My 2006 Mustang GT Shaker 500 Replacement

I finally have a sense of direction with my 2006 Rustang GT. I didn't log the Tang Band W4-1757SB placement in the 6x8 hole, but I did take photos of my Shaker 500 subwoofer replacement.

First I started out with some cutting boards from Target. Unfortunately, I had a blonde moment and set my Jasper Jig to cut a 8.5" hole with the 1/4" upcut bit. Can you say DOH!


After making one STUPID mistake, I finally managed to get some rings fabricated. On the left, you have one Mach5Audio MLI-65. On the right is the Shaker 500 "subwoofer":




I used a heat gun to pull the factory grill from the stock sub. I had tried freezing the passenger's side overnight, but that didn't work out so well.


They went into place rather easily, but I had to purchase some #10 1 1/4" sheet metal screws because the stock screws were too short:





They stick out a tad bit more than stock, but, it isn't that bad.



This is the head unit I am using:


And this is the next area I am going to address:



At the rate I have gone through gear, I found it pointless to make the trunk look better up until now.

 

Thanks!

The system sounds GREAT for a change!

The Shaker 500 subwoofers did play LOUD, but they had no detail to them and started sounding crappy the higher they tried to play. Loud and distorted are the two words that best describe the stock "subwoofers" off of real power.

The MLI-65 drivers, while they do not play as low as the Shaker 500 subs, are much smoother in the midrange reproduction and give me the midbass that I was I was lacking. Besides, I don't need my front speakers to play deep, because I have this:

 

Right now, I am running active with a bit of overlap and may take it out. The measurement microphone and usb mic mate should be here this week so I can RTA the car.

Right now, my subwoofer is playing up to 80 Hz with a 18 dB/Octave slope; the MLI-65s are playing 63 to 315 Hz with a 24 dB/Octave slope; the Tang Band W4-1757SB are playing from 315 Hz all the way up to the top with a 24 dB/Octave slope.

I usually test the system with Pink Floyd's Brain damage off of Dark Side of the Moon. If I hear lots of crosstalk in the intro, it is back to square 1. Well, tonight, it sounded GREAT! I still have a lot of tuning to do, but, I am finally closer to happy with the sound system. It is nice to have a stage that can actually keep up with the subwoofer for a change.

 

If you have any questions, please feel free to hit me up and I will do my best to help you as much as I can.

The outer diameter of my adapter baffles is 8.5" and the inner is 5 15/16" for the Mach5 Audio drivers. At first, I was thinking of going with a set of Alpine SPX Pro components, but I wanted to try a DIY component set. That way I could keep the midbass to a dedicated midbass driver and the bulk of the midrange on up dedicated to another set of drivers.

This is what my RTA analysis looks like with everything flat.



Let the endless tuning begin!