DIY stereo upgrade for under $500.00

Anyone else have trouble with the sub rattling? I have to REALLY tighten down the bolt circle on the sub for the rattle to subside. Even still it rattles slightly.


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Are you sure it’s the sub enclosure that’s rattling? You do know that when the mirrors blur from the sub power, other stuff is shaking too

smurfslayer said:

Are you sure it’s the sub enclosure that’s rattling? You do know that when the mirrors blur from the sub power, other stuff is shaking too

Click to expand...

Most definitely the sub/enclosure. At first I though the sub was blown (idk what a blown sub sounds like but google led me to believe that.) All of this “testing” is with the sub and enclosure pulled out and resting right in front of me (wired up).

Although...

When I take it out of the enclosure it sounds perfect. Restored my faith in the sub. Place it in the enclosure and tighten the bolts down to a “normal” amount and torque, it sounds AWFUL. Makes a horrid rattling noise.

Really torque down the bolts and the rattling subsides 95%. I feel if I tighten the bolts any more it would strip the enclosure, so it’s at its limit. Not sure what the culprit is here... no way it’s normal to have to tighten the thing as hard as I am to get the rattling to stop.

I think it may be air escaping around the lip. The bolt hole in the back, when it was open, causes massive rattling. Plugged it and it went away 50%. The other 50% of the rattle must be the air escaping around the bolt circle.


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have you wrapped the sub enclosure?

if not, you should. Dynamat, or some similar product will do wonders for the quality of sound. Bonus... you get a tighter seal everywhere.

also, what you might do is rubber insulate the mount points for the enclosure. I don’t have this issue and I’m pushing close to full gain on the amp and now have it wired with 8 gauge multi strand wire, up from 10 gauge pulling from the inverter. I noticed a difference in volume from the sub with just this update.

anyway, back to your issue, try rubber insulating the mount points for the enclosure. also, mine had front to back “play”, meaning I can position about half an inch worth of front to back play. confirm this with yours and position / test .

smurfslayer said:

have you wrapped the sub enclosure?



if not, you should. Dynamat, or some similar product will do wonders for the quality of sound. Bonus... you get a tighter seal everywhere.



also, what you might do is rubber insulate the mount points for the enclosure. I don’t have this issue and I’m pushing close to full gain on the amp and now have it wired with 8 gauge multi strand wire, up from 10 gauge pulling from the inverter. I noticed a difference in volume from the sub with just this update.



anyway, back to your issue, try rubber insulating the mount points for the enclosure. also, mine had front to back “play”, meaning I can position about half an inch worth of front to back play. confirm this with yours and position / test .

Click to expand...

I did dynamat the enclosure and along the bolt circle surface for the sub lip to rest on. (Had to poke holes in the dynamat for the screws, if that helps clarify what I’m talking about.) The entire enclosure is matted and filled with two handfuls of poly-fil.

The noise is not from the enclosure rattling I don’t think. I think it’s an air leak that sounds exactly like a rattle. I didn’t know that was a thing until I read around a few forums. So, padding the feet of the enclosure wouldn’t do anything to help this if that’s the case.

Remember this phenomenon is happening with the sub in the enclosure, with the enclosure flat on the back seat. It’s not touching anything. Doesn’t happen with the sub outside the enclosure either. My first thought was it was the wire smacking into the magnet but I tried hot gluing that into place. No help.

I wonder if the sub magnet is pressing up against the back surface of the enclosure (I.e. I didn’t melt it back far enough.)

I’m really at wits end.

Edit: how would 8 gauge wire do anything if we’re tapping from 10 gauge in the first place?


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You should be able to tell if you need more work on the enclosure by affixing something to the back and seating your sub fully. some kind of putty, play dough, etc. would show it.

Edit: how would 8 gauge wire do anything if we’re tapping from 10 gauge in the first place?

Click to expand...

I didn’t say that clearly enough. I replaced the run from the inverter with a battery run, and now using 8 gauge throughout. Since it worked when I first put everything together, I never put the multimeter on the amp to check voltage. I did that when I encountered a problem months later. I suspect I wasn’t getting full power when I turned up the volume, but it degraded over time.

What kind of screws are you using to hold the sub in? I used thick heavy duty drywall screws. Also I heated up the rear of the enclosure and then installed sub and tightened it down and let it cool so I knew I had proper clearance.

What did you use to seal the bolt hole in the back of the enclosure? I used JB Weld.

No rattle whatsoever.

+1 @evan9r

heavy drywalls. I think I used a torch and some round headed implement to expand the enclosure to accommodate the sub.

Could anyone link me to an example of what to buy from Lowe’s for the tweeter install?

Know I need the strip of thin sheet with the holes punched in it. (I didn’t purchase that $1 Crutchfield part but I’m sure I can find that at the store.)

What else do you need? TIA

Don’t want to be in the middle of it and realize I can’t find something to fab up.

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Thats all you need. Just cut the metal and bend it around the tweeter and replace existing tweeter screws. The foam will keep it tight.