BUZZ Sub Box

[mackash]

Those of you that have the Andy Buzz sub box how do you like it? Pros/cons and any fitment issues?

[Malibu Rapper]

I have it.

It fits into its spot, but the space is not well utilized. There's a big mouse hole in the bottom right corner of the box. The box volume is not as advertised, it's .3 cubic feet. I had mine extended and it's .4 cubic feet so there's not enough volume for most subs to work correctly. If you have a 95+, you have to move the power steering computer, remove several mounting studs.

The construction of the box isn't good either. I was measuring the volume using water and found several leaks in the fiberglass. There was silicone smeared in various spots inside my box probably to plug up a lot of these leaks.

After fixing the trim ring which broke because the sub was mounted in it during shipment, I discovered another problem which others have encountered and that is when you push the sub, the face on the box will separate. This necessitated a some fiberglass repair work.

The grill made for it is covered in box carpet and mine was covered with spray glue so it made for a very restrictive grill.

You are more than welcome to take a look at my gallery to see the pix.

Here are my ratings on the box and such:

Fitment: 5/10
Quality: 4/10
Customer service: 0/10

I would advise you to either have it made locally, or wait for that new NSX system that is coming out soon.

[mackash]

Damn....From your description it sounds like a P.O.S.

[4AU4LIFE]

I would advise you to either have it made locally, or wait for that new NSX system that is coming out soon.

Have any idea when that might be happening?

[Malibu Rapper]

Rumor is it is happening very, very soon. It will be worth the wait, trust me.

[mackash]

Thanks Malibu Rapper for spitting the game! I will definitely wait.

[4AU4LIFE]

Rumor is it is happening very, very soon. It will be worth the wait, trust me.

Ok, I'll wait

[Zishan]

Rumor is it is happening very, very soon. It will be worth the wait, trust me.

Damn, you're sucha tease!!! Give us the scoop already...

[loNfastNSX]

Damn, you're sucha tease!!! Give us the scoop already...

For rizzle!!!!

I need some sound in my car!!!

[01blacks4]

yeah i heard a little somethin somethin was comin....I know i am full of saw dust right now.

[Shaun Ray]

Can we at least learn what company or vendor is coming up with the new kit?

[01blacks4]

let me ask you all some questions.....would a target price of $2200 (to you) be good?
it will come with a set of componants for the doors, a 10 inch sub woofer, a 75x4 amp (75x2-300x1) a fibergalss sub box, custom MDF door plates to mount the speakers to. A dynamat door kit (the large one not the small speaker one) to cover the plates. a 4 ga wiring kit with RCA and Speaker wire, 2 honda radio harnesses already built with RCA's so you could use the factory radio and some instructions/ pointers how to install and set it up.

how good of a deal does that sound like

how many people would speak up now for a delivery within 30 days? ( so they know how many to build )

[D'Ecosse]

...how good of a deal does that sound like

I guess it depends on what level of components for the electronics & speakers that would be included?

What quality of components could one expect in such a kit, let's say for example in the (just for grins!)
- oh, maybe the Diamond Audio line?

And .... it sounds like this kit would be virtually plug n play with everything required to inetgrate with an OEM head unit - and with a complete (real!) subwoofer assembly - can that really be possible???!!! [img] insert tongue-in-cheek icon & a whole bunch more winky icons here [/img]

[Malibu Rapper]

Will the box be available by itself?

[Shaun Ray]

I am not planning a stereo overhaul until next year (just a poor working boy that has purchased a NSX-T, 3.5RL, and Expedition in less than 12 months) so my input might not amount to much.

I'd think the price is good if:

Speaker components are top shelf.
The amp can fit in the tool kit area and be dependable
The sub box is well designed (no buz, lots of air volume, good fit)

The kit sounds promising. Has all the features to do a good upgrade at a reasonable price. Most likely installation can be DIY or farm out to local shop for a clear quote and service. As I have the stock system in my car, I fall into the catagory of wanting to retain the stock look (stock head unit) even with all it's faults.

I would suggest you survey the group for input on literature to go with kit. Stuff like how to fit the sub box on cars 95+ and automatic. How to run speaker wire from Amp and power lines to Amp. Also, if there is a standard time for installation labor, that information might be a starting point for someone to get a quote from a local audio shop for the install. Some audio shops might not want to do an installation without selling components first, but I've had good success with quality shops in my area that will do installs using other's components if they are of good quality.

[01blacks4]

while the tool area is good, it is the second hottest place in the trunk and I would not want my amp there (i know alot of others have done this though) this is why some may not be dependable in this position. sub box is good to go on your requests.

speaker componats being top shelf is subjective as a tp shelf set of speakers will run about 2K by themselves, are they gerat speakers in the $400+ range, yes.


as far as a manual for install yes it is planned as far as down to the detail of how to route wires.....If you need that much info maybe the self install is not for you

[Zishan]

I'm not in need of a complete upgrade. I pieced my system together slowly. Components in the doors, Kenwood KVT911 headunit, and a nice amplifier waiting for a subwoofer.

So, I'm simply interested in the subwoofer enclosure, and possibly subwoofer if the box is designed specifically for one type of subwoofer.

Price, I hope to pay something along the lines of $300 for the enclosure. *Key word is hope.

Please let me know...
- Z

[mackash]

let me ask you all some questions.....would a target price of $2200 (to you) be good?
it will come with a set of componants for the doors, a 10 inch sub woofer, a 75x4 amp (75x2-300x1) a fibergalss sub box, custom MDF door plates to mount the speakers to. A dynamat door kit (the large one not the small speaker one) to cover the plates. a 4 ga wiring kit with RCA and Speaker wire, 2 honda radio harnesses already built with RCA's so you could use the factory radio and some instructions/ pointers how to install and set it up.

how good of a deal does that sound like

how many people would speak up now for a delivery within 30 days? ( so they know how many to build )

You can count me in if the amp and speakers are top quality. Iam ready to buy.

[mackash]

Ok, I'll wait

And wait.....and wait ......and wait. When is this going to happen?

[Onsoku]

let me ask you all some questions.....would a target price of $2200 (to you) be good?
it will come with a set of componants for the doors, a 10 inch sub woofer, a 75x4 amp (75x2-300x1) a fibergalss sub box, custom MDF door plates to mount the speakers to. A dynamat door kit (the large one not the small speaker one) to cover the plates. a 4 ga wiring kit with RCA and Speaker wire, 2 honda radio harnesses already built with RCA's so you could use the factory radio and some instructions/ pointers how to install and set it up.

how good of a deal does that sound like

how many people would speak up now for a delivery within 30 days? ( so they know how many to build )

I think it's safe to say most of use just want a simple but effective upgrade. IMHO, if I wanted to listen to audiophile quality sound [in a car?], I'd pick a solid, insulated sedan.

Can you give us a list of components? At 2,200 as a target price for a turnkey solution, I want solid components that have excellent records for durability and very good records for subjective sound quality.

[Andy Buzz]

The box that was made for Malibu Rapper was reshaped to fit his oversized subwoofer. The extra four hours of labor and materials were performed for $75.00. Mr Rapper provided the subwoofer (contrary to my recommendation) and the shipping label to save a couple of dollars. Although his shipping label provided for no insurance, I took it upon myself to offer in each of responses to his concerns, to repair the shipping damaged box at my expense.

His claim that the box split, etc was all related to having been dropped during shipping. The sub was ripped out of the trim ring and the two halves of the box were damaged.

I have been in the custom audio biz 22 years and have a fantastic fiberglass crew. Shipping damage is beyond my control. I offered to repair at no charge, and answered to insults found in 17 emails that badgered me for days after providing my services.

I do have boxes in stock and ready to ship for those that are looking for a quality NSX enclosure.

[Malibu Rapper]

All right, the UFC fighting gloves are on...

Watch this thread for a link to the e-mails that were sent between myself and Andy. I will post them for all to see and make their own conclusions. Let me just break down the story.

I e-mailed Andy way back when with questions about the subwoofer box he was selling. Simple questions such as box volume and price. A previous post of his indicated that the box was "just under" .7 cubic feet. See proof here. At that time, he told me the box was .6 cubic feet. Later on, I was told .5 cubic feet and it was .6 cubic feet with polyfill correction. My EXTENDED Buzz box measures in at a whopping .4 cubic feet, I measured this with water. If I had purchased the unmodified box, it would have only measured .3 cubic feet! So that in itself is a lie by .2 cubic feet which is huge when you're trying to build the proper box. It's about .4 cubic feet off of his original claim, enough volume for me to put another sub in my car. Also, nobody I know measures their boxes with polyfill correction. Polyfill has certain attributes that will make boxes seem larger but there is no replacement for displacement.

Ok, now for the shipping. The shipper damaged the trim ring, that part is true. But the box when I received it was shipped face up with the sub mounted. In addition, no packing material was at the bottom of the box. Is this a common problem? Well, it happened to SOMEONE ELSE too, see this thread here. What's funny is it happened to someone else a few weeks after it happened to me. I would have thought Buzz Off would have learned their lesson after the first time. The shipper didn't cause the leaks in the fiberglass. The shipper did not put gobs of silicone in the box to cover up some of those leaks. I think it was 4 or 5 of the screws were stripped from being Makita'd into the trim ring. Has the same thing happened to others? YES!

I e-mailed and asked what I should do and he told me to go see a "boat guy" to have them fix it. Let's make another thing clear, I am not going to bother with shipping claims to get my money back on a $500 subwoofer box, I've been there done that before and it ain't worth my time. When I paid for the box, the ship date kept getting pushed back further and further. It was always "almost done."

Ok so I fix the box myself. The $75 grill uses box carpet to hide the sub. Box carpet is restrictive, the difference with the grill off and on can easily be heard. Especially when the carpet is covered with glue. I peeled all mine off.

Box was working ok for a few weeks. Audibly, the sub was not performing properly. I strongly suspected improper box volume. My sub is NOT an oversized sub, it was a JL10W3V2 which is a normal to low profile sub. Look at the specs on it and compare it to other subs, you'll have trouble finding subs that have lower mounting depth and smaller diameter magnets. It's no wonder why he kept trying to pawn off some 8" subs because 10" subs have a hell of a time just fitting in the box let alone dealing with the volume. Later on, I started hearing this clicking sound from the box and I could feel air escaping when the sub was pushed. The face separated, this WAS NOT a result of the shipping. This was a result of the way the box is built. You resin the face to the box body with a thin layer of resin... I'll call you out Andy, do you know if this has ever happened to anyone else??? Now be honest...

The JL is a dual voice coil sub which I told Andy I was going to wire in parallel for a 2 ohm final load. I had no idea he was going to mount it when he shipped it. No problem with that, but why the heck would he run 2 sets of speaker cables into the box? Tacky, tacky Mr. Professional... His response to that? "What's wrong with that?"

The whole time, in just about every e-mail when I was asking him about the status on the sub box, he would throw in a sales line. Racing pedals, amps, you name it, he tried to pawn it off. I got sick of it and told him. His reply was that he was doing a favor by offering me racing pedals that he enjoys. Do a search on his posts and if 95% of them aren't trying to sell something, then he must have edited it or forgot to throw in the sales pitch.

I saw that the box would not fit unless the EPS computer and all the mounting brackets were removed. No mention of this was made when I bought the box. When I brought this up, he told me just to relocate the computer behind the passenger seat. Yeah, easy task that is extending a bunch of wires...

Tons of e-mails were exchanged before he even offered to fix the box. By that time it was too late. I became the boat guy and fixed everything myself. I ended up having to buy another subwoofer because I was lied to about the box volume and the JL just doesn't like my shoddy little .4 cubes. That 4 days of fabrication was to make a 3" strip of fiberglass around the edges of the box to give the box more depth. If it took 4 days to do that work, you must have forgot to put the hardner in the resin and waited for it to dry for 4 days.

I, too, have a car audio history. I've built cars that went on to compete in IASCA, I owned my own shop. I was one of Diamond Audio's first dealers back when Matt Overpeck and I used to do lunch on the West Side. I know how things are done and what to look for. So when you spit in my coffee and try to tell me it's cream, I ain't gonna buy it...

I'm not posting to flame, I just want my mistake to educate others. I'm sure there are a few ppl that may have had a good experience buying from him if all they were doing was buying equipment or if they are not as picky as I am. But a lie is a lie is a lie. I did not get what I paid for which was a .6 cubic foot box. Not even close. I heard every excuse in the book, and to Andy's credit, he responded to most of the e-mails but all the responses were excuses. He blames this whole fiasco on UPS but all they did was break a trim ring. They didn't microwave the box and shrink it. They didn't run 2 speaker wires into the box. They didn't poke holes in the box and covered them up sloppily with silicone. They didn't strip the screwholes. They didn't cover the grill with glue covered box carpet. Own up now and take some responsibility. Confess that your box is only .3 cubic feet and nowhere near the .7 cubic feet that you claim.

Bring the new sub box on!

[D'Ecosse]

Please see my comments in this thread over several posts which describe my findings.

The box that was made for Malibu Rapper was reshaped to fit his oversized subwoofer.....

I can provide links to multiple quotes right here in 'Prime Andy, where you claim your original box to "ideally" suited to several 10" sub applications - I challenge you to find me just one 10" sub (any!) that has design requirements that match either your stock or even the one designed for Malibu's "extended" net volume.

I'd be interested to know what your current recommendation is for specific sub to match your box

[Malibu Rapper]

I've switched my UFC gloves for a set of Pride gloves.

I'll update the following with narration later, it's a lot to read. But if you happen to be considering a purchase from him, read it for your own benefit.

Link to all the great e-mails! Note that he did not offer to repair the box until the last e-mail, his previous post claims "I took it upon myself to offer in each of responses to his concerns, to repair the shipping damaged box at my expense." Not true at all, you'll see he called me a "smartass" and made every excuse possible and also dismissed himself of any wrongdoing.

You ever hear about the Richard Clark challenge Andy? He offered $10000 to anyone who could hear the difference between 2 amps a long time ago. I'm going to give you the Malibu Rapper challenge. But you have to put your money where your mouth is. I'll give you $20,000 if this box you sold me has .6 cubic feet uncorrected as you say. Heck, $20k for you even if it only measures .5 cubic feet. But if it is not, you only have to pay me half of that. $10k for me. We'll agree to have it measured by a professional and we can even get forensics experts involved if we need to see if I chopped the box down.

Where am I pulling this .6 cubic feet number from? Well, your last e-mail to me is pasted below. How did you measure this box?

From: "Andrew \"Buzz\" Lehrer" [email protected]>
Subject: NSX subwoofer box
Date: Tue, 25 May 2004 18:23:22 -0400

Have read your latest email. To correct the problem best, what needs to be done is the front section needs to be cut off at the seam, a new trim ring needs to be installed, the two halves need be reglassed together inside and out. Then the box needs to be recarpeted.


Should you choose to send me the box, this service will be done at no charge to you. Simply send the box with RA 2278B below our address. You do not need to send us the sub. The above process will take us two weekdays at most to complete and then the box will be returned to you.


The box you purchased is .6 without correction. Properly sealed you should have great satisfaction and years of musical pleasure from it. You may call me at 813-882-8477 should you choose to discuss further.

[zetoolman]

Those of you that have the Andy Buzz sub box how do you like it? Pros/cons and any fitment issues?

I am working on a custom made sub box. Will have it done soon. I will post pics as it progresses. Anyone interested in one? I am looking at a qf of around .7 or so.