Infinitely Baffled The Do-Over. :P

[onebadmonte]

The goal 140. My previous attempt netted me a 135 and change at 32Hz.

You can see my previous build here:

http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum/...-ib-build.html

This time I'm upping the anty with a pair of 18s and double the power. A mind boggling 900 watts. That's 900 old school class A/B watts via US Acoustics USB line. Why you ask? Because, they're cheap. The 2150 average about $100 bucks on ebay and the 2080 were about $40, which includes shipping. Here is a run down of the setup:

The car: 1994 Oldsmobile Cutlass Cierra A.K.A The Cream Puff

Head Unit: JVC KD-HDW10 A basic CD player with a built in HD tuner and rca outputs

Amps: 2 US Acoustics USB-2085 both at 80 watts x 2 @ 4ohms (mids and highs) 2 US Acoustics USB-2150 both at 450 watts x 1 @ 4 ohms (subs)

Fronts: Powerbass 3.5" coax in stock location

Rear: MTX Thunder Axe 5-1/4" components

Subs: 2 Fi IB3 18"

Electical: Stock

I'll start off with a quick tear down.

Amps coming out. My beloved US Acoustics USB-4085. They'll be back later on for a fully active system experiment.


Bye, bye Ascendant Audio Atlas 15s. You were truely one of a kind. You will be missed.


Here is my artistic shot from the trunk.


The great wall coming down.


This on is at a funny angle


A side by side of what going in versus what came out.


Here is a side shot. the 18 dwarfs the 15.


Here is the backside.


I've got my fingers crossed that these 18s will make some serious noise. More to come.

[fish]

I couldn't really tell by the pics, but how much space did you have above & below the baffle with the 15's? Do you think you'll have to angle the shit out of those 18's to make them fit?

If my Civic permitted I'd definitely get 2 Fi IB318's.

[ryan s]

Originally Posted by fish

I couldn't really tell by the pics, but how much space did you have above & below the baffle with the 15's? Do you think you'll have to angle the shit out of those 18's to make them fit?

If my Civic permitted I'd definitely get 2 Fi IB318's.

Yes, this.

You definitely want as much space around the sub as possible for baffle strength. Don't ask how I know

[onebadmonte]

Originally Posted by fish

I couldn't really tell by the pics, but how much space did you have above & below the baffle with the 15's? Do you think you'll have to angle the shit out of those 18's to make them fit?

If my Civic permitted I'd definitely get 2 Fi IB318's.

At the current angle I've got 21". It's the width that has me a little worried. The opening is 40" wide, but I need about an inch of overhang to mount the baffle. That gets me down to 38". Both subs measure 37" which leave an inch in between for a vertical brace. It's going to be tight.

[sqshoestring]

Nice IB! I think I would look more for 18s if I did again too, but I didn't find many that fit what I wanted for this car....cheap pair with good IB specs. Anyway check out my "Pyle 15s.." log there are pics of the quad infinity 12s I had in there you might be mounting something like that maybe. My 15s are nearly the same as what you took out here. Also look at the Pyle thread in OT it may have better photos of the 12s.

My baffle is only 3/4 ply, doubled in some areas, the 12s were too but had braces all the way down. The whole car shook didn't really have a baffle vibration issue. I have not pounded these really hard yet, though that is not why they are in there. I'm still hoping I can get close to xmax with 350rms with these pyles, the amp is much smaller size. I have to fix my deck cover it is rattling like crazy at high output but I don't hear any noises from the trunk side.

My car has fairly stiff metal to mount to all the way around, it was built to have a fold down seat that it does not have. It seems pretty solid, but I did cover the rear deck with 3/4 to beef it up and plug the holes.

I could max the 420rms on my 12s and shake the car some as they were good for 600, but it was far louder than I could hear the music from the highs so I never did try 600. They didn't even get to xmax. With 500rms I think I can xmax these cheap 15s, but not looked closely at them yet and tried it.

[onebadmonte]

Today I worked on the baffle spacers and the baffle itself. The baffle is two layers of 3/4" MDF. The subs will be flush mounted, so the first layer of MDF will act as a spacer. The baffle will be spaced back from the seatback sheetmetal 1-3/4" with strips of wood. The strips and baffle will be attached with some 1/4" bolts and some threaded inserts. Well enough of my blabbing here are some pics.

Here is the insert I'm using. This is what you get with IKEA furniture. You can buy them at Home Depot in 4 packs. I recommend ordering through Mc Master Carr. What 5 packs cost at Home Depot you can get a pack of a hundred through Mc Master Carr.



All you do is drill the hole and thread them in with an allen wrench



Viola! Nice threaded hole for a bolt.



Here is one of the baffle spacers installed



Up next is knocking out the center brace, it's too wide. The opening in the car is 40" wide. The baffle spacers over hang an inch to give me a mounting flange for the baffle. That leaves me with 38". I'm going to use an inch wide spacer down the center. After that I'll have 37" exactly what the OD of the 18's measure. Here's the center brace out. Yes I used a dremel. :P



Here is the new center brace. 1" wide 1/8" thick metal strip. With all the wood strips on it should be plenty rigid.



Here is an up close of my weld job. Flux core wire FTW! I know, I suck. Don't worry my flame suit is thick. :P



Oh no! My first hiccup. The baffle is too wide to fit in through the rear because it's wider than the shock towers. To make things worse that welded brace is going to need to be removable to get the baffle in and out. Double FAIL!



Calling it quits for today. Tomorrow should be better. LOL!

[sqshoestring]

I had to cut mine in half for the 15s due to shock towers, but I had ~7" in the center so I doubled the baffle there with a little seam in the center of ~.5". But you can still run a beam/brace of wood down the center if you have 1" room in the rear. I glued and screwed the one I did for my 12s it was very rigid. Actually to the baffle I used foam and screws. Just a suggestion, but I think I would weld an angle or tubing across the top of the hole (something you can mount to), then bolt your piece down the center with two 3/8 bolts or something....weld a bracket to the floor then you can remove it. If you wanted to drill a hole in the floor if nothing is under it, drill some holes around it. Make a 3/8 plate with threaded hole in center or weld a nut over the hole of a thinner plate but at least 1/8. Bolt plate through the center hole in floor w/plate under car, then weld shut the other holes to weld the plate on. Then you have a hole to bolt to just like a seat bolts down. Make sure you have nothing that can burn under the floor from sparks of course, or cover it to weld, but if it fits tight not much comes out the back that way.

My car does have a stamped piece that bolts in the center to hold the seat out and deck up, kind of what you are doing, you might be able to make that wider to do just that. Its not going to matter if part of it is in front of the sub behind the seat. You can see it in the photos of the oven grilles. I also adjusted the seat so I have a gap at the top of the cushion to the deck of less than an inch so it does not show really....just in case any pressure is there it may help. The seat moves when I dial it way up anyway.

[Brian_smith06]

ugh. I really want to run my idmax's ib. Yet builds like this makes me want to run bigger subs

[onebadmonte]

I ground down the welds and got the center brace out. It's going to be a bolt in piece. I'm test fitting the baffle in and taking measurements. It's going to be a tight fit. Here are some pics.

Here is the baffle in place.



With the baffle spaced so far back there is an interferance with the rear speakers and pods. I relief the baffle in the offending areas.



Here is a side by side with the old baffle. It was fun while it lasted old baffle.



I'm using the same threaded inserts to attach the baffle in vehicle and to mount the subs. 1/4-20s for the baffle and 10-32s for the subs



In addition to the glue I'll be using drywall screw to hold the two baffles together



Here is the finished baffle



I couldn't help it, I just had to fit one in. I'm excited, but I have a ways to go.



Here is a shot from inside the trunk.



Tomorrows a new day. Hopefully I make just as much progress.

[fish]

Looks really nice. I'm sooo jealous.

[sqshoestring]

All I can say is f'n huge! Very nice I'd be wound up to see those beasts in my car too. Going to be some big IB thunder.

[sydmonster]

those 18's look phat in there!! Trunk Baffle for the win.

well done from a fellow 18IB owner

[onebadmonte]

Thanks fellas. More on the way.

[onebadmonte]

No much to report today. I savored a little bit of family time so the work was light. I notched the baffle corners to clear the rear speakers. Nothing fancy, just manual work. I started off with a dremel, and finished it off with file. Ugh, the dust, luckily I have a respirator.

Here is a full pic.



Here is a close up of the area I clearanced.



I wrapped the baffle today. Last time I used a funky fabric for some contrast. This time I'm going with black leather. Black leather? Well, there's a little story behind this one. I saved this leather from some sofas I used to own. As a mater of fact, these were the first sofas I've ever owned or should say my wife and I ever owned. We bought them when we first moved in together. We brought them with us when we moved from El Paso to San Antonio. They even made with us to our first house. I was bitter sweet to replace them with new ones because of the memories. Now the memories live on with a few new ones.

Here is the beginning



The tricky part is wrapping around the areas I clearance for the rear speakers. I used the 3M stuff that comes in a can. I think it's the 77 line. Any who, here is the area in question.



Here is a closer shot.




The finished product.



Up next the amps. Stay tuned.

[quality_sound]

Looks good! Would you have had any more clearance for the center support if you'd mounted the subs from the back of the baffle?

[onebadmonte]

Originally Posted by quality_sound

Looks good! Would you have had any more clearance for the center support if you'd mounted the subs from the back of the baffle?

I probably could have made the center brace 2" wide if I had gone that route. I've never tried mounting a sub like that though.

[quality_sound]

It's exactly the same as mounting from the front. Just an idea.

[Austin]

Originally Posted by quality_sound

Looks good! Would you have had any more clearance for the center support if you'd mounted the subs from the back of the baffle?

That would work but i personally would feel it would be easy for a thief to unscrew it and pull it out. Just my thought.

[quality_sound]

Thieves don't generally take the time to unscrew stuff. It's usually smash and grab type stuff. But your'e young, after you have a few systems stolen you'll see what I mean.

[onebadmonte]

I got some work done mounting the amps. This time around I'm going with two US Acoustics USB-2080's

for the mids and highs and two US Acoustics USB-2150's for the subs. Each sub will be getting 450

watts a piece. Last time around I was giving each sub 240 watts. This should definitely make a

difference in the output department. Placing all these amps was a little tricky, but well worth the

wow factor. :P

Here is what I started with, a 1/4" thick piece of fiber board. I used the truck carpet as a template.



I'm using standard tee-nuts to mount the amps. These are 8-32 tee-nuts.



Here is my high tech install tool.



Here are the amps on the board.



The test fit looks good.



Here is another shot of the test fit.



Here is a pic of the rats nest of power wires.



I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, the end is near.

[Brian_smith06]

very nice.

[lithium]

any deadening going in? that rear deck is gona be flexing like a crazy

[onebadmonte]

Originally Posted by lithium

any deadening going in? that rear deck is gona be flexing like a crazy

I'm going to get everything in first and get it going. Once everything is at full tilt I'll be able to identify the offending areas and put them in check. No more, no less, I hope. :P

[onebadmonte]

I'd like to call this the home stretch. Honestly, projects like this are never done. They are always

in a state of continuous improvement. The big work is coming to an end. From here on out I'll be

testing and updating and documenting. I'd like to get the scoop on weather some changes are worth

while. Well, here we go. I got the rear speakers in along with their corresponding pods. I am quite

pleased with the fit. Here are some pics





Here are the amps in place, carpeting and all.



This is what those unfortunate enough to get stuffed in the trunk see before the trunk lids turns off

the lights. :P



Here is from the inside of the car. Just the way I like'em, big round and squished together. Too bad

they'll spend their live covered up, huh?



We have power. Note the blue LEDs.

[strong*I*bumpin]

Now build a flase floor and ur done ,nice work so far.