My car went under the knife today to have my two 10" Crossfire BMF 10's installed. My initial plan was to remove the spare tire and mount the subs and amps on the "floor" in the space formerly occupied it. What I didn't like about that idea though is that if I have "stuff" in my trunk,it would be laying ontop of the subs.

After much debate on where to put the speakers, I ran into <a href="https://g35driver.com/forums/showthreaded.php?Cat=&Board=AudioVideo&Number=2109 92&page=&view=&sb=">Scobic's thread</a> with nice pics of his install. Taking his idea and doubling it, it puts the subs in the area least needed in the trunk yet they're upright so nothing rests on them. It also means I can put the spare tire back where it belongs, so I'm not SOL if I get a flat.

I took Scobics photos into the stereo shop (MR Electronics in Valencia, CA). They quoted me $350 for both boxes. I thought that was an excellent price for two individual boxes. I went down there today to spy on its progress, and took a couple photos. Looking good!

 

Left side




Right side



<P ID="edit"><FONT class="small"><EM>Edited by djrobx on 04/17/04 12:15 AM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

DJROBX,

Looks good! I can't wait to see the finished product!!!! Best of luck....I am sure the wait is killing you. I know when mine was in the shop I couldnt wait to get it back... and couldnt stop visiting it everyday. I am glad my pics were helpful for you. Make sure you keep us updated - we'd love to see the final outcome. PICS PICS PICS!

 

You do realize why people don't do this normally, fireing 2 subs directly at eachother isn't a good idea and will not sound very good. If you must do it this way, wire them out of phase at least, or angle them towards the backseats more.

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If you read through Scobic's thread, you'll see I'm aware of that potential issue. We'll find out how it sounds when it's done. It's easy enough to do an a/b comparison to determine whether the 2nd sub is helping or hurting, just disconnect one ... listen ... If worse, reverse the phase, and try again. Worst case, if it just sounds better with a single sub, I take out and huck one of the boxes. I do have a point of reference, the same subs and amps were in a traditional rectangular 2cuft sealed box prior to this. Either way I'll be sure and keep you posted.

It's hard to see from a two dimensional pic, but they're actually angled upward about 15 degrees to prevent them from directly firing at each other

 

Hey lookin good. My only concern is did they lay that resin actually on the car and on that plastic/cloth piece in back? I dunno man I would have prefered to see it taped up with some releaser to boot. Did they at least use the releaser? Also, how can they measure the air volume if that "mold" does not come out? Sorry if I sound negative I just get very **** with stuff gettin on my car (or holes drilled).

"I'm not saying you're full of BS, per se" - Zimbo



-JustICE

 

Great questions. My guess based on what I saw is that they used that "cloth" peice to make the mold. That's fine with me, it's replaceable. The "cloth peice" on the left side is currently out of the car while they work on that enclosure. I did specify in writing that these must be removable to access the tail light. When I actually see the installers I'll ask for more detail though.

 

Update: The subs and components are in and hooked up. It took them a lot longer to finish up the enclosures than expected, and unfortunately they're dragging their feet a little on finishing up my install due to other scheduled customers. They still have to construct a replacement "floor" around the sub, and mount my amps and EQ.

I did have a chance to take my first listen! I'm pleased to report that there's doesn't seem to be an appreciable loss of sub sound quality vs. the previous standard box with them wired "in phase". I'll need more time with the car to make a final determination though. They said they actually reduced sub gain some vs. my previous setting. What really made my day was the sound of the Crossfire SQ6's that they put in the doors. It just sounded awesome ... now if they can just finish putting it together.

The main installer guy who did the fiber wasn't there to talk to about the process they used to make the enclosures when I stopped by.

 

Sounds like things are coming out great! Can't wait to see some finalized pictures!!!!

 

Ah, the fun of dealing with stereo shops. I gave up on them and took the car back home today. They did all of the hard stuff and got everything connected, but it sat for two days with no progress at all making an amp rack and making a new flooring. It wouldn't be so bad if they didn't keep promising me it would be done.





Even without them completing the job, I feel I still got a good value. My bill was $900 for two fiberglass boxes, new Crossfire SQ components, component installation, and dynamat in the doors, and running new wiring for the amps and EQ. What was done, was done well, and the rest I can do on my own.

Regarding earlier questions about how these enclosures were made. My guess was correct. They removed and fiberglassed those "shaped" carpet pieces, then put them in the car. I verified that the sub can be removed. The entire carpet "piece" comes out all as one unit.

I've had more time to compare the sound quality vs. the previous rectangular enclosure. There's no question that the subs are working together - if I disable one or the other, it gets weaker. Listening to it with only one active, it doesn't sound particularly better or worse at moderate volumes, it just can't get as loud, which is the point of having two in the first place. There are definite differences in the sound, versus my old rectangular enclosure. It's still deep and low, but the overall sound is a lot smoother and more natural. A little less efficient, but with these drivers I have a lot of efficiency to spare (amp gain is still super low). It seems to do a better job with the upper sub-bass frequencies (bass guitars sound much better). This is probably due to the fact that the old enclosure was, according to Crossfire's specs, a bit too large for the drivers, giving them a hard-to-tame peak on the very low end. It's too bad I don't have an RTA to confirm my suspicions. Bottom line though is that I've got very satisfying, loud, clean bass without losing the trunk or the trunk pass through. Despite the wait and disappointment of not having them finished the job, I'm overall a very happy camper.

I'll post more pics of the final product when I design an amp/EQ mount.

 

NICE WORK DJROBX!

I wish I still had my spare tire hahaha. I'm prepped with a can of "fix-a-flat" in the case of any pride killing flat tires. Glad to hear the subs worked out well together and that phasing wasnt an issue.

Where are you looking to put your amp rack? you building it over the spare... will your spare still be "easily" accesible?

Good luck with the finalizing!!! Looks great!

 

If you look in the photo, those white blocks south of the spare are the Crossfire amps. They are almost exactly as tall as the bottom of the trunk up to the black carpet before the trunk latch. Of course, rear "curves" a bit, so if I make a board and have the amps run accross flat, that gives me a few inches of open space in the center near the latch, where I can expose the face of my EQ. I'm going to take a jigsaw and make a crescent shape so it looks good.

I don't want to mount them to the back seat. I frequently haul around computer equipment. In my previous cars it wasn't such an issue to just throw stuff in the back seat. With this car, computer cases with sharp edges on leather back seats is a no-go. I really want to be able to utilize the surface of the folded down back seat. So, mounting them towards the rear bumper is the only place I can put them where they're not going to consume too much trunk real estate.

 

I mounted the amps to a board and did a rough start of cutting the floorboards. I'll eventually take the mat to a seamestress friend of mine who can re-do the edges to make them look stock. I still need to cut (or fabricate something) for the lower left quadrants of the tire that no longer have the plastic support that was once there. I also need to fabricate a 'cover' for the EQ and the left and right gaps. Being all white, my amps refuse to allow a good picture to be taken of them. But, this is more or less what the finished product will look like.