Project- SQ on a budget

[Ryan from Ohio]

Welcome to the install log titled SQ on a Budget.

Its my belief that even with very little cash you to can have a very well defined SQ system. Its not sheer equipment, its install also that makes it what it is.

The goal is obvious, a good SQ car for the minimum price.

Heres where Im at with it equipment wise:

Deck:
Vintage Alpine CDE-7830 The first CD HU I had! $44 via E Bay

Amplifier:
Avionixx 440.4 A good find on a measage board, $50 shipped

Subwoofer:
Durabrand Wal Mart Special, $15 clearance

Front Speakers:
Bravox CS series. These are Bravox's entry line. With a BABY tweeter... Very small Xover for the tweeter. The 6.5 mids do have phase plugs, yippee! Mike from Car Godz informs me these go for about $180ish. I acuired them through various multi part trades, but lets call it $180.

Wiring:
Raptor 4 Ga wiring Kit with an extra 20" RCA. Im unsure of the total selling price on this lot, but I know comparable from Knukonceptz runs about $50.

So I have a grand total of $339

More to come as I install it all!

[William from NOLA]

That sub is awesome, rock on

[Ryan from Ohio]

Ive received much flack about this sub. Some of it from people that dont know crap about crap... lol...

I know nobody believes me, but seriously its not a bad sub- for the money. I know its got more output than an RE RE series 12... More BL, the whole nine yards...

I intend on tuning it around 30Hz, maybe 32... 1.5 cubes!

[MobileAudio219]

Ive received much flack about this sub. Some of it from people that dont know crap about crap... lol...
I know nobody believes me, but seriously its not a bad sub- for the money. I know its got more output than an RE RE series 12... More BL, the whole nine yards...
I intend on tuning it around 30Hz, maybe 32... 1.5 cubes!

So uhm, when are you hoping to have this done?

I want to hear it when its done, so be sure to add gas money to your budget.:happy055:

[Ryan from Ohio]

Well I run into a hang up already tonight.

It will probably be done in about two weeks...

Need to order some stuff tomorrow.

[smoker]

i dig budget setups, they tend to impress people when the install makes the most of less expensive equipment....

[colemanyoungerinalaska]

i wanna do something like this with the honda i just got

[solacedagony]

You hit the law of diminishing values pretty darn quickly in audio, so I'm sure it'll sound great. I love showing people that, minus a crossover, you can have a hell of a front stage for 120$.

[cargodz]

Well since I live close I don't have to worry to much about his gas budget... But yeah I love a budget set up to show people what can be done with what most people may think is junk... Any wonder why I run Boss audio in the Monte Carlo (although that may be changing up soon to an Elevation Pro ;) ).

[Ryan from Ohio]

2.5 cubes tuned to 33 Hz.

Fusion "4" Port" which is 3 11/16" Diameter, not 4"...

7.5" long...

Not sure when Im going to start building it. I threw my back out lifting and carrying that HO box to the Saturn for Mike... Oh, and that pro. Damn thing is a cow.

Now off to the Chiropractor at 3 PM!

:sm29:

Oh, and my goodies from Knukonceptz should be here today or tomorrow latest!

[Ryan from Ohio]

I think the PG 215ix is making a move into the Saturnwhich brings me to , Mike, I need 2 6' RCAs like that blue one :)

[cargodz]

I'll give ya a ring this weekend... gonna be busy today and maybe into tomorrow mornin.

[Ryan from Ohio]

Knukonceptz KLM Kable arrived today.

This is the copper clad aluminum wire. Its lighter and stiffer than the Kolossus but should work just fine.

[Ryan from Ohio]

Ive been sweating my arse off installing...

Over the last two days Ive got the power wire ran. Ive got the RCAs in place. 6.5's mounted.

Speaker wire ran also. BTW, running speaker wire in these cars is a real treat. This had to be the worst Ive dealt with to date. I had to rip up the rubber tunnel/grommet to get the wire in/thru. The dash is the killer part.

Now tomorrow I need to get the tweeters into the A pillars. Put all the trim back together then reassemble the dash/molding to the back.

I will get a few pix also then.

[cargodz]

Yeah I have a love (or is that loath :p ) for them plastic car installs, but nothing compares to trying to build a box in the trunk of a Paseo.

[Ryan from Ohio]

Ok the fronts are in!
The radio is in also. Just need to glue the tweets in place and tie up some wires.
Ive got some rust to deal with in the rear end. I will be taking some sheet metal and riveting it over the affected areas. Im scared my kid might get cut or caught in the rust holes...lol
Anyhow Im onto box design. Providing its not sweating balls off hot out tomorrow, I will get the box going and done.
Oh the crossovers. I ended up mounting them under the front vents on each side. This makes it so I can switch it from 0 dB to -3dB if need be. Also the wiring on the tweets wasnt well defined. So I used bullet connectors so if it is reversed, I can fix it.
Heres some pics as promised.

[breakjunki]

I was trying to figure out what the last pic was of, then I realized. Thast gotta be the smallest comp crossover I ever seen. Did you get the fronts running?? or just installed?

[Ryan from Ohio]

Just installed. Nothing runs until the amp is in. Amp wont go in until the box is done, as it all mounts to the box...

[cargodz]

Looking forward to hearing it once you get it done... I'll say one thing, those baby tweets and lil crossovers make for a nice stealth install.

[Ryan from Ohio]

Well I worked on the box over the past few days and its a done deal now.

I think I discovered the best way to do internal bracing when using MDF.

X Brace. Basically triangulation. This brace is roughly 12.5x11. The perimeter is 1.25" and the braced portion is 1" wide. I simply drilled the corners with a 3/8 drill, then jig sawed it out. Grabbed the router and thats what it looks like. BTW I need a new jig saw blade as mines DEAD...

I managed to cover the box with a tiny piece of carpet also. Got it all except one very small triangle on one end, which you will never see anyhow!

Anyways this is what it looks like:

[cargodz]

Well you know who's got 14ga. ;)

[solacedagony]

I was trying to figure out what the last pic was of, then I realized. Thast gotta be the smallest comp crossover I ever seen. Did you get the fronts running?? or just installed?
It's actually kind of interesting how Bravox does their crossovers. At least on the Diamond set that I had, that crossover module only houses the attenuation (resistors) and HPF (12db, small inductor/cap). The LPF inductor for the mid is actually wrapped around the magnet of the mid itself which makes for a 6db slope (unless I don't see a cap somewhere).

[Ryan from Ohio]

There is NO crossover for the mid. There is no cap on the mid either, no crossover.

That crossover is for the tweeter only.

Thankfully there is a HPF on the avionixx. I preset it to 60-70ish Hz...

[solacedagony]

There is NO crossover for the mid. There is no cap on the mid either, no crossover.
That crossover is for the tweeter only.
Thankfully there is a HPF on the avionixx. I preset it to 60-70ish Hz...
Ah ok, they must just let it run until it rolls off from inductance. The one on my diamond has the inductor wrapped around it. Pretty interesting :) Also, by the cap I was just meaning that, unless I didn't see a cap, it's just a 6db slope (with cap, it'd be a 12db).

Yea, I would definitely run those with a HPF due to their low xmax :( At least you have the 6.5s instead of the 5.25s that I had.

[joeyc]

are you doing kicks? I wanna see pics!! Also, since your on a budget might as well throw in a center channel, just something cheap. You'll have some added output and better imaging if done right.

[solacedagony]

are you doing kicks? I wanna see pics!! Also, since your on a budget might as well throw in a center channel, just something cheap. You'll have some added output and better imaging if done right.
Do you sum the left and right signals and just run that to the center channel with another amp? Or do you use that odd "3-channel" thing that is on BCAE?

[Ryan from Ohio]

I got the sub going...

:thumbsup

Hopefully I will get it finished off. Having a hard time with a ground...

[Ryan from Ohio]

done but not done...

its all wired up and works. The little bravox's dont do to bad. The doors in the saturn suck like you wouldnt believe, so I didnt expect to much. The plastic door panels are vibrating.

I need to fart around with the amp.

My biggest issue is with the bass. Something just doesnt seem quite up to snuff.

Im wondering if the alternator cant handle the load...

Will look into a bit more tomorrow.

Pics:

[smoker]

xmax doesnt really have anything to do with low end extension. autotek makes a sub with 4.5mm xmax and it sounds great.

[Ryan from Ohio]

Well I dont think thats an issue.

Im guessing I need tot weak the amp a bit, or I could of guessed wrong and made the box volume a little to big...

dunno at this point.

Could also be the alt dying!

[Ryan from Ohio]

Turns out the CDE-7830 is messed up.

It doesnt properly play CDs.

SO Im looking for a new CD player thats good yet very cheap!

[joeyc]

you can find an eclipse deck on ebay for 100 bux. I saw an 8445 for that price recently. That deck would actually be a quality SQ deck.

[Ryan from Ohio]

That doesnt sound bad. But whatever it is will have to wait until I get back to work.

[Ryan from Ohio]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=ADME:B:EOIBSAA:US:11&Item=160146761945

Sorry Mike but I couldnt pass it up for under $22...lmao

[Ryan from Ohio]

New radio came in today.

As expected there was a problem.

Where the hinge screws into the main unit, the screwed portion is broke into pieces. Im attempting to EPOXY it up today.

Since its broke, it allows it to move away from the contacts. When you press the face in, it works fine.

Providing the epoxy will hold it, good deal.

Otherwise its a good candidate for a relocated face/blank head deal ;)

[cargodz]

Well for less than $22 bucks I suppose that's not the worst thing that could be wrong with it.

[Ryan from Ohio]

Well that HU went into the old shit can tonight.

The previous owner obviously abused it.

Not only was the hinge plastic cracked beyond belief, the pinout that run into the back of the face have been pressed back in.

I glued the hinge together first. Since I did that it made it so I cant pull the front plastic off to even try fixing it.

Im fairly pissed.

[smoker]

dude, if you need a budget head unit, i can get you a decent one from ssl brand new for like 75 bucks

[cargodz]

And you already know what I've got for affordable H/Us

[Ryan from Ohio]

Ive had a few offers so far on HU's. One used one from a sole here, a few new ones offered...

But due to my financial troubles, I just tossed the 880 into the Saturn for the time being.

Im still toying with it.

All I can say is WOW. The auto EQ/TA deal is sweet as hell. Gigantic difference!

The worst thing at this point is my bass isnt very loud at all Vs the other decks. I just havent played with it enough yet. Sure theres something Im missing.

[Ryan from Ohio]

Well Im thinking of switching out my front stage already.

The bravox are nice and do sound good, however I just got to much power to them. After they warm up and are loud, the tweeters level changes.

Ive been offered a set of MTX NT6 Tweets (I think thats the number) they were $100 new.

Im going to couple them up with a set of these bad boys:
http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&Partnumber=264-831

Someone I know just ordered a set of these. Small brother to the 8" I got...

[Ryan from Ohio]

Well the Saturn sold tonight.

SQ on a budget was fun and it CAN be done!

I may do another budget SQ setup in the future if I get a second car again.