Bad experience with Xtreme Kreations door panels

[thunderkat1]

Hey everyone! I was just curious as to other peoples opinions on this subject.

I recently bought the Xtreme Kreations door panels for my X through the group buy we organized on the forums. After reading other peoples opinions on them I was convinced they where a good solution for my truck. When I recieved them though I was a little disappointed. The enclosure was so thin I didn't trust any sub in there. Plus the sound out of them was so tinny as well. Also the enclosures themselves where warped. It almost looked as if they where collapsing durring the fabrication and they where just half assed kept straight. I took the enclosures to 4 audio places to get their opinions and every single shop told me the same thing. "We have to reenforce them or your sub will blow them apart." That was no surprise to me. I ended up paying a shop to cut the enclosures off the door panels and add a few more layers of fiberglass and and wooden supports for the subs to screw onto.

Now the system is installed and sounding great. The design of the door panels is great but the build quality is sub-par at best. If you are planning on a setup with these door panels I suggest just going to a good custom audio shop in your area and getting them to custom fabricate something similar for you. It will end up costing you the same in the long run with less headaches.

 

[PLCX]

wow that sucks sorry to hear that. good thing i took out my back seat for a custom box:biggrin:

 

[Hitman]

wow sry about that thunderkat1 hope when I finally get mine done maybe it will be less headaches but thanks for the heads up :top:

 

[thunderkat1]

I just feel that since they where made as a group buy the guy went cheap on the material and workmanship to make more money. Everything I read from the guys who got them made up at regular price said they where solid.

 

[Hitman]

I just feel that since they where made as a group buy the guy went cheap on the material and workmanship to make more money. Everything I read from the guys who got them made up at regular price said they where solid.

could be but well never know :dontknow: , which is why I find it hard to believe on your statement cuz i've heard nothing but A+ comments on these panels :hmmmm2:

 

[rpmspeedyblue]

Sorry to hear about your bad experience. Do you have any pics of the unit before and after. Just curious how thin it was. Glad things work out for you towards the end.

 

[Hitman]

Sorry to hear about your bad experience. Do you have any pics of the unit before and after. Just curious how thin it was. Glad things work out for you towards the end.

I could take pics for you later today and post them up here but dont know what pics I should take I havent cut them up yet im still in the Black Interior project :laugh: almost done tho more step by step how to's to follow :laugh:

 

[thunderkat1]

I don't have any pics, I was too mad during the whole process to remember to take pics. I think the audio shop took a bunch. After it was all said and done it all turned out quite nice. The place wants to take some pics of my truck for their website but I'm not sure I want to do it.

This is the place, they do great work and are a good bunch of guys.

http://www.uvisions.ca/

 

[XDsm]

That sucks to hear. I got mine through the original group buy and the build quality on mine was top knotch.

 

[TitanRattler813]

I don't entirely understand the series of events here... Did you install them yourself at first and then take them to an audio shop because you were displeased with the sound?

 

[Twisted Creations]

thunderkat1, I would suggest contacting the vendor in the future to see if they will resolve your issues. Most of us are willing to go out of our way to satisfy our customer base. I'm not trying to take up for them, I can only speak for myself, but if it were my product I would want you to be 100% satisfied.

 

[thunderkat1]

No, I tested them out myself before I installed them and found the build quality sub par. Thats when I went to a few audio places and got different opinions. When I tested it with the W3's I bought I could see the whole box flexing when I turned up the bass.

You're probably right Xrunner05, but I was so mad after paying $100 shipping to canada on top of what the panels cost I just didn't want to deal with sending them back. I wanted to deal with someone in person. What's done is done and I did still used them. With the added reinforcement they sound killer. Like I said the design is great, just the actual enclosure part was thin as paper. It was only an 1/8th of an inch in thickness.

 

[TitanRattler813]

I don't entirely understand the series of events here... Did you install them yourself at first and then take them to an audio shop because you were displeased with the sound?

No, I tested them out myself before I installed them and found the build quality sub par. Thats when I went to a few audio places and got different opinions. When I tested it with the W3's I bought I could see the whole box flexing when I turned up the bass.

I'm not sure why that statement started with a "No" because it seems that is what you did. Anyway, at first glance I thought the panels looked a bit rushed, but I just attributed it to the fact that the backside of the box is unexposed (no need to make it cosmetically appealing). I definitely saw some weak spots and pinholes, but wasn't sure if they were serious enough to worry about. I need to get on the ball and try mine out, since it now seems I may have had a valid concern.

 

[thunderkat1]

I'm sorry for not being clear on the initial testing. Just to clarify one last time, I did not install the panels in the doors before I tested them. I wasn't worried about the aesthetics of the enclosure, I was worried about the functionality. If you say you see weak spots and pinholes on your panels than I'm obviously not the only one that sees poor workmanship.

 

[TitanRattler813]

Just to clarify one last time, I did not install the panels in the doors before I tested them. I wasn't worried about the aesthetics of the enclosure, I was worried about the functionality. If you say you see weak spots and pinholes on your panels than I'm obviously not the only one that sees poor workmanship.

I see... well by not being secured to anything, that does change the bass response of the enclosure quite a bit, especially for how light they are. I do agree though, I was expecting to see some reinforcement on the subwoofer section of the enclosure. Fiberglass is its strongest when curved and there is not a significant amout of flat surface area (unlike larger subwoofer enclosures with wooden skeletons), so I'm guessing that's why reinforcement wasn't used in the initial design... because there isn't much flexing to be done.

Anyway, just to add some more substance to this thread, I'd like to submit some pictures of my uninstalled panels and maybe you could tell me (us) if you see the same things on mine that bothered you about yours. I'm not trying to challenge your dissatisfaction with the product. I just want to make sure (before I install mine) that there is in fact something I should be concerned about. I'll try to get those pics up as soon as I get home from work.

 

[thunderkat1]

Sounds good. I'll also try to get some pictures from the audio shop if they took any.

I'll try to explain what I didn't like for now. First there was lots of bubbling in the fiberglass. This means it wasn't laid nice and uniformly, which also means the strength is compromised.

Second the enclosure itself wasn't uniform. Meaning that the enclosure had a few spots that looked like they had just collapsed and actually cut down on the internal mounting depth. I'm not talking about curves that would be used to add rigidity, it just looked like as the box was hand molded using no tools.

Third the actual enclosure was barely an 1/8th of an inch thick. Like I said, when I tested it with my W3's you could actually see it flexing, I thought it was going to crack in front of me.

The point of this thread is not to bash the xtreme kreations panels... I just was expecting more for what I paid.

 

[DOGSTOY06]

Thanks for the product review.originally wanted them but the wait was too long for me to handle,but after this review it's a "NO-CAN-DO".:thumpdown:

 

[thunderkat1]

Like I said before the design is great. I suggest this type of install for everyone. Just get them done yourself from a good custom shop.

 

[jmony55]

thanks for the info. this makes my decision to purchase a subXclosure that much easier.

 

[aitkenkingfish]

that suck I just finished my final 12" arm rest box 2 prototypes but it's finished. Id fit a 15" if I didnt need my rear seats.