Build log entry "No Limits'' rebirth

Post by **smgreen20** » Tue Jun 29, 2010 6:51 am

I figured if PG is going through a rebirth, then so can my truck.

I got permission from the wife to take a break (just a few days) from the house chores and looking for jobs to put in the tweets and mids. I'm hoping to be done over the weekend. There are a few things that will slow me down, like my oldest daughter coming over today, school tomorrow and my youngest daughter has swim lessons every morning.

I will post pics as I get things rolling.

I'm going to start w/positioning the tweeter in various ways to hear what sounds best, then I'll start on them. My mids' pods are already half way done. I started on them last summer for a different set of mids, but I'll modify to fit the new ones.

I was researching Scott B's findings on crossover points an sense the mids can go up to 5K Hz, I'll cross them over at either 4k Hz or 5k Hz with the slope depending on sound. The tweets will be crossed over accordingly as well.

It's a long read, but this is what I was reading in regards to this.
http://www.buwaldahybrids.com/phpBB3/vi ... =20&t=3328

Post by **stipud** » Tue Jun 29, 2010 7:39 am

Definitely an interesting post...

Godspeed on your install!

tonym · Post by **tonym** » Tue Jun 29, 2010 5:03 pm

yeah he does know his shit

im looking at a 3 way hat setup for the house with my pg gear...

oldskoolmseriesfan · Post by **oldskoolmseriesfan** » Tue Jun 29, 2010 8:32 pm

with all the hype over the hat speakers I have not yet been able to give them a listen

Im going to research and see if there is a dealer near me

Post by **smgreen20** » Wed Jun 30, 2010 4:09 am

I know a guy that competes in one of the sanctions and that is how I first heard of HAT 3 years ago. I finally go to listen to his install last summer. There's a certain sound to it, hard to explain, but it was very "open".

Post by **smgreen20** » Wed Jun 30, 2010 7:58 am

Here's what I managed to get done yesterday.

Cardboard, it can be an installers best friend.

And the mid pods

I have school later today so I wont be able to do anything until after I'm done w/class ~ 5:30

After playing with the placement and angle, there is absolutely 0 sound from an off axis position, so right at me they aim.

dedlyjedly · Post by **dedlyjedly** » Wed Jun 30, 2010 10:15 am

Are there some build pics missing on the pillars? The pics make it seem like you went right from the cardboard mock up to a filler stage. The red fabric over the baffle makes it look like you did a fleece layer to set your shape, but I don't see any signs of fiberglass mat before the filler. You also have to be very strategic when laying up any sort of poly resin on the pillar because it will not chemically bond to plastic!

Although I'm not familiar with those drivers that seems to be a very extreme angle for a pod up on the a-pillar.

Post by **smgreen20** » Wed Jun 30, 2010 10:27 am

The mid pods where made 2 years ago, but I gave up and tried a few other things instead. Yes that is fleece and it took about 4 days to get it shaped right. Now it's just getting the pinholes filled in and getting the "wavy" look out of it.

I put screws in from behind the pods so that the body filler would "wrap" around it to help bond it together. I scoured the hell out of the pillar to help rough it up. The other pods held up just fine in this manner. And yes I also went straight from the cardboard to the filler. They're tweeters after all, it's just for cosmetic purposes, it'll be strong enough for what I need it to do.

Post by **smgreen20** » Wed Jun 30, 2010 10:29 am

Oh yea, I'll probably put a few small strips of fiberglass on the inside to help strengthen it up. I'm going to wait until I work on the sub box a bit more when I will actually be mixing some more up.

Post by **ttocs** » Wed Jun 30, 2010 2:07 pm

never seen anyone build it up with bondo like that and not sure how long it will last to be honest. while bondo becomes hard when it dries, if there is no structure for it to hold onto it can be chipped and broken.

I am afraid when you go to mount the sleaker, the screws will break the bondo

Post by **smgreen20** » Wed Jun 30, 2010 6:06 pm

The wood piece you see where the speaker goes is just there to cover the opening so the tweeter will sit flush to the housing. Behind it is a 3/4" piece of MDF that the tweeter will screw to. I can assure you, for what its purpose is it will be plenty strong, it's for visual purposes only, no structural support at all.

Now, for the update for today...

IDK how long I will keep it this way. After test fitting the pillar, the pod sticks way out and I do not like it one bit. The tweeter housing is just so big and it has 0 off axis response, I have no choice but to put it the way it is.

I temporarily glued the Memphis tweets at the bottom of the A-pillar frame itself and that sounded a pinch better then w/the 3 way set up. So now I think I'm going to save up and get these

https://www.madisound.com/store/product ... 65e951795a

and put them at the bottom of the pillars. The more I think about it the more I think I'm going to do it any way and use the current tweets for the home audio set up. If the current tweets sound sweet as hell, I might just keep them in and deal w/how it looks. It's all in the name of SQ. I'm done trying to be loud, I want everything to sound blissful. One of the guys I know is doing 48 10" Sundown subs off of 12 ?? Sundown amps in a 2007 Ford F-350, I aint got anything for that.

Post by **stipud** » Thu Jul 01, 2010 12:06 am

Since you already have pods made, you might as well put them in for now! But those SEAS tweets are great too!

dwnrodeo · Post by **dwnrodeo** » Thu Jul 01, 2010 3:12 am

I will be purchasing those tweeters soon. Once they get in stock the mids I want to go with them.

Post by **smgreen20** » Thu Jul 01, 2010 4:13 am

If these tweets don't sound as good as I hope they do and with that gaudy looking pod, I might just bring out the Elite tweets for the time being.

I'm not going to finish the appearance just yet, I'm going to put them in and see how they sound. No need to keep wasting time and supplies if I don't keep it that way.

Post by **smgreen20** » Thu Jul 01, 2010 7:26 am

OK, so now I have a really nice set of home audio tweeters, I'll have to but some more later. I was thinking about the SEAS tweets in the link above, but for the time being, I'm going to pull out my PG Elite tweets and put them at the bottom of the A-pillar.

I now have some serious holes to fill in now, plus one more to make.

Post by **smgreen20** » Thu Jul 01, 2010 7:49 pm

I am way more pleased w/how this set up looks. I filled in the holes in my A-pillars, from previous set ups, and after it was all said and done it looked good. Get it painted and you can see that the pass side pillar could use a bit more filler. Oh well, running out of time now.

And yet another freakin blister from the hot glue putting these on, I used hot glue to seal them. Should of used silicone.

Ran out of male spade connectors so I couldn't hook up the tweets yet.

I'll have to do that and the mids tomorrow.

Post by **smgreen20** » Fri Jul 02, 2010 10:19 am

It's all in. I had a crack appear when putting the driver side mid in. I'll try to patch it later. As well as a few blemishes that I'll correct at a later time.

I'll get the pics up later today, not enough time to transfer them over to the USB drive. I have to use the PS3 to do it., the new laptop doesn't have a flash drive.

I am totally blown away buy the mid, I have it playing from 63Hz-5000Hz both at 18dB/Oct. Sense it's active, I don't have the phasing issues, and so far that's what sounds best. There is absolutely no distortion in the mid at full tilt. It's been a long time sense I could feel a mid (its pressure) on my leg.

I'll go into more detail later when I post the pics.

Till then........................

Post by **smgreen20** » Sat Jul 03, 2010 5:52 am

Here are the pics guys, a day late and more then a dollar short.

jbob0124 · Post by **jbob0124** » Sat Jul 03, 2010 5:55 am

It looks good, what did you use to finish them with? They look pretty close to stock.

Post by **smgreen20** » Sun Jul 04, 2010 7:34 am

It's a textured spray paint by Krylon. It's a bit darker then factory so it adds a bit of contrast. It's pretty durable and it's what I'll be spraying the sub box with.

I'll do some fine tuning later today to dial it in more. Then I need to make a display/frame for some of my autographed Flogging Molly, Chimaira, and Killswitch Engage items. Don't think I have enough plexi to finish it all, but it could still be displayed non the less.

Post by **stipud** » Mon Jul 12, 2010 7:13 am

I was thinking those cups looked a bit small for the mids, but you don't seem to be disappointed with the midbass at least! Still, they may work better in a larger, stiffer enclosure. You could probably build an FG enclosure for them on the back of those panels.

Post by **smgreen20** » Mon Jul 12, 2010 7:47 pm

The cup measured is 127 ci/.073 cf and add to that the pods volume, and fiber fill stuffed, and we get .15 cf.

All in all, I'm blown away from them. Still messing with things, but it's mostly crossover points and TA for the tweets.