[squiers007]

Hey everyone, been doing a bunch of work to my system over the last several months and thought I'd share. I'd call this a budget build, especially compared to some of the setups on here, though I have splurged in certain areas that I thought would have the most meaningful impact. This is my daily driver and I listen to most all types of music depending on my mood. I installed my previous setup back in 2014 which was a simple 2-way active system with all xovers and EQ done by my HU and I have not made any changes since that time. I recently got a new job and with that came some extra disposable income and what better way to spend some cash then on a SQ system! Here's the truck, a 2005 Tacoma in Speedway Blue!

Source material is currently from my Headunit from either CD, USB, or Bluetooth streaming. As part of this upgrade I'll be installing a Douk USB to Toslink adapter and using my phone (via USB OTG) as my media player. This will allow me to stream Tidal digitally directly to my MiniDSP 8x12DL. I don't plan to go into too much detail on specifics so if you've got questions just let me know. Thanks for checking out my build!

Current Planned system, 3-way active front stage:
HU - Clarion CZ702
Tweeters - Kravchenko Audio KAXBL-TWT (purchased here back in 14') Love these tweeters!
Midrange - Stereo Integrity M3 carbon
Midbass - Silver Flute 6.5's (been running these since 14' and been very pleased with them especially given the price tag. They should work great in a 3-way)
Sub - JL 12TW3-D4 sealed
Amp 1 - Sony XM-GS4 (will be powering the tweets and mids) Have not used this amp before but based on all the reviews it should be a very solid performer
Amp 2 - Alpine PDX-V9 (will be powering the 6.5's and JL sub) The extra 2 channels will allow me to add some rear fill in the future if I want.
DSP - MiniDSP 8x12 DL

The only items from my original setup that I'm keeping are the HU, tweets, midbass, all the wiring and sound deadening. I had previously deadened all the doors and back of the cab with CLD and ensolite. As part of this upgrade I pulled out the whole interior and did CLD, CCF, and MLV on the floors and CLD/melamine foam on the roof. I have not done MLV on the doors yet because I'm struggling to figure out how to properly hang it, plus there is not a lot of room left between the door and the interior panel. I may leave it off for now. I know the MLV is not very effective if you don't have 100% coverage, so I'm open to help suggestions on that front.

 

[squiers007]

Planning on setting up the xover's as follows and will be using Dirac for the final tune. Going for a single seat tune with this setup. Obviously subject to change once I get some measurements. All measurements will be done with UMIK-1 and REW. I'll try to keep this thread going with measurements tuning info.

Tweets - 3k and up
MR - 300 to 3k
MB - 80 to 300
Sub - 80 and down

Sub box and Amp rack were made by Mr. Marv. Really happy with the fit and finish and a great guy to talk to and work with.

 

[squiers007]

The part of this system I'm most excited about are the custom designed 3D printed pods that my brother and I came up with. They were printed on an SLA printer using Accura 60 material. The pods feature a wire passthrough from the tweeter pod to the MR pod and a single hole out of the back for both sets of wires. The tweeters are held in by 3 set screws. The pods were printed with pilot holes for all the screw locations so I drilled and taped the set screw locations and used the supplied screws from the M3's to cut threads into the plastic. The finish on the pods is just a satin finish black spray paint and several coats of clear for UV protection. I decided against sanding down the outsides because I ended up liking the way the print lines came out. For those unfamiliar with 3D printing SLA prints still typically have print lines, but they are much more subtle compared to a FDM printer. The other benefit is that they are completely solid (no infill to worry about) and airtight (once you seal the hole for the wires).

The pods are currently held in place with 4 points of contact using heavy duty velcro on the windshield, dash, and a-pillar. Not the most elegant solution, but I didn't want to drill any holes in the dash or A-pillar. If I am happy with this driver combo, the long term plan is to build some fiberglass enclosures. Tweeters would go in the sail panel and mids in the A-pillar.

I'm currently working on the layout and wiring of the amp rack. Once that's complete the plan is to paint the rack and sub box, then get those last pieces installed before tuning! Thanks for taking a look at my build and let me know if you've got any questions or comments. Always looking to learn and improve! Thanks.

 

[Clvol1255]

Nice build! Subd

 

[BLD MOVS]

Looking sharp!!

 

[squiers007]

Nice build! Subd

Thanks Man! Your setup looks amazing, so much Focal!

 

[Clvol1255]

Thanks Man! Your setup looks amazing, so much Focal!

Thanks man I’m in love with the Utopia M front stage for sure! Still working on low end sub bass

 

[DeLander]

If you need midbass mounts, hit me up 👍

 

[squiers007]

If you need midbass mounts, hit me up 👍

I am good for now, using some adapters I pickup up from TacoTunes. If I decide to upgrade then I'll hit you up for sure!

 

[Clvol1255]

Speaking of here is an example of mid bass mounts delander made for my Tacoma

 

[squiers007]

View attachment 298204 View attachment 298205 Speaking of here is an example of mid bass mounts delander made for my Tacoma

Is there any sort of chamfer on the backside? Looks like a pretty deep "tunnel" to be placing the woofer in?

 

[Clvol1255]

Fast rings. He can make them as I wanted. That’s just what I asked for. That picture actually has the custom mount over the top of the metra bracket I just noticed. That’s why it looks deep. Doors are deadened inside and out with butyl and ccf on outer and butyl ccf and mlv on the inner and I have as much thump or more from my doors than I do from my JL 12tw3 in .85 ft3 birch from Marv. He’s building me another enclosure as we speak for a full sized 10”. JL can’t keep up

 

[squiers007]

Fast rings. He can make them as I wanted. That’s just what I asked for. That picture actually has the custom mount over the top of the metra bracket I just noticed. That’s why it looks deep

You might look into adding a chamfer if you can. Take a look at this link. This guy is very well regarded in the DIY speaker building community. Lots of measurements in the article as well.

chamfering driver holes.

 

[Clvol1255]

I’m very happy with my mid bass. Tuning response on mid bass was extremely easy. Focal gets a lot of praise about their tweeters and upper mid range and rightly so but these Utopia’s mid bass are arguably the stars of the show. I’ve never heard such accurate and musical mid bass drivers

 

[squiers007]

I’m very happy with my mid bass. Tuning response on mid bass was extremely easy

Awesome, just thought I'd throw it out there in case it was an easy way make an improvement.

 

[Clvol1255]

Chamfer I see! I thought you typo’d chamber. I’ve just used fast rings and butyl tape to separate front back waves but would’ve been simple for me to have these chamfered if I’d thought of it. May look into that after I read

 

[squiers007]

Chamfer I see! I thought you typo’d chamber. I’ve just used fast rings and butyl tape to separate front back waves but would’ve been simple for me to have these chamfered if I’d thought of it. May look into that after I read

Haha, your response makes a lot more sense now. Pretty easy to add a chamfer to the backside after the fact if you decide to.

 

[DeLander]

Or a large round over. I think I put a pretty healthy round over on them myself. You could always make it larger.

 

[Clvol1255]

Yeah I pulled them out and looked bc I didn’t even consider looking at that and yes it has about a .33” round over on the backside. I think they sound phenomenal with these mounts. Sounded great with metra brackets but even better now that they’re closer to door grilles and more solidly mounted

 

[squiers007]

Or a large round over. I think I put a pretty healthy round over on them myself. You could always make it larger.

If going to the effort to do the work I'd just go chamfer. A round over would look nicer (no one will see it), but ultimately does not remove significant material close to the edge as a 45deg chamfer will.