I have had 4 amplifiers in their boxes since October waiting their uses. I got a good deal on them: a 4x60, 4x85, 2x80 and 2x125 for $224 shipped.
I was waiting for a good deal on subwoofers next, one for my wife's truck, and one for my daily driver. Boom! End of November, Lambda LE drivers announced so I quickly ordered. Meanwhile, I was able to install some custom components in the front doors on the truck. I didn't have time to get them hooked up to an amp before it got cold. Bummer. Beginning of January I recieved an LE PB10 and an LE PB12. One Saturday I made a sealed box ~0.6 cu ft for the 10" for the truck. I tested it out in my home, but a 10" in a small sealed box does compare to two 15" drivers in ported boxes tuned to 18Hz. It hasn't been above 25 degrees since December so I wasn't excited about hooking up an amp. The last three days have been a heat wave with highs in the 38-42 range and no rain. All right, I have to get at least the sub wired up since it looks so nice sitting in the back of my family room mocking me.
Wednesday evening I started running wires, splicing into the right front speaker for a signal and eventually to be powered by this amp. I took part of the evening to
wash, polish, and wax the truck so I did not progress far with the stereo.
Yesterday, nothing went my way except fining a wire to tap into for the amp remote turn on. Still not pleases with my wire choices or selection for this as it makes the sub pop when turning on and off. Bummer, something to fix later.
Tonight, I had to pick up some more 8GA loop connectors for the ground. I knew this was the day as the Best Buy Mobil Installer guy just gave them to me. Not that they woul have cost a lot, but it was a sign. I finished the wiring and fired up the stereo, then palyed with the gain and crossover settings.
I only set it up my ear, but so far I love it! Good, clean bass with the limited CD's that are in the changer. I turned down the bass on the head unit and adjusted with the amplifier. This will help conserve the HU power for the easier frequencies; and I am finally impressed with how the components sound. That cleaned them up a lot. Switching over to the other two channels of my amp should give me the detail I have been missing since I sold my Contour. But, that will come another with another warm spell. Tomorrow I will get more experience playing with the sub and adjusting. A quick trip to the store proved it was being crossed over too high, so I lowered by 20Hz. Tomorrow my wife and I are taking the truck on a short overnight stay an hour away so I can listen more.
In short: 10" driver with just 180w in a small sealed box works well in the small cabin of a pickup. Not bad for $150 for the amp/driver.
The install in not complete so pictures will come another time. The back seat is not in there and I have wires all over the back floor whic hisn't pretty. But I put tan carpet o nthe box I made which blends pretty well. Eventually wi will be under the rear seat and not seen mcuh anyway. Hopefully I can show a clean install which I cannmot say my Contour was.
Edit: Okay, I took a
few pictures. Under those floor mats are a lot of wire. The final amp placement is TBD.
Aaron
were ya like 4 inches short on carpet? 