This has been real "miniature" work compared to the box you built previously. Working by hand with materials, techniques, and booboo-fixing all take the mind of a craftsman and the precision of a surgeon. No wonder you chose such quality componentry to reside inside.
Lanson's 2013 Flex - Extreme SQ audio (re)build
- Thread starter Lanson
- Start date
SHOdded said:
Yeah I swore up and down those little grilles were going to snap in half if I so much as looked at them funny, but they actually are really durable. When I used the hole saw (Harbor Freight btw), I think the heat from the saw actually bonded the MDF better than normal.
Funny thing about the components, especially with the pillars... they are CHEAP! Seriously, Dayton RS speakers are a smoking deal. The whole front stage (including 8" woofers in the door) will be about $200. That's doors, pillars, and center. That's the typical price of a mild component set. I definitely recommend them, just cross them before their metal cone breakup starts so they stay clean.
glock-coma
New member
Are using the ms8 to cross them or a separate external xover
glock-coma said:
Here's the setup, for clarity:
MS8 has 8 channels it can control.
1&2 - LF, RF pillar, crosses at 450 hz @ 24dB/oct highpass. I have two runs of wire parallel on the outputs, one set goes directly to the midrange, one set goes to a 12dB/oct passive crossover that is designed to cross at 5000 hz with 4ohm. The output of this crossover goes to the Dayton tweeter. These are powered directly off the MS8's internal amp
3&4 - are the doors, they bandpass from 80 hz to 450 hz, both slopes are 24dB/oct. These are powered off the 4ch amp, on channels 1 and 2.
5&6 - are the rear doors. They are high-passed at 100hz, 24dB/oct.
7 - is the center, this is crossed at 150 hz @ 24dB/oct high-pass. There is a parallel wiring going on here, just like the pillars. One set of wires go to the mid, and one set goes through a 12dB/oct crossover, 5000 hz, 4 ohm to the tweeter. This is powered off channel 3 of the 4ch amp.
8 - is the sub, it is crossed from 80hz @ 24dB/oct and has a subsonic filter with a more shallow cross at 12dB/oct of 20hz. This is run off the sub amp.
Changes down the line, will be a swap to power the pillars off the amp, and swap the center to the MS8. Not a huge rush, as it sounds fine right now though. Also, I may add additional crossover components to the mids, to low-pass them. Just a work-in-progress.
glock-coma
New member
That's pretty sweet, I'm probably going to try and tackle something similar to this soon. Thx for the setup layout
Just a minor update, the right pillar looks to be taking some heat from the sun, and sadly the vinyl feels like it is lifting right off the pillar. I suspect the primer underneath has failed and it is stuck securely to the vinyl with the adhesive. I'll need to peel off the vinyl, clean it up, and then try again probably this weekend. Frustrating but fixable I think.
I started with the center channel this afternoon. I cut this piece out of 1/4" MDF, to fit the original shape. Incredibly, I was able to use the two factory screws that attach the small stock speaker to the metal mount. I carefully drilled and countersunk two screw holes in my piece here, and in fact it is screwed down in this pic. The Dayton RS125-4 fits right over that, in a cutout.
This is what I came up for, as a total solution. I match-cut a 1/2" piece of MDF, one that was 1/2" longer on the end that would be towards the engine compartment. This extra space affords me just barely enough room to mount my tweeter. This will have to be exposed in the final design, but the rest will be covered with a grille. I really wanted a fully round grille in the center, which is infinitely easier to cut and form. The tweeter is installed from behind which is how these ND20FB's are designed. I had to make a relief routing shape to fit this properly back there. I hope I can fully hide all that once the install is covered in vinyl, after sanding and more shaping.
This is what I came up for, as a total solution. I match-cut a 1/2" piece of MDF, one that was 1/2" longer on the end that would be towards the engine compartment. This extra space affords me just barely enough room to mount my tweeter. This will have to be exposed in the final design, but the rest will be covered with a grille. I really wanted a fully round grille in the center, which is infinitely easier to cut and form. The tweeter is installed from behind which is how these ND20FB's are designed. I had to make a relief routing shape to fit this properly back there. I hope I can fully hide all that once the install is covered in vinyl, after sanding and more shaping.
Just some update pics on the fly, excuse the rough shadows and light as I know it does hide some of the shape a bit... I was driving though.
I redid the center just a bit, to get it to sit more appropriately in the spot without as much a gap. This now makes it look like it came with the car, somehow.
Here's the redone pillars. Better grille cloth, a redo of the vinyl, and improved inside with Ensolite foam instead of carpet.
The next phases:
My new passive crossover inductors and capacitors are on their way, and should be here next week. I'll build new highpass crossovers for the tweeters, and new low-pass crossovers for the pillar mids and center. I'm using high quality poly caps and air-core inductors, from Parts Express (PE). PE also let me know that my backordered midbass 8" Daytons are now in stock, so a pair should be on its way as well.
I redid the center just a bit, to get it to sit more appropriately in the spot without as much a gap. This now makes it look like it came with the car, somehow.
Here's the redone pillars. Better grille cloth, a redo of the vinyl, and improved inside with Ensolite foam instead of carpet.
The next phases:
My new passive crossover inductors and capacitors are on their way, and should be here next week. I'll build new highpass crossovers for the tweeters, and new low-pass crossovers for the pillar mids and center. I'm using high quality poly caps and air-core inductors, from Parts Express (PE). PE also let me know that my backordered midbass 8" Daytons are now in stock, so a pair should be on its way as well.
Little update:
Midbass are due delivered today, can't wait to pull them out and snap some pics.
I decided speaker connections will NOT be my weak link in my system, so I ponied up for some XT60 high-current connectors to connect every single speaker, and every connection point from these crossovers. These are the connectors that are used in high power R/C or robotic setups, so these will suffice with car audio signals just fine. I have to wait for them to come in, but if want to see what I'm using just google "XT60 connector" or look on eBay. I got a pack of 20 pairs, and if I did my math right I'll be using 13 pair in this whole car including the door speakers.
Should be some more crossover work tonight.
Oh, and really sorry for the junky, quick cameraphone quality pics all the time. I have a nice Nikon but its one of those things that I don't think about when I have my hands in sawdust, hot glue, plastic filings, etc... I don't like even thinking about it. When this is all done and I'm able to showcase it at the quality level that I feel is good enough for a high res photoshoot, rest assured I'll make sure to show everything I've done the best I can.
Midbass are due delivered today, can't wait to pull them out and snap some pics.
I decided speaker connections will NOT be my weak link in my system, so I ponied up for some XT60 high-current connectors to connect every single speaker, and every connection point from these crossovers. These are the connectors that are used in high power R/C or robotic setups, so these will suffice with car audio signals just fine. I have to wait for them to come in, but if want to see what I'm using just google "XT60 connector" or look on eBay. I got a pack of 20 pairs, and if I did my math right I'll be using 13 pair in this whole car including the door speakers.
Should be some more crossover work tonight.
Oh, and really sorry for the junky, quick cameraphone quality pics all the time. I have a nice Nikon but its one of those things that I don't think about when I have my hands in sawdust, hot glue, plastic filings, etc... I don't like even thinking about it. When this is all done and I'm able to showcase it at the quality level that I feel is good enough for a high res photoshoot, rest assured I'll make sure to show everything I've done the best I can.
Minor update, got another crossover done. These things take FOREVER to make! I don't know why, it should be easy but it just takes hours to get it right.
I tried tweaking the locations this time, and this worked out better in some ways, worse in others (regarding wiring together.)
One more to go, for the center.
The woofers came in but I haven't done anything more than oogle at them and ponder what I've got myself into with such a big speaker in the door. Oh well.
I tried tweaking the locations this time, and this worked out better in some ways, worse in others (regarding wiring together.)
One more to go, for the center.
The woofers came in but I haven't done anything more than oogle at them and ponder what I've got myself into with such a big speaker in the door. Oh well.
