2015 Chevrolet Silverado Regular Cab

[Navy Chief]

Looks pretty sweet so far. What made you decide to go with the Toro amplifiers? I, like you, feel that SQ doesn't have cost a few mortgage payments, I can't afford that; I also believe at some point the high end stuff is a niche product. I'm interested because I'm going to start on two builds, one for my truck-a total factory overhaul and adding to my daughters' truck which I've already started on with the head unit and internals, now just a sub and amp set up is all I need for her. Also since I have a 2006 GMC Sierra crew cab I'm interested in what box and amp rack you went with, do you have pics of those?

I started a separate review of the amps here.

https://www.caraudiojunkies.com/show...7480#post57480

It really came down to cost and size, but the quality is there which was key. I was about to pull the trigger on the NVX VADM series of amps, but I saw the review that BigDWiz posted and went with these instead. I'm going to try to pull the box out this week and get some pictures. I've had it installed almost 3 years, with a pair of pioneer amps attached with no problems.

I just noticed your local to me, maybe after all this is over we can catch up. Do you ever go to cars and coffee locally

[mikeyt]

I haven't been,a friend of mine is the director of it, that's funny. I'm in upstate New York for work right now till the end of June. I work for he same people you do.....lol as a civilian for sure we can keep in touch. My parts amassing will be happening now for the build later after I get back. I just watched a video by Big D this morning on his review of the Toro amp that is a 500w mono block and it wasn't all that favorable. I use the NVX 900.5 in my daughter's Camaro and it crushes, so I was going to use the VAD 1001 and the VADM4 as well. They sewem to have solid reviews, CEA 2006 compliant and exceed all amp dyno runs that are certified with more power than rated, but yeah they are a few dollars more though. However you did get me excited on these and I am considering these for my youngest daughters' 4Runner build for sure. Not to mention I'm thinking of using two of their Force 8" for my truck? But I do want a an SQ driver which i don't think they are, they seem to be SPL monsters.

[Navy Chief]

I haven't been,a friend of mine is the director of it, that's funny. I'm in upstate New York for work right now till the end of June. I work for he same people you do.....lol as a civilian for sure we can keep in touch. My parts amassing will be happening now for the build later after I get back. I just watched a video by Big D this morning on his review of the Toro amp that is a 500w mono block and it wasn't all that favorable. I use the NVX 900.5 in my daughter's Camaro and it crushes, so I was going to use the VAD 1001 and the VADM4 as well. They sewem to have solid reviews, CEA 2006 compliant and exceed all amp dyno runs that are certified with more power than rated, but yeah they are a few dollars more though. However you did get me excited on these and I am considering these for my youngest daughters' 4Runner build for sure. Not to mention I'm thinking of using two of their Force 8" for my truck? But I do want a an SQ driver which i don't think they are, they seem to be SPL monsters.

I'm a civilian now also, I retired in 2018. I'm a government contractor now working for the Office of Naval Research, I still am getting used to the amount of time I get off. Where are you at in NY, are you at the prototype in Ballston Spa right now. I actually thought for the money and the size that the amp did pretty well on BigD's test, I know the MR2 mono block came up short on one of the tests but I still thought it put out respectable numbers for what it was.

I agree with you on the subs, they appear to be very SPL oriented. I considered the 6.5s but I think for now I'm going to stick with my JLs. Probably no loss in you being in NY till June, I cant imagine there will be a chance to hang out before that.

[mikeyt]

How did you ever guess, that's exactly where I am...lol I guess it's NOT hard to get used to getting paid for the time you work vs 24 hours. I hear the state of Va will be opening up June 10, so we'll be good unless I get extended again...haha Because of that design I just might go with Image Dynamics for the SQ. I know I won't get the low end necessarily but tat will be okay.

[Navy Chief]

I finally got some time tonight to mount the Dayton midbass drivers onto the Metra adapter plates. I wanted to have as much work done ahead of time so that when i open up the doors I can be in and out on both doors in one day. Sadly when I looked both drivers over I found some wear marks on the surround of one of the Daytons. The Daytons are probably pushing 8 years old so i am not too upset and I figured I would make the effort to patch them.

Here you can see the damage. I think I may have set it face down on the shelf at some point, not a good idea.



I used some E6000 and a long q-tip to apply to both the front and back. I was only going to do the back only for asthetics but then I realized you will never see these so I would prefer a stronger repair.



Front and back of the driver, doesnt look too bad.

[Navy Chief]

Got the Dayton drivers all mounted up after making the little repair. The Metra adapter has 8 holes pre-marked, however the Dayton driver basket was larger than all the pre-marked holes and uses 6 holes instead of 8, so i made my own.





I picked up a roll of Dayton Audio speaker gasket tape and I used it to try to seal and possibly decouple the midbass from the Metra adapter plate.



The driver flange was wide enough for me to run two passes of the gasket tape.





I picked up some stainless hardware to mount the drivers to the adapter plates. The thickness and rigidity of the metra adapter plate really impressed me, I was able to nut and bolt the driver to the flange, I used nylon locking nuts to prevent backing off. I figured it was worth the effort to use stainless hardware since these are in the doors, no rust.



Got the drives all mounted up and snug, everything feels very solid with them bolted together. I am more impressed with these in terms of solid construction and rigidity than I have been with ones I have made from MDF and HDPE in the past.

[mikeyt]

Why not get another set of speakers since they're 8yrs old?

[Navy Chief]

Why not get another set of speakers since they're 8yrs old?

Don't hate on things that are old, i resemble that comment. The Daytons at 8 years old are probably the newest things on my shelf. If they arn't broke why replace them, a little rub wear shouldn't effect the performance of midbass drivers.

[mikeyt]

Oh no, I agree, some of the best things I own that are quality products have some age on them, no doubt. My thought was that technology has changed in 8 years so they may be some deign changes or revisions that are different and have proven greater results. I too resemble that remark....lol

[dgage]

And the foam rubber (surround) formulations have improved quite a bit in the last 8 years. Especially where UV protection is concerned.