aparently no one on maxima.org has ever modified a stereo and lived to talk about it. (Page 1/1)
m0sh_man NOV 17, 09:42 PM
I just purchased a 2002 maxima 3.5L 6 speed manual, i also purchased a 2001 maxima for parts seeing as the 02 was hit in the rear (i buy everything at salvage auctions....) while the 02 is out getting the rear frame rail pulled (everything was hurt BEHIND the suspension) i decided id use the 01 model for stereo mock up, right now i plan on removing the as much metal from the rear deck of the car as i can, installing the subwoofers directly at the rear deck level then building a custom cover for the rear deck so it looks fantastic, ive already cut out a 38" x 12.5" hole in the rear deck of the mock up car, ive also built a rough draft of the box using some extra MDF i had at the house, the box ive got is 12.5" x 38" on the top, the bottom is an odd shape, so we'll round it out to about 9" in depth, after accounting for the thickness of the wood i used, the subwoofer box is roughly 1.1 cubic feet of airspace per sub. My plan is to use two american bass VFL-1222 subwoofers that i purchased in 1999, they were about $300 a sub then, they are very close to what you'd call the american bass XFL now (the new VFL subwoofers are even BIGGER) after accounting for basket size im guessing the subs will be at .8-.9 cubic feet per subwoofer, does anyone on here think that will be a big problem? i could also do just a single 12" woofer and make it slot ported at 2 cubic feet, or i could do two diamond audio CM3 10" woofers in the same box, but id much rather stay with the two twelves.

providing i do stay with the 12" woofers, I plan on driving them with an 1800 watt american bass amp.

for the front stage, i plan on using an american bass 160 watt amp, its 40x4 RMS. id like to attempt to get some focal access series 8" 2 way speakers in the front doors, also using the factory bose tweeters mounted in the windshield pillars, the rear doors normally have mounting depth issues, so id like to install some shallow mount JBL p662S speakers. Im not 100% sure on the deck ill be using, but ive been leaning towards a pioneer DEH-P8400BT

i also plan on using as much sound deadner as i can find to minimize vibrations and road noise.

does anyone think this is a sound plan? ive built plenty of custom systems in the past, but all the subs were either hatchback mount, or trunk mount except for the fiero, this is my first time attempting to install them in the rear deck of the car.

opinions?

matthew
htexans1 NOV 17, 09:54 PM
You know more about stereos then I do. however if you do it, lets see pics.

(That could be the problem on the other forum you mentioned, also.)
Monkeyman NOV 18, 02:59 AM
Doesn't really matter where you install the subs as long as they're enclosed correctly. Trunk is the worst of the locations as you'll lose alot of the sound through the rear seats.
m0sh_man NOV 18, 10:53 AM
this is the mock up car, this is in no way the car im fixing, but its working out great for test fitting stuff.






thats the test fitting of the box, *IF* i change over to 3/4" MDF instead of this 1.25" particle board then ill gain some extra airspace inside the box, but im wondering if the particle board is stronger due to its thicker nature.

i had to remove the rear decklid hinges, im going to use some gas shocks i removed from another car to make gas struts for holding up the rear decklid.

matthew
HoMiE_TeLeFrAgGeD NOV 18, 07:14 PM
Sounds good to me. Though, I dont prefer American Bass hardware, it should be allright. I had a budget system in my 90 maxima back in the day. Id put rockford fosgate speakers in the front and rear, had an alpine head unit and 5 channel amp driving all the speakers and 1 10in rockford fosgate R1 sub. Had a nice clean beat to it - I get soooo sick of customers bringing in their stereo systems that all you hear is that 'dirty beat' that just rattles/vibrates everything and sounds like garbage.... Would definetley love to hear it once its done to see how it sounds.

[This message has been edited by HoMiE_TeLeFrAgGeD (edited 11-18-2012).]

m0sh_man NOV 18, 08:56 PM
ive had these american bass subs in EVERY vehicle ive owned since 1999, at one point i had 7 of them, i sold 4 of them and only have three now, however i can change it up some, i have three sony mobile ES amps, two 5046's and a 3546, all are 4 channel one ohm stable, the 5046's can drive the two subs and the 3546 the mid/high staging. just dont know if i want to go that route or not.

matthew
Monkeyman NOV 19, 12:33 AM
3/4" MDF over 1 1/4" particle board every time. MDF is stronger. Look at any quality sub box and you'll see MDF, not particle board.
HoMiE_TeLeFrAgGeD NOV 21, 12:16 PM

quote
Originally posted by Monkeyman:

3/4" MDF over 1 1/4" particle board every time. MDF is stronger. Look at any quality sub box and you'll see MDF, not particle board.



X2. We only carry Bassworks here at work. While we do make custom boxes on the side, its always 3/4in MDF. Better sound charactoristics and quality.
m0sh_man NOV 26, 09:58 PM
ok, new box is built using MDF, after accounting for .15 cubic foot for the size of the woofer, im at 1.28 cubic feet per subwoofer, thats after modifying the box.

heres the first test fit of the box into the "parts car"



as you can see i made the box too tall and couldnt get it to roll up into the decklid, needless to say i modified the bottom of the box, i cut 1.25" off one side of the side legs, and .50" off of the back side of it, i probably didnt need to, but i did anyway, the box isnt sealed up yet, its only screwed together.

here's the results of me modifying the box.



its not level, and its not complete yet, but it fits, i can already tell that im going to have to cut the final opening on the car to 38.5 inches wide, and 12.75" deep, the current opening is 38.125" wide and 12.50 inches deep and the box is super difficult to get into place.

i got the car im fixing back from the frame shop yesterday, the factory bose system sounds like crap to me, it didnt pop or crack or anything, but just didnt have a good clean sound to it, im hoping with all this work im putting into the car it will have an awsome sound.

matthew