chusteveb

OK so the project to seal up the rear deck to simulate a subwoofer enclosure and replace the stock sub with an aftermarket was difficult and I was only about 70% satisfied. It took a ton of dynomatt and a few items from Home Depot. I started out with a Diamond Audio 8" and moved to a JL 8W0 which helped significantly. However when you put some serious power to it is when it starts to fail. This is when I decided to scrap that project and move on. At least I tried and know it wouldn't meet my standards. If any of you guys want more info on how I did it, just ask.

So on to the results of the sub woofer in the trunk. I really tried to shy away from this originaly because I didn't want to have the look of anything back there (theft and other misc reasons) and more importantly I needed all the trunk space I could get. So this is what I ended up with, a 10" Alpine Type S Dual Voice Coil, powered by an Alpine sub amp. As for the enclosure, ... I'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking.










I know how you guys like pics so I took a few more than I needed to. This setup to me is awesome and exceeds my expectations. The carpet matches extremely well. I lost no useable trunk space since my navi was sitting in that corner already, even my trunk matt fits almost perfectly. I've showed a few friends my setup and most of them couldn't find the sub (they kept looking in the spare tire well for it). I really like how it doesn't even show the sub. I did leave the stock sub out of the back deck and this helped out alot in letting it filter to the inside of the car. I don't have a DIY for this box since I don't know how to fiberglass but let me know if you like the set up since my shop has a mold for it now, ... maybe if it's worth it I can talk to the mods and see what we can do. No biggie one way or another, just thought I'd share my setup with all my fellow TLers!

TBone2004

Pics not showing man - probably need to change that IMG/ to a /IMG

iambgood

Nice, you get any rattling from the trunk when you crank it?

chusteveb

No rattles but I did just finish putting in a bunch of Dynomatt in the rear dash (under and over) in efforts from my last project of the aftermarket 8" sub in the factory location. I did have to add a bit of byno matt in the right rear quater panel but that was because I wanted to have a bit less rattle outside of the car. Inside sounds great!

iambgood

Just as a general question ... I'm wanting to add a sub into the trunk when I buy the car. Is an enclosed sub better suited for this?

chusteveb

To me a sealed enclosure is more acurate where ported is louder or boomier. Also sealed takes up less space. Since I listen to all types of music at all types of volume levels, sealed was the way to go for me.

vidoprof

Are you a basshead or a sound quality kinda guy?? that is all it comes down to. Sealed sound 100x better and will reproduce bass much more accurately. A vented or ported enclosure will BOOM and sound LOUDer but with the loss of sound quality. Me I just wanted Loud so i went with ported.

Ryan

VelfarreClubber

Gosh damn, beat me to it. My sub location will be in that same location but on the drivers side. may i ask why you placed it on the right? And good job with the stealth look, you should sell the mold to JL

shawnsplace

Very nice, How much did the box cost?
Thanks in advance.

Neogeek

nice i like! Well he prb did it on the right because of the trunk tray, there is a little extra space on the right and if you wanted it on the left then he would prb have to cut the mat.

sparkz

Awesome setup! How loud would you say it is? What size is the enclosure? Id love to do something similiar to yours but im afraid 10" wont be loud enough for me. I was thinking something along the lines of a JL W7

vidoprof

There is no way a JLW7 will fit in there. NO WAY. besides IF you are going to get that sub, then you should know that you would WANT TO get a sealed enclosure for it to sound the best and with that you would need to have a shop make it specifically for that sub, as it will sound best in a sealed enclosure. And yes THAT sub will pound one of the better subs on the market for SQ and SPL.

You also need a LOT of power for it to sound really good. If you guys are really looking for a small sub to fit in tight places check this out..

Brand new from Pioneer.

http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/pn...401920,00.html

This should allow you guys to put it just about anywhere. (now if only my gf would say that)

Here's another link for that sub
http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/pn...400838,00.html


Ryan

someone

Damn I wish I did not see this thread. vidoprof, now I want to get one of those subs / box and sell off my basslink which I have not even heard / used yet. Grrr decisions decisions..

chusteveb

Thanks for all the cool comments! The enclosure is about .6 cubic ft, maybe just a bit more. I did place this box on the passenger side of the car because I didn't want to loose any useable trunk space and since my navi was already in that corner I considered that less useable trunk space plus I didn't have to cut my trunk tray.

Funny the JL W7 was mentioned. I just aquired and installed 2, JL 8w7's. They went into my Integra. OMG what a sub!

I love the sound of the sub now in the TL. I used the factory sub woofer line level inputs to my aftermarket sub amp this way I keep my sub level controls at the head unit. I gained the amp perfectly to where all the settings at the headunit are set to zero all the way across the board. I changed out the factory tweeters for some memphis tweeters to make the whole system sound just a bit brighter and it works great. The whole set up is now very much perfect to me! I gave the TL's stock system a boost in the low's (sub) and a boost in the high's (tweeter's).

For those of you that are trying to imagine how it sounds, ... the sub matchs the volume level to the rest of the system. It gains perfectly from volume 1-40 (max) without overkilling the rest of the system. I can easily feel the bass and turn up the sub level at the head unit if I desire more, but by no means is it over kill. In other words, I can take my mom or heck grandma around in the TL without having to worry about gaining down the sub level no matter what is playing, but at the same time I can take my woman and her sorrority girlies out and let them crank on the volume knob and get more than plenty of bass w/o distortion and also not have to gain up the sub level either. Basiclly the volume knob is all that needs to be touched in any situation.

I was pretty happy with how the TL's sound system came from the factory, I just tweaked it a bit to make it perfect.

VelfarreClubber

Glad your happy, I'll be installing one jl 8" w7 in that same area, do you think its enough?? and the "memphis tweeters" never heard of that brand, but did you just switch the tweeters w/o using an amp or anything else??

VelfarreClubber

oh yeah.. JL really should look at this and get an idea for their "stealth box" setups they sell. Just too bad there isn't a box for acura as of now

chusteveb

Let me know how your JL 8W7 works out. If powered right and with the right enclosure it will sound great and IMO be more than enough! The 8w7 is deeper than it is round ( I have 2 of them in another car ) so I'm not sure how you're going to get it in the same spot as me, maybe the same area like you said. The tweeters are using stock power and it appears as if there was a capacitor on the stock tweeter so I used the Memphis crossover that came with the tweeter. It sounds great. I wanted the fronts to be just a bit brighter but because I could run the risk of the system not sounding as good if I replaced the fronts with separetes due to it more than likely needing more power, I simply opted to change out the tweeters which turned out to be a good call.

chusteveb

I know some of you guys wouldn't mind getting their hands on a box like mine. I talked to my guys at the shop and they said they wouldn't mind cranking out a few of these but they'd need a total count so they could do them all at once. Also of course the higher the count the lower the cost. If this turns out to be something of a demand I'll ask the mods for their blessing.

qwalls

Same here. I have a basslink sitting in the house untouched, but I like this idea a lot better. I even have al old Rockford Fosgate Punch 150 in the basement that would be perfect to drive it.

shawnsplace

With the JL w7 subs depending on the type of music you listen to, a ported box is going to sound a lot better. The bad is the box will take up the most of the trunk. These subs move a lot of air.

chusteveb

Hey guys, thanks for the PM's I'll get back to you asap.

EmuMessenger

Nice work. Looks great!

3PUTT

good job!! please keep us informed.
points for you!!

Nodoze2004

Not trying to single you out, but sealed enclosures generally take up more space than ported enclosures. In addition to the space, there is also an efficiency loss as well, as it takes more power to properly drive a sealed woofer enclosure. The whole purpose behind ported enclosures is tuning. Ported enclosures (when configured properly) are designed to emphasize specific frequencies of the sound spectrum (without requiring extreme amounts of power).

The only time the above is not true, is when the mfg DESIGNS the woofer to work in low volume enclosures (Kicker solo baric was one example from back in the day). I am sure that other mfgs such as JL have corresponding low volume woofers on the market as well.

chusteveb

Not true, but I'm not here to debate, ... and of course there's always exceptions to every rule. Thanks for the insight.

PTN

my experience has been that a ported enclosure is very precise if you choose the right driver. the right driver makes all the difference. of course the box has to be built to the correct size specs for your driver(s).

i like to listen to all types of music and my ported enclosure, two JL 8"s with a custom ported package tray could faithfully reproduce classical kettle drums as well as the boomiest of bass notes depending on how i tweaked the settings on my premier headunit.

ravingstylez

hey is it possible to remove the stock sub and put a jl 8 inch w7 in the same spot without an amp and by using the same head unit control to control the sub?

andym22

You'll have to cut the deck to get the w7 to fit, and the stock amp will not be able to drive that sub so you'll need to install a new amp.

chusteveb

... and somehow build an enclosure for it. I tried it, didn't work. Too many places for air to leak out

jpswanberg

jl 8w7 will not work in a free-air situation (using the whole trunk as the enclosure). it will need a box (sealed or ported). jps

MickyQ

how much did your setup cost??

robocam

If you look at all the ultra high-end home speakers out there, a majority of them will have ported drivers. It's all about the design. And I find it hard to believe that if you thought sealed drivers sounded 100 times better, you'd actually not use them.

turbocivic94

Please let me know on the cost of the box. I would be interested. Thanks

csmeance

guys the thread is from 2004! 6yrs old!