSHALL AMP with a JCM 900 watts & 8- 12" speakers and you think you know more than me about amps......music etc? My Marshall amps weighs nearly 80 lbs!!! And that amp is a seperate part with TWO 4 speaker enclosures. :roll: And I'll bet you don't know anything about guitars either. :lol:

 

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/Professor-Quest123/Me/M-6.jpg

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Professor, i know nothing about guitars but I do know more about car stereos.

 

Hearing you say that you nearly blew your windows out only solidifies that claim.

 

I only have a couple pics of the stuff in my Quest and none of them are of the sub and amp. I will get up the pics of the dash install and door speakers though.

 

http://www.26liter.us/gallery/albums/userpics/10070/100_2846.JPG

http://www.26liter.us/gallery/albums/userpics/10070/100_1223.JPG

 

 

........here's the amp that I removed from the Quest as well as pics of the current install in my Durango. It's a rare Jensen 5 channel amp with 4 channels being class A/B 100watts RMS each into 2 ohms, which is how I run it. It also has a Class D sub channel capable of 600watts at 1 ohm. It's capable of about 1400watts max power outut. Right now it's powering a Punch 15" sub in an MDF enclosure with 2 cubic feet of airspace. When I'm completely done with it, it will also have an additional matching amp (this one being a 3 channel, otherwise with the same specs), and have 600watts each running to these Kenwood Excelon oversized 10's in a custon MDF and Fiberglass enclosure flushed into the rear floor so I lose no cargo space. I will have a total of around 2,000 watts running, all controlled by a high-end Kenwood Excelon Deck with all built in X-overs(selectable to any frequency and for slopes of 6-12-18-or 24 bd), DSP, digital time alignment, dual 24 bit Burr-Brown DAC's, parametric EQ, 5 volt preamp outs for front/rear/sub, aux input, I-pod controls, Sirius radio, HD radio controls, 4096 color full motion display that will display my own downloaded images on the screen.

 

http://www.26liter.us/gallery/albums/userpics/10070/100_3070.JPG

http://www.26liter.us/gallery/albums/userpics/10070/100_3073.JPG

http://www.26liter.us/gallery/albums/userpics/10070/100_3059.JPG

http://www.26liter.us/gallery/albums/userpics/10070/100_3008.JPG

http://www.26liter.us/gallery/albums/userpics/10070/100_2997.JPG

http://www.26liter.us/gallery/albums/userpics/10070/100_3006.JPG

http://www.26liter.us/gallery/albums/userpics/10070/100_3005.JPG

http://www.26liter.us/gallery/albums/userpics/10070/100_2995.JPG

http://www.26liter.us/gallery/albums/userpics/10070/100_2993.JPG

http://www.26liter.us/gallery/albums/userpics/10070/100_3056.JPG

http://www.26liter.us/gallery/albums/userpics/10070/100_3049.JPG

http://www.26liter.us/gallery/albums/userpics/10070/100_3047.JPG

http://www.26liter.us/gallery/albums/userpics/10070/100_3048.JPG

 

 

Here are some other pics of my last install in my Dakota.......consisting of a high-end Sony deck and XM radio equipment along with 2 MB Quart 10" DVC subs behind the rear seats......with the Phoenix Gold six channel amp flushed into the floor beneath the rear seats, capable of 900watts total........all integrated into the factory wiring and utilizing the steering whhel remote controls as well. It was built so it could all be unplugged and returned to stock in about 30 minutes without any cut wires.

 

http://www.26liter.us/gallery/albums/userpics/10070/100_2823.JPG

http://www.26liter.us/gallery/albums/userpics/10070/100_2485.JPG

http://www.26liter.us/gallery/albums/userpics/10070/100_2473.JPG

http://www.26liter.us/gallery/albums/userpics/10070/100_2470.JPG

http://www.26liter.us/gallery/albums/userpics/10070/100_2482.JPG

http://www.26liter.us/gallery/albums/userpics/10070/100_2458.JPG

http://www.26liter.us/gallery/albums/userpics/10070/100_2487.JPG

 

Yes Professor, I do know a thing or two about this stuff and have indeed done an install or two. I also know that setting an amp's low-pass filter to "on" will not blow out your windows. try turning the bass boost on the amp down or off next time and then activate the low pass. this is how it should operate anyway.

 

I also have, on the shelf colecting dust, a JBL GTI-1800 18" 1,000 watt competition sub that I have had installed in a small hatchback in a 4 cubic ft. HDF enclosure with 900 watts to it and it never came close to blowing out windows.

 

 

 

Turborusty

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Well...ok now;uhmmmm.

That's funny how fast things can get ugly.

Guess any enclosure can work.Some just sound like poop.Depends on wat your after.Some just want loud.I like both.Loud and good sound

A long time ago when I was in HS;a guy i knew had a big ole full size 4x4 chevy truck with a fiberglass sleeper cab thing.The bottom part was FG too.Rear thick.This was used as the enclosure for 2 RF 18" pro series speakers in an infinite baffle type set-up.14 cu ft for each sub I think.Had a RF power 650 running them and another RF power 650 on 6 mtx bullets and 2 6x9"s.1300 watts.VERY loud and could hear it and fell it coming from about a mile away.Was the loudest system around for a long wile.Back in 1987-88.

Another guy with a cutlas had like 6 10's,highs and 645 watts.The 645 sounded way better but the 18's really were just loud and enormous bass.

In my little saturn everthing resonates.Sounds like hell but it's numbingly loud.I am working on the sounding better.

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WHAT ENCLOSURES? A head unit, XM unit & an amp. BFD!

 

You don't want "ADVISE"......go figures. Your "advise".......calling JENSEN "high end"......... :lol:

 

Pic after pic to hand out your INSULTS.....and what it says in the signature line. :roll:

 

If you knew EVERYTHING about car stereo........who cares. Too bad you can't post the pics and comments in the MANUALS! :lol: If you won't delete your comments & pics......that you do to insult me......... :twisted:

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WHAT ENCLOSURES? A head unit, XM unit & an amp. BFD!

 

You don't want "ADVISE"......go figures. Your "advise".......calling JENSEN "high end"......... :lol:

 

Pic after pic to hand out your INSULTS.....and what it says in the signature line. :roll:

 

If you knew EVERYTHING about car stereo........who cares. Too bad you can't post the pics and comments in the MANUALS! :lol: If you won't delete your comments & pics......that you do to insult me......... :twisted:

 

I don't even know how to respond to that because I'm not sure I understand real clearly what you said. I'm not criticizing you for that, honest. It may be due to your accident and I would never make light of what happened to you.

 

I never said anything about building better enclosures than you, I just know that MDF is far better than un-reinforced F/G.

 

You stated that I had never built a stereo system based on the fact that I hadn't posted up pics, so there's my pics.

 

I don't even know what you mean about me posting in the manuals or removing my pics and insulting you. I was simply posting up pics that you called me out on.

 

I never claimed to know everything about stereos....but I do recognize an inexperienced installer when he says he nearly blew the windows out so he had to turn off the low pass filter.

 

 

 

Turborusty

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I had the volume set at 25.....the "low pass" on when I turned it on. That bass was SO FRICKING DEEP..........and so FRICKING LOUD......

 

IT WAS SHAKEING THE WINDOWS!!!! Same as some IDIOT next to me at a stop light!!! :evil:

 

And if you don't UNDERSTAND your own INSULTS by posting your pics of your TRASH FRIENDS.............you are an IDIOT.

 

I noticed you FINANLLY changed your signature line on TOP of the other INSULTS you post.

 

Scotty called me.......we understand each other and are now friends.

 

 

Btw.......this was about LOW WEIGHT for SPEAKER ENCLOSURES. And WHO THE HECK has that kind of CUBIC FEET that I showed how LARGE you could build it?

 

Even if you build the same shape outta 3/4" OSB/MDF..........it will STILL be lighter cause you won't use as much MATERIAL as building those huge a** BOXES.

 

But again........you won't watch the TV programs. Let me see you build a DASH outta 3/4" MDF!! :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

Did you see those speakers that was sent to me from a pal?

 

FREEBIES!!! all I need to do is ASK becuse they know who I am. I will NOT install those 7.5 lbs speakers in my car. YOU can install 400lbs of stereo if you want. If I blow up a speaker.....I'll replace it with another one.....increase the wattage that it can handle it. But I doubt I'll blow them up.

 

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/Professor-Quest123/STEREO/Z103.jpg

 

I don't have problem using them in the Suburban.......but I don't want them in a PERFORMACE CAR!!

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I had the volume set at 25.....the "low pass" on when I turned it on. That bass was SO FRICKING DEEP..........and so FRICKING LOUD......

 

IT WAS SHAKEING THE WINDOWS!!!! Same as some IDIOT next to me at a stop light!!! :evil:

 

And if you don't UNDERSTAND your own INSULTS by posting your pics of your TRASH FRIENDS.............you are an IDIOT.

 

I noticed you FINANLLY changed your signature line on TOP of the other INSULTS you post.

 

Scotty called me.......we understand each other and are now friends.

 

Again....wt.... are you talking about?????????!!!!!!

 

If my signature was offending in any way to you, that only means that you are an idiot by self proclamation. Especially if you think that it was somehow directed at you.

 

Why would you tell me that scotty called you and you are fiends??? should that mean something to me?? I have no F-ing idea what you're talking about.

 

Pics of my trash friends???? All of those pictures are of my own vehicles and my own personal installs, not my friends'.

 

 

Since your argument centers around enclosures.........I don't see how yours is even air-tight......the widows were shaking because you're getting wierd resonances from the fiberglass shell and the un-reinfirced steel floor structure.

 

 

 

Turborusty

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You talk about "high-end" parts? Did you spend $485 for gauges?

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d182/Professor-Quest123/STEREO/CS-1.jpg

 

I don't see the relevance of having spent a lot of money on any of it, even the guages. I bargain shopped and bartered for everything I have. It doesn't make me more or less of an idiot.

 

When I stated that some of my equipment was high-end....I was referring to within the brand line. Those Jensen amps are the best that Jensen made and if you do a little homework, they actually compare favorably to much more expensive brand names. The Kenwood deck alone in my car retails for nearly $750......but who cares, I paid a third of that for it brand new. The cost is irrelevant.

 

That is a low-end deck as far as Pioneers go..........

 

 

Turborusty

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