I am currently in the process of building an amp rack for my JL 450/4, 300/4, and 500/1 amps. I am going to be putting in the the back hatch area of my 06' rsx. Anyone have any suggestions on how i should make all of this fit? I will also have a Hooker Audio 12" slot ported box accompanying these components. I cant seem to figure out the best placements for it all. Any pictures, or suggestions would be appreciated!

 

Just wondering: why do you need a 450/4 and a 300/4?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by mrdeadman &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Just wondering: why do you need a 450/4 and a 300/4? </TD></TR></TABLE> My question also???? 94

 

The 450/4 is for my front components. I am going to bi amp them so that my tweets are running on 75x2 and my mids are on 150x2. The 300/4 is for the rear speakers. I will of course have the gain set rely low, but the quality should be retained. I have it all hooked up now and it sounds incredible, but it all rely needs to be cleaned up, and in a more permanent place.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Madvillian45 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">The 450/4 is for my front components. I am going to bi amp them so that my tweets are running on 75x2 and my mids are on 150x2. The 300/4 is for the rear speakers. I will of course have the gain set rely low, but the quality should be retained. I have it all hooked up now and it sounds incredible, but it all rely needs to be cleaned up, and in a more permanent place.</TD></TR></TABLE>

thats kind of excessive for the rear speakers dont you think? why wouldnt you spend the extra money on the front stage?

 

because I had the 300/4 for my fronts, and decided to upgrade and I don't a fine piece of equipment such as the JL amp just sitting around. Plus I also have the z's in my back as well so I figured I would give them the power that they deserve. I like a full 5.1 experience!

 

Any room under the seats or are they full power?

IIRC there is a ton of room under the floorboard. Yard the spare

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Madvillian45 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I like a full 5.1 experience!</TD></TR></TABLE>

except theres no center channel and you're still using a 2 channel source right?

 

I have to agree with EBP_SI there is no point in installing both the 300/4 and the 450/4.
Sell the 300/4, use the money to upgrade the front speakers, unless you already have a good set.
Use the 450/4 to bi-amp the fronts like you want to, [what is the make(s) and model(s) of the front and rear speakers?
Use HU power for the rears, disconnect the tweeters in the rear, or spend the money you get from the 300/4 and get a set of mid-bass/mid-range drivers for the rear, it will solve a lot of problems and if set up properly will sound better. 94


Modified by fcm at 4:47 PM 12/8/2006

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by fcm &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">94I have to agree with EBP_SI there is no point in installing both the 300/4 and the 450/4.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

unless of course your'e using the 450/4 bridged to run midbass drivers in your front stage and the 300/4 to biamp your midrage and tweeter. now that would be a nice setup.

 

I have the Boston Acoustics Z6's throughout, and yes I do have a center channel that is powered off of the hu. I don't think that any hu has enough power to push the Z's. They are extremely power hungry.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Madvillian45 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I have the Boston Acoustics Z6's throughout, and yes I do have a center channel that is powered off of the hu. I don't think that any hu has enough power to push the Z's. They are extremely power hungry.</TD></TR></TABLE>

well thats good that you have a center channel. do you have a multichannel source?

 

Eclipse AVX5000 works well enough for me. Anyways.. Back to my question. Does anyone have any experience on amp rack construction? Best materials to use other than fiberglass. I don't have the time, not patients to make a custom rack out of it. I am going to most likely stick to wood, and plexy.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by fcm &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">94I have to agree with EBP_SI there is no point in installing both the 300/4 and the 450/4.
Sell the 300/4, use the money to upgrade the front speakers, unless you already have a good set.
Use the 450/4 to bi-amp the fronts like you want to, [what is the make(s) and model(s) of the front and rear speakers?
Use HU power for the rears, disconnect the tweeters in the rear, or spend the money you get from the 300/4 and get a set of mid-bass/mid-range drivers for the rear, it will solve a lot of problems and if set up properly will sound better. </TD></TR></TABLE>

With the speakers has (Boston Acoustics Z6) I would heartily disagree. He already has quality gear and has no real need to upgrade anything (except maybe an a small amp for his center channel )

All kind of irrelevant to his question anyways, but good choice on gear

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by misanthropist &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Any room under the seats or are they full power?

IIRC there is a ton of room under the floorboard. Yard the spare </TD></TR></TABLE>

Madvillan, you never answered that

And are you set on doing an amp rack for show, cause personally I'd rather hide all my amps

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by misanthropist &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

With the speakers has (Boston Acoustics Z6) I would heartily disagree. He already has quality gear and has no real need to upgrade anything </TD></TR></TABLE> I guess you missed the "unless you already have a good set." part of my post. <TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by EBP_SI &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

unless of course your'e using the 450/4 bridged to run midbass drivers in your front stage and the 300/4 to biamp your midrage and tweeter. now that would be a nice setup.

</TD></TR></TABLE>I agree, if it would work, but the JL Audio 450/4 is a 2x75W RMS, [ch3/4] and 2x150W RMS, [ch1/2] and when bridged it would be 150W RMS on one channel and 300W RMS on the other channel.
But it is a great amp to use as he suggests, bi-amping the Z6s in front.

IMO a set of Z6s in the rear is a waste of a very good speaker, but if you already have them, I guess you have to use them, although I would use just the woofer, and run it off the HU, 2x15W RMS should drive them OK without the x-over and tweeter.

Madvillian45 You say "I like a full 5.1 experience!" Do you have the Eclipse DCU105 5.1ch. Decoder also? 94

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by fcm &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> I would use just the woofer, and run it off the HU, 2x15W RMS should drive them OK without the x-over and tweeter.

</TD></TR></TABLE>

Not imho, Boston Z's, regardless of their power rating, are ridiculously power hungry.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by misanthropist &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Not imho, Boston Z's, regardless of their power rating, are ridiculously power hungry. </TD></TR></TABLE> well as you need very little power to the rear speakers and the recommended power for the Z6s is 20W-400W and you remove the x-overs and tweeters the 2x15W RMS from the HU should work fine, nothing will mess up your sound stage and imaging more then tweeters behind you, except too much power, [in relation to the fronts].
However that is irrelevant if Madvillian45 has the 5.1 decoder. 94

 

who cares what the OP bought...and how he sets it up.

he already bought the stuff and now is wondering how to make an amp rack..

==================

How big is the sub box?
you still want some trunk space left?
is it for show?

If your putting the box right behind the seats... you can put the amps inbetween the seats and the box(the back of the box), so you won't see the amps, they will have to be mounted vertically tho, and it will only work if there is enough room. i don't own your car so i have no idea..

another idea is to put em off to the sides of the trunk area, mounted on a slight angle,

easiest is just lay em in front of the box, but then if u wanna use the trunk, stuff will have to be placed on top of them, or u make a floor above them..

you can also mount em ontop of the box...

those are my 2 cents...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by bpr0422 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">who cares what the OP bought...and how he sets it up.

</TD></TR></TABLE>

Apparentely everyone but you

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by bpr0422 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">who cares what the OP bought...and how he sets it up.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

i do I've seen it all to often where people go in to a stereo shop with a bunch of money and walk out with a setup thats not up to the level they could have gotten. a lot of times, people dont realise they could have better SQ for the same price too. i'm just trying to give some advice.

 

Although I do Have allot to learn. I feel that my knowledge in car stereo is up to par as far as matching equipment, and setting up a properly balanced system. The only problems that I run into are were to put everything. The equipment that I have will all work seamlessly together given that I get another amp for my center channel. Its just that the car i am putting them in is cramping my style in the space department. I just need a sufficient way to place all if my equipment. I am thinking about mounting the 450/4, and 300/4 on my rear seats, and putting the 500/1 on my bub box. This is the only way that I can envision it.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by EBP_SI &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

i do I've seen it all to often where people go in to a stereo shop with a bunch of money and walk out with a setup thats not up to the level they could have gotten. a lot of times, people dont realise they could have better SQ for the same price too. i'm just trying to give some advice. </TD></TR></TABLE>

if he is putting it together himself, chances are he bought the stuff on-line..

returning it wouldn't be worth the trouble, or the extra money...

most places charge a 15% restocking fee, and you might have to pay for shipping.

now unless he bought the stuff at a local shop, that would be diff... but if he did buy it from a local shop, the people there would have told him their opinions on what he should be running...kinda like what you guys were doing...

it just went WAY off topic, in a sorta-helpful-but-not way.

------------------

op, why such a big box? a slotted/ported box is huge.. a sealed box can do the job just as well...

you could put the two smaller amps, 500/1 & 350/4 on either side of the rear quarter panels.. if they fit... and the big amp mounted on the back of the box, with the two passive crossovers for the components...

or do what u were planning on doing... with the 500 and 300 mounted on the back of the rear seats, and the 450 and passive x-overs on the box... it simplifies wiring so power/ground is generally in one area, considering that is such a high amp draw...
up-grade the big-three...

but still, why so much power for rear stage? if you don't have a 5.1 decoder, you won't get great sound, cause the rear in a car stereo is way diff than a home-theater setup, unless you have a 5.1 decoder.

the 5.1 decoder, will translate stereo sound (radio, cd-audio, ipod/mp3) into 5.1 sorta...



Modified by bpr0422 at 3:27 AM 12/10/2006

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Madvillian45 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Although I do Have allot to learn. I feel that my knowledge in car stereo is up to par as far as matching equipment, and setting up a properly balanced system. The only problems that I run into are were to put everything. The equipment that I have will all work seamlessly together given that I get another amp for my center channel. Its just that the car i am putting them in is cramping my style in the space department. I just need a sufficient way to place all if my equipment. I am thinking about mounting the 450/4, and 300/4 on my rear seats, and putting the 500/1 on my bub box. This is the only way that I can envision it. </TD></TR></TABLE>
Well if your determined to use them why not "stack" them, with the 300/4 on the bottom then the 500/1 then the bigger 450/4 on top, with some spacing in between for cooling, all you would need is a piece of plywood, [same size as the 450/4] and some ready rod, some nuts and washers and maybe some tubing to dress up the ready rod.
Bingo, you have a rack mount amp rack. 94

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by bpr0422 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
but still, why so much power for rear stage? if you don't have a 5.1 decoder, you won't get great sound, cause the rear in a car stereo is way diff than a home-theater setup, unless you have a 5.1 decoder.

the 5.1 decoder, will translate stereo sound (radio, cd-audio, ipod/mp3) into 5.1 sorta... </TD></TR></TABLE>

If he does indeed have a 5.1 decoder then the rear speakers are essentially pointless as they have such limited output. I think the problem is too many people havent heard how a properly set up 2 channel system sounds. too many people think that more is better. 5.1 must be better than 2 channel because its newer. the only problem is cds are still recorded in 2 channel, so why try and add more than you need.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by EBP_SI &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

If he does indeed have a 5.1 decoder then the rear speakers are essentially pointless as they have such limited output. I think the problem is too many people havent heard how a properly set up 2 channel system sounds. too many people think that more is better. 5.1 must be better than 2 channel because its newer. the only problem is cds are still recorded in 2 channel, so why try and add more than you need. </TD></TR></TABLE>

True that. I could put together a 2 channel system that would blow away a 5.1 system at the same price point as far as sq goes. Rear speakers are somewhat useless, since arguably 90%+ of the sound comes from the front speakers (in a 5.1 system).

That being said, madvillan you still haven't answered my questions and I still think you should yard the spare

Are you dead set on keeping your current box? Fiberglass not be a bad idea