Hi I have lurked on this board for a while now and I have gotten some very good info from here. I thought that I would post to tell you about my stereo that I recently installed into my truck. I bought all of the equipment off of e-bay except for the wiring and misc items. I got about a 50% discount from the MSRP of all the gear. My signature has most of the gear listed. The thing that I like the most about my stereo is the sub box. I had it made at Audio Plus here in OKC. It is holding the 2 Kicker 10" L7's in about .80 Cu. Ft. sealed enclosures each. It is a down-firing box that also doubles as the lower part of the rear seat. Yes, thats correct...You sit on the box when you are riding in the back. I will get some pictures this weekend (tomorrow) and post them in this thread.
The box was custom made per my specifications, and it sounds great.

I have seen many posts on here about people trying to get their subs to fit under the rear seat, and I would just like to give some ideas to all you Ford truck owners out there.

 

Another Idea is a Bed Cut like mine

 

Well here is my box.

Cutting thru the bed would be cool.... If I didnt need to use my truck for truck like things.

 

Great looking install. Does it sound pretty good? Do your back door panels rattle?

 

system looks great

 

No rattles as of yet, but give it some time...

I haven't measured the SPL yet, but I do have people complain that it compresses their chest when it is turned up.

 

Obviously you DON'T have a wife and kids
Nice setup, and I bet it ROCKS!
But it would never fly with my family.
Thanks for the pics,
Lonster

 

That is a sweet custom installation box.
I bet the ladies love to take a ride on the "Boom Boom Box".

 

what r the dimensions of that box in the pic and what subs do you have in the box how much is the sub amp and the box and subs you got?how easy r removing the seats. r the just as easy putting em back on?

 

Box is 56" Wide
Box is 18" Deep
Front is 11.5" Tall
Amp Mounting area is 2.5" deep (the front face part)
The main box is 5" tall
The subs are mounted on 3.5" of MDF for reinforcements (That is what makes the box look like the front of the main box is taller than the rear.)
The box is sitting on 2 2.5" feet (They are attached to the bottom of the amp mounting area) to raise the amp mounting area off of the center hump and to give the box stability when riding on it.

The old seat will bolt right back in with not much hassle. If I remember right, there are 3 nuts in front and 2 bolts in back holding the seat in. I think the front nuts were about 1/2 inch wrench and the two bolts in back (that also has the seatbelts on it) were about 40 to 50 torx. The box is mounted with some L-brackets that I fabricated out of channel iron to the rear bolts. I had to trim some off of the seat belt part that attaches to the bolts to make it fit.
The back rest came off pretty easily by pulling up on it. It is held in place by spring/friction mounts.

The subs are 2 10" solobaric L7's.

By how much, I am guessing you mean how much it cost.
The box was pretty expensive because it was a one-off custom box, it was $400.
I cant remember how much each amp was, but they are two power 350s and one Power 750s The 2 350s run the two sets of Kicker component 5x7's and the 750s powers the subs. I can come up with the exact price of the amps, but my price sheets are at my work. Or you could just go to e-bay and look for the current prices....cause that is where I got them.

 

I went out and bought an SPL meter.
(American Recorder SPL-8800)
Looks like I hit 110 db before the sound goes to crap. (I.E. the 5x7's starts crackling.)
Lo/Hi - Hi, Slider - C Weighted, Max - Enabled, Slow/Fast - Slow
It's ok, cause I was mainly going for SQ.

I did use the SPL meter to set the amp gain levels to very close to the same output. That made quite a bit of difference on the SQ. My thoughts so far:

Output power of the amps: Eh, so-so. I really thought that the output would be better. Considering I had a system back in the day (Early nineties) that I thought was way louder and had 1/2 the "rated" wattage. (Coustic 460 to the subs, 360 to the mids, and 160 to the tweets.) One thing I am "REALLY" disappointed in is the power output of the sub amp. I have to crank up the "bass boost" thing to get ANY volume out of them at all. (Which colors the bass frequencies.) My score = D (Edited to a B-)
**Edit: Since installing the 1500BD amp and the new subs, I give the power output of the subs and bass amp a solid A+.**

Subs: I really think that these subs would sound really good with another amp and/or a bigger sealed box. With the bass boost on, they do put out a decent amount of bass. My score = C (Edited to a A+)

Mids and Tweets: These things sound really good at low to mid volume. Once I start to "really crank er up" they start crackling. (And yes, I have sealed the speakers in the doors (front plane from the back plane) with silicone adhesive.) These things are so annoying, that I am considering replacing them with some component 6.5 speakers. My score = F
**Edit: Since installing the Optima, I give the SQ of the mids and tweets a C+.**

Head unit: What can I say? This thing rules. I have tons of control over the frequencies. It doesn't skip. Nice. My score = A

The box: I really don't know what to think of the "downfiring box" thing. I have read on other posts that they don't sound very good. I am thinking of going all out and sacrificing my rear seating with a bigger box that fires into the back of my head. My score = A+ (Possibly better if the amp score wasn't so low.)
**Edit: Since installing the 1500BD amp and the new subs, I give the box SQ a solid A+.**

So with all that said, I have put the system together (cept for building the box) and it gets a resounding C+. Not the best I have done.
**Edit: After working, massaging and general money wasting, I give overall system a B+.**

Any recommendations? I have outlined what I think needs to be done, but I would like to know if you all have any suggestions.

Money is not an object, but at the same time I really wouldn't want a bunch of extra equipment laying around (cept for the crappy amps and the crappy component sets.) I really would like to maintain some way to seat people in the back, but if it must be sacrificed, it must be sacrificed. I am basically looking for two types of input on this system, 1-Advice on making it sound better without buying anything additional, and 2-Advice on which components that, if replaced with better components, would make the most improvement on SQ and SPL (in that order.)
**Edit: To get this system into the A to A- range, I am thinking of moving to some 61/2 components and getting some more powerful amps for them. SQ of the mids and tweets leaves a bit to be desired. **
Oh, don't worry about being kind, I know I am not.

 

BTW I have the subs crossed over at about 80hz and the components are crossed over at about 100 to 120hz.

And I set the SPL of each 5x7 speaker using whitenoise.
Before doing this ~102 db after doing this ~110 db.
Looking at the delta, I would say that I am still a ways away tuning-wise from having the system where I want it.... My opinion of this system may improve as a tweak with it more and more.

 

LOL After going out and getting something to eat and taking the SPL meter with me, I set the meter up just like I stated above....but from power-on. I hit ~122 spl on my way to the taco hut.

 

Downfiring subs usually sound great. I think if you match the box to the sub, and power it correctly, it should sound great.

Get yourself one of the new Kicker Class D amps. They will pound your L-series subs.

KP

 

Very interesting, I hadn't thought about that. I wonder if they meke an amp that is the same dimensions as the 750S. That may be a very easy fix for the subs not being loud enough.

Thanks