My first "Active" "SQ'ish" build attempt.

[ThxOne Premium Member]

Test fit is tight... now to drill the holes for the speaker terminal and the pilot holes for the speaker.

 

[ThxOne Premium Member]

It is in. Gonna have to do some equalizing for sure but I played a specific Quad Maximus song to see if this box plays lower as advertised. She do. Top end roll off loss was minimal. Looks better in the trunk too.

 

[ItsHammer]

I just spent 45min of my life reading all 13, pages of this thread and wow. Up and down roller coaster. When you said the guy hadn't called about the car I thought you were about to get robbed but nope, you got the car. Then onto the audio. I was sure yiou were all talk as so many people are when they post about what they want, but you came thru lol. Damn that took so long, over a year, and you're still mucking about. Good on you for working so hard. I just got back into car audio after a decade long hiatus. My main goal is also good sound but I am just starting out so it will be a long time coming. Nice post. Keep it up

 

[Slo_Ride 5,000+ posts]

What sub is that? I'm sure you already said but I don't feel like looking for it.

 

[ThxOne Premium Member]

What sub is that? I'm sure you already said but I don't feel like looking for it.

Punch P3D4 @2ohms

 

[ThxOne Premium Member]

I just spent 45min of my life reading all 13, pages of this thread and wow. Up and down roller coaster. When you said the guy hadn't called about the car I thought you were about to get robbed but nope, you got the car. Then onto the audio. I was sure yiou were all talk as so many people are when they post about what they want, but you came thru lol. Damn that took so long, over a year, and you're still mucking about. Good on you for working so hard. I just got back into car audio after a decade long hiatus. My main goal is also good sound but I am just starting out so it will be a long time coming. Nice post. Keep it up

Thanks.
I actually just spent the last hour resetting my gains with an O-Scope then re-equalizing then driving and listening then parking and listening. I didn't even realize that my amp was hard clipping front and rear until I put the oscilloscope on it. Now the outputs are not clipping whatsoever. That sub is hitting nasty now in the new box so hell yeah!! Sadly, my mids and highs while loud and clean are still not loud enough for me when driving. When parked it is more than enough but driving it takes a hit. The sub is perfect though. I did get it to ever so slightly make that odd "hey I am moving to far" noise one time on Bass Boy's "Mo Better Bass".

Listening to Radiohead, The Cars, Pink Floyd, Daft Punk, G&R and other Hires audio sounds amazing when parked or driving slow. But what really makes me smile is Slayer, King Diamond, Morbid Angel, Deicide and various other metal bands.

Bumpin some Bass Boy -

 

[ThxOne Premium Member]

Next purchase will be a calibrated USB mic.

 

[SkizeR 10+ year member]

I went out to the car, disconnected all the speaker wires from the amp and labeled them. I took out my DMM and turned my gains down all the way. I used a 1khz -5db tone and set the gains on the amp for the mids to eventually 18v (18.2v actual) - should be 80w approximately at that setting on a -5db signwave. I then set the gains for the tweeters... again this DMM wanted to say 9. blah blah volts... wtf???? So I found my CHEAP red harbor freight DMM and tried that. YAHTZEE!! Ok, now I was able to set the voltages for the signwaves. Mids to 18.2v and the Tweets to 15.5v (15.6 actual) on a -5db 4khz tone - should be 60w approximately on that signwave.

I also had to reset the EQ in the DSP for the sub as it had been boosted above 0db in a few frequencies. So now nothing in the DSP is above 0db. The tweets levels -7db and mids are 0db in the DSP. Volume on the head unit is 36 of 40 (per suggestion of the DSP). All EQ's flat in the DSP (EQ set in the HU.) The sub is crossed over at 90hz 24db. The mids are crossed over at 90hz - 4Khz 24db. The tweets are crossed at 4Khz 24db. Distances for time alignment reset for the tweets, untouched for all other speakers.

Now! The system sounds so ridiculously clear when listening to specific songs that show off the clarity of a system. All of this at MAX volume. Kick drum is snappy as f**k, bass guitar is clear, vocals don't sound hollow, cymbals are crisp and not over powering. The problem... it is not loud. Ok, It's loud but not to the point it will overcome road and wind noise at 45-70mph. I can hear it at those speeds with the windows down but it is softer and less detailed then when driving under 45mph or with the windows up. Pretty sure this is normal but my ears need the extra DB's for sure when the windows are down and winds are making noise.

One more issue. Now that the distances are again set for each individual speaker... the left side of the cars speakers sound close where as the right side sounds properly far right. Center image is slightly to the right of the steering wheel. How do I push the left speakers out to the left more... like, a lot more??? I have distances and levels to play with for each speaker.

You should lower the gain on your tweeters amp channels if your cutting that much in the dsp software. Could save your tweeters in case of an accident or equipment failure while also lowering noise floor

 

[ThxOne Premium Member]

You should lower the gain on your tweeters amp channels if your cutting that much in the dsp software. Could save your tweeters in case of an accident or equipment failure while also lowering noise floor

I have. Last night I re-did everything and used an O-scope on the amplifiers outputs and got the gains to where there is no clipping at all. Things in the DSP have been attended to as well. It is all very good now except the output volume of the mids and highs aren't as loud as I like. It is loud and clear but I would like a bit more output. Sadly if I try to get more... my tweeters give up the ghost or my mids cones separate from the voice coil. I might be the guy that needs pro audio gear instead of sound quality gear. Which I don't mind... I don't think Pro Audio gear is incapable of sounding good at higher volume levels. Maybe not as good as SQ gear but ya neva know.

 

[SkizeR 10+ year member]

I have. Last night I re-did everything and used an O-scope on the amplifiers outputs and got the gains to where there is no clipping at all. Things in the DSP have been attended to as well. It is all very good now except the output volume of the mids and highs aren't as loud as I like. It is loud and clear but I would like a bit more output. Sadly if I try to get more... my tweeters give up the ghost or my mids cones separate from the voice coil. I might be the guy that needs pro audio gear instead of sound quality gear. Which I don't mind... I don't think Pro Audio gear is incapable of sounding good at higher volume levels. Maybe not as good as SQ gear but ya neva know.

I dont think you understood what i meant. The whole "but my gains are set with a scope for no clipping" doesnt mean you wont blow your speakers. Set your midbass drivers that way, then set the midrange/tweeter by matching output on the rta. It will most definitely be a lower setting on the knob which will help prevent any possible accidents, have a lower noise floor, and make tuning a hair easier. no need to level match much in the dsp after that

 

[ThxOne Premium Member]

I dont think you understood what i meant. The whole "but my gains are set with a scope for no clipping" doesnt mean you wont blow your speakers. Set your midbass drivers that way, then set the midrange/tweeter by matching output on the rta. It will most definitely be a lower setting on the knob which will help prevent any possible accidents, have a lower noise floor, and make tuning a hair easier. no need to level match much in the dsp after that

I follow ya. Like I said, next purchase is a calibrated mic.

 

[ThxOne Premium Member]

You know when you do stuff with your stereo and you think "wow, I am getting good at this tuning thing." Then one day (today) you drop your brother off at his job then head off to your own job an hour and a half early. I decided to take the laptop with me and mess with the crossovers for the sub, the midbass and the mids and highs. I had the sub crossed at 110hz and the midbass at 110 - 1Khz both at 24db per octave. I was looking in the 3Sixty GUI at both crossover areas and decided to split them up. Sub down to 100hz and Midbass to 150hz and changed to 12db slopes. Then I changed the upper bandpass of the midbass and the midrange crossovers to spread them out as well and switched them to 12db slopes.

I moved on to the EQ. This is where everything got weird and good at the same time. I set the amplifiers with the O-scope using -5db tones so I decided to start adjusting the eq's for the midbass and mids/tweets. Instead of lowering each band I adjusted, I boosted them... up to +5db but not lower than 0db. Remember how I said it sounded good but just needed some more output... Well, it is there now!! But while that is good news I noticed the sound shifted left. Confused by this I decided to pull out my tape measurereerererr thing after listening to track 17 on my IASCA disc to confirm my brain wasn't going nucking futs. Imaging was way off.

Leaving the sub at a distance of zero (70" actual) I began measuring each speaker....................... this is how stupid I am. I discovered that every time I measured the right speakers I would be looking at the tape measure upside down. So dyslexically I subtracted that number from the 70 inches for the sub then input it into the DSP (like instead of 52" [70-52=18"] I subtracted 25" [70-25=45"). See how far out it was pushing my right channel speakers? While technically still left and right, the distances for the delay was way off. Once I caught my mental phuck up, I input the correct numbers... yes, I triple checked them this time and then I played track 17 again. These are 7 snare drums panned from far left and transitioning evenly spaced to far right. For the first actual time... they were spaced so perfectly even from left to right. My eyes got friggin HUGE.

While driving on the interstate at 74mph with the windows down, I heard my music. All of the music. I smiled all the way home.

 

[ItsHammer]

You know when you do stuff with your stereo and you think "wow, I am getting good at this tuning thing." Then one day (today) you drop your brother off at his job then head off to your own job an hour and a half early. I decided to take the laptop with me and mess with the crossovers for the sub, the midbass and the mids and highs. I had the sub crossed at 110hz and the midbass at 110 - 1Khz both at 24db per octave. I was looking in the 3Sixty GUI at both crossover areas and decided to split them up. Sub down to 100hz and Midbass to 150hz and changed to 12db slopes. Then I changed the upper bandpass of the midbass and the midrange crossovers to spread them out as well and switched them to 12db slopes.

I moved on to the EQ. This is where everything got weird and good at the same time. I set the amplifiers with the O-scope using -5db tones so I decided to start adjusting the eq's for the midbass and mids/tweets. Instead of lowering each band I adjusted, I boosted them... up to +5db but not lower than 0db. Remember how I said it sounded good but just needed some more output... Well, it is there now!! But while that is good news I noticed the sound shifted left. Confused by this I decided to pull out my tape measurereerererr thing after listening to track 17 on my IASCA disc to confirm my brain wasn't going nucking futs. Imaging was way off.

Leaving the sub at a distance of zero (70" actual) I began measuring each speaker....................... this is how stupid I am. I discovered that every time I measured the right speakers I would be looking at the tape measure upside down. So dyslexically I subtracted that number from the 70 inches for the sub then input it into the DSP (like instead of 52" [70-52=18"] I subtracted 25" [70-25=45"). See how far out it was pushing my right channel speakers? While technically still left and right, the distances for the delay was way off. Once I caught my mental phuck up, I input the correct numbers... yes, I triple checked them this time and then I played track 17 again. These are 7 snare drums panned from far left and transitioning evenly spaced to far right. For the first actual time... they were spaced so perfectly even from left to right. My eyes got friggin HUGE.

While driving on the interstate at 74mph with the windows down, I heard my music. All of the music. I smiled all the way home.

Very good, sir. Happy for you. It's a long process that's for sure. I've had everything fully installed for about 5 days and today was the first day I started making actual progress as far as level matching, eq, and proper crossover points. It sounds fairly decent, but not loud enough. Lol. Also, I'll be doing my time alignment tomorrow. Any advice on measurement? Did you measure to your head, or front dash?

 

[ThxOne Premium Member]

Very good, sir. Happy for you. It's a long process that's for sure. I've had everything fully installed for about 5 days and today was the first day I started making actual progress as far as level matching, eq, and proper crossover points. It sounds fairly decent, but not loud enough. Lol. Also, I'll be doing my time alignment tomorrow. Any advice on measurement? Did you measure to your head, or front dash?

I measured from the grill of each speaker to the ear on the same side of my head as the speaker being measured. I added an inch to each length because even though I believe the sound should be measured from the opening in the door panel and not to the speaker hidden behind it, I didn't want to ignore the experts recommending the measurements be made to the voicecoils. So I compromised.

 

[ThxOne Premium Member]

Very good, sir. Happy for you. It's a long process that's for sure. I've had everything fully installed for about 5 days and today was the first day I started making actual progress as far as level matching, eq, and proper crossover points. It sounds fairly decent, but not loud enough. Lol. Also, I'll be doing my time alignment tomorrow. Any advice on measurement? Did you measure to your head, or front dash?

What DSP are you using?