Spooney's IB build log

[keep_hope_alive Premium Member]

yep, looks good.

note you can reverse the subs and gain even more trunk space, have the aesthetics of the sub cones, and not sacrifice output.

 

[Spooney 10+ year member]

yep, looks good.
note you can reverse the subs and gain even more trunk space, have the aesthetics of the sub cones, and not sacrifice output.

Thanks man. Means a lot coming from you. The original plan was to have the cones in the trunk but these were just a touch too deep. The magnets were just hitting the back of the seats. The look of the motors is kind of growing on me though but I would like a little extra space too. I plan to change drivers and am hoping I can find something with just a little bit shallower mounting depth so I can have the cones facing into the trunk

 

[keep_hope_alive Premium Member]

i like your attention to detail with getting the mounts made, shaving where necessary, making separate parts where necessary, etc.

i know people think you lose low end with IB but i've had the opposite - unlimited low frequency response, well below 20Hz

 

[Spooney 10+ year member]

i like your attention to detail with getting the mounts made, shaving where necessary, amounting parate parts where necessary, etc.
i know people think you lose low end with IB but i've had the opposite - unlimited low frequency response, well below 20Hz

Thanks again. It definitely helped me to do this build a little at a time . It gave me time to take pics and sit back and think about different issues and how to tackle them. Just cramming it all in there at once would have been a huge mistake and probably left me unhappy with the result. In the end all the work was worth it and I hope the pics can help other people get ideas about their own builds.

Everything that concerned me about the sound of an IB install has been a non issue. I was worried about output and bandwidth big time and my assumptions about IB couldn't have been any more wrong. I have plenty of lows and can hit notes with authority I never have with traditional enclosures and I can play any type of music I care to listen to and hit just about every note without missing a beat.

 

[Spooney 10+ year member]

So anybody here on this forum that really knows me should know I am that guy that needs to change things up even when I am happy. The Phoenix Gold subs didn't really do it for me at first but after a few little tweaks were sounding much better. But I still wanted something else. A different sound. I am sure I will get some chuckles for this but based off of the recommendation of some of the SQ guys on DIYMA and my very small budget at the time I went with a pair of Pyle (yes Pyle) Blue Wave 15's. Yes they are cheap and cheesy looking but in an IB setup these things are very smooth sounding. Not as loud as the PG subs but overall much nicer sound ( I never thought I would say that)

 

[Spooney 10+ year member]

In the top pic of my last post you can see my temp amp install. I had my heart set on a 5 channel and when I saw the Hifonics zxi60.4+1K that @cookboy ; had posted I had to have it. He gave me an awesome deal on it and after replacing some rca's,a switch , and making some mounting feet it was good to go.




Sure its not the greatest 5 channel out there but for the money invested its a champ. Sounds as good as anything else I have had in my install and is everything I need in one chassis. The amp install is still far from done but even the single amp helps clean things up a bit

 

[Spooney 10+ year member]

So the Pyle's sound so much better than you'd expect but I still was curious and I had this Dayton Audio Titainic MKIII 15 laying around . So in she went





I just fabbed up a little board to cover up the hole from the other sub and threw this one in. Initial impression is that the upper bass is not nearly as loud and clear as either set of 15's I previously ran . Not even close . But the lows are pretty **** close in output to what I had with the Pyles and buttery smooth. I don't hate how it sounds but the Pyles sounded better overall than this Dayton does. They will most likely make their way back into the install unless I can find something else to try

 

[SounDrive Pro Seller]

I've heard that the Blue Waves are surprisingly good for IB usage. There's always the Acoustic Elegance IB-AU and the Fi IB3 if you feel like you want something that will handle more power.

 

[Spooney 10+ year member]

I've heard that the Blue Waves are surprisingly good for IB usage. There's always the Acoustic Elegance IB-AU and the Fi IB3 if you feel like you want something that will handle more power.

I was real surprised at how good they sounded. Have I had louder setups? Absolutley. More musical with good output ........ I don't think so. I've spent a lot of money and built a lot of different boxes trying to get that prefect sound. That sound I remember from back in the day. IB gives me that sound that I missed and although its not as loud as some ported setups I could care less. Much more enjoyable to listen to. The Pyles sounded pretty good with everything. Their only limit was xmax/output. Other than that they were IB champs. I have my eye on a pair of acoustic elegance IB 15's on Diyma. Real expensive but I have heard they are worth every penny. I also heard JBL GTO's and Boston Acoustics G2's are real nice as well.

 

[cookboy 10+ year member]

[quote name='Spooney']In the top pic of my last post you can see my temp amp install. I had my heart set on a 5 channel and when I saw the Hifonics zxi60.4+1K that @cookboy ; had posted I had to have it. He gave me an awesome deal on it and after replacing some rca's,a switch , and making some mounting feet it was good to go.




Sure its not the greatest 5 channel out there but for the money invested its a champ. Sounds as good as anything else I have had in my install and is everything I need in one chassis. The amp install is still far from done but even the single amp helps clean things up a bit[/QUOTE]

glad to see you got the amp working again. it really was a great budget 5 channel amp.

 

[Oraclem19]

Hmm. Interested, not far off from one of my older plans. Never could figure out what speakers were good for IB or not.

 

[Spooney 10+ year member]

Hmm. Interested, not far off from one of my older plans. Never could figure out what speakers were good for IB or not.

Well I have heard that if it's good for sealed it will be even better IB but I can say from my own experience that what I heard is not always true. Case in point I had the Dayton Titanic MKIII sealed and it sounded great to me and is known to be a great sealed box driver. Almost everything I could want (almost). I tried it IB and although it didn't **** it wasn't great either. Kinda like a bad ported box . All lows and no upper bass kick or punch. Overall the cheapy Pyles are a much better sounding sub IB or TB (trunk baffle) . Sure they don't have the throw or build quality of the Dayton Titanic but in IB/TB its a no brainer and honestly the build quality on the Pyle subs I used is not bad at all. From what others say subs with high Qts values ,low Fs values, and high Xmax values are very desirable for IB use

 

[Spooney 10+ year member]

On another note today I was able to see in person (and in turn purchase) the Dayton Audio IB 15". Way more throw than the Pyle subs and in general feels like a real quality built driver and purpose built for IB installs. I have not installed them yet but I expect great results. The suspension isn't "loose" but is a bit softer than most drivers which in my experience the softer suspension drivers are almost always better sounding drivers although they sacrifice some power handling. I am willing to trade that power handling though for the efficiency and effortless sound an IB setup provides