okay to the guys with big bass systems, is it worth putting a system in a thirdgen? Because my plan was to try and keep my camaro, then in like 2 years buy a little SUV or something and put a system in there, but then i got to thinking, systems are the loudest in hatchbacks, and thats what I got..so maybe I should put a system in my camaro. What I wanted to run in a SUV is 2 18" RE audio XXX subs, but I knwo that won't fit in a thirdgen. So i was thinking about a single 18, or dual 15's maybe. But my first concern is how do big bassed systems sound in thirdgen's? the reason i ask that is because you ever here those old crappy cars with kids driving them and they put systems in there and they sound terrible...everything rattles...sounds terrible. Is that the case with thirdgen's? also, how much cubic feet can you get out of a box built in the hatch? You think its possible to fit a 18 back there or dual 15's?

 

"is it worth putting a system in a thirdgen?" I don't think it's worth driving without one. I've heard a lot of complaints about vibrations in our cars. I only have one spot that's vibrating & I think I know right where it is: I have a screw missing from the passenger's sail panel. Aside from that, I have absolutely no complaints. Really, it comes down to the individual car whether it's going to vibrate a lot. I don't know if there's a way to tell in advance.

Two 15's...MIGHT fit if you put them in the absolute smallest enclosure possible. It would probably be a custom box. One 18" should be a bit smaller, but if it were me, I'd use the space gained from going to one 18" to make a large box to take full advantage of the sub.

Also, you should have less vibrations by aiming the subs forward (or up depending on the box type). You should also get better phasing & SQ, too, but you need a little extra power to do this and have it still sound loud.

 

yea i'm trying to think of a way that would make it the best. Because it would be sweet to have a flat topped box that fits in the back well, then it would resonate of the top hatch, and creat tons of bass, but then my box won't be as big as it should be.

another idea was to take out the back seat, and build something, but than you can't fit women back there. they love vibration

what if i ran like 3 12's, or maybe squeeze 4 12's back there, and face them kind of forward like have the box come all the way up to that raised section, pretty much over the back axle...then have them fire forward, so when you look in the rearview mirror, they would be sitting right there...

about how many cubes can you get out of a custom box in the back? I just want to get a feel for what i'm dealin wth here..

 

Yep! You'd be amazed at how many women sat in the backseat of my other cars when I had the stereo on...It'd be me driving, empty passenger's seat and three girls in the back. hehehe...

I've never put a box in the hatch area of a thirdgen. My sub enclosure is sitting on top of folded-down rear seats with the subs aiming forward. I have a pair of 12" Kicker L7's in there with the chambers being 1 cubic foot each. I could probably BARELY fit 1.5 cubic feet per chamber in the rear seat area.

Something that just occured to me is if you could make a box for two 12's aiming straight up at the rear hatch, but extend the box forward all the way to the rear seats. Make it about about 6" high here and use all this large, flat space for ports...I'll make a drawing a bit later when I have the time. Could be neat.

 

i got what your saying...make an external slot port that extends to the seats, it would be one BIG a*s port tho. so then you get that much more air space in the box...thats actually a really good idea...

does anybody know how many cubes I can get out of the well back there? assuming i take advantage of all the room, as much as I can with MDF, not usuing fiberglass...

 

I did some searching a bit earlier on the topic and a few people were saying ~1.6 cubic feet per chamber in the well alone.

Here's one:

https://www.thirdgen.org/techbb2/sho...et+cubic+hatch

 

the sealed box im using has about 3 ft^3 without the speakers, 2.6 with them. ( they displace .36 together)
thats about the limit with an mdf box, unless you bring it up to the back seat, which will give you another 3/4 to a cubic foot. you could get a bit more if you went fiberglass. i really doubt you could get 3 12's without using every inch of space behind the seats. 2 15's will work. i doubt an 18 would work and if it did it wouldnt have enough airspace, the re 18's like huge, huge boxes. how about 2 xxx 12's, or save some cash and get 2 rl-ps like my setup? its freakin loud, almost 145 db with 2 sealed 12's and only running a little over 500 watts to each speaker. my car does rattle all to hell though, but i havent gotten around to deadening it yet. need a bigger amp, my 12's will handle up to 1200 watts each.

 

yea maybe 2 12's would be the way to go...i want to stay RE audio. because I can get them real cheap. I can get a single 18" XXX for 450..and the 12's probably alot cheaper, I would need some big power to run those baby's tho...i have an alpine 500 digital bass amp that i'm gonna run for like dual 8's or something in each door, but what are some good "bang for your buck" amps for huge power?? I looked into those sound splinters, they seem like excellent subs, I'm surprised i never herd of them..

 

I have a 15" and 12" in the back seat. Its a really ghetto setup but its good enough for me and it pounds descently.

The only rattle i have had was my licence plate, The polar bears legs would rattle on the bracket

 

re is not the way to go if you want to save cash. even with your hookup, the 12's arent much cheaper than the 18's, id say you'll probably still pay at least 380 per 12. i paid 450 for both my 12's shipped, and if i had a 2kw amp they would knock the snot out of your nose. the xxx's need 2kw a piece to really perform, and even then they arent much louder than the rl-p's with half the power, and the sq isnt quite as good as the rl's.
elemental designs makes some cheap (relatively) 7's that are supposed to be really nice. they're 50 bucks a piece.
http://edesignaudio.com/product.php?cid=&pid=32&cur=USD

 

hmm...what about a brahma or something?? i read that the RL's aren't even close to the XXX as far as output..

 

I had 2 10" JL W6 subs, 2 Fosgate 500w amps, 4 1f Capacitors, and 2awg wire to the back. Used a Pioneer DEH-P9300 Headunit, CD Changer under the drivers seat, and my satelite radio tuner hidden in the spare tire comaprtment.

As far as bass goes... It SLAMMED, Honestly, if you like big bass, you dont need anything more then 2 10" quality subs and a good amp.

 

if you read that, im willing to bet it was from a guy posting under the name ls1pimp?

brahmas are nice, they're built using the same motor technology as the xxx. ascendant audio also uses this, their avalanches are really nice speakers and a lot cheaper than adires and re's. brahmas are about the same price as the xxx though. aa isnt making the avalanches right now, the new ones should be out by december. i dont know what the new ones will be like, but the ones they were making before were really, really nice. you could find some used for probably 200 bucks. the rl-p's go for 215 a piece if you get more than one.

i guess its really just a matter of whether you really want to spend 800+ on 2 12's, and still need a really, really badass amp if you went with the re's. the adires get moving with a lot less power, but i'd still want at least 2kw on tap to run 2 brahma 12's. with such nice speakers, you dont want to use a cheap amp, other than maybe the lanzar optidrive2000d's.

with more space, it wouldnt be a question. if you had an explorer, you could buy almost 4 rl-p's for the price of 2 xxx's and it would crush it in sq and output, even just 3. only having 2 12's, or maybe 15's, you want good speakers. the rl-p's are no slouches. they have easily the best sound quality i've ever heard, and the output is right up there with the super expensive subs.

 

well for amps i'm lookin into hifonics...it seems like they have some decent stuff for a decent price...lots of watts for a considerable price...

but as far as subs, i'm still stuck on that...

i still like the dragged out bass of 15's and 18's...i'm not a SQ nut, so SQ doesnt' really matter...i heard 6 18" XXX in a van, and I thought it sounded awesome as far as SQ goes...its just a lot of bass...which I love...I don't know if i would get sick of that, so i don't think I wanna go over a 15"....what about like dual 15" SX's or maybe you guys know of a close comparison of that...I would like to stay with alot of cone area, so like dual 15's, 3 12's, or an 18 or something along the lines of that...I'm just not too farmilular with these new brands like ascendant and stuff, it seems like adire and RE are the ones that are getting really popular...

 

they aren't all out sq speakers. they're in the same class of "sql" as the xxx and brahma. sounds good while getting loud. just sounds a little better and is a little less loud. trust me, they hit hard lol. my 2 12's jump my vision almost a 1/4 inch on certain songs, in a sealed box. 2 rl-p 15's would be ridiculously loud in an f-body. STUPID loud almost
the sx's are also very good speakers for the money, but thats about all i know about them. from what i understand, they prefer a ported box.

 

yea sound splinter is looking more appealing to me...the RLp's are a real good deal...but i got to looking into the new RLS

how does the Sound Splinter RLS compare to like a XXX? are they louder than the XXX? Also would it be best to run a high end single sub setup, or is using lower grade subs just more of them the way to go?

 

the rl-s is by all ear-witness accounts i've ever read the best sound quality speaker ever made. its not made for getting loud, although it will get louder than the rl-p just because its so massive. the excursion and power handling is crazy. but like the xxx, its expensive, the 12's are just under 500 and i think the 15's are about 550, and it needs a LOT of power to do its thing, again you'd want at least 1000 clean watts on each speaker, or up to 2kw.
thing is, say you want to put 1250 watts to each speaker. you dont just buy a 2500 watt amp to run them, thats the rms rating of the amp. when you push an amp to its limit, crank the gains, it clips, which is bad news for your speakers. ive been looking for a 2500 watt amp that is under 22 inches so it will fit in my car to run my 12's, but i only plan on putting about 1000 watts on each speaker. you just want to get a little bigger than the power you need for head-room. music is all different, you never know when you'll put on a song with loud bass that will push your amp over the edge into clipping (lil jon is notorious for that), with a few hundred watts of headroom, it will never clip.
if i were you i would either get 2 rl-p or 2 avalanche 15's. either one would hit pretty hard, both are probably capable of 148+ db if properly set up. if you took out your backseat and build a ported box, 150 shouldnt be a problem. i can guarantee 2 rl-p 15's will be way louder than 1 rl-s 15, and be cheaper.
have you ever heard a system that loud? a lot of people go around claiming to have 150 db systems, but most people who say "yeah my **** slams" are hitting in the 130's, and most people with cheap equipment are hitting 120s.

i couldnt compare the rl-s to the xxx, as i've never heard an s. check out some car audio forums, they're all talking about the rl-s, was a demo ring where a sample woofer was sent out to a bunch of people that know what they're doing and have a heard a lot of speakers, that tried them in different boxes and posted reviews, so theres plenty of comparisons out there.

 

yea i know what you mean about people claiming more than they have...and yes i've heard 2 systems over 150 dbs...one hit 154 with 4 15" old school RE's and 4600 watts in a wall, its actually a blazer that is our project vehicle for my car audio club for college here...we are in the process in squeezing a bit more outta it...but then i heard a van that hit 158 with 6 18's XXX and like 4000 watts...

so I know its hard to get deep into the 50's, but I'm just going for around 50...and yes that is very loud, a number is alot easier to say than sittin in a car hitting 50+

say if i go with 2 15's...like RLp's or SX's...how big of box would be good, and what should I tune it too? would building the box in place of the rear seats be the best? and face the subs towards the front seats or what?

 

if you just want to get really loud, you need to go ported. my system is more than loud enough for me, and i like versatility of sealed boxes. they sound a lot better with rock music than ported boxes do. if you listen to mostly rap, or are just going to play bass cd's at competitions, ported is the only way to go and will get you 3 or 4 decibals on average. thats in a trunk though, i dont really know how a sealed box in the well would compare to a ported box in the back seats. it would be a difficult install, nothing i would want to tackle if i had not already built a few ported boxes. usually people tune rl-ps to 32-34 hz, i think the 15's like to have over 2.5 cubic feet per speaker if you go ported. id shoot for 2 cubic feet per speaker if you did sealed.

what amps are you looking at from hifonics?

 

i've built like 20 awesome ported boxes...that is what kind of keeps my car audio itch satisfied...but now i'm at college, and I don't get to tweak people's systems anymore, so I'm just gonna bite the bullet and finally get my own...

I'm a member of the realm of excursion board also and they recommended the higher end ones like the BX series, some of the 2000 plus watt ones...i didn't really set my mind on any yet, I gotta figure out which subs I want first, then match the amps. I'm gonna plan on a 200-400 watt headroom on the amps too...

music of choice is basically all rap.

what i was thinking is just build like a "stage" where my back seat was, just kinda make something that squares everything off, then build a box that sits on it, then make fiberglass panels to kind of blend the box into its surroundings so that it is a show quality finish....what would be the best way to aim the subs/port? so how does a 6 cubic foot box tuned to like 32 hertz sound?

 

thats about the right size, but i really wouldnt know how you would want to face them, all my third gen systems have always been in the back. once i had 2 jl 10w3's in a sealed box behind my back seat, and it sounded better facing the well than facing forward, so i would imagine you'd want the subs angled backwards and probably the port firing towards the back, but i would post over at caraudio.com or somewhere asking about that before you start to building it.

 

okay will do...I looked at sound splinters site, looks like 2.5-3.5 vented per sub tuned to 28 hertz...so i'll go 6.0-6.5 cubic foot box tuned to 28 or so...that'll be real nice...i'll figure out the fine details when it gets closer to building the box...thanks for your help..

 

28 is a little low, that gives the sub more bottom end, but it won't be quite as loud. most music doesnt play under 30 hz, and the higher you tune the louder it will be. i wouldnt tune any higher than 34 though. keep in mind changing the tuning you'll need to adjust the port area.

http://www.soundsolutionsaudio.com/f...p?showforum=41

go here and ask them about building a box. thats soundsplinters official forum, the owner of the company is always checking it, so you can get advice on a box straight from him.

 

alright sweet, thanks..i thought 28 was alittle low myself too...i usually tune 15's in the 32-35 range, 12s in the 34-37 range, and 10's in the 36-40 range...

so i'll see what they recommend for a box, and thanks for the link...also was your 145 done on the new TL or what? also what kind of amps are you running?