oarichard

iTrader: (3)

Get the Kicker 8 inch CVT. Nice bass for a little guy. Just make sure the back is dynamated properly.

ThaitTL came to check out my sound system last week and he can vouch for the sound. He really liked it and told me he wanted do a setup just like mine.

oarichard

iTrader: (3)

Do NOT get Crunch amps, unless you don't care about sound quality and you just want some power.

I had 2 options for an amp, a 1500w 5 channel Crunch amp and a 5 channel Alpine amp. My audio place let me test out both before I purchased and boy did the Crunch amp sound like shit. It would sound ok to a certain volume, then youd just hear a cracking distortion after that. The Apline on the other hand had NO sort of distortion on ANY volume, even on the highest. Plus the sound quality is superb even WITH my STOCK speakers.

fourthmeal

Yeah that certain volume is the clipping point. When you run out of power, you get clipping, pretty straightforward.

Truth is, keep the amp out of clipping and you will not be able to hear an audible difference between the Crunch and the Alpine. OR my $1200 Soundstream for that matter.

He's already got the amp, I recommend using it to at least get started, and yes, if you want more volume then sure, upgrade. Crunch isn't a bad brand. It will let him save money to buy a powerful front amplifier for my plans for his front stage.

eggyhustles

Apples to oranges.

mattastick

Please don't just put a box in your trunk and fire it to the front of the car. You will be unhappy with the sound (believe me, I've done it in testing, and you have to be very careful with these boxes, or take extra steps to ensure that you get a good quality sound out of them) and you will have wasted your money. That being said, I wouldn't waste my time with shallow woofers. The woofers I'm currently running (will be selling soon to a good buddy of mine so I can get some new ones and these will work perfectly in his truck *instead of a shallow mount sub*) are ~5.5" deep. They are True Bass Ultra 10s, and seem to do very well in the box I have them in. They keep getting louder the lower I test. I'll explain a bit more about the whole boxes thing later, but I've done a few trunk builds and have done a ton of SPL testing like what fourthmeal described.

A forward firing trunk box is not an IB setup. It's a forward firing box. That's what I currently have, it's what I won my World Championship with, and it's what I'm going to stick with. I personally like the way they sound, and my bandpass (also forward firing) got stupid loud on very little power (142+db on ~750w) and could have done a lot better if I cared to actually put time and effort into it (I could've been very close to the same number if not louder with 1 woofer, either 10 or 12, the same power, and the same shell with about 15-20 hours of work/testing). Anyway, with a forward firing setup, you have to seal or remove the sound wave that will travel behind the box if it's not sealed up. To get a sort of feel as to what this will sound like, you can simply open the trunk lid. Now, this is not a good idea while driving, but it will give you an idea of what a forward firing setup will sound like if you seal off the box from the back of the trunk. It will be louder (I can guarantee it) and there's a 99% chance it will sound better. Once you seal the box into the car, you will get this sound with the trunk closed or open (no sound will be traveling back there). You'll want the seal to be as airtight as possible. Unfortunately, this generally leaves the carpet a complete mess (spray foam is nasty shit) and it's a real pain to get it out of the car. There are other ways to get ~80-90% seals, and for most people, these will work fine. Basic trim panels and some weatherstripping will take care of that.

Yes, sealing to the ski pass is a necessity with a forward firing setup.

Another idea, if you're going to pull the stock woofer out anyway, would be to run a bandpass ported through the factory sub hole. You should be able to fit a single 8 (or even dual 8) 4th order in ~10" of total box depth. Shouldn't be that difficult to do, and would probably give you the most output and best sq.

AE is a good company. They had some serious delays in terms of getting parts, but that has been resolved. I'm actually working with them now for some possible subs for my 98 CL for this year's competition season. If we do put something together, it's going to be very interesting...

eggyhustles

To get a flat/wide bandwidth in a forth order, the box would need to be huge, no?

fourthmeal

Yeah I agree. For this guy, I think a simple, well-made sealed or ported box firing backward is going to blow him away.

mattastick

For a single 8 or even dual 8s, it shouldn't take up that much space.

myron

iTrader: (4)

There is a CVT 10" for sale locally for 80$, new in a box. I think I am gonna pick it up this week.

And thanks guys for helping a noob understand things better.

myron

iTrader: (4)

OK I have another question here.

say mounting depth is 5.5", it's recommended to have 2" clearance behind the magnet. What if you don't have 2" clearance? Is the sound changed in any way, or is the 2" recommended for ventilation purposes only?

eggyhustles

dont waste your money on that kicker crap

fourthmeal

Lol at Eggy... I agree but I also am not spending my money on this one...


Regarding vent space, 1.5" would probably be OK for the back pole vent. Less than that, you may end up with issues. That serves as the cooling flow, and also keeps the air in the coil moving as the sub moves for the sake of distortion-free output. I would not suggest going any less than 1.5" on most subs.


BTW, what is "A box"... is it a sealed box, ported, what size? Generic box = generic results. The box matters as much as the sub if not more.

mestizoracer310

Sorry to hi-jack, didn't want to start another TL shallow mount sub thread.

I've got a 2G and I was thinking of upgrading the sub in the factory location to save truck space. I do have a kid and I do, most of the time......carry tons of stuff...mainly throwing my dismantled fixed gear bicycle in since I don't have locks on my roof rack yet. Anyway, I want to re-use factory location, maybe enlarge the hole a bit to accept a slightly larger sub, and of course get an external amp. Can this be done? I konw I might need to enlarge the grille as well to accomodate the movement of the sub's surround....

Added: btw to try to help out more, I mainly listen to rap and death/black/heavy metal.... I need something somewhere in the middle since I listen to essentially two different genres..some death/black metal actually have some pretty heavy basslines, but not as much as rap...

fourthmeal

I don't recommend it. The factory sub is in an IB mount, not in a box, and you'll have a hell of a time upgrading the sub in that spot thanks to the trunk springs in the way. You can easily build a small box that takes up just a bit of trunk space, and you'll be fine. Especially you can use that narrowed area in the back. It is 31" wide approx btw. You could do a slim box, something along the lines of 28x7x13, and be done.

uncald5

Good words and also the truth. Like mentioned before, a good sealed or ported enclosure facing rearward is the best option on this car. Also, a shallow subwoofer will never have the same performance as a standard configuration subwoofer.

eggyhustles

That would depend on the sub we're comparing it to.

mestizoracer310

What do you mean by "IB" mount? Also, I guess I could do a single 10 or 12. Would that be enough? I'm thinking JLW0 in a sealed box, but my budget at the moment does not cover such a purchase. Any other recommendations?

fourthmeal

IB = Infinite Baffle. If you don't know your basics this stuff can get messy pretty quick. Again, a great source to learn www.bcae1.com Wait... isn't a W0 a REALLY cheap sub? Like $50? I mean in a 10 second search I found a guy on craigslist selling 3 of them in a big truck box for $100. I have an Orion XTR3 sub that I could let go for $50, it is 4ohm compatible so a cheap 2ch amp bridged would work, or you could get a 4ch and amplify the front speakers as well as the sub, for about the same price. I think a cheap, simple Q-forms box could be bought and it would work fine for now. I might have a contact for one of those of the DIYMA forum.