I've had it, I need subwoofers. However I have a few questions, such as where to mount them, and which setup, should I get subwoofers first and amp later, or amp first and then subwoofers.

My dilemma is where to put the woofers. I deleted my backseat, so I could build a box for two 8" woofers (or 10's). That way I could use two small enclosed boxes or one bigger enclosed box with a divider and then still have room for the amp on side and later on maybe a capacitor on the other side.

However I've heard it's the least good sounding option ?


My second option would be using the spare tire compartment on one side and the closed compartment on the other side. Same thing here, two 8's or 10's. However it would require a bit more Dynamat or similar.

I could still use the space behind my seats for the amp and future capacitor, however where would I put my jack and spare tire ?


The regular trunk mounted box is a no no for me, this is a daily driver, I need all the extra room I can get.


My buddy has a new Mustang, runs an old Audiobahn amp at 2 Ohm feeding a Fosgate 8 inch subwoofer in an enclosed box, small box, mounted in the trunk. It sounds good, kicks real good, however his setup may benefit from the sound waves "living" in the entire trunk compartment.


Last but least, yes, I'm on a budget, so 80-100 bucks for an amp. I don't need a huge 800 RMS amp either.

Ideas ? Suggestions ?


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Setup definitely sounds better in the well in the back. Have you considered the option of only having one, higher power subwoofer? This is the route I went. I built a box for the trunk... it's mounted on the left side. I can access my spare tire, with ease, and still have room to throw some stuff in the trunk. I can also get into the little "glove compartment" on the left side, because of the way I designed my box. Also, you could probably save even more room if you were going for a sealed box... I ported mine, which required even more room (it takes up exactly half of the trunk well).

I can't find any good pix, but here's a few of what it looked like before I finished it off, and with my old sub (Rockford HX2 10" 1000w max). The other picture is of my old setup, with the huge annoying box which didn't allow me to get into anything - glove box or spare tire well - without lifting the entire thing out. And that one had 2 12" subs, which were not even 1/2 as loud as the old sub...

It's dirty... I know! :P

 

Yes I've thought about a single 10 or 12 in the trunk, but thing is, I need that area open, for groceries etc etc.

Can't be throwing stuff around in the backseat area too much once I'm done with the interior (i.e. use the backseat area as a throw it all in trunk) because I'm going with black ultra suede interior.

How bad does backseat mounted subwoofers really sound ?

 

You're going to have major cancellation issues. Also, there's no such thing as a speaker 'living' in the back of the car. The closer you can get your woofers to one end of the car the better they will sound.

Keep in mind that sound radiates out 360 degrees from the woofer. In a back seat install it will travel to the back of the car, bounce back, and come back towards the listener. The reflected wave will be out of phase with the original wave for about 80% of the sub's frequency range. Out of phase waves = cancellation. There was a nice article published a while ago with in car response graphs in various vehicles with various sub placement (they tried 3 per vehicle) and the one that always won was as close to the back of the car as possible. There was as much as a 40 dB difference at some frequencies.

 

Agreed! I've heard two f-bodies who put subs in their back seats. It sounded horrible. Not only with the cancellation issues, but also... 4x6's don't sound that great, and will never get that loud because they're a smaller speaker. The 6x9's are where its at. If you have your subs in your back seat, you going to drown out your 6x9's out. Your system will be REALLY unbalanced. And like mentioned above, you are definitely going to have cancellation issues.

 

Alright, I guess I'll go with a ported trunk box for a single 8 inch, and put the rest of the equipment where the seats used to be.

I'll post some more questions once I do calculations etc for the box.

Thanks.

 

OK, got parts of the system. Will start sound deadening the trunk this week, got similar to Dynamat plus additional vibration dampening material.

I also got myself a 10 inch Infinity, the 1042W, going to run it at 2 Ohm.


Will the Directed Audio 250D be ok or will it be too powerful at 2 Ohm ?


Any difference in sound between two ports or one port vented boxes ? Looked at the manufacturer spec sheet, vented seems to be way to go, bandpass nope, sealed alright but not good enough.

 

When you desig na box, if you add braces on the inside, you have to compensate for the free volume taken by the braces by adding a bit to your calculations.

Do you do this for ports as well ? i.e. if a port is 3 inches wide, 9 inches high, do you compensate for the total volume of it .. even though the port is ... hollow ?