Since I’ve been apart of ABTEC the one vehicle in the fleet that has been through the most amount of changes would have to be ABTEC1 (Mitsubishi Pajero), so many that I am struggling to remember not what has been in it but what hasn’t from the ABTEC arsenal of sound…
So to start this off lets go down memory lane and list some of the set-ups ABTEC1 has ran!
The first set-up I remember would be the 4 x Digital Designs DD-SW6.5’s firing out the back of the Pajero & a Digital Designs DD-9512-D2 firing forward just behind the front seats. I remember people thinking ABTEC1 was loud then but in comparison to today it was not even close, there still was that wow factor though with the back being able to be opened up and project the sound across a field.
Since then ABTEC1 has gone through numerous set-ups including 4 x DD-512-D4’s in a SPL box, a DD-3518-D2 and how can I not forget the DD-Z18 in the “Mario Port” box… As much as I love the Z18 I somehow feel it should of gone straight into a wall but as all good things go it now has a place in our competition box for ABTEC3.
Before I carry onto the changes in ABTEC1 I will rehash on the current set-up we were running. When the decision was made to wall the Pajero it was apparent at the time that we want to keep the Sub-Woofers entry level since we have had good success with DD’s DD-512-D4’s in our “Burp” box.
The Amplifier to run the Sub-Woofers would be the DD-M4 (Old Model), this Amplifier has ran most of our Sub-Woofer arsenal at some or another time. The Sub-Woofers used were the DD-515-D4’s which are Digital Designs baby Sub-Woofers but we also knew this wouldn’t put any strain on the M4, allowing it to run a 0.5Ohm load all day.
The highs and mid-range are supplied by an array of DD-VO Series speakers including: DD-VO-B1 Tweeters x 2, DD-VO-B2 Tweeters x 2, DD-VO-M8 Mid-Drivers x 2 & DD-VO-M6x9 Mid-Drivers x 4. All of this is run off a DD-C4b, which seems like a big load for such a small Amplifier but I can assure you it powers them absolutely fine!
As for the source unit, it is a Pioneer AVH-P3350BT running into a DD-X1 Crossover. All of the above equalled a very musical set-up with a truck load of bass when I drive or when it was required.
Almost nine months have past since ABTEC1 got its first wall with the 4 15″ Sub-Woofers in it and again its time for another change, this time it is another big change considering the whole wall has to be removed for most of the changes.
The first change to the wall was removing the front face off the box since were no longer running 4 x 15″ Sub-Woofers. The Sub-Woofer we will be using in the mean time is the DD-9921-D1, this will be just temporary until our re-cone kit turns up to change one of our DD-Z’s (Yes you read right, we have 3 DD-Z’s!) from a 12 into a 21″ monster!
But enough of that and back to the box. After the front face of the box was removed, Ashley took the Pajero to a good friends workshop for the modifications needed to support the monster 21″ Sub-Woofer. These mods included a 75mm thick front face, 43mm rear face, a 45mm support and also a perspex viewing window in the back of the box.
Once this had been finished it was time to lift it back into ABTEC1 and drive it back to the ABTEC Workshop in Petone, this part was quite entertaining since all the extra weight added to it required a forklift to slide it back into ABTEC1!
Now ABTEC1 was back at the Petone Workshop Ashley and George got started on finishing and carpeting the back of the box to give it a cleaner look, but before doing this they added some Dynamat to it to stop the rattles that have appeared since the 4 x 15″ Sub-Woofers were installed.
Dave and I had a different mission, finishing the front and inside the box! While Dave lined up and screwed the front trims back onto the box, I was halfway inside the box grinding away the excess glue that had seeped out during the strengthening of the box!
Once this was done Dave jumped inside the box to give it a quick clean before I painted the inside, I must say its a strange feeling to be sitting inside a Sub-Woofer box while you paint it but that could just be the fumes!
The final modification will be replacing the DD-9921 with a DD-Z21 once the parts have arrived into NZ so Ashley can re-cone one of our existing DD-Z’s into a 21″ Z, but that is another blog/review on its own!
I’ve now been driving ABTEC1 with the DD-9921 in it for good four days now and have put around twenty hours of playing time on the DD-9921. In fact yesterday alone it saw over ten hours of playing time at a good loud level and over that time it has only got louder and cleaner sounding.
This morning how ever I decided it was time to up the Bass Controller by only a touch but the difference was phenomenal. I must say the DD-9921 is one of the most brutal but clean sounding Sub-Woofers I’ve ever had the chance to use, so brutal and clean that now the Pajero feel’s complete and I can only imagine what sort of demo machine it will become with the Z21 is in it!