[LumbermanSVO]

That must be a VERY small woman!

 

[LumbermanSVO]

I pulled the amp on the 4th to send it back to JL. Yesterday I put the amp in the car real quick to make sure I had saved the tune, and managed to scratch it in those few minutes, grrr.

This morning I was almost run over by some douche waffle in a pickup:
https://youtu.be/ouTPnIr04HI

 

[captainobvious]

Ugg, I'd send that video and the license plate number to the local PD. That's nuts.

 

[LumbermanSVO]

Yeah, I've see people run fresh red lights, but that dude missed it by a full 7 seconds. Asshat.

 

[LumbermanSVO]

JL received the amp early this week, hopefully I hear something from them soon.

In the meantime, I've ordered a pair of ID8's and I got permission from the wood shop at work to use their tools. So soon I'll start mimicking bullyx2's sub box, as seen here: Soundwaves of Tampa, Florida (813) 849-1104 - Photo Gallery

Because I'll have dedicated subs handling the low end I'm also changing the mids, but not going smaller. I have a new pair of Steven Audio MB8-2's ready to go in the doors to replace the IDQ8's. These won't play as low as the IDQ's, but are more sensitive and play higher. So I should gain some output and make blending with the tweeters easier. You know, if they actually fit...

 

[bullyx2]

JL received the amp early this week, hopefully I hear something from them soon.

In the meantime, I've ordered a pair of ID8's and I got permission from the wood shop at work to use their tools. So soon I'll start mimicking bullyx2's sub box, as seen here: Soundwaves of Tampa, Florida (813) 849-1104 - Photo Gallery

Because I'll have dedicated subs handling the low end I'm also changing the mids, but not going smaller. I have a new pair of Steven Audio MB8-2's ready to go in the doors to replace the IDQ8's. These won't play as low as the IDQ's, but are more sensitive and play higher. So I should gain some output and make blending with the tweeters easier. You know, if they actually fit...

Thanks for the shout out! It's been 7 years and still sounds great to me. I already owned the Kicker subs and they'd never been used, otherwise I'd have probably gone with ID8s as I am a huge fan.

 

[LumbermanSVO]

So, I picked up the used Illusion ND-8's that showed up in the classifieds for $250. These should fit in the doors without any mods, allow the door cards to fit properly, and play nicely with the GB15's.

I guess the Stevens Audio MB8-2's will just have to go in the Bronco instead!

 

[super josh]

Nice build and one that I'm interested in as I have a similar car here in the UK.

How do you find the tweeter response in the stock location, with them being really off-axis?


Cheers,

Josh

 

[LumbermanSVO]

This is both tweeters, there is a bit of roll off on the top end, but nothing to worry too much about. Their FR is incredibly smooth. I'm curious if it's be better if they were playing though the factory grills, but not curious enough to cut up the door panels. And this dumb Texas heat makes me too lazy to move them for testing, lol.

 

[super josh]

Thanks for taking the time to post the graph, that is really useful. That's not a bad FR at all and has encouraged me to try some fairly lively tweeters that I have lying around (Focal TN51s) as I currently have the door apart for some CCF/MLV treatment.

Cheers,

Josh

 

[LumbermanSVO]

Opened up a package today.

 

[rton20s]

Nice! They look like they're in pretty good shape for their age.

 

[slayersazen]

Agree with rton, those look sweet! Interested to hear from you how the sound!

 

[alachua]

Glad you grabbed them before I did, interested to see how they compare to the monster IDs.

I'm debating grabbing a cheap set of the Earthquake SWS-8x off the next BMW guy to post them. Paired with the GB25s and KAXBLTWTs I impulse bought, it could be a killer setup.

 

[LumbermanSVO]

Glad you grabbed them before I did, interested to see how they compare to the monster IDs.

In my setup the Illusions will be replacing the very old IDQ8's, they'll be doing midrange/midbass duty. The ID8's I bought will be doing sub duty. It should be a pretty fun system!

 

[LumbermanSVO]

I wasn't sure if I was going to do any work on the car before leaving for my next trip, but I bailed out of work before 11 today

Here is the IQD8 next to the ND-8, a MASSIVE difference in mounting depth:

Unfortunately, the ND-8's don't drop in. The IDQ fits the factory hole perfectly, but the ND-8's are .3 inches bigger. This is as far is it will go:

I couldn't find my dremel, just my bit kit. I'd already started drinking, so I'll have to buy a dremel in the morning to make them fit.

In the meantime I started prepping the MLV for the doors. Here is a sheet cut to fit:

One door piece with Ensolite on it, one without:

Tomorrow I should have the doors back together, and the amp back in. I should have plenty of time to zero out the tune in both the amp and APL1. When I get back from my next work trip I'll just have to build a top up/down switch, build a sub box, and tune from scratch. Then this project will be wrapped up and I can focus on the Bronco again.

 

[LumbermanSVO]

Today is stupid hot, but I worked on the car anyway. It's didn't take much effort with the dremel to make the ND-8's fit. I spent more time fooling around with the MLV/Ensolite fitting it properly. I was fortunate that I was able to hold it up with two zip ties, no silly velcro, and no drilling. Here is the complete door:

It felt super good when I was able to get ALL the clips to snap into place on the door card. It fit's like factory again!

Next up was installing the amp. I could have just set it in place, plugged it in, and called it good. Instead I decided to throw some WeatherPak connectors on the JL harnesses for easy reconfiguring later, if needed. I made sure each harness had different connectors so there could be no accidents.

The WeatherPak connectors fit nicely behind the rear interior panel. Now the connectors for the subs are just sitting there, waiting for me to connect the subs to them. If you look up top you'll see that I don't have much room to build the sub box!

In a bold move, I buttoned up the interior before turning the system on, and it all worked great. I then zero'd out the APL1, and setup the amp from scratch, I copied in the delays from the old amp. I turned it on with some DMB on random to do a VERY quick and dirty tune. I cut the tweeters some, put a low shelf on the mids, and it sounds pretty good. When I get home in a few weeks I install the subs and do a real tune.

Ok, that's a lie. It sounds great, the ND-8's blow the IDQ8's out of the water! The ND-8's are just simply a better driver. And the way they match up with the GB15's, it's very similar to how the Audax 7's match up with Eric's horns, it's like they were just made for each other. Magic! I sat in the driveway and went through my whole "Demo Songs" playlist trying to keep from cranking it up. The two songs that REALLY jumped out at me were I Will Rise Up by Lyle Lovett, and Something, Somewhere, Sometime by Ben Sollee and Daniel Martin Moore. I was so excited at how will it played them that I damn near leap through the roof.

I can't wait to install the subs and do a real tune. This is gonna be fun!

 

[FordEscape]

.... I decided to throw some WeatherPak connectors on the JL harnesses for easy reconfiguring later, if needed. I made sure each harness had different connectors so there could be no accidents.

Lovely :beerchug:

 

[LumbermanSVO]

I got little more work done today, I started by pulling apart the rear of the interior so I could measure things:

It looks like there is more room than there actually is. The factory roll bar takes up quite a bit of space. There are also some plastic panels that are crucial to properly draining any water that might slip past the top. I just put some CLD on the panels and reinstalled them.

Next I got out the tools, and a bottle of delicious Blue Bee cider:

I'm not a fantastic woodworker, but I was able to get this far before the storm rolled in:

I just have to put the ends on tomorrow, cut speaker holes, add speaker wire, installed it, and put the interior back together. Then I can start tuning!

 

[LumbermanSVO]

I made the sides a little tall on purpose, then slowly trimmed them down until it was just the right height for the roll bar to clamp the box into place:

Then I covered the box in truck bed liner. Also, I built the box with 1/2" Birch instead of 3/4" due to space. Because of that I added CLD to the box incase it vibrates. Speakers installed:

Installed in the car:

After wiring it up I gave a a quick listen, it works! I put the interior back together and listened to a few songs, this thing has real potential! I'll do some real tuning over the next week.