2025 Maverick Build Log

[squirlz]

Been busy, but do have some progress.

The pillars took me awhile to come up with something that I liked how it looked and did not obstruct my view. Luckily there is nothing behind the pillar on the lower portion. Yeah, it would have been nice for image height to have them higher, but it is what it is. I did not document the process, but I hot glued some 3d printed rings when in the vehicle to get aiming correct. Then glued in pieces of PVC sheet ripped into small strips to build the shape. It is very easy to shape and is plenty rigid for a tweeter pod.

I do need to source some material to wrap them in. I would prefer something that matches the headliner.

Protecting the subs was a bit difficult, the seat is right on top of the enclosure. I needed something slim, that can support the seat cushion, and that can serve as a cover panel. This was the result, a sheet of 1/2" PVC sheet, some 3d printed supports to hold the rod, and some steel rod.

As you can see, the grill presses on the seat, and so far no contact between the subs and the grill. The bars do rattle a bit, it is really hard to hear with the full system playing. I do plan on wrapping the panel in vinyl once it is finalized so that should help.

Tuning was a learning experience. I get the concepts, how to take measurements, set crossovers, calculate and apply EQ, level match, and use impulse response to set timing. But the process was tedious, I made mistakes, learned a bit, and there was some trial and error to get to the end product. Overall I am happy with the final tune, I know it is not perfect, but after all of the time investment since spring, I am happy to take a break and just enjoy it.

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[squirlz]

After tuning and listening, I ended up with crossovers at 95-300-2500.

The impact of the bass was not where I wanted it at anything lower than 95. The issue that arises is that the higher bass frequencies can create a bit of a drone, but 95 Hz seemed to be the best middle ground. I listen to a lot of rock, so the impact is important and was worth the tradeoff.

I could play around with raising the mid to tweeter crossover, but there is a significant dip at 3K on the mid.

Some measurements.

Left tweeter raw (1khz hp xo):

Left tweeter final:

Right tweeter raw (1khz hp xo):

Right tweeter final:

Left mid raw (100hz hp xo) :

Left mid final:

Right mid raw (100hz hp xo) :

Right mid final:

 

[squirlz]

Left midbass raw (40hz hp xo):

Left midbass final:

Right midbass raw (40hz hp xo):

Right midbass final:

Sub (45hz low shelf boost):

Sub final:

All:

 

[squirlz]

Here are the measurements from REW, rename to .mdat to open. The midbass drivers play plenty high enough for a 2 way. When I have time I will tune with a 2-way front just to see the difference.

 

[Aaron F]

Been busy, but do have some progress.

The pillars took me awhile to come up with something that I liked how it looked and did not obstruct my view. Luckily there is nothing behind the pillar on the lower portion. Yeah, it would have been nice for image height to have them higher, but it is what it is. I did not document the process, but I hot glued some 3d printed rings when in the vehicle to get aiming correct. Then glued in pieces of PVC sheet ripped into small strips to build the shape. It is very easy to shape and is plenty rigid for a tweeter pod.

I do need to source some material to wrap them in. I would prefer something that matches the headliner.

Protecting the subs was a bit difficult, the seat is right on top of the enclosure. I needed something slim, that can support the seat cushion, and that can serve as a cover panel. This was the result, a sheet of 1/2" PVC sheet, some 3d printed supports to hold the rod, and some steel rod.

As you can see, the grill presses on the seat, and so far no contact between the subs and the grill. The bars do rattle a bit, it is really hard to hear with the full system playing. I do plan on wrapping the panel in vinyl once it is finalized so that should help.

Tuning was a learning experience. I get the concepts, how to take measurements, set crossovers, calculate and apply EQ, level match, and use impulse response to set timing. But the process was tedious, I made mistakes, learned a bit, and there was some trial and error to get to the end product. Overall I am happy with the final tune, I know it is not perfect, but after all of the time investment since spring, I am happy to take a break and just enjoy it.

Awesome work and effort put in. Did you end up aiming the right tweeter pod differently than the left to direct at the drivers listening position, or keep the design "symmetrical" ? Did you notice a huge difference with directional pods vs the original windshield bounce? I will be curious to get your input after you do a 2 way tune to compare those. I've been trying to decide if it is worth the effort to do some sort of pod with a directional tweeter. In my head, I keep thinking it will sound better.

 

[Carlitos_92]

Not the prettiest of holes, it is a tight space to work in, but it does the job.

Was it pretty straightforward routing new wire to those OEM tweeter locations? I have only looked briefly up under the dash.

I am planning on swapping out the tweeters with a 1:1 upgrade, but will run new wire because I am putting in separates in the doors/dash with crossovers.

 

[squirlz]

Awesome work and effort put in. Did you end up aiming the right tweeter pod differently than the left to direct at the drivers listening position, or keep the design "symmetrical" ? Did you notice a huge difference with directional pods vs the original windshield bounce? I will be curious to get your input after you do a 2 way tune to compare those. I've been trying to decide if it is worth the effort to do some sort of pod with a directional tweeter. In my head, I keep thinking it will sound better.

Thanks. I played around a lot with aiming. I first had the tweeters pointed at the opposite pillar, and although it did not sound bad, the tweeters rolled off really early, around 5K with an around 6dB slope, then a dive at 14K. There is a lot of information that adds detail in that upper range that I was not getting.

I cannot speak to how it would sound in the factory location. Judging by how the mid rolls off in the upper end, I don't think the reflection is helping the upper end any. Looking back at the factory measurements, the response slowly slopes down then drops like a rock at 12K.

I stuck with a symmetrical layout, both pointing between the seats. I wanted a form and function balance.

Was it pretty straightforward routing new wire to those OEM tweeter locations? I have only looked briefly up under the dash.

I am planning on swapping out the tweeters with a 1:1 upgrade, but will run new wire because I am putting in separates in the doors/dash with crossovers.

The dash is very open, and there is plenty of room under the sill panels to run wire. With the battery in the back, and not having to run power wire, it was one of the easiest runs I have ever done. Although there is not a lot of room to get wires to the ACM.

 

[squirlz]

Met up with a local who I met at a competition a few years ago to get some feedback. There were things I noticed but didn't know what to attribute them to. I gained a lot of feedback, insight on how to approach fixing them, and other tips and tricks, it was very beneficial.

Thee biggest issue was the misalignment between the midbass and sub. I learned the impulse response is not precise enough for the lower frequencies. I compared the phase graphs between the two and adjusted delays until they lined up. It made a significant improvement and it a little bit better. I know I can work on it a bit more as there are still areas for improvement. I enjoy the learning process and continue to learn something knew. Reading more on the forum some pieces start to fit together.

Here is the graph of the midbass and sub along with the sum.

I had to swap the phase of the sub. I am fairly certain I thought I inverted the subs during a previous tuning session but looking at past measurements, it is clear I did not keep it. Here is a comparison between this more recent result and the previous tune.

Next on the list is to make a calibration file for my Dayton EMM6 mic as from what research I have done, the top end is probably lying to me. Then slowly chip away at the tune. It is already better than I expected, so any improvements from here are a bonus.

I also want to wrap up the physical installation before it gets cold. I know I have some time, but this summer went by so fast, I don't want to wait too long.

 

[Cancunbadlands]

I bet you can't hear the dash rattles

 

[squirlz]

Got some finish work done.

First was to print some new dash baffles to prevent warping. I guessed on how much room I had, so some slight modification of the braces was needed.

Filled with duct seal to add mass.

Then some CLD light to add a skin to keep everything in place.

Painted to (almost) match the dash and reinstalled the driver. I used acrylic flat paint matched from the factory grill. In hind-sight, this panel has a different texture. The sheen is a bit off as well, so I might revisit these at some point.

I decided to paint the pillars to match instead of wrapping. As with the dash baffles, I used acrylic paint matched to the factory panels. Since these are not right next to a factory panel they fit right in, but I think they match very well.

Everything installed back in.

 

[squirlz]

Sub grill / cover needed some attention. Covered the top of the enclosure in felt as a decoupler.

Then wrapped the cover panel in vinyl. It has been awhile since I wrapped anything, and it was a bit more tedious than I remember.

Cut out the holes for the grill bars.

Installed the grill bars, I did put some flat black paint in the holes just to cover any spots that might show with the bars installed. I decided not to paint the bars, just gave them a sand for a brushed look.

Test fit.

installed. There are more panels to make, but it is nice to have it covered and decoupled.

 

[Busl0adofnuns]

Nice. I have not measured the depth of the doors yet, but that is part of the reason I went with the Morel Virtus, they are not very deep and the magnet is fairly small in diameter. I am hoping they will fit without cutting too much of the brace.



I should have noted this is the output with the EQ turned off in Forscan. With the EQ on, the output will not clip, it actually stops increasing the volume at what would be clipping. And lower frequencies, at least 100 and below, actually stop increasing at a certain volume. I didn't take many notes on this as it does not apply to what I need, but interesting info none the least.

So eq off not flat will fix all bass roll off and other effects ect without a need for loc or anything

 

[squirlz]

No, with EQ off, which I think most refer to as flat, is not actually flat. There is still a shelf around 120-150Hz. Most of the time this is not an issue for those adding just a subwoofer as the new amplifier can overcome that drop. But if you replace all speakers and add amplification on all speakers, this needs to be corrected.

So, depending on what you want, you may want to correct the input, if you are just adding a sub, the you should be fine. A LOC would still be needed for input to an amplifier that does not accept a high level input.

 

[Busl0adofnuns]

No, with EQ off, which I think most refer to as flat, is not actually flat. There is still a shelf around 120-150Hz. Most of the time this is not an issue for those adding just a subwoofer as the new amplifier can overcome that drop. But if you replace all speakers and add amplification on all speakers, this needs to be corrected.

So, depending on what you want, you may want to correct the input, if you are just adding a sub, the you should be fine. A LOC would still be needed for input to an amplifier that does not accept a high level input.

Thanks for the reply. So keyloc will just fix it all cause ive got some nice stuff and it sounds ok but i can tell something isnt right i was under the assumption flat eq fixes it. I also changed my rears from tweeter to tweeter woofer in forscan. Any idea where clip point is on these units after eq being set to flat in forscan ( I assume the sync 2.5 is different than the sync 4 in the 2025 up as far as clip point ect.)
My set up
Kicker lx1200.5
Audison apx 4 in the rear
Audison apk 165 2 ways
X2 kicker l7t 10
Kisload4

 

[squirlz]

From what I know, Keyloc fixes the output response, which more or less is fixing the input plus environmental issues.

On Sync4, it starts to clip at 25, but I don't try to go over 20 as on prolonged listening sessions it will glitch and audio will cut out. It will reset after being powered off for a period of time. My assumption is that this can be resolved by adding load resisters, but I haven't tested that yet.

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