I did my first box in several years just this last summer. I bondoed all of the counter sunk screws and all seams. I painted it with bedliner and am happy I did. It looks good, its durable as hell and it's sealed. It was not Rhino but an off auto parts store brand. Duro coat or something. Go with the Rhino. Or herculiner. It may be a bit more expensive but the cheaper stuff off gasses longer.

 

second skin has a new bed liner product. Maybe you can get a partial kit to save money????

Vinyl also looks nice.

 

Use human skin, that will give it the wowzer effect.

 

Man, there's TONS of cool material to wrap it in.... my favorites are carbon fiber(real carbon fiber), suede, or hell.... fiberglass. The carbon fiber material is really cool looking, it's tons of tiny woven fibers but without the resin so it's actually very soft. Comes in different colors to match your needs.

 

I've always wanted to try a nice woodgrain veneer and stain and clear it. Some Formica or melamine would be nice looking I bet. What's your box made out of? I actually like the look of unfinished mdf with really thick clear. You could tint it for stealth. If your box came out super nice, why not show off your handiwork instead of covering it with something?

 

Right on. Thanks very much guys.

Cubdenno, you said

I painted it with bedliner

You mean, you yourself painted it ? Do you have a sprayer ? Or can any of those products be brushed or rolled on ???

GregU, I love the look of carbon fiber, but how would you attach it ? I mean, would you use resin over and under it, just as you would fiberglass ? That might look freaking bad ass !
Where could I find that stuff ? I might have to start surfing for it....

Hey Aztec, well, it came out really nice "for a wood work project by me"..... But I'm a LONG ways from proffessional I mean the box is VERY air tight (besides that big ass 6" port tube and solid as a rock, but it would still need a little filler putty and sanding to make the seams and screws disapear.
Some wood veners do look pretty darn cool though. I like that one color that looks darn near charcoal, with very little brown in it.

Thanks again,
Fish

 

They sell some bedliner stuff at Walmart for about $6 a can. It works very well for speaker boxes, it's what I used for the box in my build thread here. If you hold it close, it looks nice and smooth, and from a few feet away it gives that rough look. 3 cans was enough to do my box and amp rack with no primer, and we all know how mdf sucks up paint like a sponge.

Post up some pics of your box, let's see it!

 

hey man, i checked out ur thread and i like the look of that bedliner stuff! how many cans did u use to cover ur box? i think im gonna do that to mine!

 

Whatever you do dont use the "undercoating" that comes in a can at NAPA. It will come straight off. For whatever reason it will not adhere to fiberglass at all...

 

I found this place on the internet, it will give you an idea, be sure to enlarge the photo's.... although, they do not do it justice, in real life this stuff looks VERY cool. I'll ask my instructor where he gets his from, I'm actually fabracateing a seat cover using this stuff.... BUT if you wrapped a box in it... I guess you could as resin if you wanted too... that would bad ass too.

CARBON FIBER - GRAPHITE - KEVLAR - I'm not sure what kind of backing is on the material, the stuff we use has a like a woven thread backing so the machines we use to stitch it can atcually tie knots on the back so it doesn't come through the material. It's used cosmetically.

 

Fleck Stone looks good.

Fleckstone Product Features

 

i just baught a couple cans of spray in bedliner! im using bondo to cover any screws the best i can.

 

I used a product similar to the Fleckstone. Put a topcoat of clear urethane. It's really durable and looks great and easy to apply consistently. Lots of colors to match your interior. Check Home Depot or Lowe's.

 

fleck stone needs a base coat of sim color befor you lay it.

 

Man, SO many options ! Honestly though, I think any of the options we are discussing here are going to look SO much better than the hundreds of "unfinished" MDF boxes I must have seen throughout the years

GregU, thank you for that link. That carbon fiber looks freaking awesome, but I wouldn't really know how to use it, so that it would come out looking pro.... Yea', I'm scared. Doh !

I think I'm leaning towards the Fleckstone. American Accents (I think its Rustoleum) comes in a black and grey fleck, that looks pretty nice. I was thinking a couple cans of black primer, and a couple cans of that on top, would look pretty good with my black / gray interior..... plus would be really easy to spray on.

Thanks again,
Fish

 

I think I'm leaning towards the Fleckstone. American Accents (I think its Rustoleum) comes in a black and grey fleck, that looks pretty nice. I was thinking a couple cans of black primer, and a couple cans of that on top, would look pretty good with my black / gray interior..... plus would be really easy to spray on.

Thanks again,
Fish

I swear to Christ if you fleckstone your box I will go over there and beat the **** out of you with some 1/0.

That's the kind of ghetto **** I did to my boxes in high school...in 1990...

LOL.... yeah "fleckstone" is AGES old, BUT, as we can see, it's still appeals to people...

I remember back in the early 90's when the shop I was working for had an equipment rack, it was like 20' long 8' high and 2' deep, all welded from 1" square tube... we fleckstoned the whole thing... took like 10 cans of the stuff, but when it was done, it looked like it was machined out of granite.. lol..

so many boxes got covered with it, it's hard to remember them all...

So, while I can relate to Qualities comment... I think the black/white/gray fleckstone WOULD look good with what you are doing..

 

And shoot the whole thing with that speckle paint. I've seen some black, with dark grey speckles that would look nice.

I swear to Christ if you fleckstone your box I will go over there and beat the **** out of you with some 1/0.

That's the kind of ghetto **** I did to my boxes in high school...in 1990...

 

I swear to Christ if you fleckstone your box I will go over there and beat the **** out of you with some 1/0.

LOL....

 

Damn Quality Sound, you must have been in like the upper eschelons in high school ! LOL At my high school, all the boxes I saw (I didn't even have a vehicle yet) were unfinished MDF !

So, you think bedliner would look that much better ? Because I'm sure not going to carpet it.... at least myself. I'm just sure I'd eff that up....

So anyway, since you had the joy of clowning me, now you have to give me a good alternative suggestion....

So what are the rest of your opinions between bedliner and fleckstone ? Oh, and looks, or the job coming out good or bad, aside, no body mentioned if they believe a "hard surface finish" would cause audible sound bounce, in the cab ? In other words, would a carpeted box keep the reflection of sound down ?

Peace,
Fish

Either way, I'm doing something to my box in the next couple days.....

 

I wouldn't do either bedliner or Fleckstone. You already know it's going to create reflections. Post some pics of the box so we can see what you'ce got going on. Personally, I'm on a suede kick. If it's not too curved and can be covered without seams I'd do suede or something similar. Carpet is easy if you have some decent non-backed stuff that'll stretch in both directions. You could even do some double-thick grill cloth.

 

Post a pic of the enclosure and where it is going in your vehicle. The enclosure should blend with the aesthetics of the interior. So unless you have fleckstone or bedliner inside your vehicle, you might to look in a different direction. IMO

 

Ahhh Aesthetics... Clines is right. If you are going to compete or you want a true integration into your trunk... you want something that will blend in. I picked the bedliner because I have a god awefull big ass box in my solara. The solara does not have a whole lot of trunk room anyway and the box i built removes any functionality of the trunk when its in. I wanted something that would not rub off when I remove the box. And keep it sealed. Its humid in Illinois during the summer. Yes you can brush/roller it on. The kit I bought came with everything. The Rhino/Herculiner has crumbled rubber in the urethane coating that gives some good protection. And I believe you can now get colored (other than black) bed liner for an obvious added expense.

 

Okay..... I looked at that fleckstone (the can top) at Home Depot tonight, and I agree... not very nice. Plus, I know that having large, flat, hard surfaces in the cab, is all bad, for sound reflection.

I'm just not a "carpeting kind of guy". I don't mean, that I don't like it.... I mean that I'm crappy at doing it !

But I guess my box wouldn't be too bad.... except that the space between my subs, and around both sides is REALLY thin ! Like 1/8" inch on either side, and maybe 1/4" in between the two ! {I was trying to keep the box as narrow as possible, to stay all behind 1 seat, so the other seat could still recline into a sleeping position}

Anyway, here's a couple shots of it.....

Oh, and I promise the top is as square (rectangle) as it could possibly be. Got a little lens barrel distortion going on here

And don't ask my why I use silicone in the corners. Every corner was so tight, and woodglued, that I think it would have probably been completely airtight anyway..... besides that 6" port

Oh..... and yes, I conveniantly took the photo from an angle which hides the fact that the port has to protrude out of the box about 4". Couldn't find a 6" joint that would work..... didn't trust cutting it and trying to "edge only" bond it back together, so that's where that stands.
One benefit of having it protrude a little though, is that later if I have it tested for its frequency, and find that its hitting a little low, I could always chop off "up to" the 4" that's protruding .....but my luck, I'd find it wasn't getting quite low enough, and I'd be adding another 6" to it

And hey, as to where its going:

In the back of my Supercab, which is just going to be a wide open, flat floor, and a 90 degree flat wall at the back.... all carpeted black. The back bottom corner of my box will just fit tight against the back, bottom of my cab.

Oh, and the angle of the face of my box, is just about the same angle as the back of my seats, in the normal riding position..... Plus probably 6" of space in between the box face, and back of seat "with the seat slid all the way back" Sorry to rub that in to the regular cab guys ;-)

Hmmmm,
Fish

 

Okay now darnit, you all wanted to see photos.....

I know it's nothing fancy. I just wanted it to be spot on 3 cubes, tuned to exactly 30 hz, tight, solid corners, and blend into my space available..... and I think this is it.

I can imagine somebody posting a shot(s) of a fancy box with routered corners, multiple angles, and yada, yada..... but not being very solid, uneven edges hidden by carpet, tuning way off, etc, etc..... but it "looks cool" so it gets all kinds of praise....

So do you see now why I wasn't so anxious to show off the "photos" of my box ??? I'm just hoping I'll be able to show off the "sound" of it, and the rest of my system, someday soon.

Peace,
Fish

PS, Nearly 20 years ago, with the system I had in my Chevy S10, that was the UGLIEST install one has ever seen ! However, it was one of the best SQ systems, if not "the best" in my town of 100,000.... (well probably 60,000 at the time
My new setup should ought to be a little prettier, but what I'm really hoping, is that it will be even a little better SQ.

 

you could resin the whole box and use some automotive paint to match the car?

 

Are those eD drivers?

You mentioned that the port protrudes 4" from the box. Wouldn't that block the other seat from reclining anyway?

I'm for the duraliner finish. I think it'll look quite neat, and if you don't like it, you can always cover it up with carpet anyway.

 

Hey BlkMica, that might look pretty cool with certain paint colors, like red maybe... But my paint is a very different kind of color (I love it but...) in my opinion though, it really only looks great with direct sunlight on it, while the back of my cab is REALLY dark, with my 2% tint.

Brian, ED you asked !?!? Well I never ! ;-) Nobody likes ED's do they ?
I'll tell you how they sound, when I get them running. I really don't care how much of a jack BM is. All I want is some nice sounding subs, and with so many comflicting opinions, the only way to find out, is to try them myself.
I think you were just toying with me about the port.... But no. With the port being on the back bottom, it could extend the rest of the way across the bed, and still let the other seat recline to full. But as it is, it would have to extend another foot, just to start to get behind the other seat.

You like the bedliner, huh ? It seems very easy to do.... but I'm still concerned with having a large, flat sided, hard object in my cab, for sound to be bouncing off of all over the place.....
But like you say, I could always cover bedliner, with carpet. But not so easily the other way around... then again, that might be the new look LOL

Peace,
Fish

 

Brian, ED you asked !?!? Well I never ! ;-) Nobody likes ED's do they ?
I'll tell you how they sound, when I get them running. I really don't care how much of a jack BM is.

LOL - I never said that I dislike eD. I've got a 13Kv.2, and the only concern that I really have about it is that the measured params didn't match the published ones (Fs and Qes were quite a bit higher, and I think actual Xmax might be a bit less than published). Other than that, I think it's pretty well built (especially considering the price I paid for it) and I'm happy with it in the alignment I cooked up for it. Which model are you using?

 

Hey Brian, yea, a pair of 13Kv.2's. I wasn't talking about "you" not liking them..... just the general concensus of the search I've done for ED speakers here on diy.

BTW, how have you set up your 13Kv.2 ? Sealed ? Ported ? And what do you think about ED's recommendation of 1.5 cubes each, tuned to 30 hz ??? Again, that's what I have going, and then I'm thinking 350watts RMS should work well with them, no ?
It's kind of funny; ED will tell you 1.5 cubes each..... But if you look at the enclosure recommendation they show on their site, then do the calcs, it comes out considerably smaller.... like 1.3 something cubes.... So, I'm doing what "they say".... but not what "they show" ..... hmmmm.

Anyway,
Peace,
Fish

 

BTW, how have you set up your 13Kv.2 ? Sealed ? Ported ?

Currently I'm using it in a 3.2 cu.ft. fiberglass/wood box that's tuned to 22 Hz. Yes, it's a weird alignment (I actually built the box for two 12's, but I'm using the 13Kv.2 and a vent for the moment). I decided on this particular combination by using the measured t/s parameters for my driver and the measured transfer function for my car.

And what do you think about ED's recommendation of 1.5 cubes each, tuned to 30 hz ??? Again, that's what I have going, and then I'm thinking 350watts RMS should work well with them, no ?

It should work Ok. I use 500W rms with mine, but OTOH I don't crank it up... often

If you've got a multimeter and a PC, you can check the t/s params of those subs yourself. Fs is fairly easy to find out - just wire up the multimeter in ammeter mode in series between the amplifier and one of the drivers, then send it a few test tones at various frequencies. Near or at Fs, the multimeter will give its lowest reading. If your subs are on spec, this should be around 21 Hz or so, if I remember correctly. For my sub, Fs worked out to be a high 29 Hz.

It's kind of funny; ED will tell you 1.5 cubes each..... But if you look at the enclosure recommendation they show on their site, then do the calcs, it comes out considerably smaller.... like 1.3 something cubes.... So, I'm doing what "they say".... but not what "they show" ..... hmmmm.

Did you subtract the space taken up by the subs, the port and the bracing?

 

Hey Brian, wow ! 3.2 cubes for 1 13Kv.2 sub, with 22 hz tuning ! That does sound pretty crazy, but whatever works

Yes, I figured for speaker displacement (pretty minor) port displacement (pretty major) and for braces and such...... both with the enclosure they show on their site, as well as for mine. Hell, I even figured for slicone caulk displacement LOL
In fact, I calculated mine down to the 1000ths It came out to 3.004 cubes..... but sliding my port 5" out of the box raises that up a bit. I might add another brace or two.... then recalculate, then take up enough more space to put me at 3.00000 cubes ;-) I know its not that critical. I'm just anal about stuff like that

Peace,
Fish