I have been thinking for about a month on what kind of stereo I want to install in my car. I finally made my decision after speaking with a friend of mine. I went bigger than what I had first thought, and I think I will be pleased. I bought a Kicker S12L7 dual 4 ohm sub and a Kicker ZX750.1 monoblock amp.

I determined that a stealth box would not be able to hold the size of 10" sub that I wanted to use, so I decided that if I'm going to use a standard sub box, I might as well go with the sub I wanted in the first place.

I am a Kicker guy, Stillwater Designs is about 150 miles from where I live now, and about 40 miles from where I grew up. I spent quite a bit of time researching adequate air space, port size, length, ohm load, wiring diagrams, and box tuning. All in all, I put more work into R&D on this box than any other project I've done on a car project.

I spent all of the morning wiring up the car and getting everything prepared for my amp and sub delivery later this week.

Below are pictures of what I did this afternoon.






This box is bigger air space than I was expecting it to be once it was all measured out, but if it works out how I think it will, it should be tuned perfectly for low end bass. The highest end of the bell curve will be in the optimum bass range that I want (28-55ish). I was able to take some of the air space out of it by having a larger port.

Does anyone know where I can get some actual carpet that may match the fire thorn interior? I really don't want to put black on it as I find the color harder to keep clean. I looked at the Wal-Mart and Hobby Lobby's in my area and the closest thing to carpet that anyone sells out here is felt. I have used felt once before on the bottom side of a box as I ran out of carpet and no one would see it.

Any ideas? I'd like to get this carpeted pretty fast.

 

This place has good stuff, it's very thick and should match your interior.

 

I have the box installed and carpeted with my sub in it.

Right now, I have a cheap amp that was in the closet until I get my Kicker 750.1 in next weekend.

I will post pictures once I get the new amp installed / mounted, car interior cleaned, vacuumed, and cables managed. It's about 85% complete right now and very loud, but I don't want to show it off until I'm 100% done with the sub part.

FYI: If anyone is looking for the dimensions, here is a copy of the dimensions.

Box Parts (Truncated Edge Prism)
1 U. Front: 23.3 (e) x 45 (b) x 0.75 (thick) in
2.462°, 42.54° cut angles

1 L. Front: 9 (f) x 45 (b) x 0.75 (thick) in
42.54° cut angle (top edge only)

1 Back: 9.5 (a) x 45 (b) x 0.75 (thick) in

1 Bottom: 23.25 (c) x 45 (b) x 0.75 (thick) in

2 Sides: 0.00575 (k), 9.5 (a), 22.5 (m) in
7.562 (n), 23.3 (o), 0.75 (thick) in
Angle g: 175.1°, Angle h: 94.92°


Vent Parts
1 Top, 1 Bottom: 3.579 (p) x 21.83 (r) in
0.75 (thick) in

2 Sides: 14.56 (q) x 21.83 (r) x 0.75 (thick) in


45" wide
11" tall (back against the seat)
9" tall (towards the rear of car)
24" long (covers a little of main cargo box, two smaller are useable)

2" port 14" wide 20" long (had to adjust to fit into the box)

The total internal volume of the box is 4.93 cu.ft (4.193 cu.ft with port) and tuned to 28Htz. This air space is very large for one sub, I will eventually be adding a twin sub and the air space will be perfect for dual 12"s.

 

Can't wait to see the finished product and hear your thoughts on the Kicker components. I toured the Kicker facility in Stillwater during the Hot Rod Power Tour this year and was quite impressed. The people there are very passionate about what they do and make great products.

I've been working on a design and plan on using Kicker as well doing a single 8" solobaric in sealed partition/divider style box powered by a Kicker IX 500.1. I have the air space for 2 8" subs but think that will over power the factory Bose speakers. Trying to keep it simple and clean without using up a ton of room.

 

I have only ever used kicker products since I lived so close to Stillwater growing up.

I've never had any problems.

 

I took the day off this week and decided to go to my friends house and get the amp for my stereo. I was using one that was rated at 900 watts, but it was a cheap-o, but was still loud.

I went to get this Kicker 750.1 (recommended amp for the L7 12) and it is about twice as loud as the other amp was.

Here are a few pictures with the hatch up. The amp is dusty, and the cables need to be managed better, but it's a working stereo now.




This is a picture I thought would be interesting with the security cover on and hatch down. (from the driver's door)


My center console never had an ash tray, so I decided to utilize the area for a bass remote. Don't bash my interior, it's a work-in-progress. I know it's the only white thing inside the car right now, I'm not finished.

Up


And down


For fun.



I'm extremely happy with it, it's louder than I was expecting out of a single L7, but it's able to vibrate the glasses down my nose and make it hard to breathe on some songs. The mirrors have been rendered useless, but I'm okay with that.

I will get it tested sometime at an audio place, the loudest stereo I have had so far was 127db, and this is surprisingly louder. I would guess 132+ with mid/high 30Htz bass songs.

 

You need to swing by your dentist and get an extra drop of glue put on all of your fillings

 

Agreed, I have already found out that pictures on my wall in my house need to have different nails, as most of the current ones are not making the cut.

 

Boy that thing takes up a lot of room. It looks nice though. Kicker sponsored the event in Stillwater this year on the Hot Rod Power Tour. It rained so they had to move the venue to OSU campus. I was disappointed because I was looking forward to touring their facility. They had a real nice vendor booth set up with a demo, it was LOUD, but clear.

 

I didn't want to take up the center tub, but I couldn't get the required air space without going over it at least two inches. Once I decided that it had to be done, I decided to go ahead and make it long enough that I could still use the side storage tubs. I still have quite a bit of room in the car, I can still carry all of the groceries needed. If I were to put a guard on the sub, It would still have tons of room on top of the box. I made it at a downward slant so that it wouldn't obstruct view out of the rear view mirror, which in hindsight is completely useless anyways as it just shows vertical flashes of light, or the arm rest.