Good sub setup?

Topic: Good sub setup? (Read 3083 times) previous topic - next topic

Good sub setup?

May 31, 2010, 12:39:45 PM

I have been wanting to upgrade my radio for a while now and I am looking for ideas on subs and boxes. What setup do you have? I'd like it to be nice but not taking up the whole trunk. thanks

Good sub setup?

Reply #1 – May 31, 2010, 01:27:32 PM

Infinite baffle/free air. I love my setup with subs mounted between two 3/4" MDF boards and bolted to the back seat braces. They blend in very well with the front stage.

Good sub setup?

Reply #2 – May 31, 2010, 01:36:18 PM

I have a 1000w Kenwood amp with a 12" Kicker Comp CVR in the factory Kicker designed box it comes in. Sounds excellent and only takes up half my trunk space. I have two of those 12" CVRs in my truck and the exact same amp. One of those is all the Tbird needs to sound good - two in it would be overkill.

Good sub setup?

Reply #3 – May 31, 2010, 03:40:26 PM

Do you guys just like sloppy sound reproduction? I've got 100 watts at 8 ohms (more efficient per watt) up front for each midrange and tweeter and two 10" subs mounted at 300W each/4 ohms "infinite baffle" keep up almost perfect and are overpowering on songs with heavy bass. I know IB is more efficient and all, and can't take huge amounts of power, but a proper 12" setup with 1000W (is that truly 1000W? What amp and what voice coils on the sub? This would sound terrible.

I'm just curious. Many people like boom for whatever reason but you don't need nearly that much if you build your setup properly. I like using IB subs and the small "ICE power" amps personally. Fully functional with great frequency response all around and other than a few pounds heavier, everything in the car's still fully functional. I never used that trunk space way up there.

My setup two years ago (amps and mount are no longer in the trunk):

Edit: The gaps were filled in with foam after those pictures. There was a noticeable increase in volume after sealing the truck from the interior a little with the expanding foam. Sealing the entire trunk may help more but it's already overkill.

Good sub setup?

Reply #4 – May 31, 2010, 03:43:35 PM

I've got Infinity speakers in there too for the rest of the range. :) My truck has tons of Bose speakers in it + the subs.

Good sub setup?

Reply #5 – May 31, 2010, 04:19:10 PM

More speakers will not get you very much more volume - 3dB minus all the cancellation. Of course, you won't have any stereo separation or imaging with more than a few speakers.

I'm not saying you need to go out and measure the entire frequency response range since as long as you're happy, that's all that matters, but there are perfectly good ways of installing a sub into an existing 2 channel setup without needing a huge, heavy box taking up all your space. I'm happy enough with the IB subs to keep them this way, even after I get the carpc installed with an 8 channel DAC as a fully controllable signal processor.

Good sub setup?

Reply #6 – May 31, 2010, 05:31:51 PM

Quote from: Seek;323807

More speakers will not get you very much more volume - 3dB minus all the cancellation. Of course, you won't have any stereo separation or imaging with more than a few speakers.
.

Mr Buzz Killington...

J/K, it all sounds like fun! Not sure if I would want free air though like you have, just because I sometimes put stuff in the trunk and would be worried about potentially damaging the subs.

I may switch to two 10"s in mine if I cannot find a reasonably priced amplifier to power my two12's. I have two MTX amps that would be perfect, but they both are in need of repair currently, and I can't find anyone that repairs them.

Good sub setup?

Reply #7 – May 31, 2010, 05:41:04 PM

I think Dr Laura and Kim Komando sound just fine with my stock speakers :hick:

Good sub setup?

Reply #8 – May 31, 2010, 06:20:19 PM

Quote from: jrad235;323824

Not sure if I would want free air though like you have, just because I sometimes put stuff in the trunk and would be worried about potentially damaging the subs.

You can easily place something behind the subs to protect them further. Another good option is to build a box that fits up snug in the same area - it will have to be sealed though as there isn't enough volume for any other designs with 10+ inch subs.

Good sub setup?

Reply #9 – May 31, 2010, 07:01:34 PM

I had an open air setup in my old Maverick, it sounded alright but it was just a board screwed on to the seat braces with 2 10" subs.

Good sub setup?

Reply #10 – May 31, 2010, 09:03:28 PM

Use thick mdf, mount them securely, separate the cabin from the trunk using expanding foam, and it should pound out the bass if you want. Better yet, seal up the interior and sound deaden it and you get to keep a lot of the sound inside instead of letting people around you listen to your music.

My subs are rated for 600w each and made for infinite baffle but I'm not sure I'd trust them with that. They're fairly inefficient at 83dB/2.83v (2 Watts at 4 ohms) so if anything, I'd want to swap them out down the road for something closer to 86-90dB at 2.83v. I had a pdx 1.1000 that I never got installed as I never saw the need though. A couple 12" subs can fit behind the back seat without a problem.

Good sub setup?

Reply #11 – June 04, 2010, 11:18:52 PM

If you can find a good local audio shop they can design you a box based on what sub you want to use. They will measure the opening and give you a printed drawing with dimensions. One 12" is plenty in a ported or enclosed box in my opinion.

Good sub setup?

Reply #12 – June 04, 2010, 11:36:23 PM

Tell ya what, if your lookin for boom, all i did was put a cheap 300 watt amp on a 12" audiopipe in a custom ported box (barely 1 cu.ft.) and it sits in the trunk, and kicks licke a MO. FO.