94 Mitsu Eclipse, sx12, 2.0 cu.

[944g37 10+ year member]

Ok let me start by saying this. Every thing ive learned about car audio had pretty much been from this site. And i try not to be one of these retards that post 45 post asking the same questions that have already been answered a thousand times as you can tell my post count is like 12. I had a CVX 12 D4 that was in a "professionally built" box that ended up being less than 1 cube ported to 55 hz, it was on a KX 400.1 in 2 ohm, i got it for free but it was damaged anyway. Thats where I started from. Before I knew anything about the enclosure I decided i wanted to replace the damaged sub. So i searched for weeks then posted up on here and ended up ordering a RE SX 12, D2 and a second KX 400.1 to strap with mine. Then i find out that my enclosure is firewood after i had already ordered the 12 //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/verymad.gif.3f39c5c2fd57527b671fad3efdfac756.gif. So this is what i built. Keep in mind when looking at these pictures that I have NEVER built and enclosure before and I am not very good at woodworking in general (i cant cut a straight line for my life).

I did the box draw up on RE's enclosure calculator, i know there is some argument to its accuracy but i figured its a RE sub thier enclosure calculator is good enough. Besides my tune being a little off isnt a huge worry to me, it still works. This is the first finished product minus the top.

I didnt like how thin the edges at the top and bottom of the speaker hole were and then i read the thread on here about someones baffle breaking into pieces and going through their cone so i ripped it back apart and did some modification. This was my next finished product minus the top.

I feel a lot better with the 1 1/2 baffle on it, the corner braces were kind of "just because" i don't even really know their intended purpose all i know is they take up more of my internal volume and mess up my tuning frequency even worse. So with out the double baffle and the corner braces the box was supposed to be 2.0 tuned to 32hz. Final numbers on it are a mystery.

Heres the sub pics. This is the damaged CVX with my fresh out the box RE SX

Click to read more...

 

[944g37 10+ year member]

This is the RE in the box that ended up being like .80 tuned to 55hz. Now that i look back at it with my current knowledge i feel like a 'tard for thinking that box was even remotely adaquate.

this is the finished product, with its crappy $4 fleece wrapping. I know it looks like ****, but its better than bare MDF.

The strapped baby kx 400.1's. Supposedly it should be close to 930 wrms but who knows whether the kicker birth certificates are BS or not. And it drops to 11.8 volts or less depending if i have the heater or headlights on so who knows how much power it is actually getting.

As far as charging system, i have big 3 in 4 ga. on stock everything including the stock 65 amp alternator. Im looking into swapping to a 90 amp saturn alt. soon and if i ever get it metered im just going to throw a spare regular batt. in the hatch for the day and run a cable to the amps.

Here is my Anti-theft warning

whos going to break a window out for and old Infinity //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/laugh.gif.48439b2acf2cfca21620f01e7f77d1e4.gif

 

[springer 10+ year member]

looks good for your first build man.... good job. just remember, if you aren't happy with the way it turned out as far as the size and tuning, just build another one. that is the way everyone learns and the only way to get better.... keep it up and good job....

oh yea... how does it sound???

 

[18inchjeepin 10+ year member]

i also built my 1st box with particle board, seems like u have learned a lot, good work

 

[944g37 10+ year member]

looks good for your first build man.... good job. just remember, if you aren't happy with the way it turned out as far as the size and tuning, just build another one. that is the way everyone learns and the only way to get better.... keep it up and good job....

oh yea... how does it sound???

The only thing i wish i did was go with a 15 since i couldnt use the box i already had anyway. The box is the biggest "recommended" volume for a SX 12 and anything beyond what you guys say and what the manufacturers say is not an area im looking to go. I do wish it had more low end frequency response. But who finishes their setup and goes "yup, just enough low end". And after seeing the voltage at the amp go into the 11's on a low note im not worried about it until i upgrade my charging system for the sake of my amplifiers. If i could sell this setup for a profit (which i bet i could being that i bought it all dirt cheap) i would build the same style setup but with a SX 15 and a single zx1000.1. Other than that it pounds beyond anything anyone in this little **** hole town i live in has ever heard and when i dial down the sub output and put some slipknot on it sounds like im standing front row at their concert.

As far as the MDF im not at the level of building where im willing to buy sheets of birch yet, 3/4 MDF works just fine as long as i get a sheet thats not so ****ed warped next time!

 

[sound giant 10+ year member]

wouldnt the baffle not effect the area in the box? how did it go from 2.0 to .8 with just the angles and the sub?

ill probably be building my first box ever and its gonna be for a SX12 so im just doing a lil researching.

How did it sound, get loud?

 

[fshanda 10+ year member]

Your box looks nice for a first timer. I know Im going to want some more power when I get my boys setup finished. I tested it out in the shop yesterday with 1400 watts and his sub just laughed at it.

Just so you know, thats not MDF, its particle board. MDF is a light to medium brown board, hard as a rock, more of a compressed milled paper product than wood. Particle board will also soak up water like a wick and blow up (swell). I have had pieces in my parking lot swell up to twice its original thickness. MDF will **** up a little moisture but nothing to be concerned about. You already noticed the other problem with particle board, it warps. Its not nearly as stable as MDF.

If you do make another box later on make sure to get some MDF.

 

[aaronrchr 10+ year member]

wouldnt the baffle not effect the area in the box? how did it go from 2.0 to .8 with just the angles and the sub?

Yes the baffle would affect the area of the box how he has it if I understand this correctly, it will cut down on the displacement of the sub and therefore add a little space in the box because it isn't flush mounted so the sub doesn't "stick out" as far into the box. As for the box going from 2.0 to .8 I believe he was referring to his first box being .8

 

[sound giant 10+ year member]

ok thanks for clearing that up, makes sense.

 

[944g37 10+ year member]

just a little update, being that my hatch trim pieces, hatch latch, sunroof latches, shift knob, license plate and just about everything else in my car have slowly been falling off I dont think I am ever going to upgrade my amps. I put my friends Hifonics Brutus on it the other day, that amp ******, im glad I went with the twin Kicker setup. I wanted to clarify somethings also, the original design for this box was 2.0 tuned to 32hz, I have never worked up the final exact measurements on it and I dont plan on doing it ever. I dont really care if it is 1.9 tuned to 34hz or something because even if it is I am not going to trash it and build a new one because of that. On the particle board thing, thats what my local lumber yard has, im not buying birch and the 3 times i have bought sheets and told them i wanted MDF that is what they gave me. It works fine for me, im not worried about it. I have been playing it hard since december and it works flawlessly. Everyone loves it except for a couple of ******* that cant handle "put on" without covering thier ears, and some jealous kid that argued with me all night that he "used" to have 2 RE 8's on a Brutus that was louder even though all his friends that were there said no ****ing way. Luckily it hasnt gotten stolen yet. Still havent gotten it metered. Heres a little action snap i took earlier today.

 

[mazdakid 5,000+ posts]

take your hatch trim pieces off and it wont rattle. i have the same car except with an awd hump in the back, and my car really doesnt rattle at all.

 

[bigbangtheory 5,000+ posts]

just a little update, being that my hatch trim pieces, hatch latch, sunroof latches, shift knob, license plate and just about everything else in my car have slowly been falling off I dont think I am ever going to upgrade my amps. I put my friends Hifonics Brutus on it the other day, that amp ******, im glad I went with the twin Kicker setup. I wanted to clarify somethings also, the original design for this box was 2.0 tuned to 32hz, I have never worked up the final exact measurements on it and I dont plan on doing it ever. I dont really care if it is 1.9 tuned to 34hz or something because even if it is I am not going to trash it and build a new one because of that. On the particle board thing, thats what my local lumber yard has, im not buying birch and the 3 times i have bought sheets and told them i wanted MDF that is what they gave me. It works fine for me, im not worried about it. I have been playing it hard since december and it works flawlessly. Everyone loves it except for a couple of ******* that cant handle "put on" without covering thier ears, and some jealous kid that argued with me all night that he "used" to have 2 RE 8's on a Brutus that was louder even though all his friends that were there said no ****ing way. Luckily it hasnt gotten stolen yet. Still havent gotten it metered. Heres a little action snap i took earlier today.

Which Brutus amp? If it was the 1208 one, then it wouldn't put much more power out than your two Kicker amps.

If it was a bigger RMS one, then either something was wrong with it, or your electrical couldn't support the amp.

Just because you swapped amps don't mean one is better than the other. Many things go into it and could lead to your car not being up to par on electrical.

 

[944g37 10+ year member]

The Hifonics was like a '05 or '06 1000 something or another. I know what the problem was with it I was just saying it ******. The problem was that my Kicker 400's are only 2 ohm stable so I had to get a dual 2 setup when I got my sub. That way I could run a 4 ohm load which is divided between the 2 strapped 400's making a 2 ohm load for each one. When I hooked it up to the Hifonics it was setup in a 4 ohm configuration because it was on a single amp and that hifonics is only rated to something like 500 watts at 4 ohms. I just didnt feel like pulling my sub and re-wiring it to a 1 ohm configuration just to see how it sounds.