[PiZauL]

For the past 2 months, I have been gathering all the equipment I wanted for my trunk subwoofer build. Yesterday I got to install everything.



-Zenclosure
-1 JL Audio 12w3v3-2
-JL Audio JX500/1
-dB 4 gauge Amp wiring kit
-Technic Harness

Lookin good!


RCA and Remote wire (blue)


Technic harness and LOC tucked in here


Power and Ground - The ground cable that came with the kit was not long enough so I used the left over power cable and put some black electrical tape on it.



So on to the bad news, after installing everything and giving it a test - I am getting no output. The power indicator on the AMP is on, but I am only getting 9.6v to the amp with the car running, and the remote is getting around the same. Speaker output getting 0-0.1v. Battery is cranking out 14.6v with car running. I'm not much of a wiring/electrical expert, but I know I am supposed to be getting 12v to the amp. Wiring looks solid, but never hurts to look a 4th time. I checked the batt negative and positive after the fuse and it was 14.6 but then touching the ground at the wire by the amp was only getting 9.6. I followed a DIY here, and grounded where this guy did. So maybe this is a bad grounding spot, or I should sand the ground point down some?

[Technic]

Your ground point is wrong. Use battery terminal or ground point above OEM amp directly.

[fdriller9]

Did you have the zenclosures box cut down? Or did you just order it? The standard internal volume is around 1.87 cu ft which is too big for that W3.

I cut mine down to around 1.0 cu ft for my alpine 1242D type-r.

You should also look into get the plugs for the oem distribution box.

[PiZauL]

Originally Posted by Technic

Your ground point is wrong. Use battery terminal or ground point above OEM amp directly.

Ok, I had a feeling this grounding point felt off. That guy should update his DIY page.. I will try the battery terminal when I get home today.

Originally Posted by *********

Did you have the zenclosures box cut down? Or did you just order it? The standard internal volume is around 1.87 cu ft which is too big for that W3.

I cut mine down to around 1.0 cu ft for my alpine 1242D type-r.

You should also look into get the plugs for the oem distribution box.

Yeah, I had them make it 1.250 ft³, which is what the specs for the W3 call for. Hmm, I will look into that, thanks!

[PiZauL]

Technic, people have told it its sometimes better to ground to something other than the battery ground post. Dunno why, but would this be a better place to ground (pic below)?

EDIT- this is the same type of ground point that is above the OEM amp. So nvm on this, gonna give it a go when I get home today.

Pic from a DIY here

[PiZauL]

It's alive! Regrounded, amp got 12v. Smile on face.

New ground:


Final setup:

[Denny347]

How's it sound?

[PiZauL]

Originally Posted by Denny347

How's it sound?

Fantastic! Exactly what the Harman Kardon system needed. Still fine tuning it, on some songs I hear some boomy mid bass (unless that's what it's supposed to sound like on a woofer). Guessing that turning the low pass filter down from 80hz may help with that.

[Atomicteal_M3]

Great info! I have the same zenclosure box and have not hook it up yet! I just need to buy amp kit. I have everything else.

[PiZauL]

Originally Posted by BLKLYZ

Great info! I have the same zenclosure box and have not hook it up yet! I just need to buy amp kit. I have everything else.

Very nice, your gonna love it! Did you have them adjust the airspace for your sub(s)?

[Atomicteal_M3]

Originally Posted by PiZauL

Very nice, your gonna love it! Did you have them adjust the airspace for your sub(s)?

No. I'm not that smart when it comes to subs. I just know I have a Punch 3 12" subwoofer and a old school fosgate 900watt amp with bass knob! "Yeah, I know I need to get with the times." I removed the sub and amp from my previous car and it used to sound great for me!

[fdriller9]

Originally Posted by PiZauL

Fantastic! Exactly what the Harman Kardon system needed. Still fine tuning it, on some songs I hear some boomy mid bass (unless that's what it's supposed to sound like on a woofer). Guessing that turning the low pass filter down from 80hz may help with that.

Your underseats are playing the same frequencies as your sub that's why it sounds muddy. You should really bandpass the underseats.

[Thrasher]

How do you band pass the underseats? I thought that term was used for a type of sub enclosure where one side was sealed and the other ported.

[PiZauL]

Originally Posted by *********

Your underseats are playing the same frequencies as your sub that's why it sounds muddy. You should really bandpass the underseats.

Dunno if that was the problem, I think the woofer was throwing off some music with the LPF set at 80hz, I put it down to 70hz and everything sounds a whole lot better now. I also turned the gain down some, and also changed some of the EQ settings on HU that I got from the Logic 7 sticky in this section:

80hz to 0 (was +2)
200hz to +4 (was 0)
Bass to 5 (was 8)

The way it sounds now is perfect, my father asked me "Damn is this how the factory system sounds in these things?" So its not obnoxious enough to make someone say that there is def a trunk sub in there. But at this rate, I will gradually lose my hearing lol.

Also, to add onto this thread, I had to velcro the box to the back seat. I thought it was a snug fit and wouldnt move, but turns out the mighty N54 has enough kick to have it slide out a tad bit.

[jjmanda]

Originally Posted by Thrasher

How do you band pass the underseats? I thought that term was used for a type of sub enclosure where one side was sealed and the other ported.

He is referring to band passing the frequency range for the under seat woofers...not referring to a bandpass sub enclosure.

[psnt1ol]

Originally Posted by jjmanda

He is referring to band passing the frequency range for the under seat woofers...not referring to a bandpass sub enclosure.

+1

Since both your sub and the woofers under the seats are being ask to produce the same frequency band, I suspect some of the frequencies are canceling each other out and some may be over-amplified. Separate the bass note to 2 parts (Low bass under 90 Hz - Sub, Mid bass 90Hz and above - Woofers under the seats) will yield better definition in sound quality.

Be careful with adjusting the gain on your amp. The gain dial is not a volume knob. It is meant for level matching. All you are looking for here is this.... when your head unit is at 3/4 power, the amp should also be at 3/4 power. Turn the gain down too much and your system will not be linear ( the bass would disappear at low volume ). Turn up the gain too much...... distortion city at moderate level.

[PiZauL]

So I have a question, is there any noticeable difference in sound between having a ski pass vs not having one? I searched around the forum and found some folks who don't have a ski pass make a little cut out to help some of the sound get to the cabin from the trunk; but these people also have a forward facing setup. I plan keeping the sub firing at the trunk and am satisifed with the lows it is getting into the cabin right now. But I was wondering if I were to do a cutout or maybe even just drill a bunch of holes in a circle so it kinda looks like a speaker grill, would this do anything with the back of the enclosure against the seat? Or shoud I just not sweat it and let it be?

[kaigoss69]

I think it would make very little difference. The main problem is the orientation of the woofers and the sealing effect the box has on the trunk. You would have much better results by either a) building a new box with a single driver, turning it around, opening the ski-pass, and sealing the box baffle to the cabin interior, or b) getting a corner-loaded enclosure.

I used to run two 12s with 1000W and the bass would be very muffled and most of the energy would stay in the trunk and rattle the hell out of the panels. Now I have a single 10W6 in a croner-loaded fiberglass box with 500W and I have zero rattles and the bass is the best I have ever had it in my car. Output is very loud and clean. I would never go back again to a standard MDF enclosure type set-up having hear what a single 10 can do with corner-loading.

[PiZauL]

^Yeah, I agree with you on those options. As things sit right now, I dont think the bass is that muffled, it sounds pretty pronounced and hits pretty hard without rattling everything. It could be because my goal was to slightly compliment the L7 system, not flood it with heavy bass. On low notes, I can feel the seat + steering wheel shake a bit and the tips of my hair vibrate, but its not enough to shake the mirror violently. But maybe it could be even better with the corner loaded box, since I have nothing else to compare to really other than what I hear at concerts. But this current setup sounds very similar to what I hear at a concert with decent sound equipment. Gonna run this setup for a bit and consider changing the enclosure out. Sucks the VP corner enclosure is a bit pricey and they don't make a 12" corner loaded enclosure :/

[bimmertt]

Originally Posted by PiZauL

It's alive! Regrounded, amp got 12v. Smile on face.

New ground:

Where is this grounding bolt. Kind of hard to tell from the pic.

[PiZauL]

Originally Posted by bimmertt

Where is this grounding bolt. Kind of hard to tell from the pic.

It's infront of the battery under the cover, right on the wheel well. I just shoved the cover to the side and it gave me enough room to bolt the ground on - so no need to remove the cover. There is the same ground point on the other side above the OEM amp also.

[bimmertt]

Originally Posted by PiZauL

It's infront of the battery under the cover, right on the wheel well. I just shoved the cover to the side and it gave me enough room to bolt the ground on - so no need to remove the cover. There is the same ground point on the other side above the OEM amp also.

Another question before I procede....When I was loosening this grounding bolt, I noticed the trunk light started to flicker so I stopped. Do I need to unplug the battery before I completely take off the bolt? Not trying to die today lol.