Need A Little Bass

[850 Stylzz]

Ok, it is brainstorming time.

I just completed a pretty much total stereo upgrade. Went with a panasonic DF602U Head unit. Mainly because of its enormous amount of inputs/outputs. Plus it was on sale and it looked cool.

the speakers were all infinity reference, and all were replaced, making a total of 8.

Those were powered by a Rockford Fosgate 301X amp running 4 pairs of parallel divided into 4 quadrants to preserve stereo imaging.

So far, everything sounds great. I am generally happy with it....except....

Except it is very much lacking in the low end. I really need to put in a sub of some kind.

Now here is the hard part. I know for pretty cheap money I could put a box in the trunk with anpother amp to do the job.

BUT, I want everything to be A. discreet and B. encroaching utility as little as possible.

So that generally rules out a big box in the rear. What I was really hoping for is something that I put in the cabin itself. Of course, the only real place to out it in there is under the seats. I was thinking about an infinity basslink, but I think that may be too tall for an under seat install. I have seen the similar one from Kenwood, which is shallower, but may not put out enough bass. Im not looking for a "wake your neighbors" sub, but something that wont piss me off if I turn is up.

Would it be feasible to build one or two boxes for under the seats and put like an 8" in each?

Any ideas would be really appreciated.

[V Tuning 850]

No subwoofer is going to fit underneath the front seats in our cars first of all from what I know.

Are we putting this in a sedan, and or wagon?

JL Audio did make little 6" subs, I really didn't get to listen to them to see ow they sounded. But I got a 12" JL Audio W3D4 sub, and it is very nice.

You could buy like 2-4 little 6" JL Audio subs and make a custom spot for them in the rear deck if you have a sedan. Or somehow put them in the rear seats facing towards the trunk.

[850 Stylzz]

Yes, this is for a sedan. I know there are some shallow depth woofers out there. Dont know how much air they can push, but I know they are out there.

[850 Stylzz]

And I dont know, I might be able to fit something down there. Would definitely have to take out the air routers, but I think it might be possible. I would guess (just by sticking my fist down there) that there is about 5-6 inches to work with. Not much, but possible (I think )

[Mesoam]

i think you should think about doing something custom...here is my idea that i would like to eventually do; make a custom box (2 10's i think) that follows the angle of the rear seat from the trunk. One on the left and one on the right with the amp in the middle. This could easily be make out of wood and carpeted. Plus it would be back inside the trunk taking up as little space as possible

[850 Stylzz]

Definitely a good idea sans one caveat...you lose fold down utility. That would create a non-linear surface once you fold the seats down. Which in and of itself might not be awful, but Should I decide to use it anyway, Im not a huge fan of laying stuff on the equipment.

[jb7073]

I won't have the money for a while, but I personally would like to have a sub box formed on the back two sides of the trunk. Where the indent from the wheel well would just continue back.

Or, a removable box that sits right up behind the seats. Subs pointing back into the trunk and the whole box molded to fit as tight up again the seats as possible. All the wires would have connectors somewhere so that they could quickly be disconnected and the box pulled out for when storage is needed.

Problem is both would be custom, and that instantly raises any cost.

[Guest DougK]

I won't have the money for a while, but I personally would like to have a sub box formed on the back two sides of the trunk.  Where the indent from the wheel well would just continue back.

Or, a removable box that sits right up behind the seats.  Subs pointing back into the trunk and the whole box molded to fit as tight up again the seats as possible.  All the wires would have connectors somewhere so that they could quickly be disconnected and the box pulled out for when storage is needed.

Problem is both would be custom, and that instantly raises any cost.

thats what I would do.

I've built under seat subs before in my trucks, trust me 850's wont have enough room.

[Chris_R]

Bing made something once that looked like the extension from the center console. You should be able to fit a decent 8 or 6 in there.

Do some research on fiberglass boxes. Now that the information is being shared these things really aren't that hard to make. You can even mold it so the sub fires down to hide/protect the sub. Perhaps make the enclosure ported to increase output (do a LOT of research before building a ported sub box, they can be very picky).

Definitely hit us up for help. I'm sure Bing or myself could help out.

Where are you located? Maybe I could offer some assistance now that my tranny is done! I need a little kick in the pants to get my own projects started!

-Chris

[whitev70r]

What about the Infinity BassLink? I realize this is not going to come close to an amp/sub combo but might this do for a 'little bass'?

[850 Stylzz]

I'm actually in Boston now, but as of late Jusy, Im leaving my job here to start law school down in DC. So I'll be there (DC) from then on. If I have to build something custom, it'll almost definitely have to wait until then. I live in an apartment now, so parking spot room is minimal for doing work, and NO place to work with any kind of materials.

As far as the basslink... It is definitely not bad. Maybe a tad pricey, but not bad...at least from what I have heard. Not seen one in person yet.

I had really wanted to put something in the cab for two reasons. The first being the lack of encroachment into utility (you could just call this stealth as well). The second is that I listen to music in the cab, not the trunk. Assuming this, a cab mounted woofer would require less power to reproduce the same dB level that a trunk mounted one would. Further assuming that I wanted X decibel level, and assuming that generally speaking, size of the components goes in direct relation to that level, we have a corollary of my first reason...stealth. Additionally, I dont just want a "boom". I think the speakers that I have generally have trouble producing at 150Hz and lower. Especially in that upper end (btw 70 and 150 Hz or so) You are really going to lose definition if you put something in the trunk. Something I would like to avoid.

I am much more interested in quality of sound vs. quantity.

As far as mounting a basslink in the cab--its impossible. Thing is almost 10 inches deep. No way I could put that under a seat.

There is another option for a compact self powered sub (actually two). The kenwood KSC-WA62RC is definitely small enough to put uinder the seat. But Im guessing it is even more anemic than is the infinity which is more so than a traditional. Having not heard this either, Im not sure if this is worth the space/performance tradeoff.

There is also the Clarion SRV-303. Have had a lot of trouble finding reviews, but this seems to be at the bottom of the scale.

Of course, I could go the route of fiberglassing two trays for under the seats for two 6s or something, but I've never glassed before, so that might just be a mess waiting to happen.

[Mesoam]

850 Stylzz Posted on May 11 2004, 06:52 PM

  Definitely a good idea sans one caveat...you lose fold down utility. That would create a non-linear surface once you fold the seats down. Which in and of itself might not be awful, but Should I decide to use it anyway, Im not a huge fan of laying stuff on the equipment. 

well the seats still fold down. With my design there still would be pass through room as the subs would be a on the L/R and the amp mounted low profile inbetween the two. I'll draw up a little design on paint later (i should do that anyway)

[Chris_R]

I was thinking of something like this (except I'd bring it up kinda flush with the stock center console and fire the woofer down for protection/stealth/box design):

See the thread here:

http://volvospeed.com/vs_forum/index.php?s...=2413&hl=tacoma

-Chris

[CAE]

If you want something discrete, non-obtrusive, and sounds great then build an enclosure the under the rear deck. The enclosure can be thin, just a tad deeper than the sub, and go virtually the entire length of the rear deck to save space while containing enough volume to meet the subs requirements. The only problem is that you will have to do a couple of extra steps to make this work correctly and look appealing. This can be done by cutting a hole in the rear deck just large enough for the sub and a matching hole in the package tray that sits above it (the package tray is the finished interior piece). To cover the hole in the package tray, a grill will have to be made. This can easily be accomplished by cutting out a piece of MDF to fit the area (that has a hole the diameter of the sub too) and covering it with grill cloth. This piece in turn can be attached to the package tray by running screws through the bottom of the tray into the MDF.

I plan on doing something like this in my "stealthy" commuter car in the next couple of weeks. I will try to remember to take some photos of this while I build it.

[Mesoam]

the rear deck project has been discussed before. you would have re-enforce the deck alot more than it is to prevent rattles and add strength