Subwoofer Upgrade/replacement - Completed (1 Viewer)

[Long Duck Dong]

Fellow Forum Members....

As promised the here is the complete write up on the subwoofer replacement/upgrade project you all have been waiting for. The project is complete and we have two completely built units that are ready to be ordered and shipped today. This enclosure was designed to fit behind your rear passenger trim panel as a direct replacement/upgrade for your 80-Series Rig and will work in the Toyota Landcruiser and Lexus LX450.

The Enclosure

The first priority to building this enclosure was fitment behind the passneger rear panel so you did not have to give up any cargo space, my intention was to utlilize unused open space the truck had to offer. The enclosure is made of 3/4" MDF and a fiberglass back with 3 - 3/4" MDF support ribs to give the fiberglass backing some extra support.

I initially wanted to offer two versions of the enclosure in a "ported" or "sealed" application. After building 4 working prototypes (2-Sealed and 2-Ported) and testing them and measuring the fequency responses on our Audio Control SA-3055 RTA "Real Time Analyzer" we found that the "Sealed" enclosure produced a broader range of frequency response and the subwoofer could take on more power from the amplifer. When we tested the "Ported" enclosures the subwoofer was not able to take on a 1/3rd of the power the amplifier had to offer and cut the frequency response almost in half.
Per the forum request we also tried to fabricate an amplifier rack that could also be hidden behind the rear panel and be attached to the enclosure. Unfortunately we were not able to accomplish this request and keep the enclosure as a "single unit". The enclosure itself takes a little movement to get it into the correct mounting location for proper fitment, adding an additional piece of flat MDF so you could mount an amplifer on the enclosure made it impossible to correctly fit the enclosure to be mounted. If we made it as a two piece unit we could easily fabricate an amplifier rack that could be mounted behind the panel but it would not be cost effective to purchase it from us, and "Do It Yourselfer" or local stereo shop could easily fab this up much cheaper than the cost of me doing it and then shipping it to you.

The Subwoofer

I used the Exile XT10 aka Xtec 10 becuase of the low mounting depth and the awsome performance I had experienced with other woofers in the Exile line of product, not to mention the 2 year warranty Exile offers.
The Performance
Let me begin by stating that my intentions with this project was to be able to offer an afforadable subwoofer replacement/upgrade without major modifications to the truck or giving up any cargo space. This enclosure and woofer set up is not designed to be loud or boomy although it is capable of producing decibels in the lower to mid 120's, much louder than the factory subwoofer in the Landcruiser and LX450 and with a much broader frequency response range. The subwoofer plays very tight and quite smooth for a subwoofer that is mounted in such a small amount of sealed air space (.36 cubic feet) and as I mentioned the frequency response is quite nice. Once we had the "production" enclosure built and ready to play we installed it in my LX450 and threw every music type under the sun at the enclosure to see how it would perform. I have to say it held up really well and the enclosure took a little more liking to "natural" music with traditional drums, it didnt like heavy bass lined hip hop......but then again how many 80-Series owners are playing 50 Cents latest release?

The Finished Product

As pictured below you can see 2 of our prototypes (on the left) and the finished enclosure with the speaker mounted. I also included a few shots of the interior of the production enclosure that shows the ribs, the finished enclosure will be black carpet prior to shipping out to you.

My Reccomendations

I have a few things I would reccomed purchasing along with the enclosure if your looking into doing this as a replacement or upgrade.

1. Accumat / Dynamat / Hushmat - Sound deadening material - I reccomend putting this inside your open compartment before mounting the enclosure, it will help reduce and metal vibration today and any potential vibration months from now.

2. I personally would reccomend the Exile X600.1 amplifier, which is the same amplifier we used to test the enclosure. If your pocket book doesnt allow for the Exile X600.1 my second reccomendation is the Exile X300.2 amplifier, which we also tested with this set up. I do not reccomend using the factory amplifier to run this subwoofer as it does not have enough power.

How To Order

The enclosure and subwoofer are sold together as a package, the reccomended items above can also be purchased through me as well as the Exile XP65 Components which I reccomend as direct front replacement speakers. If your looking for a total package I will give you additional discounts especially if your buying the front speakers (Exile XP65 Comp) and the amplifier and enclosure.
If you wish to order any of the items please feel free to contact me directly by calling me at (256) 878-4727 or email me at ocsteveo2003@yahoo.com
Thanks,
Steve Thomas aka Long Duck Dong

 

[177mph]

Wow - nice work!!!

 

[Long Duck Dong]

One thing I forgot to mention........

Everyone of these enclosures is hand built by me....not that it's worth anything....I just wanted to mention it....lol

 

[boydmick]

Just curious. . .could you post a shot with the panel in place?

Did you cut a larger opening in the panel, or are you just pushing the bass through the panel (and exsisting hole)?

Looks really good!!

Boyd

 

[Long Duck Dong]

I did not alter the exterior of the panel at all so mine pushes bass out of the panel.

Keep in mind I have an LX450 so my factory sub is in my center console so those of you who have the LC will have the factory grill there to let a little more air escape from the inner panel.

With the sub behind my panel which is a closed panel there was still no rattles or vibration from the plastic. The sub has a very short throw so it does not touch the outer trim panel in the movement of the woofer.

 

[SunTzuMD]

How much for one of these bad boys?

 

[MLX450]

Nice! How much?

 

[Long Duck Dong]

The Enclosure and Subwoofer are $250.00 plus $25 for shipping anywhere in the 48 states. For additional pricing on amps, front speakers, and so on email me at ocsteveo2003@yahoo.com or call me at 256.878.4727 from 9am to 6pm Central Time

Thanks,
Steve Thomas
Long Duck Dong

 

[j2custom]

I have the LX450 with the horrible factory sub. Does this sub work with the factory amp or do you run an additional amp? Thanks and Very Nice work.

*** I see the answer***




Let's see if this post is deleted...

 

[Long Duck Dong]

Ok, here are the finished pictures of the enclosure in my LX450 and the factory panel back on the truck.

If you notice I removed the pocket cover so you can see the enclosure is in the panel....

Sorry for the mess, we are still taking the truck apart and putting it back to stock after the show.....getting it ready to go to the Cottonland Event, and Yes I built an enclosure like this for my own truck.....

 

[Bluetribal]

Does the pocket of that cubby fit back in with the box there?

 

[Long Duck Dong]

No, you loose the use of that pocket when you install the sub, although you might be able to trim the pocket to make it fit still....

 

[kennyv0826]

Nice enclosure, I like how it hides behind the factory panel.

I've been been working on a wood/fiberglass enclosure as well that has .68 cubic feet and it won't take up any cargo space, but the factory panel will most likely not be able to be used since I am building the enclosure for deeper subs (up to 5") and with the option to run a 5.5" deep sub for those who like JL Audio subs.

It has been a little bit more of a pain that I originally thought but I was able to make use of all the space behind the panel.

Oh, and the reason your ported enclosure didn't sound as good is that the same sub will always need a larger enclosure if you run a port. Do you know the recomended box sizes (ported and sealed) for the sub you are using?

 

[kennyv0826]

Let me know if anyone wants to see pics of mine and I will post them.

 

[C6H12O6]

Any vibration issues with the factory panel? Mine buzzes now without a sub in there. I can only imagine it would rattle something awful with a big speaker pounding away.

Also, does the speaker hit the panel at full excursion?

 

[Long Duck Dong]

This enclosure was never designed to be louder than 120db, it was designed to be an upgrade to the crappy factory free-air 5 1/4" that was originally in the Landcruiser, and the 4" center console sub that came in the LX450.

I never intended for it to be anything more than an affordable upgrade for the LC or LX owner who wanted a little more subwoofer performance. These enclosures are not designed to be loud, boomy or carry outside of the vehicle.

As for the "ported" box it did work, and it worked really good. The problem is most people dont understand that when you raise the effieciency level of a 300W 10" subwoofer to about 100W by porting it they still assume they can run 300 watts to it without any problem. The end result is you start dealing with people who are upset because they keep blowing subwoofers, and then they become unhappy with the product.

So for the sake of building and putting out a quality enclosure that does what we wanted it to do, it make no sense to reinvent the wheel and open the door to potential problems by offering the enclosure in a ported application.

Our enclosure is designed for the "Adult" driver/listener thats does not want to give up any cargo space or have anything protruding out of the factory panelling.

$250.00 buys you the enclosure and the subwoofer...

 

[Long Duck Dong]

Any vibration issues with the factory panel? Mine buzzes now without a sub in there. I can only imagine it would rattle something awful with a big speaker pounding away.

Also, does the speaker hit the panel at full excursion?

In my LX450 there is very very little vibration at high volume levels, the vibration is only noticable when your near the sub. In the front seat and rear seat (first rear row) you cant hear it.

The excursion of the woffer does not hit the panel, we made sure of that in our testing procedures.

In the write up I reccomended Dynamat/Accumat/Hushmat for potential vibrational issues. Also keep in mind that if you have a LC there is an additional 5/14" hole for the air to escape from, which will lower the air pressure behind the facotry panel.

 

[C6H12O6]

Cool. You hit the nail on the head. I don't want to set off car alarms with my bass as I drive down the street. I just want a good sounding, full-range listening environment inside the truck.

My long-term plans for the Cruiser are to DynaMat (or maybe use the roll-on stuff) the doors, floors, and inner cargo area body panels. I may end up covering the plastic panels as well, especially if I go with your set-up. I have my 4 ch. amp for the door speakers in that spot right now, but I am looking to replace that at some point with a nice 5 ch. amp to run the doors and the sub. If I could fit that somewhere back there and still hide the sub, that would be great.

Nice pics and write-up. Thanks for the follow-up information.

 

[notyourmomslx450]

what exactly does porting the box do, and what would you recommend someone runs to the sub if they run a ported version of your box. i still kinda want to be able to blast a little bit.

 

[cary]

what exactly does porting the box do, and what would you recommend someone runs to the sub if they run a ported version of your box. i still kinda want to be able to blast a little bit.

Porting increases the efficiency of a subwoofer by 3db over a sealed enclosure. The downsides are limited bandwidth and the driver has much lower power handling below the ported frequency as the driver will be unloaded. Also, ported enclosures need to (normally) be larger a sealed enclosure for the same driver.

120db's is a lot of output. Pushing 600 watts to the 10" is going to get you maximum output from that driver. BTW, a a 3db increase in SPL is hardly noticable. If you want more output, I would start looking at dual 10" subs in a sealed enclosure of even subs. The downside is you will have to give up cargo area.