2011 Duramax build log

[dsmyl6]

Hey, everyone. It's been a while since I've done anything with car audio so I figured I'd get back into it. I have some old gear I'll be using, which should be easy to identify based off my pics. I also have some newer brands that I am interested to try. I think this should be a fun install and I am curious to get everyone's suggestions and input.

Head Unit: Stock Bose (don't want to lose OnStar and wheel controls)

Processor 1: LC6i (high level converter)

Processor 2: Epicenter

Processor 3: EQL

Processor 4: Audiocontrol 2XS (90 hz crossover)

Front/Rear Amp: Massive Audio D 800.4

Sub Amp: Massive Audio D 3600

Front Stage: Planet Audio BB Pro 6.5 (Anyone remember these!?)

Rear Stage: Planet Audio BB650

Sub: FI BL 12

Box: 2.2 ft^3 @ 33 hz (under rear seat)

Wiring: Knu 1/0 awg, 4 awg, 10 awg (sub), 12 awg (speakers), 250 A fuse, etc.

The Truck

The Wires

Front and Rear Stage

Huge crossover

Box

Processors

I am still waiting on the BL (should be here mid-next week), the 2XS, and the amps (also mid-next week). This should be fun!

Click to read more...

 

[adulbrich 5,000+ posts]

That's a nice truck, good luck with your build

 

[Motokid 10+ year member]

Beautiful truck. Tuned it!

 

[dsmyl6]

Beautiful truck. Tuned it!

Thanks! I am assuming you are talking about the truck being tuned, not the sub box!

 

[phemps 10+ year member]

Thanks! I am assuming you are talking about the truck being tuned, not the sub box!

I believe he meant he is tuned *in. Nice truck, looking forward to see your build

 

[dsmyl6]

I believe he meant he is tuned *in. Nice truck, looking forward to see your build

Ah, good catch!

Some ... interesting news ... It turns out my amps were re re-routed, so I cancelled the order. In lieu of time (I want to have this done over next weekend), I ordered some different amps. I ended up getting the Planet Audio BB4000.1 and BB1200.4 out of curiosity, I loved the old Big Bang amps and Planet Audio gear. I haven't read anything conclusive (good/bad) on these BB amps, so this could be interesting. I'll be happy if I get 2000 watts @ 1 ohm with the 4000.1, I have no idea what to expect with the 1200.4! If they fail miserably, I have an old eclipse 4 channel and a Rockford bd1501 to fall back on.

I should be getting some pics up after the weekend.

Updated gear:

Head Unit: Stock Bose (don't want to lose OnStar and wheel controls)

Processor 1: LC6i (high level converter)

Processor 2: Epicenter

Processor 3: EQL

Processor 4: Audiocontrol 2XS (90 hz crossover)

Front/Rear Amp: Planet Audio BB1200.4

Sub Amp: Planet Audio BB4000.1

Front Stage: Planet Audio BB Pro 6.5 (Anyone remember these!?)

Rear Stage: Planet Audio BB650

Sub: FI BL 12

Box: 2.2 ft^3 @ 33 hz (under rear seat)

Wiring: Knu 1/0 awg, 4 awg, 10 awg (sub), 12 awg (speakers), 250 A fuse, etc.

 

[dsmyl6]

I did a little work on the electrical tonight. So the truck has two batteries, both batteries are directly connected via a 125A fuse and 6 awg wire. The main battery is 80 amp-hours and the second is 60 amp hours - I ordered a Duracell 100 Amp-hour battery, I am debating if I want to interchange my main battery, second battery, or simply add the Duracell in the cab. I decided to leave the connection between both batteries stock and upgrade the alt -> main battery and the main battery ground with 1/0 awg wire. Before the upgrade, I was sitting at 13.8 volts running, with the upgrades I idle at 14.3 volts. Below are some pics.

The upgraded ground - finding a decent ground was a struggle, I ended up bolting it to the hood frame stiffener

The second battery - pretty simple setup.

The 1/0 awg upgraded alternator connection - note that the alt is 230 amps, which should suffice for my setup.

 

[Motokid 10+ year member]

I believe he meant he is tuned *in. Nice truck, looking forward to see your build

Sh1t. Yeah, meant Tuned 'in'. Looking forward to seeing how the build goes. Haha

 

[dsmyl6]

Got some goodies in the mail today, I posted about them here

 

[dsmyl6]

A bit more today, I got next to nothing accomplished due to beer and almost complete apathy after getting back from deployment. I did, however manage to receive the BL in the mail - I must say, this thing is way more beastly in person! Excellent. I put it in the box... it didn't fit, but that wasn't going to stop me form making it work. After some necessary trimming it squeezed in there with .25" to spare on all sides of the magnet. I think this is the biggest sub I've ever seen under a rear seat (the 12 BL has a mounting depth of 6.75 in and the max mounting depth is 7 in...). I put a high excursion grill for the down firing sup to straighten the carpet out, there should be no excursion issues with the 18mm xmax. Some pics:

Green Logo!

Full beast mode

In the box

 

[dsmyl6]

Hey guys, got the rest of the stuff installed. Had help from Jason locally, what a big help he was. The processors are under the console where that godawful Bose trash was and the EQ is in the center console for ease of adjustment. The epicenter is a bit of a challenge, it adds so much bass! For most songs, the epicenter seems impractical - but for theater and songs with a minimal bass signal I can certainly see the advantage.

Overall, I am extremely impressed with every component of the system, there was a lot of equalizing to do. The BB amps work flawlessly, I have the BB4000.1 wired at 4 Ohms into the BL... It is plenty of power for now - I would say at full tilt I am at about 80% excursion on the BL. The BB1200.4 also preformed excellently, it is clear with plenty of power to handle the BBPRO6.5's rated at 150 RMS/speaker. Speaking of the front stage BBPRO6.5's - wow, they can handle a lot of power and sound fantastic doing it, they remind me of the old RF Power 6.5's. Here are some pics.

The processors and 4 channel in the console.

The EQL in the center console

The BB4000.1 behind the rear seat

I hope you all enjoyed!

 

[dsmyl6]

Hey all,

Just an update a week or so after the install. I ended up removing the Epicenter, I really didn't like the way it sounded - I think it is a good piece of gear, but not for this application. I put in the Audiocontrol 2XS, currently crossed over at 90 hz, there is a noticeable improvement in sound quality between using the 2XS and using the amp crossovers. In addition, I hooked the BL up in 1 ohm to test the BB4000.1 out; at the same gain setting, the sub seemed overpowered. I turned the gain to about 1/4 and the 2XS low pass level to about 1/3, this seems to be a good combo.

A few listening notes -

The rear fill BB650's are almost completely drowned out by the front stage. This is probably a combo of the rear staging (bottom of the rear doors) and how insanely loud the front speakers are at even moderate levels. The front stage really shine, but I had to drop 8k hz + a bit as it was too bright for my taste - the midbass is quite powerful. The BL is a beast, it has the output of a solid 15 but the punch of a 10 - not to mention it can handle a ton of power!

Rap: The BL drops pretty **** low and sounds great even in the 70 - 80 hz "punchy" notes. The sub level is not very high, it could easily overpower the front and rear speakers. Midbass is impressive in the front components, when equalized it matches well with the BL in rap songs with prominent midbass. The highs needed quite a bit of toning down as the front pillars point directly at the listener. The BL really needs powerful components to match it, especially in bass-heavy Rap (Paul Wall, Youngbloodz, etc.). Overall Rap performance 8.5/10. Boom Boom.

Electronic: I am very much into Daft Punk, Chemical Bros, Crystal Method, other older electronic groups, so a lot of the equalization was centered around this style of music. I did my best to tune all frequencies to the same level, although the system is still quite bass heavy - this isn't so bad B-) . In "The Boxer" by the Chemical Bros, the highs once again shine in the complicated 'riffs' while the mid seemed a touch soft, the midbass could be felt in the chest, the BL seemed to be made for this type of music in the box tuned to 33hz - it was quite overwhelming at times! 9/10

Metal: These components get insanely loud. I turned on "Ashes of the Wake" by Lamb of God to 3/4 volume, it is quite intolerable at that level so I turned everything down to about 1/2 level. While still quite loud, the most pronounced items of note are the quick notes from the drum - very recognizable, while quick, midbass notes. The highs were extremely sharp and recognizeable. The vocals need a bit of work and equalization, but were clear although soft. The BL was extremely quick, although a slightly boomy at times - still very loud. 8.5/10, Ow.

All in all, I am very pleased with the way things turned out. The new Big Bang amps have turned out well; I feel like I really rolled the dice buying the BB3 amps, but they totally delivered - the 1200.4 doesn't get hot and is conveniently small and the BB4000/1 is a beast that has more than enough power at 1 ohm for the BL. The front components impressed me, the tweeters are very sharp but with equalization sound fantastic - clear and massively loud. The rear coaxs are quite average, but they are a good buy for $40 - similar in quality to the older Type S's. I have never owned a Fi product before, but d@mn does the BL deliver - excellent build quality, massively loud, musical, and quite power hungry. The Audiocontrol products are also meeting my expectations.