Sub woofer placement

[p8ntballsniper8]

I drive a 1995 SL2 and I recently just got a 10" sub-woofer from a friend, and I'm trying to think of a place to mount the box. I was thinking perhaps in between the two seats in the back, but I didn't know how well the one 10" would put out so I was thinking of getting another one. My main question is is where would be the optimal place to mount the box for the two speakers?

[ruley73]

Originally Posted by p8ntballsniper8

I drive a 1995 SL2 and I recently just got a 10" sub-woofer from a friend, and I'm trying to think of a place to mount the box. I was thinking perhaps in between the two seats in the back, but I didn't know how well the one 10" would put out so I was thinking of getting another one. My main question is is where would be the optimal place to mount the box for the two speakers?

One 10' wll generally give you a fair amount of filler bass, but not much more unless you feed it a generous amount of power - like 400W or 500W RMS through it. Two 10s will give you more dominent bass that I suspect you may prefer. Just beneath the rear deck in the the trunk, facing the back of the car would be the best placeto mount any subs IMO.

[Fox Slaughter]

I have my 12in sub in the box under the read deck facing the back of the car.

[SL2_Gold]

My two 12's are in the trunk but face toward me and sit with just enough clearance for the lid to close. Kills trunk space but whatev.

[itsnotme1988]

My 10" with is under the deck facing the front of the car.

[Zero_DgZ]

I have a single 12" mounted in a sealed box I built myself. It's behind the rear seats underneath the deck and points up. I've found that the driver facing up or forward is actually optimal for acoustics in most cases, especially with a sealed box. I don't get to show off my pointless shiny driver face to da homeboyz in da hood, but a sealed box facing the correct direction (up, or towards the cabin) sounds much better than a rattly, buzzy, ported box aimed towards the trunk lid. Facing the driver up or forward also has the advantage of making it much harder to poke holes in your cones if you actually use your trunk to carry stuff.

Remember, the goal isn't to rattle your trunk lid off or transmit as much sound as possible to the outside world to annoy passers by. It's to provide clean, full-range sound to the inside of the car. You know... the part that you're actually in.

[SL2_Gold]

Originally Posted by Zero_DgZ

Remember, the goal isn't to rattle your trunk lid off or transmit as much sound as possible to the outside world to annoy passers by. It's to provide clean, full-range sound to the inside of the car. You know... the part that you're actually in.

+1 Could have said it better myself

[Low Saturn]

I have two Kicker 12's facing rearward. Sounds pretty good. My brother has one 10" Kicker in a slightly modified SRT-4 sub enclosure. Its mounted in the rear drivers side corner of the trunk faciing sideways. That thing hit's wayyy harder than my 2 12's. And he still has use of 90% or more of his trunk.

[spencerforhire]

Facing the subs to the rear is NOT done to "rattle your trunk lid"; it works better than pointing them forward because the lower frequency sound waves need the longer distance they have to travel to actually produce a wave that your ears perceive as bass.
A bit of an over-simplification, but based on actual in-car acoustics.

[sleepersatty99]

Originally Posted by Low Saturn

I have two Kicker 12's facing rearward. Sounds pretty good. My brother has one 10" Kicker in a slightly modified SRT-4 sub enclosure. Its mounted in the rear drivers side corner of the trunk faciing sideways. That thing hit's wayyy harder than my 2 12's. And he still has use of 90% or more of his trunk.

I take it your brother has a saturn. what model? and do you know what kind of modifaction he did to it to make it fit?

[Low Saturn]

Originally Posted by sleepersatty99

I take it your brother has a saturn. what model? and do you know what kind of modifaction he did to it to make it fit?

A 1994 SL2. But it will fit in any S-Series.

He enlarged the opening for the sub to accomodate the slightly larger sub. The SRT-4 factory Kicker 10" is slightly smaller than a 10" Kicker VR. He also made his own mounting brackets and speaker added connections.

[sleepersatty99]

Originally Posted by Low Saturn

A 1994 SL2. But it will fit in any S-Series.

He enlarged the opening for the sub to accomodate the slightly larger sub. The SRT-4 factory Kicker 10" is slightly smaller than a 10" Kicker VR. He also made his own mounting brackets and speaker added connections.

so would that factor sub come out easy? and does it have a built in amp? this is something i would love to get.

[Low Saturn]

Originally Posted by sleepersatty99

so would that factor sub come out easy? and does it have a built in amp? this is something i would love to get.

Jusr four phillips head screws hold the factory sub in the enclosure. The factoy sub is powered by a small amp. Too weak to power a better sub.

Heres a picture of the factory enclosure with the factory sub installed. You can see the amp on the top of the enclosure.

[93SC2'in]

you know most of the cars that come out of the factory have the sub facing sideways if you have just 1 ten i think that would probably be a good setup as i'm sure they have done cabin sound tests and all that technical **** to decide which way to face it and where to place it... but i'm by no means an audio expert so i'm probably wrong

[Low Saturn]

Originally Posted by 93SC2'in

you know most of the cars that come out of the factory have the sub facing sideways if you have just 1 ten i think that would probably be a good setup as i'm sure they have done cabin sound tests and all that technical **** to decide which way to face it and where to place it... but i'm by no means an audio expert so i'm probably wrong

I would tend to agree if it were from a $65,000 Lexus. Not a sub $20,000 Dodge Neon on steroids.

Our friend had a SRT-4 with the factory Kicker set up. He replaced the sub with a Kicker VR and better amp and difference was amazing.

[Fox Slaughter]

My 12in sub under the rear deck with enough room to fit the amp on top.

[Zero_DgZ]

Originally Posted by spencerforhire

Facing the subs to the rear is NOT done to "rattle your trunk lid"; it works better than pointing them forward because the lower frequency sound waves need the longer distance they have to travel to actually produce a wave that your ears perceive as bass.
A bit of an over-simplification, but based on actual in-car acoustics.

That's filed under a bit fat "it depends." The physical wavelength of bass frequencies can vary by several feet depending on the note, and if you take advantage of this by pointing the speaker backwards to accentuate some notes you will in turn de-accentuate others. A car is a very small enclosure and there's basically no way around this. Many low bass wavelengths are considerably longer than the interior of any car and if you play games with reflecting them off the trunk lid, or even the seats, sides, and ceiling every move you make is going to be a trade-off.

Additionally, I never said it was done to rattle the trunk lid, I just said that was an effect rearward facing drivers will tend to have. The "rattle your trunk lid off" comment was aimed at the boy racer crowd who seems to value volume above accoustics, not anyone of any particular driver/speaker/enclosure/amp configuration.

What I said was that ***I*** found it better, in my cases (which I suppose I'll clarify: Small cars, Saturns, and Cavaliers) that a forward or upward driving 12" in a sealed box sounded cleaner than a rearward driving and/or ported comparable unit. I also said that facing your speaker a direction other than backwards will make it harder to damage your drivers with stuff rolling around in your trunk and that pointing your powerful drivers backwards will also rattle your trunk lid more. Which they will above a certain volume, full stop. I will take slightly more efficient, slightly less reflected, and with considerably less buzz-rattle over the opposite any day of the week.

[RBrown20]

Originally Posted by p8ntballsniper8

I drive a 1995 SL2 and I recently just got a 10" sub-woofer from a friend, and I'm trying to think of a place to mount the box. I was thinking perhaps in between the two seats in the back, but I didn't know how well the one 10" would put out so I was thinking of getting another one. My main question is is where would be the optimal place to mount the box for the two speakers?

While everyone is arguing about where to put a box that they don't know the specifics of, let me ask. Is this box ported, or sealed?

I currently have 2 MTX ten's in my trunk. Sealed box. Mine are in the back of the trunk, facing the back. I have usually put my boxes right against the back seat, facing the back. But both of my sets of RCA (Yes both, its a five channel amp. Don't hate on me for it, I like it.) wires are to short, so my amp is right behind the seat, and the box behind it. I cruise around with the back seat folded down when I am by myself, and it sounds great. But the trunk does rattle.

I have SEVERAL different stereo systems in my Cavalier and in my SL that I am currently driving. My Cavalier I put a big 12", with a comparably large amp to push it, in there and the box leaked. By putting it further to the back of the trunk and folding the back seat up (closing), the leak was virtually inaudible. The only issue I have with my speakers being in the back is that I lose most of my trunk space. But that is a sacrifice I am willing to take. I mean, you can only fit one body in there at a time anyway. [img]http://www.grumpy*******s.com/boards/style_emoticons/default/icons_4.gif[/img]

[hAnNibAl_H]

I have one DVC 10" infinity chilling under the deck tucked in the driver side corner facing the rear. It is perhaps the most cleanest sounding spot I have encountered yet in my experience.

[spencerforhire]

I figured my over-simplified woofer pointing advise would generate some controversy; without launching into a looooong explanation of acoustics(ESPECIALLY those of a small car), in general a rear-facing(or sideways) sub will sound deeper and more accurate(rattling trunk lid aside) than a front-facing sub. One of the biggest "it depends" is the amount of power involved; if driven hard enough, a front-facing sub will have more "impact" in that you will feel it more than hear it. Also personal taste in music is a large variable; I'm sure Zero_DgZ's car sounds great to him, and my son's SC1 with it's 2-10" subs firing backwards sounds good to us(I have 30+ years in car audio and my son plays bass guitar in a band). I usually suggest to people to experiment with woofer box placement; slide it fore and aft and try to find a "sweet spot"; try facing foreward, backward, sideways even pointing up. The bottom line is find what sounds good to YOU!