What kind of connectors should I use that go through the box? Or should I run wires directly from the 12's through holes in the wood, and put really good silicone in the holes....

Also,
Where should I get power to run to the car on/off switch on the amp? And how can I wire in a switch as well?


Thanks,
Daniel

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for the box, i wouldnt recommend holes, i would go with speaker terminal cups...

Crutchfield has them...
http://www.crutchfield.com/cgi-bin/S...?c=2&g=744&s=0

and the power switch must be the remote wire, it runs from the deck, to the amp, when the deck is on it powers the wire whichs turns on the amp or something like that, and to make a switch for it all you need is a little switch, run the wire thru that, and the switch will control the contacts and therefore making it able to turn off/on when you want it too...

 

I would just run the wires through a TINY hole the bottom of the box where as not to see it. Caulk it up nice around it. Terminals while they look nicer to the eye just leave another 2 places for the wires to disconnect after install. Also the more splices the more you lessen sound quality.
Your stereo should have a remote wire on it, if not you can run it from the acessories wire (red) on the back of the stereo.

 

Ok, thanks,

I'll be taking it apart tomorrow to check about the remote wire...

Any other tips on building the box would be nice! It will end up having 3cu ft of air space, so any ideas would be nice..

Thanks!
Daniel

 

I agree with dallas. When I build boxes for my customers, I'll use terminal cups if they want them, but I always prefer to just put the wire directly through a hole and silicone the hole. To me there is much less chance for air leaks and resonance, and there is also better signal transfer. What's the point of using 12 gauge wire, only to have it run through a 1" section that has a much higher resistance? Although it may never make any sort of audible difference, why bother with them at all?

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3 cubic feet total? I hope you plan on dividing. 1.5 cube feet of air space is ample room for most subs. Make sure you don't go too much, it will KILL your sound. The size, brand, power handling sub will determine the air space required. The speakers should have info on enclosure specs.
If not you should be able to go to the manufactures web site to get info. Hope any of this rambling can help.

 

I wasnt planning on dividing the sub chambers....
The PG subs require from 1-2 ft each, I have been told that for tight clean bass use less space and fot the boomy loose sounding bass use more. Well, I figured that I would go half way! 1.5 each.

Is there an advantage to dividing it?

Also, one more ?...
Screws or nails....

 

Go with the terminal connectors and solder the connections on the inside of the enclosure. # 1, it looks allot more proffesional than having two wires dangling through a caulked up hole. # 2, if you ever need to gain access to anything where the enclosure would be in the way, it's just a simple unscrew and the enclosure is moved. Depends on a lot of other factors though, i.e, amp location, enclosure mounts if any, etc.

As far as the switch for the amp goes, you should have a remote on for the amp. Run that from your ignition switch and forget about a janky toggle switch for the amp. You don't need it. More often than not, guys who use a toggle switch don't know/care about the ignition source.

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[This message has been edited by RGZWS6 (edited March 15, 2001).]

 

Still suggest the holes over terms.
Go with drywall screws. Can even line the seams with liquid nails or wood glue, then
silicone the inside of the box and smooth with fingers.
You want to divide the box so the subs each
get their own 1.5 cu ft and not fight over the full 3'. If the box is not sealed properly you will hear distortion. Once you build the box make sure you let it sit over night and let glue/ silicone dry over night before installing subs. Before screwing in subs put both in box and push down on one sub and see if the other reacts to it. This is a good way to check for air holes between the divider. If the box is sealed properly you should notice a few second lag before the speaker returns. Also may want to use double sided tape or weather stripping between speaker and box to ensure air tightness. Let us know how it turns out.

 

RGZWS6 : I used the toggle switch instead of the ignition switch because isnt running it throught the ignition switch pointless? i mean, its always going to be on, so whats the point of even running it through it ? thats why i had toggle switches so i could turn it off/on whenever i wanted...

or am i wrong about the ignition switch?

 

if you run through the ignition switch it will turn off and on with the stereo. The only thing a toggle would be good for would be if you ever wanted to listen to your stereo without the amp on.

 

Klayburn:
I read your first post. You were right about the remote turn on. The ignition wire on the stereo would be only if you did not have a remote wire.

 

well then again your defeating the whole point of trying to run remote wire through other stuff...

i thought the remote wire tells your amp when to turn on...you run that from your deck to your amp...correct?

if your running it throught the ignition switch, your just making more trouble for yourself, since your deck turns on when your car does, it defeats the purpose...you might as well just run it to the amp...with the switch you have the ability to turn it on or off whenever you want, so if your not going to install a toggle switch to have the ability to switch it off/on when you want...might as well just run the remote wire to the amp right?

 

I want to be able to turn it off when I want. That is why Im going to wire a toggle switch onto the on/off line of the stereo.

So what is the final idea of where to get the power (if my radio doesnt have the remote power line...)

Thanks so far!

 

I would suggest running it to an ignition activated 12v lead. If you want to be able to turn it off when ever you want then run a toggle switch along this wire from the igni switch. The amps power turn on does not care where its 12v comes from. The only reason I suggest the ignition activated wire is so that if you forget to flip the switch you are not left stranded. Do you denote the hint of experience there?

[This message has been edited by dallasiroc (edited March 15, 2001).]

 

haha...thats weird, when i had my Topaz, i had 2 switches, one for my Pioneer and one for my Jensen(haha it was free, and i used it to push an extra 12' i had, so then i went from 2 to 3 12's in my topaz, god not to get off the topic, but do you know how 3 12's slam in a topaz? hehe) and i left my switches on all the time, and my battery never died...

but then again, i ran mine through the remote switch on the back of the deck, so i guess thats why mine never died, but heres a question, why would they make an deck with RCA outputs and no remote wire ? and if thats the case, then the deck has to be like a Food Club deck, and you prolly dont want it anyways...


[This message has been edited by KlayBuRn (edited March 15, 2001).]

 

The deck is a Clarion DRB 2475.
No preouts.
I have had it for a few years... dont rag on the deck. It sounds dang good....

 

well then why are you worrying about running a remote wire? if it has no preouts, you aint going to be needing a remote wire anyways, since you arent going to be able to hook any amps up

 

He CAN use a radio without pre amp outs. You just have to by an RCA converter if all the amp has are RCA connections. Now-a-days anps come with both pre amp and regular terminal hook ups. High and low signal inputs if you will. Kiztope, from the amp run your remote or ignition lead to the same wire that turns your radio on when you turn the key. This way, you can turn your amp and radio off at the radio. Make sence.

You say you want to run an on/off switch to your radio? Why? You have one through your ignition (key). Or does it not work. Check the wires. You should have a constant 12V supply for memory funtions like the clock and presets. You should also have a switched supply when the key is in the on position.

Check it out.

------------------
89 Formula 305 TBI
160* stat, 200* fan switch, K&N, Headers, 3in Flowmaster (hollow cat) back, pullies, 1.6 full roller rockers, B&M trans cooler, home-made ram-air
3.73 Richmond gears and SLP Zexel Torsen Posi (waiting for install)

 

The idea behind the switch is the fact that I want to be able to shut off the subs, but not my stereo. I want to be able to listen to the radio in areas that I wouldnt want people knowing about the rest of the system.

Without preouts, I needed a Line Level converter.
It lowers the input wattage to a level that is comparable to pre-outs....


BTW, the box is waiting till tomorrow... I did some math today and found out that a 4x8 sheet of MDF is only enough to build a <2.6 cu ft box.

That sucks. I hate problems.

 

Back to the original question ....

I use bannana plugs and jacks. Make sure the jack plate is a nice tight fit and solder the wires to the back. Fill in behind the jack with some caulking to insure there is no chance of leaks.

Since your HU doesn't have a remote turn on lead .....

The most obvious place to get +12V for the amp's turn-on is the amps power wire. Just connect a 2" piece of wire between the two terminals. The amps will stay on all the time but if you drive your car every day it will not run the battery dead.

Another form of this same solution is to get a wire of speaker wire (ie. - with 2 separate conducting wires in it). At one end of the speaker wire connect one lead to the amp's power terminal and the other lead to the amp's turn-on terminal. At the other end of the speaker wire, which should be located where you have easy access to it, connect a toggle switch. This switch will turn on/off the amp.

The best solution in to dig into your dash and find a wire (using a multimeter) that is +12V with the ignition on and 0V with the ignition off. There is probably one located behind the radio which turns on/off the radio. The problem with this solution is that you may get a lound turn on thump ...

... so an even better solution is to use a ignition ON +12V source for the power AND install an inline switch. This way you can minimize the thump.

 

kiztope I think you get the idea since advice is being repeated again and agian.

 

Yea, I get the idea.

I cut the back plate today.... the screwball shaped one....

nuthin else. I went to the beach instead! DOH!

Finishing it tomorrow (sat)

Thanks!