In addition to the fiberglass kick-panels, I'm also thinking of designs for a fiberglass sub solution. Because of the amount of time and money I have, I can only try one design at a time, so I wanted your opinion on the best location for subs in our cars. In other words, if someone were to make a fiberglass box for your car, where would you want it?

Option #1-rear well area:

Could hold up to (2) 12's sealed or ported, airspace up to 2cu.ft. The top plate would be about 3" higher than the shelf on each side, and would take up the whole well.

Option #2-above fuel tank:

Smaller, could only hold up to (2) 10's sealed. Lighter, more portable, takes up less useable space.

Option #3-spare tire well

Stealth, but small, could hold only one speaker up to 12" sealed or ported.

Let me know what you guys think!

 

I vote for the spare tire area. There are already multiple options for the rear well, granted they aren't fiberglass. However, I would love a fully stealth, out of the way, sub set-up that allows easy placement of my T-tops.

If it goes well, you could maybe even copy it on the drivers side

-Matt

 

I'd say build a glass box to fill the bottom of the well, with the top sheet laying across the area where the well gets wider. That's what I did with the box I made, and it should fit 2 10's or 1 12 with no trouble. I still have a perfectly accessible spare tire, and can still use the locking side compartment to get at my changer

 

How about the driver's side rear lock box area? I think DJ said he made one there for a 10" once. That would be stealth and you could keep the spare tire.

 

That could be done, but there are a few problems there.

1) The only way you'd get decent bass sound would be if it were to have a more open lid to it, so the stealth would be sacrificed. If you leave the stock locking lid on it, the bass will be weakened, and the thing will vibrate badly

2) It would suck big time to get in there to make the box, and then removing to finish the box and then reinstalling it with the driver installed

3) It sacrifices the locking storage compartment. Mine holds my 12 disk changer, and could probably hold a six of drink with a little shuffling.

4) What happens when the only low frequency source in the vehicle isn't centered? I'd think it would produce distinctive sound "zones" in the car, since the waves would be bouncing back and forth across the car's interior. Wouldn't that cause phase issues?

 

Spare tire well

 

REZN8R, you might want to check this link out for ideas.
https://www.thirdgen.org/techbb2/sho...&threadid=7957
I agree that install would be more difficult on the drivers side, but most people have little use for that small box other then holding a changer. Thats where mine used to be. And alot of people don't want to give up their spare donut tire. Just my 2 cents. I know thats where i'd want mine, and the sound quality would be fine since bass isn't directional like highs are.

 

I had one where the lock box was. It was about .6 cu ft, for a 10W6. i had drilled holes in the cover of the lock box, and covered it with grill cloth.

For more flexibility, I'd do the spare tire well. Who here would honestly trust their fbody to a donut spare anyway. Cell phone + AAA.

 

Justins86bird said "...and the sound quality would be fine since bass isn't directional like highs are."

I'd have to beg to differ on that one. All sound waves behave similarly, if they are created similarly.

Firstly, sound from speakers is caused by the cone of a speaker vibrating, and causing the air around it to vibrate.

The reason higher frequency sounds seem to be very focused is partly because of their sources. Most high frequency treble notes come from itty-bitty speakers, and consequentially, the sound waves they are made up of start off smaller and never really get a chance to become larger, since sound waves grow in proportion to their originating size, and in order to grow larger, need more energy.

That also explains part of why sub woofers playing low frequency sounds seem less directional. Their waves start off much larger, and grow at a faster rate due their originating size, and because they're usually played with more power than a treble speaker.

It all comes down to the source of the sound wave. I've heard of people lining up tweeters with lasers to get optimal line of travel for the sound waves.

Look at an ultrasound machine. It uses EXTREMELY high frequency sound, and records it's patterns as it bounces off objects. If sound became more directional as frequency increased, it would take forever to ultrasound an unborn baby, since the sound emitted would be extremely focused, by your token.

By a similar token, a compression-horn type speaker that produces high frequencies spreads the sound waves out because of it's shape, which overcomes the inherintly small size of a tweeter.
And I also refuse to believe that a non-centered subwoofer could produce proper sound all around a car, since the bouncing waves interact with each other, and can cause spikes of power where they do. Mind you, it'll still bounce and interact no matter how it's oriented in a sealed vehicle, but I'd say centered = good

I may quite easily be wrong, and if so, please inform me, and then show me the right way things are.

 

You suggest that the sound quality would suffer if the sub wasn't centered in the car. How so? If I was sitting in my car, and the sub moved over 2 feet, how would it sound different? If the sub is centered in the car, it will be offset from the drivers seat. For example, if you sit in the drivers seat and have one sub centered (down the car's centerline) behind you, it will be slightly off to your right. Now if you put that sub in the d/side compartment, it will be slightly to your left. I doubt anyone will be able to tell a difference. The bass will still be comming from behind you.

 

Thanks for the link Justins86, I hadn't seen that one before. So far it looks like the majority is leaning toward the spare tire area. The driver side would be much more difficult. You would have to permanantly change something about the car by taking out the storage box, and the lock would probably rattle. As previously mentioned, you would also have to take out a huge amount of trim peices to access the box and driver.
With most people here running a pair of subs I'm surprised there isn't more support for the well box.

Thanks for the comments and suggestions everyone, keep them coming!

 

while all sound is directional to an extent, the lower you go, the less directional. the waves of a subbass note, like the ones coming from your sub, are very very large. some are too large to develop properly inside a car. high frequency notes are much much smaller and develop in a much shorter distance. a sub can be placed anywhere in a car and sound fine. many of the lower frequencies in the human hearing range are felt more than heard. that is why you can be tricked intot thinking the bass is coming from up front, which is the ultimate goal for a SQ-oriented install. the harmonics of the instrument/voice/etc are produced by the tweeter and midrange, so your brain to an extent percieves the bass up front.