Chris' Last Minute Build Log

I had fun the last couple days. After getting inspired by some crazy box designs, I bought a metric crap ton of MDF. Then proceeded to do some necessary (and unnecessary) improvements.

Original Box:


Then, double Baffle using the glue n screw method


Then, seal the front edges well


Then, install some shiny things


Then, build an amp rack for the strapped AP15001D's

Then, build a platform that sits on the folded down back seats. The box shown is sealed, just for baseline testing.


Then, I built up a shell that gradually expanded from 24"x24" to 36"x49"



There was also a top to it (not pictured)

Then, realize it only hits 130 dB and break out the crow bar


And the hammer! Think Donkey Kong... it was alot of fun.


Install a new face for the ports, and get jiggy with it

Do some cabin gain tuning with 2 amps


Tight tolerances!!!


Squid Box!!!


That's all for now. Next, I need to reinstall the box, and get the tuning perfect.

I see you haven't tossed those fuses yet?

I swapped the 100's out for 150's, and prefer to keep them in. One amp on fire this season is enough.

Plus I'm still seeing full voltage during my runs, so fuses aren't the bottleneck.... time and $$$ are though.

Shoulda done 1 6" on the side subs facing back....wang.

47s easy

I've never heard of sub back, port driver's side.... cool idea!

I'll test the squid box on its side and see how the car likes that alignment.

hey chris i would listen to skip man you seen what he can do with 2 12's an 2 2500s in a freakin exlpoer or expedition or whatever that big ass truck is. he know's his Dung Pile an has done some freakin awesome numbers with half the size subs as guys who has those size trucks.

alot of the suv's like subs up ports to the side explorors were ports to passenger side if im not mistaken

sanman wrote:

alot of the suv's like subs up ports to the side explorors were ports to passenger side if im not mistaken

Yeh mine likes ports too pass. side, but i never gained with subs up.....they always liked back with 2 subs....weird

Buuuuurp.

That's the sound of some early testing. 144 dB, using 2/3 power and uncut aeros (~47 Hz). Lots of leaks and losses to fix... and many hours of tuning/resizing to do.

With subs back, it gets that nasty "waaaaang" sound of vibrating metal that the high powered cars have... on 2kW and 2 10s. Makes me happy, even if it's lossy. Might need to foam the back door soon.

I'll update with pics and tuning sometime soon. Thanks to Skip, Sanman, and others for the help thusfar.

Sunday testing: cut ports by 1" each time... retest frequency spectrum for the box with ports UP, LEFT and RIGHT.

Maximum setup was 5" off the original length, tuned to 56 Hz. Peaked at 144. Yeah, I know... same as the uncut ports. Oh well.

Today: installed a 0.1 cf block of 2x4's.

LOST a dB. argh.


Does that mean my box is too small already? It's 2 cf, common chamber for 2 mid-grade 10's on 2kw.

cutting ports doesnt acomplish as much as people think most change 2-3 things at a time and assume cutting the port made then huge differance

moving the box/seats/doors/visors etc etc etc is what will get you there more over ports man

if it moves test test test

most suv's also like meter in the drivers kick and the passenger door open

Thanks Sanman.

I'm trying to be as methodical as possible... filled up 2 pages of test results. Tossed it in a spreadsheet to find the "sweet spot" as far as hz and port tuning for each direction.

Each number is a single change, to either input frequency, box tuning, box direction, seat position.

The current best is Subs back, Port up/driver's... with rear seats down and driver's door wide open and headrests on.

Next thing to try is remove the seats completely, and play with an open cabin. That and remove rear paneling.

yah man just throwing out there what i have seen work best in the past

also test while plugging up onf of the 3 ports try to plug each one up while stull using 2 this may help as well due to being to much vent for ther suspension to handle

sanman wrote:

most suv's also like meter in the drivers kick and the passenger door open

Mine does lol

Mine likes drivers side kick and sealed up, i lose when i open anything.

you can play with ports and seats all day... the enclosure volume is going to decide what notes the loudest. cutting ports is just fine tunning for impedance mostly.

So Alan,

If I lost a dB by adding a 0.1cf block into my box... it IS a logical conclusion that I need to build a bigger box, right?

What's a good maximum box size to start with?? ... there's honestly not enough time to spend tuning the box volume (very much) before Finals. Got a wedding and an important meeting from Ford (my big boss) this weekend.

i find it hard to believe that .1 cost you a whole db..

Well, since I'm testing using an Audiocontrol Epic-160... that's the precision I have available.

FWIW, there was a noticable difference in airflow "feel"... meaning that "sweet spot" never really showed up.

What's the biggest airspace that you guys have seen 10s perform optimally at (disregarding DD's)?

well the gains and losses you see on the AC will be different than what you see on the TL. from whati know they work quite a bit different.

That they do...AC measure air, TL is pressure

Not that dumbed down, but its the jist of it

Thats why u can blow into AC mic and read a high score, and not same as TL...gotta make like a pocket and blow in too seal it

i love the pioneer subs now! i bought oneof the champion 10s(not the champion pro) to put in the explorer for a dd system in a 1.1 cube sealed box and got a 138 out of it tl legal on about 400 fosgate watts. unbelievable! i honestly thought it would blow whenever i hooked it up

Hey SBCherokee,

Yeah... they aren't bad for Wal-Mart subs

Suspension is a little stiff for SPL, and the coils are a little undersized... but it's hard to bottom them or (completely) kill them. I've tried many times (some inadvertant).

i compared it with my w6 in the same box of course the w6 won but thats a 250 dollar sub vs a 80 dollar sub the w6 put a 138.6 at same frequency but still awesome sub my co worker talked me into it now ima try a champion pro!lol

the ac160 has been tested on quite a bit and was within a db on some kc crx's that have done quite well at finals quite often

^^^ It's always been within a dB of my score on the Term-lab... and I got it for ~ 1/10 of the cost.

Good enough for me, until I "get serious" (up to Jimbo's MF-Pussie standard that guy cracks me up)

Alright, since no one has answered the box size question:
- I'll extend the box in increments of 0.175 cubic feet. That's roughly 1" strips for this box.
- Then fine tune with my 0.1 cubic foot brick.

that's 2.0 --> 2.2 --> 2.35 --> 2.5 --> 2.7 --> 2.85 --> 3.0 etc. Until it gets loud.