It's been a while since my last build log and basically what I did was the basic installation of the following components in a single cab '99 Ford F150. These were:
Accessories
25ft Kolossus 0/1 Power Wire
120ft of Raamat Bxt, 7 yards of Raamat Ensolite
2x Krystal Shielded RCA Cables
2x Konfused Distribution Blocks
10ft JL Audio 4-awg Power Wire(From distribution blocks to amplifiers)
3-Way Distribution Battery Terminals
...and a load of other different accessories and tools.
Actual Audio Equipment
Kenwood Excelon KDC x991
My thoughts: I haven't had an issue with this head unit but only one and that when the remote wire from the headunit was not outputting any voltage therefore i had to wire it directly into the ignition, an odd and freakish issue but still not too bad. Other than that, a great head unit with no issues so far that I know about.
2008 Rainbow 6.5" SLC 265.25NG 2-Way Components
My thoughts: I love these components, they sound absolutely great, though the midbass has a very hard time playing alot of notes in the frequency range of 45+ with much authority, I had to essentially set the head unit's equalizer to 100hz with a -12 db/octave slope, ever since then I had a reasonable amount of midbass and no distortion. Only issues I have had with this set is the following, they may be overrated or the amplifier powering them is hugely underrated. Because with the gains set fairly low, and the volume on the HU fairly low, with no loudness or other volume enhancements, the set can begin to clip heavily if not careful with your gain adjustment. The other issue is the overload protection on the crossover, alot of times when the music is played at such a loud volume, this feature will shut down the tweeter temporaily until the volume is lowered and normal power level is returned. I tried to circumvent this option by replacing the halogen bulb protection device on the crossover with a silver wire jumper as told to do in the manual but still continues to do this, so there may be a faulty crossover.
Sundown SAX 100.2
My thoughts: This is the amplifier powering the components in the doors. Very nice amplifier and I have had no problem with it whatsoever, especially regarding its output to the component set, if anything, it may be too much. No issues here whatsoever.
Hifonics Bxi1606d
My thoughts: No good experience with this amplifier, ofcourse I knew it was overrated but it just didn't really sound good or work well with the subwoofer at all. I did alot of testing with a DMM, as much as you could do without an o-scope or any other EE equipment and pretty much as accurate as the DMM could tell me, there was a big chance that this amplifier was faulty and with such theory it was sent back to the store it was bought from for a full refund.
Fi 15" Q
My thoughts: I believe this subwoofer has the potential to get loud and sound really nice on the low end but in my setup I just was not hearing it, it could be a combination of the box design, the amplifier or one of those two. The subwoofer itself seems in perfect condition and it currently on sale as we speak for reasons I will describe below.
3.35ft^3 Subwoofer Enclosure, Tuned to 34hz
My thoughts: This was a very big box to go behind the seat, with the dimensions of 53"Lx20"Hx11"BDx"7TD. It was designed with a square 7x7" port, around 21" long. I honestly think the subwoofer's performance mainly depended on this box and what issues this box could have made would probably be the fact that the air was not able to properly build up or move properly due to the design and port design. Unlike alot of boxes, the port did not turn or angle inside the box, it was a straight tunnel from the side of the subwoofer pretty much, given several inches from the actual subwoofer. It may have been for this reason that the sub-stage performed the way it did.
Well, I threw a lot of hard-earned money and planning at this system and I came up with something not very satisfactory and what better way to try and satisfy these needs then to actually throw even more money and sell or return whatever parts may be messed up or unsatisfactory. So theres a few issues here and there but I'm hoping that I can work around these.
I decided I am ditching the single 15" ported substage. Replacing this stage is two 12" Fi Q's in a dual chambered sealed enclosure. Small and hopefully allowing more leg room. The 12" Fi Q's are going to be powered by a singled Audioque 2200D amplifier. I have no idea how exactly I am going to fix the issue concerning the tweeter attenuation on the component set, I love the loud clarity of the sound and how each snare hit makes your eyes blink. I'm sure if there is an actually issue in the crossover(which there must be since they still do it even with the crossover protection device removed and replaced).
I am also thinking of buying some custom q-logic kick panels for the truck and installing two dedicated 6.5" midbass drivers and power them by the two channel amplifier as well. Bringing the amplifier to a 2-Ohm load to send both the 6.5" drivers and component set around 100watts.
Anyways I would for some encouragement as I continue to try and seek a satisfactory car audio solution admidst all the different issue and problem I'm running into.
