[lsturbointeg]

So basically the trunk is your box and the subs will be mounted on a baffle?

[Nelson@BimmerTech]

Originally Posted by lsturbointeg

So basically the trunk is your box and the subs will be mounted on a baffle?

Correct

[lsturbointeg]

I wonder if going with shallow mount 12's would help in a sealed enclosure to give me more trunk space but not sure how good shallow mount subs sound like? That is a big box u got there but than again u or running 15's!

[lsturbointeg]

I have the ski hole so running 12's will work for me...except u won't see the box as the shop will enclose with a beauty board. Still in the air tho as I have too many to-do list and for some reason my $3k audio upgrade is sitting at the bottom!

[lsturbointeg]

What a hack job! Nice! What u use a dremel or jigsaw? BTW...where did u get your diffuser from? All that red wire in the trunk is that factory wires?

[lsturbointeg]

LOL!

[lsturbointeg]

Haha...I'll edit the one above I got banned or suspended for a few days awhile back and the mods didn't tell me why anyway...

[UA_civ_eng]

Originally Posted by Teddylongtooth

Before I cut the foam out I drilled 4 holes in a square pattern at the 4 corners, then I used my ruler to connect the holes and cut the square outline in the foam. Then I used a sharpie to draw the square in the plastic from the front side of the seat and used a dremel with a zip bit to cut out the hole, I used a big ass file to smooth the cut lines. I'm getting material to cover the white plastic and make it look nice tomorrow. That's all for tonight.

What are the measurements of your box? I haven't picked a box size limit yet for my setup, and so your measurements with your pics would be good help.

I'm digging all of this contributing you're doing so far also btw! Thanks

[lsturbointeg]

Originally Posted by UA_civ_eng

What are the measurements of your box? I haven't picked a box size limit yet for my setup, and so your measurements with your pics would be good help.

I'm digging all of this contributing you're doing so far also btw! Thanks

haha...i'm just kidding with you! all i know is it's a big freakin box! this thread does give me motivation to do mine when the time comes!

[lsturbointeg]

Originally Posted by Teddylongtooth

As you can see there's not much box for these 2 15's but, I choose them because they work with the smallest amount of airspace for a 15" sub that I could find. Plus JL's sound good and they only need 500w each so my JL 1000/1 will be perfect to power them.

Nice... it completely goes to the edge of the box! Thats crazy but enough to fit! I've never heard 15's in a sealed enclosure?

[lsturbointeg]

looks good! you're probably gonna give everybody a heart attack here cause you cut your wires lol but most of those people lease their cars where as for me it's mine so i don't mind cutting mine at all...BUT, i won't have to since i'll be going with the Bimmertech amp which plugs and plays and all i'll have to do is run the external amp for the sub...easy peasy! keep us updated on the build!

[UA_civ_eng]

Originally Posted by Teddylongtooth

I'm still working away on this install, I took last night off to spend time with my girl. I still need to pick up some electrical connectors and a fuse holder for the lc2. I will hopefully have it done by tonight, it's sweaty balls in my modification laboratory right now.

One thing I havn't touched on yet, the wire tapping and where I'm getting my signal only applies to the cars with TOP HIFI. If your following this thread and you have a base system this might not be the same, I don't know if it comes with under the front seat subs and where to tap into the wiring. I suppose you could use this as somewhat of a guide to look at your car but be carefull cutting wires your not sure of.

After I made my splice point I reinstalled the amp and turned on the stereo and everything was still workin (not that I thought it wouldn't) but I was a little relieved. I too am using someone else's thread.

A couple of things that may be useful to you...

First, here is the link to a thread on the F30 forum (the F30 Harmon Kardon system is exactly the same as ours) where measurements were taken showing how much the HK amp cuts back the low end frequencies. 14 db cut at 20 Hz.

http://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/sho...ight=subwoofer

But, since you have a JL slash series amp, you can put all of the signal back with the parametric EQ. JL has a site that lets you virtually play with the settings on your amp, using the slide bars on the page, in order to get whatever signal you desire. Check it yo:

jlaudio.com/header/Support/Tutorials/Parametric+Equalizer/Tutorial%3A+Parametric+Equalizer/287545

[UA_civ_eng]

Originally Posted by Teddylongtooth

Thanks bro

You responded before I could edit my original post, but I wanted to make it clear that the JL site I referenced lets you play with the graph using the slider bars. Just FYI

[lsturbointeg]

Good stuff UA_civ_eng!

[lsturbointeg]

yup...there's nothing more annoying than someone who pulls up next to you looking pimp booming their $hit and they don't realize how bad the trunk is rattling like crazy!

[UA_civ_eng]

Originally Posted by Teddylongtooth

Ok guys my install is finished, I got everything all wired up and temperarly set the amplifier and the line converter in the trunk behind the speaker box to make it easier to do the adjustments. I fired up the car turned on the stereo and started making adjustments, the bass sounds very hollow and muddy. Apparently the box is too small and I have to rethink the design. I'm a little disappointed in JL, I built the box exactly to their specs and it sounds terrible. They recommend a 1.875 ft.³ Per woofer sealed,my box builder is super anal and built it exactly as they recommend taking into account material thickness and woofer displacement. I'm going to call JL tomorrow morning and ask them whats up with that box volume and tell them it sounds like ass. For now I pulled all the equipment till I figure out what to do, I'm not lugging that shit around for nothing, I'm so disapointed. I know I'll have to build another box but I don't have room for 2 15's ported so I'm not sure what I'm going to do yet.

This surprises me too, as JL almost always impresses. Do you have access to another vehicle you could throw the box and amp into in order to make sure it is the box size that's making it sound bad and not the signal or something else causing it? Or maybe throw a friend's subs into yours? What about facing the subs towards the back of the car?

[UA_civ_eng]

Originally Posted by Teddylongtooth

I will post the rest of the wiring pics tonight, I just ran out of steam when the box sounded bad

I feel ya man! I would have wanted to break something after all that effort. At least now I know to steer clear of that sub in a sealed box. My amp is the 600/1v3 and I was leaning towards a 13W3 in a sealed box, but now I may do some more research before on it before I pull the trigger.

[peter91118]

Originally Posted by Teddylongtooth

I will post the rest of the wiring pics tonight, I just ran out of steam when the box sounded bad

Can you at least hear the exhaust more with the windows up?

[NickG_TechniqueTuning]

Originally Posted by Teddylongtooth

Ok guys my install is finished, I got everything all wired up and temperarly set the amplifier and the line converter in the trunk behind the speaker box to make it easier to do the adjustments. I fired up the car turned on the stereo and started making adjustments, the bass sounds very hollow and muddy. Apparently the box is too small and I have to rethink the design. I'm a little disappointed in JL, I built the box exactly to their specs and it sounds terrible. They recommend a 1.875 ft.³ Per woofer sealed,my box builder is super anal and built it exactly as they recommend taking into account material thickness and woofer displacement. I'm going to call JL tomorrow morning and ask them whats up with that box volume and tell them it sounds like ass. For now I pulled all the equipment till I figure out what to do, I'm not lugging that shit around for nothing, I'm so disapointed. I know I'll have to build another box but I don't have room for 2 15's ported so I'm not sure what I'm going to do yet.

Check your wiring, both the low level input signal into the line converter, and the high level speaker wires going to the subs. Maybe you have one of the channels out of phase (ie, wiring reversed).

[lsturbointeg]

oh man sux to hear! if the box was built to spec you should be fine. like NickG mentioned, i'd check the wiring. also, not sure if this will help but did you put polly fill in the box?

[lsturbointeg]

Originally Posted by Teddylongtooth

Thanks for the heads up. I did check the wiring and I tried the phase switch on the amp, everything checked out ok. Just a FYI, my audio controll lc2i Line converter changes the sub audio coming from the stock amp to a low level output for the my jl amplifier. I set up the audio signal coming from lc2 by turning up the volume of the head unit to what I could only guess would be 3/4 full volume, then I adjusted the gain on the lc2 until the indicator light for the output started to light up saying it was maxed then I backed it off till the light went off. Then I put a meter on the jl amps speaker output with head unit at 3/4 full volume and adjusted the gain till I got 44.3v which is where jl recommends it to be. I'm pretty confident my amp and wiring are good, but I always thought my box was a little small for 2 15's and judging by the way it sounds it probably is. I'm calling jl today to see if maybe it was a misprint(recommended box size) or if they have a better box size to recommend.

when i built my box for the 2 12JLW0's i built it with the wrong dimensions. i built it for 1 12 and not 2...so i had to rebuild it and double the dimensions. it sounded like the bass was hitting rock bottom...almost like a pong!!! your box is sealed correct?

[UA_civ_eng]

Originally Posted by Teddylongtooth

Thanks for the heads up. I did check the wiring and I tried the phase switch on the amp, everything checked out ok. Just a FYI, my audio controll lc2i Line converter changes the sub audio coming from the stock amp to a low level output for the my jl amplifier. I set up the audio signal coming from lc2 by turning up the volume of the head unit to what I could only guess would be 3/4 full volume, then I adjusted the gain on the lc2 until the indicator light for the output started to light up saying it was maxed then I backed it off till the light went off. Then I put a meter on the jl amps speaker output with head unit at 3/4 full volume and adjusted the gain till I got 44.3v which is where jl recommends it to be. I'm pretty confident my amp and wiring are good, but I always thought my box was a little small for 2 15's and judging by the way it sounds it probably is. I'm calling jl today to see if maybe it was a misprint(recommended box size) or if they have a better box size to recommend.

Have you double checked the wiring inside the box?

You are right on with the 44.3 Volts. If you want to take it one step further, get some test tones and make sure it is putting out that voltage for all frequencies from 20 to 50 or so Hz. You sound like you know what you're doing, though, so you may have already done this.