mount them to the sides of the trunk?

 

Jack's in one corner...its mount is welded to the car and sticks out 4" or so.

Plus I'd have to modify the "Jack Daniels tray" on the driver's side...that thing costs $45 from Honda :surprised: Don't have any junkyards with cars this new...

 

That trunk looks familiar!

I am making a drawer for my HRU.4, maybe that would work for you too.

 

Grab that welder and start building. If it's a MIG it'll be easy to learn how to use. When I bought my Lincoln MIG I just practiced on some scraps and one day it just got easy. Go by the suggested heat ranges for the material thickness you're using (easily found on the net if they're not on the machine) and you're off to a good start. You'll need to fiddle with the wire speed, but when you get a consistant sound (some say it sounds like frying bacon) you're good to go.

Welding is one of those things that you never knew how much you needed to learn it until you do. It's one of those skills that will be useful for the rest of your life. I just bought a Miller Syncrowave TIG welder and I have no idea how to use it yet, but I've always wanted to learn to TIG so I bought it when my company was shutting down and got a really sweet deal on it.

Edit: If you're going to be welding anything to the car (and I don't know why you would be if you'd just be building an amp rack) DISCONNECT THE NEGATIVE BATTERY TERMINAL! I used to think it didn't matter; that was until I fried a Kenwood Excellon (sp?) CD player welding a bumper together on a Cherokee I used to have

 

A drawer...hanging from the rear deck? Any pics/mockups? I considered it...there's too much going on with the torsion bars and all that...

They fit under the front seats, though any adjustments would be epically difficult.

Edit: The two things I want to learn desperately are welding/fabrication and paint/bodywork, just to make my hobbies easier. My dad has a basic MIG box (Harbor Freight, unfortunately ) and I really want to take it out and give it a try. Should have taken welding in high school...

Edit 2: lol...I disconnect the battery every time I do something with the electrical system short of unplugging switches for the windows, climate control, hazard switch, dome light, etc. Everything else, for sure.

I would have to weld a frame to the car or at least a bolt or something...there's not really much excess metal to bolt into/onto/through...

 

The HF MIG machine is made in Italy I think, and better than people give it credit for. Sure it will spool incorrectly if it isn't tuned right, but it should be OK for a simple job.

The drawer concept is something I'm working on on the bottom, not the top. I don't like adding all that weight up top at all.

You mentioned you don't want to box this in, but I have to ask, why not? You could make a board that fits across each side there, and each one can hold an amp. Then make a simple cover that hides the whole thing, and just make sure that your cover is acoustically transparent so your IB sub doesn't end up with less airspace than needed.

are you trying to conserve usable trunk space? Or are you trying to make a display for the amps in a unique way? What's the goal?

 

Ahhh, gotcha. Are you still planning on a 15" or 2 12s? 12s are sooooooo much easier to fit :laugh:

I'm wondering just how much of the sub needs to be in "free air" and how much it can be "enclosed." The bottom is pretty tight to the trunk mat, the top is fairly open.

I guess I want a cool looking display while still being able to get to the spare. A false floor will most likely get made, though I would like to keep that at stock height.

 

I ended up "settling" on two AV10HD2's. It was what John had in stock at the moment. I'm sure they will be great, I might just use one in a low tuned ported box, and face both the sub and the port towards the ski pass.

For enclosing the sub, you just don't want to create a box around it. You can do all you want except create a seal. Two boards on either side would be NO issue. Its just like the car's shape anyway, really. You could do a good job on those sides, too. It wouldn't be hard to fully enclose each amp on each side, and make a beauty board to finish it all off. Then make a "hide" board so your rear of your sub is hidden. Upholstery carpet without a backing is not going to bother that sub, especially if you make it with a big metal grille, or even a ton of large holes to create your own makeshift grille. None of this is an issue for an IB sub.

 

If you can't put them on the sides, why not place them on the sides of your subwoofer? Closer to the rear seats.

Having your amp in front of the sub will waste too much space.

Kelvin

 

There's part of my dilemma...for them to fit on the sides of the sub (tight to the baffle) they'd have to be vertical. I mounted the sub such as it is to get it right up against the seat, and to protect the cone. Had I put the cone facing the trunk, I could have mounted them in the little space between the seat and baffle... :worried: So they will fit...just with the logo sideways.

But I wanted the magnet in the trunk for a little different look and since I'm only going to use one sub for now. A bit of space traded for some looks, :laugh:

I ended up "settling" on two AV10HD2's. It was what John had in stock at the moment. I'm sure they will be great, I might just use one in a low tuned ported box, and face both the sub and the port towards the ski pass.

For enclosing the sub, you just don't want to create a box around it. You can do all you want except create a seal. Two boards on either side would be NO issue. Its just like the car's shape anyway, really. You could do a good job on those sides, too. It wouldn't be hard to fully enclose each amp on each side, and make a beauty board to finish it all off. Then make a "hide" board so your rear of your sub is hidden. Upholstery carpet without a backing is not going to bother that sub, especially if you make it with a big metal grille, or even a ton of large holes to create your own makeshift grille. None of this is an issue for an IB sub.

I can't see AE making a "bad" product since it's refreshing to see John and crew working with goals first and foremost, not price. 1 10" is still a decent amount of bump, in my opinion.

The panel idea does sound nice (my last sub got rubbed by a cooler and dinged by a shopping cart)...just don't make it into an aperiodic enclosure :laugh:

Got some ideas now...I'll go at it again tomorrow. The shopping cart thing is true, by the way :surprised:

 

I'd probably mount them under the front seats. Shorter power wire runs, shorter RCA runs, less stuff in the trunk.

 

Then I gotta make the wires shorter and buy shorter RCAs! :surprised: :laugh:

Haven't figured out a spot for my distro block and how to mount the amps in that case. Still a tempting option...

Then why not under the rear deck since all your controls are on the amp sides.
Logo facing up of course.
Just bolt the baffle to the rear deck, it'll save space and be discreet to thievery.

Kelvin

The sub baffle is mounted to the structural supports that go across the car, and then to support brackets on the sides since the deck is pretty flexible. There's just too much going on with the trunk torsion bars, center seatbelt, seatback release (riveted to the deck), and that stuff.

Awhile ago, I was considering 2 10s firing through the 6x9 holes...but the deck is too weak. Now I want to get the welder out :laugh:

 

Then why not under the rear deck since all your controls are on the amp sides.
Logo facing up of course.
Just bolt the baffle to the rear deck, it'll save space and be discreet to thievery.

Kelvin

 

Most, if not all, of my motivation was gone today, replaced instead by 4 hours of cleaning up broken glass, documenting shipping damages, and sending emails.

This really puts a damper on sending my white 4 channel in for service, since this was to go in the car in the mean time, and get swapped back out when the white one returns...

No insurance on the package to boot. FFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

Actually, insurance wouldn't matter much anyway, since the seller wrapped it in bubble wrap, maybe 3 times around, then put it in a too-small box with the remnants of a Crutchfield catalog, loosely crumpled.

 

Yikes! FYI you can probably order some better tubes anyway, plug them in, and enjoy that amp.

 

I asked the seller when the last time it was powered up was...no way am I pulling at those exposed filaments unless I know all the voltage is passed :surprised: Of course, no response yet...

Also a couple other substandard-packaging issues like a bent mounting foot and deep nick in one of the corners. This thing got tossed, hard, by USPS or was dropped before it was put in the mail. Somehow, though, the bottom cover (aside from the mounting holes) and side covers are in very good shape.

Regardless...not happy in any way. Replacement tubes are $12/each if I want to just put Sovteks back in. This amp isn't staying once my white one is fixed.

Well...might be that none of these are staying XD 600/6 is so tempting today.

 

Here's some info cut from a few threads I was part of back when I had these:

Tubes i used:
12ax7wt+

drake 78 said:

It came with the stock Sovtek 12ax7wxt. Wich are very decent tubes.

I bought the new Tungsol 12ax7
Compared to stock:
more depth, better detail, more airy, less richness, not as warm as stocker

Ei elites 12ax7e
more depth than stockers but slightly less than the Tungsol
more richness and warmth than Tungsol but slighly less richness than stockers, same amount of warmth of stockers

I am using a hvt-754 with the Tungsol on the tweets. Trying to get those open/airy highs. Ei elites on the midrange to get those rich warm vocals. Like they say there is no perfect tube. You just gotta chose wich comprimise to live with.


On the cheap to get back in business:
Sovtek 12AX7WC

Something that might be an improvement, they get strong reviews on Electro-Harmonix 12AX7EH Tube: Harmony Central User Reviews

Electro-Harmonix 12AX7EHG Gold Pins

 

I was messing around on TubeDepot the other day and looking at other sites. Since the tubes are only in the preamp section, my reading lead me to believe they make less of a difference than a "full tube" amp in the home, for example. Some of the reviews made me think the people who wrote them were high :laugh:

It does make me wonder...how much difference do they make? I mean, really make in the car...seriously wondering if I'd be able to tell some apart. They absolutely intrigue me, though. Changing characteristics of sound by swapping bulb-looking things...amazing. I absolutely want a home tube amp or phono preamp now, just because they look sweet...probably sound sweet, too. These Planets sound darn nice in the car...and it's a car after all.

Since the ebay seller will be paying for new tubes or buying the amp back (the options I've given him/her), those gold pin E-Ms look like the ticket. Then I can back-to-back with my Sovtek'd 754. Thanks dude!

 

Yeah, this is another review of the EH tube:

From our review of this tube: "The 12AX7-EH tube has a nice balanced sound, a very low noise floor and excellent performance in terms of microphonics. The lack of microphonics may be due in part to the return of a shorter plate structure or better materials. I've had some samples that were tried in various amp stages. Pre-amps, tone stacks and phase inverters, a winner in every location...I have used the EH to successfully tame amps that defied all other attempts to kill microphonics and unwanted feedback. This tube is a winner, buy 'em and try 'em, they may be just the piece you've been looking for."

One other note about the construction of these tubes is they have filaments that are almost completely encased in the plate structure. They often don't "light up" when working properly. This is not a problem, it's normal for the 12AX7-EH.
This batch was originally intended for OEM use so they are packaged in white boxes, not in the standard black ones.




BTW, they only have 5 of them. I would absolutely buy all 5... spare!



Check it out ,basically the same price with 5:

http://thetubestore.com/ehx12ax7g.html


And you can go non-gold for even less:

http://thetubestore.com/ehx12ax7.html

 

Yeah, this is another review of the EH tube:

From our review of this tube: "The 12AX7-EH tube has a nice balanced sound, a very low noise floor and excellent performance in terms of microphonics. The lack of microphonics may be due in part to the return of a shorter plate structure or better materials. I've had some samples that were tried in various amp stages. Pre-amps, tone stacks and phase inverters, a winner in every location...I have used the EH to successfully tame amps that defied all other attempts to kill microphonics and unwanted feedback. This tube is a winner, buy 'em and try 'em, they may be just the piece you've been looking for."

One other note about the construction of these tubes is they have filaments that are almost completely encased in the plate structure. They often don't "light up" when working properly. This is not a problem, it's normal for the 12AX7-EH.
This batch was originally intended for OEM use so they are packaged in white boxes, not in the standard black ones.




BTW, they only have 5 of them. I would absolutely buy all 5... spare!



Check it out ,basically the same price with 5:

Electro-Harmonix 12AX7-EH Gold


And you can go non-gold for even less:

Electro-Harmonix 12AX7-EH

Thinking about going for the gold, then keeping whichever ones I like the most. Sell this amp with whatever I don't like (if I can tell a difference).

That was another thing I was wondering about...the effect of microphonics in the car. Looks like these should handle it well

Wish I knew how long the tubes stay "charged" for. That would also make swapping easier...wouldn't have to worry about getting shocked, but wouldn't have to let the amps sit for a week before touching the tubes :laugh:

I've got some 12AX7A's that came out of a POS mic preamp that you can have for free.

I SERIOUSLY doubt they'll make a damn bit of difference for this type of application.

What kind, how many, how much? :laugh:

 

I've got some 12AX7A's that came out of a POS mic preamp that you can have for free.

I SERIOUSLY doubt they'll make a damn bit of difference for this type of application.

 

It wouldn't be too much. You are probably not going to see a charge because...gasp... there is no vacuum in that there tube.

 

Better safe than shocked :surprised: :shrug:

They're free if you pay for shipping. But if you decide to have children you have to send me the first one.

PM'd

You'd be surprised how much free stuff you can get offering a firstborn in exchange, especially when you have zero intentions of having kids :laugh:

PM'd back...

 

They're free if you pay for shipping. But if you decide to have children you have to send me the first one.

PM'd

 

Ok gents, this thread has been awesome.

I got the tube situation solved, and this amp is fantastic. Made a couple boards on which to mount the amps vertically on the sides of sub, and glued n screwed them to the baffle. Hopefully the vibration won't be too much for them...otherwise Class D Kenwoods will be taking their places.

Also going to make a cover somehow, and the amps will have plenty of room to breathe behind it.

Now I'm thinking...the bottom cover with the mounting feet slides out with a side panel removed. The side panel, now on the top, would be the only thing holding the amp's bottom plate in place. I can sit here and shake it but that doesn't replicate the sharp bumps from the road.

Will they be ok? Wondering if anyone has experience mounting them like that and if there were any issues. Making some kind of support feet for the heatsink would be ideal but difficult to make strong...

 

How did I miss this thread??? I have mounted stuff on belting to isolate, even carved up rubber muffler hangars. Maybe too late but having the tubes standing might be better for up/down bumps you get from the road. Stop driving around the motocross track? Been there.

 

The problems are varied with the way they are now...

1. The amps make noise when I hit the baffle. I haven't powered them while mounted yet (waiting on a distro block, have to find some slack in my RCAs to reach). I know they're going to rattle with every bass note. That is, the bottom plates rattle.

2. To keep the RCAs away from the fuel pump, the tubes are sitting "upside down." Obviously, it would take some force to unseat the 7 or 8 pins and have one fall out...but the roads suck here.

3. I still haven't driven the car with the amps mounted like they are. They're screwed into the MDF, which I have done with other amps in my previous setup...90 degrees vertical. They way these amps are put together, however, does not make me feel confident in having them mounted this way.

#1 and 3 are my biggest concerns. Might be back to square one...

 

Is that one of the amps you got cheap off of craigslist?

The tubes are unlikely just to drop out even if mounted upside down, as long as they used quality tube sockets.

There is no "stored charge" besides the caps in the amp, they are fine to remove. It isn't unusual for me to shut a piece of gear off and pull the tubes as soon as they cool.

yes, our roads suck.

 

Ya, one of em is that one...

I had to change out the broken tubes on the other one and they were in there pretty good. I don't see them falling out, literally, though they might wiggle out a little.

Well, time to take the amps out for now so I can take this pile of **** for a drive...