ejschultz' Build Log

[ejschultz 10+ year member]

And here's a little something for my Caprice when I get around to it...

If you look closely, you can see that it's rated at 98 amps at idle and 163 amps peak. I'm currently running at approximately 40 amps at idle and 105 amps peak (to be tested before I make the switch). It's really not much in terms of a HO alternator, but it will definitely serve my needs without a problem.

 

[ejschultz 10+ year member]

Here's the pics of my new alternator installed. My voltage doesn't drop below 12.8 now at full tilt and idle. Before I'd dip all the way down to 11, sometimes even a little under that. I'm overall happy with it. It's not a crazy HO alt, but it's definitely a great upgrade from a stock alternator.

Stock alternator:

Stock vs New:

New alternator:

Showing big 3 alt to batt and ground:

Battery with some big 3 components:

 

[ejschultz 10+ year member]

I must say, "**** you, upgrade itch!" I purchased and installed some PPI 355CS components in the Jeep to replace the Pioneer Premiers I had in there. I wasn't disappointed with the Pioneers, but I tore one of the surrounds being a dumbass and my silicone job was eating away at my mind. I don't have any pics of the speakers or the install, but I'll be taking it apart again in the near future to fix my shoddy, half assed, in the dark tweeter install and I plan on getting pics then. So far, I really like the speakers. They don't have quite as much midbass as the Pioneers, but they do play much cleaner and the tweeter is by far superior. It is much smoother and is capable of higher output. I'm actually starting to fear my Jeep may sound better than my car, which has a lot more of my sweat, blood, time, and money in it.

 

[ejschultz 10+ year member]

On top of having to fix my tweeter install in the Jeep, I'm going sealed in the Caprice. 1.25 cubes per sub so 2.5 cubes total. The box is going to sit nicely where my spare tire is now. I'm sticking with the Kickers for now so we'll see how they do in a smaller, sealed enclosure. If I'm not happy with their output, I'm going to eventually switch over to some ID 12s. For now I think I'll be happy with the sound quality I'll be achieving with a sealed enclosure. I don't have anything for the box as of yet, but I will hopefully have it in a couple of weeks. I'll definitely get some pics of that when it's done and installed.

 

[ejschultz 10+ year member]

NEW BOX!!! I went down in size and it's sealed. Believe it or not, I didn't lose any output. The subs actually like the smaller sealed box. They play very cleanly now and have a pretty flat response curve. I didn't think that was possible from Kickers. Not only do they sound better, I have my trunk back too. I don't, however, have a spare now...

Here's the pics, the first two had the flash from the camera on, the second third didn't. My green lights are not even noticeable in the first two pics.

 

[ejschultz 10+ year member]

Specs on that box:

2.5 cubes net, sealed

Double baffled front

flush mounted subs

 

[ejschultz 10+ year member]

Okay, so I took the PPIs out of the Jeep because I wasn't happy with their midbass reproduction nor their tweeter. The midbass was typical of a 5.25" speaker and the tweeter just never seemed to warm up. I ended up getting a set of Pioneer TS-D1720C components because I really liked their smaller Premier counterpart, the TS-D520C set I ran in there. They sound better than the TS-D520C components, and they sound better than the PPIs. The midbass is incredible. I'm extremely impressed with them. The only issue I ran into was they require two brackets for me to get them installed. One bracket is just to get something to fit where the Chrysler speaker was. The other bracket is there because the speaker's basket is too wide to fit into the other bracket. This causes one of my clips on each door panel to not properly lock into place. It isn't noticeable at all and it's a small price to pay for the amazing sound these provide. I didn't get any pics of the speaker installed in the passenger door. If you'd like to see what it looks like, make a mirror image of the speaker in the driver door. Here's the pics...

The tweeters are in the dash in "custom cut" factory brackets. I love my dremel.

 

[ejschultz 10+ year member]

Well, a surprise with my Jeep... I'm in the "15 inch club" now. I got a Kicker 10VCVR152. I didn't plan on "upgrading" my sub. I consider this an "upgrade because the Type X was a great sub, I just don't have the power on hand to make it sing. I don't want to match an amp to that sub, I'd rather match a sub to an amp. I'm overall extremely happy with my MRD-M605 so I don't plan on getting something new. The new 15" is actually a pretty decent sub. With the sub turned down on my HU, it blends extremely nicely with my front stage. When I crank it, it really puts out a lot of volume. It's not as clean as the Type X when it's cranked, but it still stays really clean at lower volumes, or high volumes with the sub turned down. For my listening habits, it's a better sub than the Type X.

Pics:

 

[ejschultz 10+ year member]

Here's some pics of the box from Mike at AMI Creations that I'm going to be putting in my Jeep. It's about 2.55 cubes sealed after the displacement of the sub. It's going to house my 15" CVR. I don't have the box yet, these are pics from Mike. As always, his build quality looks nothing short of incredible!

There will be install pics up hopefully before Christmas, weather pending. It's 18 degrees here now and there's about 8 or so inches of snow that's drifting with the wind. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif

 

[ejschultz 10+ year member]

The box came in today. I'm going to be getting it in there tomorrow. I also got an upgraded alternator today for the Jeep. Mine's getting ready to take a sh*t so I figured why not get the better one?... My stock alt is only a 90 amp. The alternator I ordered is a 136 amp. That should make a difference with voltage issues, hopefully. I'm only putting out a max of maybe 800 watts total in the Jeep.

 

[miker 5,000+ posts]

You seem to have plenty of money, why not use better equipment? You said yourself that it was a surprise the kickers sounded decent lol.

Either way nice to see someone actually playing with car audio //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[ejschultz 10+ year member]

As far as my equipment goes, the only thing I'd rate at par would be the subs. Everything else in both my vehicles is pretty nice. Pioneer speakers sound **** good when properly powered. As far as money goes, I really don't have much. I'm a poor college student who goes to school full time and works full time. I do a lot of shopping online to save money. I also got the CVXs through an accommodations program when I worked for Circuit City. The CVR was also purchased in that manner. Needless to say, I really don't have that much money wrapped up in the Jeep and my car has been pieced together throughout the years. Honestly, I was pretty surprised of the sound the CVXs gave me when I moved them into a sealed box. They perform very well, better than I thought they would. I'm hoping for similar results on the CVR. I've talked to a few people who have had a 15" CVR in a sealed box very similar in design and size to the one I got and they said it excelled fairly well in there. For the little bit of money I have in that sub, I honestly don't think I could have done any better. Now, unless I blow something, I don't plan on upgrading anything else related to car audio. I'll do a big 3 on the Jeep this summer but I already have all the wiring, and I'm probably going to sell my HO alt on the Caprice and get a better factory alternator and that's it. I have to start saving for a wedding...after I lift my Jeep //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

 

[miker 5,000+ posts]

Okay, I see now! Yeah that was mainly what I was focused on, the subs.

 

[ejschultz 10+ year member]

I'll definitely agree with you. Kickers are not really worth MSRP. But, like I said, for the price I paid, I couldn't have done better.

 

[ejschultz 10+ year member]

And here it is...

It likes the sealed box better than the prefab box from Kicker. It still doesn't play as low as I'd like it to, but I think that has a little to do with my power more than the sub. I don't think 600 RMS is enough to get the extreme lows out loudly. I'm happy with it.