Ok I have searched this but no real answer. Has anyone seen or installed 8" in the rear speaker area? My goal is to have everything hidden from view
I dont want to make it to look like a Stereo car, its being built to be a very fast show quality Hot Rod.
I will have kick panels with 6.5 and tweets,but they will be a covered enclosure that fit within the stock kick panels. That way the plastic will match the door sill plates. I am using Alpine head with V12 amps. Speakers will be JL audio unless I hear something better. I am not wanting "bass machine"but something that can crank and be very accurate. I have pulled the fiber piece the 6x9 set in and will make a plug to make a fiberglass enclosure. The problem I see I may only get .30-.40 space and I highly doubt that much. I really cant put in a box because there is roll bars that go all the way back.If I have to I could build a fiberglass box that would wrap around the roll cage and set in the lower part of well. Then I could run the carpet over the gas tank down into the well and across the box. Only people with 3rdgen would know there is a box there. Would one 10" be enough??
The amps will be hidden in the spare tire area along with the battery. No spare for me cause it wont fit over the 13" brakes. (Can of fix o flat and a AAA card from now on)

Any thoughts or ideas are welcome,please.


You should see the custom billet radio bezel that is being designed to hold the heater controls, the Alpine head and a Escort radar head. I hope it comes out as good as the drawing.

 

I put a pair of cheap (VERY cheap) 8" woofers into the 6x9 location of my old firebird. It was easy. I modified the stock 6x9 bracket by widening it on the narrow dimension, and adding some tin to it on the long dimension to come up with a round hole. Looking back, building a new baffle out of MDF would have been a hell of a lot easier and better sounding.

The main problem with using subs in this location is that you really can't get an enclosure in there, and because it's all open to the back of the car, you'll get cancellation at low frequencies.

One idea that I've tossed around was to build a fiberglass enclosure that sits over the wheel well and extends up to the speaker opening. It should be possible to get a fairly decent sized enclosure in, but I don't know what kind of a nightmare the fiberglassing process would be. You'd probably have to lay fiberglass in 2 or 3 separate spots, then put them together outside the car. This gives you the ability to install the enclosure from the spare tire area instead of trying to do it through a 6x9 hole, which would severely limit your abilities to install any kind of box.

Another idea, which might be more practical, would be to damp the hell out of the quarter panel and the inner panel, and just build a "wall" over the wheel well to block off the area behind the 6x9 location.

You could also use the space that the spare tire takes up. You should have more than ehough room behind the factory panel to fiberglass an enclosure big enough for a single 10" on each side. You'll just need to be mindful of driver depth when choosing a sub.

If you did decide to do something in the well between the bar, a single 10" can be perfectly adequate, especially if you buy the right 10". A single Brahma, XXX, or IDMAX will pound like hell, and still sound very good.

 

Wow it looks like Adire,RE,JL and Image Dymanics are all good subs. Going make choosing one hard. Looks like I should just build a box for the lower well.Thanks for advice Jim. Its good to have someone that really understands the physic's of car audio. What about the kick panel speaker choice? I really liked the JL components but what others should I listen to?
Also rear 6.5 midbass in 6x9 area or just nothing?
Are Alpine amps still good amps or is the something better?

 

Kick panels give you much better imaging than any other location in the car, but because you wind up stuffing a mid into a very, very, very tiny enclosure, you wind up with some thick tubby midbass that can be tough to tune out. Overall though, I still prefer kicks. It's easier to tune out a thick midbass than it is to make a bad speaker location image well.

Just like subs, there are a ton of great sounding components. The one that everybody is raving about now is the new Resonant Engineering "RE" components. For $150 they're supposed to be a pretty remarkable pair of speakers. Of course there's always CDT that I'm very impressed with. Alpine's components are popular. Their new Type X stuff that's coming out is something that I'm dieing to listen to. Adire Kodas have a lot of fans.

The best thing you can do when it comes to speakers though, is just to get out there and listen to everything you can. Speakers sound so different from one to the next that you really need to make sure you find one that suits your specific tastes.

 

If you wanted my opinion for a component sent I'd add A/D/S and Infinity Kappa series to the list of ones to seriously consider. The Inifinity's are crisp and clear (but are known to be bright) and A/D/S is the best I've heard IMO. I have a couple sets of A/D/S 320is series which are remarkable, and one thing that makes them great is I've had them installed in a few different vehicles I've owned in kick panel pods and they were the only brand of speakers that didn't have the unusually thick or muddy midbass.. the downside is they lack adequate midbass when installed in typical locations - like in a door. My solution to inadequate midbass in a door location was to add a 6.5 midbass driver making it three drivers per door. The JL components sound great in a demo board but I have yet to hear the new ones in a vehicle. I've had a set of JL components about 10 or 12 years ago when they had the large almost rectangle tweeters, the components were decent then with overly bright tweeters and the 5.25's lacked adequate midbass.. although a wall of four 12" JL subs may have had something to do with acurate sound production.

As for sub location it seems as though you've chosen to locate your amp(s) and battery in the spare tire well. I have another suggestion, why not try to mount your battery ahead and above the rear tire well and use the rest of the space to make a fiberglass or combination mdf/fiberglass enclosure in the spare tire location. Then mount your amp(s) and other remote processors/crossovers(?) on the otherside behind the plastic panels.

Now keep in mind I used to compete in IASCA and local events in the early 90's and I havn't done much since... I had thirty grand invested into my audio system at the time (Canadian dollar) and have since parted out the system to other vehicles I own and have owned. I'm not familiar with all the new components and brands avaliable.. but I've been told I have a great ear. So there was some great ten year old advice

 

Thanks Brisk for ideas. I dont think the battery will fit above the the tire area. But I will check. Fabrication is not a problem for any thing. The body is still be stripped to go to the acid dippers. So I have plenty of time to figure this stuff out. But I at least want to know which way I am heading. In the early 90 I put together several systems and one guy went and competed with his. Now his system was put together with stuff most people wont have picked. He placed first in his class. I was completely shocked ,he didnt have but 500 dollars in head,speakers,eq,amp and subs. I then learned to just trust my ears and not magazine ads.
Ok what about putting 6" in the doors and some 5" in the kickpanels? I am using 89 TA door panels and they will be covered in leather,but the is a insert that I could build out of fiberglass.
Thanks for the ideas guys and keep them coming.
BTW- The guys at the audio stores look at me funny when I bring in Kenny Wayne Shepard CD.

 

Yep, the RE stuff has become popular, esp for a $150 price tag.

cdh67, Try comparing components with different tweeters. Some brands use metal like MQ Quart and others use silk like PG.

If your handy, you can put a 10" sub in the drivers side rear lock box and your amps and batt in the spare tire area and keep everything hidden.