01 Explorer Tiny DD setup to (2) 18 AT Stratos in a 4th

[4bannger 10+ year member]

[quote name='slammedincouch']Thanks man- i don't think I'll ever be finished with it haha

@Buck is definitely the best person to ask, but from what I recall, they have a little efficiency over 4ths, but you also have a larger phase shift with 6th orders and sacrifice some of the transient response on the lower frequencies...

Main reason I went with a 6th over a 4th really just had to do with the driver. I wanted to test out another 4th, but when I looked at the t/s for the 9012, it was 100% suited for a 6th. Might go back to a 4th with the m3 8s once I get them reconed to d4s[/QUOTE]

That's was helpful. I guess I'll stay away from 6th orders for now. I really like the lows. It's one thing I think my 4th order is lacking. I have it tuned to 40 hz and it's a 1:1 with 8cuft sealed and 8 cuft ported. You think I would be better off spl wise to go with a nice ported box with good port area and tuned around 34 hz? I like the lows but don't wanna loose the higher end bass.

Also. How much port area per cuft would be good for 2 type r 15's

 

[slammedincouch 10+ year member]

That's was helpful. I guess I'll stay away from 6th orders for now. I really like the lows. It's one thing I think my 4th order is lacking. I have it tuned to 40 hz and it's a 1:1 with 8cuft sealed and 8 cuft ported. You think I would be better off spl wise to go with a nice ported box with good port area and tuned around 34 hz? I like the lows but don't wanna loose the higher end bass.
Also. How much port area per cuft would be good for 2 type r 15's

Rule of thumb is usually 14-16 inches per cube and that box sounds like it takes up a ton of room haha. What vehicle do you have? My person opinion about enclsoures when you're running multiple drivers still pushes more towards a nice slot ported enclosure (my go to tuning is almost always 32 or 33) vs 4th and 6th orders just because of weight and space.

Kind of a super biased opinion though because I've always done slot ports and just recently started using 4th orders and this is my first 6th. My biggest peeve is the fact that you need to make a window cut out/removable pieces to the enclosure you can have access to the driver if you need to or if something goes horribly wrong (nearly impossible with this one because of the warped pieces, so if someone decides they want this dd woofer and not the box, I'm going to probably have to scrap the box to get to it).

It is funny to watch someone's reaction when they see this box though. I just sold an old 2ft^3 enclosure to this guy and he was like what do you have in there? Where the hell is the sub?

 

[slammedincouch 10+ year member]

Just a real quick update today:

Finally have a buyer for some of my equipment (DD sub is on ebay with bidders, Kicker Eq has bidders, back up camera has bidders, etc.) and also traded my M1c for a new toy that should be here on Tuesday (as long as the fedex truck doesn't crash and burn). Getting pumped.

So anyways, whenever I sell something, I always like to have a good 30-40 minute video of it working and getting packaged up before I send it out. With the M1c out in Cali now, I had to toss the 2500 I traded the lvl5 for. Don't really have the time to build a new amp rack or any beauty panels atm for the amp, sooo I tossed this together in 7 minutes today with some spare wood I had laying around:

It isn't pretty, but I just want a working video of the DD playing in case I have a buyer who clips the crap out of it or wires things up wrong (after selling the AT Stratos to that kid who had no idea how to wire from a .5 to 2 ohm load, I don't trust any mfer who I'm selling equipment to).

It's one tight ass fit in the back right now. Good thing I only need to have it like this for a day, because I could see that amp getting very warm on a hot day with little to no ventilation...

will more than likely either move the amp over to the driver's side along the cargo area, or build a false floor for it to chill under the amp. Haven't really made a final decision on what route to go with it yet, but the false floor would be a lot cleaner.

Oh and I also picked up my main bitch from storage on Thursday.

Unsure how I feel about the system in her right now. Trying to decide if I want to sell off the 10s/possibly the horse and bring her back to a trunk car, save the horse and sell the 10s and do a new wall, or swap the horse to the explorer, save the 10s and do a new setup in there. Too many options for me to consider.

Someone give me some feedback on what I should do next in each vehicle. I've got (6) 10s, (4) 8s and (1) 12 to choose from. What should go where? Warhorse in the explorer, 2500 in the boom?

Updates to follow on Tuesday.

 

[slammedincouch 10+ year member]

Feels like forever and a day since I last updated my build logs. Not that I haven't wanted to, but I hit a rather large bump in the road with things...

So traded the m1C for a new toy. Toy got here:

Super pumped for about 10-15 mins after getting her out of the package until...

So that ******. Guy I traded with said he tested and read coils before he sent it out, but I never received pics of the readings, so dumb move on my part. Got too excited too fast and I paid for it. Luckily we worked out a deal to cover half the cost of the recone (basically what it would cost to send the sub all the way back to him for my amp). So sent it off to someone local to get repaired.

Well it got there, he pulled the cone, former and spiders (coil was blown and the leads burnt as well) out to find out the basket was cracked...awesome. Welp no use crying over spilled milk. Unsure when that happened, but was told the likely cause was from the woofer being shipped with the weight pulling down on the motor or whatever. Already left feedback by this point, so another lesson learned the hard way.

As a result of this, I will absolutely positively never ever trade with someone over the forums again (unless in person). I can't tell whether or not people are genuine and make mistakes (I know it happens), but I have a more than I wanted to spend into this sub now. Whole point of the trade was to have something in working condition with a few scuffs in the surround that i could have used. Could have traded for 2 15" hdd motors and basket assemblies instead.

That being said/ranted about, at least with all the bad news comes some good news! Had to wait for Corey to get the specific parts I need in, but the sub is almost finished. I'm sure a few of you have seen some pictures of it, but I'll post the final pics once I have it back (either this week or next week). All I'm going to say is that it is an absolute BEAST of a woofer now.

Also have a pair of the m3 8s with corey that are getting reconed as well. Might have a quick mini build log with them in the future if I have the free time and motivation, but I'm mainly looking to just get them back and sell them as they get fixed. Gotta get rid of what I don't need.

Only other thing I need are some sensa track load adjusting springs for the explorer to get her sitting pretty again. Will update with pics once I have the sub back in my hands!

 

[slammedincouch 10+ year member]

Oh.My.God. She's here. And she is absolutely beautiful.

Pretty much I've been up since 9am waiting for this moment. UPS said they'd be here between 915 and 115 to deliver the package, but it didn't get here till ~20 minutes ago. With the exception of going to pick up watch dogs and grabbing some coffee, I've been sitting at the door pretty much all day. SO WORTH IT.

Anywho onto the pictures.

Specs on this bish:

18" TI basket

HDD motor

3" 8 layer coil

Nightshade v3 spider pack (DEM TRIPLE LEADS)

Beefy as fuh sundown surround/cone assembly

CF cap (color per choice of SPLaudio- told him to surprise me with the color- matches the colorway of a Monster, which this thing definitely is)

So0o0o I'm just going to probably go stare at this thing for the rest of the night and smile while playing Watch Dogs. Need to get a box design going for her next. Kind of bummed still that Buck is out of the design business until further notice still, but it'll give me a chance to check out some other designer's work.

 

[slammedincouch 10+ year member]

Couple small updates. Haven't really had a lot of time to update my build- lots of crazy things going on right now. Larger ones to come over the weekend. Beautiful forecast scheduled for it too.

Got my box design- no pics on hand of it, but it'll be built between today and saturday. Standard 6 cubes, slot port tuned to 32hz.

Corey aka SPLaudio hooked me up with some more recones for some blown subs I have laying around- yes I FINALLY decided to get a pair of these done up. Still have 2 more chilling downstairs. Think it's been like 8 months that I've had them haha. Love them to death and don't think I can part with them, so more than likely I'll have a quick build log with them in here. Anyways...

Chillin with the monster

Have plans for some awesome dustcap decals on these, so I'll throw an update once they're made

More pics to follow today depending on when my new saw blade gets here (old one is super dulled out and I'm in desperate need of a new one before I go further) and I pick up some more wood. Getting friggin PUMPED because it's been a minute since I've even driven the explorer.

 

[swanginfleet]

Lol you have a variety pack build log. It's definitely interesting though. I'd like to see some vids.

 

[slammedincouch 10+ year member]

Lol you have a variety pack build log. It's definitely interesting though. I'd like to see some vids.

Thanks man think I have a few videos between the stratos and the 6th order but they're super short and more centered around me showing that they're in perfect condition before selling them haha. I'll take a look through some folders for them though.

 

[slammedincouch 10+ year member]

Update for the past few months and why I haven't updated: turned 25, got back into my other hobbies and started working out again, had other priorities and round the house projects happening, and so on (AKA Life). To my FB fools I'll reactivate my profile and hop back on in another week or so.

ANyways...

Found time to work on this project again. Of course when I went to go start, the explorer was dead. Haven't really gone to great lengths to diagnose the issue, but something OEM is staying on and draining the batteries. Killed the Kinetik in the back and I haven't gotten around to buying/deciding on a new one yet. Kind of banking on selling the M3 8s to pay for something nice/haven't felt the need to splurge on audio related shiz lately.

Here's a nice photo of a mess of wires and me removing the rear dead batt:

http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w283/slammedincouch/01%20Ford%20Explorer%20Build/20140715_190148_zps7locerml.jpg

So I've had the box design for what? Almost a month and a half? I cut the wood and it's been sitting in the garage for a solid month...

Because I'm finding less and less time for car audio nowadays, I figure this is probably going to be the last swap of new equipment in the explorer. Plan to trade it in by this time next year and get a newer f-150 (note the one on the right. Ever since that bish was added to the fleet of vehicles, I've fallen in love. Dat 2015 aluminum body is what my eyes are set on).

So back on topic...I figured go big and heavy or go home with this box

and so I glassed the living daylights out of not only the port, but the whole inside of the box. I decided to make this box look super ugly by using titebond II and sawdust on the outside instead of busting out the bondo to cover the screws and ran out of heavy build primer in the port (thought I had more, but I didn't and couldn't find time to get more. thus, port is about 1/8 painted).

Original plan was to put the kicker on the side of the cargo area because it's too big to fit on the amp rack without rebuilding it. Well guess what? It's too friggin long to fit. My luck? Yuh.

So onto the semi-false floor/platform

Sup. Wood look familiar? Well it should. It's from that first DD eh build on the first page. Happy I saved it to chop up into something useable.

Test fit and the point where I said to myself, "Hmm. Probably should have just walled it..."

Got some beauty panels cut tonight and started running wires/finished the platform. Had to throw everything in the back real quick to get dinner and a movie in before it was too late, so box is off center.

And that's where I'm at. If I can wake up by 1pm I can hopefully get things finished. Thought about tossing some 5050 LEDs that I've had sitting here for the past 3 years, but not really feeling it atm as the explorer looks like dookie.

Things left to do to get her playing:

- Put sub in enclosure

- Screw some random stuff together

- Pull a battery from the Malibu and put it in the amp rack for a few days to test things out

- Wire amp

- Tune amp

Hoping to be loud as fuuu or I might just drive it off a cliff after all the time put in.

 

[slammedincouch 10+ year member]

It's been minute since i've been on, but I bring some updates with me. Here's what's up with the explorer. Also have some maliboom updates as well to toss in

Finally have some time to update this. Current projects:

Moved the enclosure to the left side. Seem to get a little better response/less hatch rattle from this. Also tossed in a beauty cargo panel. Need to re-deaden the new tailgate (on the list for things to do this week)

Have some more sag going on in the rear now that there's a 69lb sub in there and a box that weighs a solid 75+ lbs thanks to all the resin. Will snag a picture tomorrow, but already have a remedy for the problem. Some new sensa track shocks are on their way as we speak.

Overall, I'm impressed with the setup. I wish I had the 8s in to test out, but the 18 gets plenty loud and when I'm not in the mood to shake things, a quick switch of my eq settings makes this thing a dream to listen to with some country, rap, and so on.

Kind of a huge OCD freak when it comes to voltage. Especially after I lost two batteries to a previous drain from letting the explorer sit for 2 months, so decided to buy some voltage meters for it. This is another half finished project thanks to work and the timing when I began it.

Took the top part of the center console and fleeced it:

Test fit

Lots of sanding and smoothing things out

coming together

Another part that was sprayed down, but needs vinyl. May actually someday get around to doing the vinyl work, but I'm betting it will be another year until I get the time.

Forgot I needed a second switch thrown in until after I dipped it, and of course, being clumsy, I let the dremel go and it knicked a good line in the side. Whoops.

Wires for days

Half finished end result

Like I said, it would look a lot better in vinyl, but it gets the job done for now.

So last week there was a discount tire sale on ebay ($100 off $400 plus $70 manufacturer rebate on select cooper tires), although not the best deal, I couldn't pass it up for some new tires. Old ones were worn in funny thanks to the previous owners driving it misaligned for 2+ years. Basically to drive straight the wheel has to be turned a quarter to the right (or quarter to the left if you rotate the tires lol).

So...

Cooper AT3s it is. 265/70 16s are going on. Only problem? I have only recieved two of the four tires because they're on backorder or something. Hopefully they'll be here next week. Going to do a little TT adjustment in the front after I get the snesa tracks on to hopefully get another inch or so of lift. Figure it's the perfect time because I'll need an alignment anyways.

So that's where this is at. Hopefully will have a nice amount of updates as the week progresses.

 

[slammedincouch 10+ year member]

Maliboom updates:

Decided to finally knock off most of the surface rust on the maliboom since I had some free time.

Started sanding down only to find out that the car, at some point before I bought it from a dealership, had had the whole rear quarter panel fixed. Awesome/why I won't ever buy another used car from a dealer again.

 

[slammedincouch 10+ year member]

So there's the repair work. Not about to hash out the cost to get her repainted, so next best thing for $55ish bucks? Plasti Dip. Yes I laid it down out of spray cans and yes my forearms were killing me afterwards.

Only thing that's left to do is redo the pinstriping and it's set. Will probably do that next year when I take the car out of storage.

 

[slammedincouch 10+ year member]

Tires?

Check

Sensa Track Load Adjusting Shocks?

Check

Onward to my buddy's shop for mounting, torching the spare tire off, installing the new shocks, twist of the torsion bar, and last but not least an alignment. Hopeully will have it back tomorrow! Super excited and thinking about a 2" BL now...

 

[sweety 10+ year member]

Got Cooper AT3's on my truck & have been pleased with them & they are wearing very well

 

[slammedincouch 10+ year member]

Got Cooper AT3's on my truck & have been pleased with them & they are wearing very well

Great to hear! I honestly think they're going to be outlasting the explorer at this point. Apparently I still have a little pull to the right meaning there's some work that will need to be done on the front right to get it going straight, but it's more time, money, and looking at rusted on components that I don't see putting in before winter haha. We'll see how I'm feeling at the start of spring.