So if you have a complete standalone sealed sub box that simply "fits in" into one of the storage compartment spaces, can you get this space to work?

Right on.

 

If the sub is spec'd out for a small enclosure, yes. Try wiring it 180 degrees out of phase from the front to see if that will pull the mid bass imaging to your front soundstage. If you lose your bass, the trick obviously won't work and you'll be stuck with some bass that can be clearly identified as coming from behind you. As though the shaking seat vibrator isn't an already obvious clue!!

 

Yes, to both. My box is a complete box (top, sides, front, back, and bottom) And as far as the camera goes, i know how to work it, I have it, but the car isint here, its at my other house, im going down tonight, and then ill start the pics so hopefully by sometime this weekend ill have some pics. I may have to use a different camera though, cause the one I borrowed isint reading/writting to the disk half the time (Sony Mavica FD-51) anyone know a fix for this?

~T.J.

 

Your OTHER house?? And you can't afford to pick up a new digital camera for us slobs here at the Forum?? Jes' teasin', bro' I'll leave you alone on the picture business and wait patiently for the pics to dribble out like fresh news from Dubya's war room!

 

lol, yeah my OTHER house...acutally my Dads house. Remember boys (and girls) im only 17, I live with my Mom and the 7 is at my Dads house...

~T.J.

 

DOH!!

 

I want to build boxes for two reasons... one, the sound will be better when you can more accurately control the backside of the speaker, and two, the stock staging SUCKS. Remember how I kept complaining/asking questions about my stereo sounds like only the right channels are working? I tried sitting in the passenger seat. There, it sounds like only the LEFT channels are working. Grrr. The stock speaker placement is a very, very poor setup.

BTW the 6x9s that I was using were 'T6956, with an 'X302 amplifier. Sadly when I gutted the stereo from the SECOND T-Bird that I had it in, I put them in a box, and the box fell over and one of the cones was destroyed
IIRC the speakers were $150 new, but this was in 1996... I got my first real job and spent my entire first paycheck on goodies P4400 tape deck (still workin' great, never got 'round to getting a CD changer) the aforementioned speakers and amp, and 4 megs of memory for my computer. (Back then 1-meg SIMMs were $40 apiece - $160 for 4 megs)

 

argh... i've got a 12" sub... I think i'm gonna juat have to make a normal sealed box

any ideas?

 

Well, I was really hoping to get more progress on this tonight than I did...I had a small set back, my Grandmas house caught on fire . Anyway, all is well and only one room was ruined (candle left burning). Anyway, I got here around 10:45, snapped a couple pics of the car, and drew out my designs on the wood getting ready for tommorow to cut (neighbors ). Ill attach a few pic so you can see the car with the interior all torn out...Nothing cool though.

 

Heres a shot from the back...

 

Heres a shot of the nifty mahogany (sp) Grant steering wheel ($250, came with the car ). You can even see my drivers seat which is in emaculate condition . Although, the passenger seat really is mint.

 

Heres a pic of the CD player in it's home. It was put there all by myself . The ring around it all was already broken (dont know if you can see it in the pic). When we got the car, the guy before us bought a radio from the junk yard and tried to put it in, but it came out of a 88 Maxima so it didnt exactly fit and he broke the ring . He wasnt the brightest of people...So when we got it the radio was wedged in there so tight I thought it was actually bolted in, and you could see hammer marks on the front from where he pounded it in . Anyway, I salvaged her, and heres the "finished" product...

~T.J.

 

I could eat this stuff up all day...I don't know what it is about projects in the making, but I love seeing the "during" photos of a real person's project as opposed to an unlimited budget Car Craft or SuperStreet build-up...one thing, though...did you say wood? Real wood isn't even used in home systems anymore except in high-end speakers which cater to rich clientele that think there is some advantage to real wood. There is not. It might be a little more water-resistant than MDF, but it WILL resonate with a high powered system unless you cross brace the interior. There's a reason all competition systems use MDF. I tried using real wood in my first big rex sound sytem. It was quite a surprise to see bubbles forming under the vinyl skin after we got into a Texas summer. The SAP in the damn boards had actually leached out of the wood from the intense heat! Go with MDF, avoid the wood or particle board pitfall...keep those pictures rolling! And thanks for feeding an obsession!!

 

never ever go with a single subwoofer,ill give you 2 reasons any audiphile will argue.

yes i know space is at stake,but so is money here.

here are two damn good reasons to go with 2 subwoofers over one,

1:2 subwoofers do the work of three,just like two people do the work of three,install 2 subwoofers and disconnect one,then reconnect,it will not get twice as loud,it will get three times as loud.again i have a mecp masters degree if anyone would like to challange me.i graduated from installers institute in florida.

2:any amp nowadays is capable of a 2 ohm load,chances are your 12" sub is 4ohm,so say you have an 800 watt amp,800 watt @ 2 ohm,if you run at 4 ohm your getting more like 400 watt out of it.200 rms,unless were talking about a brand like fosgate that does not rate by their max,rather their rms,but same still applies.

the best box for a 1st gen or any hatch is a hatch back box,thus its name.

with your 2 12's loaded push the box all the way back till it hits the rear hatch struts,for mounting i found removing the spare tire,then using the spare tire bolt to hold down the box works perect.

you will be amazed how any bullshit in a box system sounds in the hatch of an rx7.

true these are not the greatest cars for flawless sounds,but when it comes to raw bass the only car that is more perfectly designed is a second gen.

if you wish me to back up why i say there designed perfect i will,but right now i dont have time to take pics of my car tunes db drag racing trophys from my very first 1st gen rx7.it had 2 12"s janoba fires with 2 10" jbl gtx series woofers.it actually hit a higher db with the 2 12" alone.

 

i agree 100% on this,i only use mdf 3/4" thick to 1" thick,if you cant afford mdf then at least chose 5/8 particle board over real wood.

 

3 times as loud? time for you to hit the books again

 

I can attest to this comment. I HAD two 12" JVC DVC powered by an Alpine V12, in a shitty box that fit perfectly between the rear shock plactic covers. I turned the box around and had the subs firing at the window and hit 143db.

 

Max7 ,
I like this idea for a box. Did you make this or buy it?
How much?
I would like to do this also. I thought about removing the stock rear 6.5 speakers and cutting the hole bigger for 8" speakers. But really like this idea better

 

I was planning to make my own and just happen to see it on eBay, they were made by Zbox in the 80's and came with the 8" woofer, 3.5" mid and tweeter, I removed the mid & tweet and fiberglassed over the holes.
I looked it over and seen what was involved in making one, wow! they did thier homework, its such an exact fit, it even has indents in the back where the bolts and shafts on the tailights extend into the enclosure.
It was a bit thin for my liking, so I added a few more layers to the inside to beef it up for pressure it wasn't designed for in the 80's
nobody belives on only have a pair of 8's in there, with the cover over it, you'd never know they were there.
you do lose the jack, but it fits in the storage bin just fine.

 

Mikey is gonan do his hand at making them

Zbox enclosures WERE EXPENSIVE!
If I remember correctly

 

max 7 im the wrong person to challeng when it comes to this,im mecp master ceritfied in auto audio installation,configuration,and advanced fabrication.

im 21 and have currently built more comp systems then i can count,i started in the biz when i was only 12 yrs old

i have won 5 tropheys under my own name,with my own vehicles.

i currently own Audio Seven,where i sell audio products,and install with nothing but my name,trophys and certs backing my professional opinions.

 

not to come off like a dick in the last post but i love freindly competition,as long as that's what it is FREINDLY.

 

oh yeah back to the box,a really great place to mount the speakers is right by the shock towers,face them toward the hatch for best bass response,but if your also going for highes like i do with my 6x9's then face them up.i dont need to argue this point just build the boxes then sit in the car and face them up forward and backward,you will see,yes it is a very very noticable diference.

if you really want to get into the project then mount facing up right on top of the shock towers and cut out the rear panels to fit,then leave the bottom open to get at the shocks for changing but make sure you seal all the edges.

 

My amp has 3x 30A fuses and hold 2 ga power and ground wire

 

Ok guys, heres a pic of the speaker box in the car. As you can see, its already been sectioned off for the two sub chambers and the middle (where the amp will eventually sit). As you can see, in the front its cut a little big , a slight mis measurment on my part, but it doesnt matter because the two sub chambers are sealed, and the front will be carpeted, so no one will ever know .