pikkashoe, seems like you got things figured out.


The thing with these drivers are that they are meant to be put into a car with a roof. With a convertible, you lose cabin gain and these subs are not exactly low end monsters.

You want more low end for the sub, build a bigger box, but you sacrifice top end extention (which is where the lotus sub shines). You want more top end (up to midbass freq.), put it in a smaller box, but you lose low end extention. Hoffman Iron law applies in this situation

The box you have right now is optimized for a balance of smooth response and quick transient response.

Let me know if you have any other trouble with the setup. I can try to help you with that

 

Gsteg,

Man i got this thing dialed in perfectly. Its perfect. Yeah i might of lost a tiny bit on the low end, but the accuracy and midbass is amazing. I built my box just as Albert dictated. I dont need more mid bass, the sub in combination with the components puts out a great deal of clean mid bass. I just love how fast this sub responds.

Only thing left now if the led project to light up my set up, and im still working on a mesh cover for the sub and grille. Time to go to home depot!!!!

By the way, I never heard of the term "cabin gain" before. What is it?

 

Pikka...

Not to bite but I think I'm following your footsteps. I'm going to use a temporary sub until I get the funds to go to a Seas one. I'm VERY encouraged that it's working out for you. Out of curiosity what amp do you have running your CDT's? Also, do you think 300 rms is enough to drive the Seas sub? I'm not certain how efficient this driver is..what's your opinion having used it?

Albert's gonna build me a box this weekend and eventually I'm going to a full Seas setup. I've already talked to the man behind mobilesq to arrange something in this regard. I'm very happy .

Kev

ps. I just noticed we both have 03 sebrings too lol.

 

Johny,

Whats going on! I dont care if you get the sub, i encourage u to get it, you wont regret it.

Im running an Alpine MRV-545, 125 watts per channel, 4 channel. Nice little amp.
I got 125 watts running to each set of CDT's up front, and I got 500 watts running to the Sub. Actual output for my specific amp per alpine is 170 watts per channel !!!!!!!!!!!

Im not sure in my set up if its the amp or the sub, but it seems the sub is not that efficient. But like I said it might be the amp. I have my gains cranked up for the sub. 300 watts might be a little weak, rms is 400 on that sub. MobileSQ (Eng) did tell me the sub will rock with only 200 watts, so go figure.

Lucky you, full Seas set up!! You going reference? Man I should of gotten the reference set up. I am very very satisfied with my set up right now though.

I got sebring with red interior, not the same Keep us posted Johny.

PS- I guess you won't be needing those CDT Titanium Tweeters anymore!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I'm gonna just hold off on the ES tweets. The more I'm listening to the current ones the more accustomed I am to the sound. Maybe I might order some just to finish the set if I do decide to sell it at a later date.

That said, I'm considering going a full active system. If you look at the raw driver prices for Sea's it's actually a pretty good deal. A HU with an EQ would be fine and be even more flexible than passive system and be cheaper to boot.

Regarding the power, I guess I'm in the fortunate position of giving these a run before making any decisions. The thing is, when I had my system installed and tuned, it sounded great in my driveway. However, I don't think it was set up with the S2K road noise in mind...I had to turn it up the gain a decent amount to get the volume up to a decent lvl above teh road noise. Anyways, hopefully I'll get everything done within a month or so and keep you updated.

 

If you guys are going to run seas setup later on (particularly the tweeters), consider having them (tweeters) in kickpanels rather than in stock location or the a-pillars.

One important thing to remember is that you want to minimize the pathlength difference between the drivers. This is very crucual to imaging and staging. Before you jump on time alignment, installation is more important because you can achieve better results than with time alignment alone.

Avoid mounting the tweeters on the a-pillar. The reflection is horrible and it gets ear-piercing at certain frequency. You can EQ it out, but you'll also lose details that's suppose to be there.

The Alpine MRV-545 is a great amp if you plan to run active. ~170w of headroom to each driver is loud enough on the highway with the top down.

 

Gsteg - How's the Q series amp? Was at Albert's while he was working on my sub enclosure. I heard that both you and Eng picked one up. Lemme know, I'm looking for a 4 channel aroud 14-15" in length max with more juice than the PG puts out.

edit - Crap that the Alpine is only 13" or so? Man, I think I might pick one up.
edit 2 - Danged. That thing looks to be 16" in length...grr..

 

They shipped out the wrong amp to me QAA2500. I ordered the QAA4250 so it's being fixed at the moment.

From what Eng said, the amp is a beast. Very regulated power supply so it virtually does about the same amount of power at 4ohm and 2ohm, 12.5v and 14.4v.

Rated at 250x4@4ohm and 2ohm, it was benched to do 276x4@4ohm and 294x4@2ohm. Yes, all in RMS.

It's a badass amp. And yes, I'm going to run active with it. MUAHAHA\


I can tell you though, this amp makes the alpine mrv-545 looks like a child's toy. It weighs about 20lbs and stands about 4" tall. I love it!

 

My amp's a child' toy. NO cant have that, time to move up to a ZAPCO like Jim. LOL, actually my amp is great, no need to change it. Johny good point about the Lotus set up, didnt even realize that. Its cheaper to go active.