New Shoebox sub design - Page 3

02insight · 06-08-2009, 01:25 PM

so what price range are we looking at to get one of these boxes? Hopefully it will be cheaper than the original shoebox sub...

Expertfabricator · 06-08-2009, 01:45 PM

Great question. I honestly have no idea as of right now. I am trying to buy materials in bulk to get better prices and because I have other fiberglass projects as well. Also I was thinking of selling the box complete with the wiring and woofer opening cut out but without the speaker itself to keep initial cost down. I would have the holes drilled already and the woofer could simply be screwed down. I bought my kicker L5 8 inch woofer on ebay. If anyone has a few minutes and wants to help I would appreciate any info on a good source for the L5 woofer. Ebay has them right now but next week is a different story. Once I get all the materials I can estimate how many boxes it will produce after making one from the mold thats in process. Then I can give a accurate price. I don't want to just throw out a price and then later find I was too low...so I think waiting is a better choice. I will say this there is nothing else like this available and I am very fair and don't plan on gouging other Insighters. Any info on a reliable source for the L5 would be great!

MrChoi · 06-10-2009, 07:38 PM

sonicelectronix has the L5 for 109.99 and free shipping. tax for californians. i think there are 2 different L5 subs though.

Expertfabricator · 06-10-2009, 10:06 PM

Thats the best price I have seen yet. There are 2 models one is a dual voice coil 4 ohm and the other a dual 2 ohm. There is also the L7 which is overkill. The L7 would work in this box,its just designed for competition and can handle more power. It also costs a lot more. My goal is efficiency ,if anyone wanted a L7 thats fine. I just want to keep my power needs reasonable so as to not draw too many amps. With the L7 being so power hungry its not a very sensible choice in my opinion. Example 200 watts will be a good power rating for the L5....200 watts RMS...real continious power not the peak power. The L7 can handle something crazy like 600 watts RMS. A 600 watt mono amp is going to draw a substantial amount of amperage. Everything has a trade off,for me the L5 is perfect. If anyone gets a chance to hold one of these kicker L5 series subs in thier hands and see how beefy this thing really is I think they would agree. Im thinking of going with polk audio component door speakers,the set I have in mind has a very high sensitivity of 92 DB. The more sensitive the less power they need to play at a decent level. So with that being said I plan to power them with a aftermarket head unit,no external amp. Today head units can supply a honest 25 watts RMS. 25 watts up front with sensitive speakers and 200 watts for the sub should be a good ratio,keeping in mind the front speakers are so close to your ears. I don't plan on using rear speakers,I want to keep this simple and somewhat affordable. I also built a small solar panel thats wired to my 12 volt battery and trickle charges my 12 volt battery at a rate of 90 milliamps. Less work for the DC to DC converter to do later. Each time I park the car the battery is being topped off. Also I live in N.C. where the sun is almost always out.

MrChoi · 06-10-2009, 10:32 PM

i would choose the dual 2ohm that way you can run it in 1ohm load , if your amp can handle it. ideally i guess the dual 4 ohm will be best since you can hook it up as a 2 ohm load which most amps can drive.

when i get to around making my own box i'll probably choose the JL W3V3 sub. i have this in my s2000 and it produces good amount of bass in a small custom enclosure.

Expertfabricator · 06-10-2009, 11:39 PM

Well if I sell the boxes without a woofer people can choose thier own depending on thier amp choice. I could also cut it out for a round woofer as long as I has the accurate measurements. The woofer cut out is so close to another part of the box it wont be easy to cut without a special tool I built. Another words you wont be able to just cut it with a handheld jig saw. I am using a industrial roto zip type tool with a carbide spiral cutter. I am hoping to actually build a box this weekend,I finally have most of the materials. Build a box from the mold I mean.

MrChoi · 06-11-2009, 12:19 AM

sell the box empty is a good choice. i actully recommend it. since a lot of stereo shops offer free shipping on most of their products you wont have to hand down the cost of shipping due to the extra weight of the speaker.

i like the option of us consumers to have a round cut.

have you seen JL's 6 1/2" subwoofer? i was considering that just because of size but the cost is keeping me away. its only $10 less than the 8".

Expertfabricator · 06-11-2009, 08:36 PM

I must say the kicker L5 is a serious little sub! And guess what I found L5's on ebay for 69.00! They are reconditioned,I bought one and it looks like new and the voice coils read perfect with my DMM. So a heads up if anyone is serious about this box buy the woofer now on ebay. 600 WATT KICKER SOLOBARIC S8L5 L5 8" Car Subwoofer/Sub - eBay (item 220416951694 end time Jun-17-09 01:23:58 PDT)

Expertfabricator · 06-11-2009, 10:52 PM

I have been into home and car audio for a long time and always liked JBL and JL audio. I have had a lot of expensive equipment both home and car. Now I am more of a more is not always better type. My home sub is also a home built unit and uses 1 -15 inch JBL driver in a bandpass/transmissionline box. It will levitate the area rug in front of it. Its more for home theatre. For music I turn it off. Im not impressed easily but this little L5 did impress me when I opened the box. Thats why I designed this box for it.

Fl_Fyr_Fytr · 06-12-2009, 09:00 AM

So you haven't actually heard a solo yet? WHOOAAA!!!! is all I can say. A friend of mine has dual 12" L7s and it doesn't play nice.

Back in the day I set up two serious systems that took local trophies (15yrs ago...). For my own system I chose twin 12" JBL SPL series subs powered by 4 370w amps (4 2-channel amps bridged to 2 dual coil subs). Also considering two other amps to power mids and highs, using a test CD, the system would continiously peg two 50A amp meters that were wired into the system (left and right). Nothing shows true power like consumption power.