By golly, I think I've done it! I've come up with a sub enclosure custom fit for the xA! I think I have the final design down. . . but I'm not sure if I want to start building it for other people and selling it. I want to guage interest in it.

It would be a basic sealed enclosure, made of MDF, and it would raise the cargo floor about two to three inches. You'd be lookin at about a 1-1.25 cu ft of volume, and a stealth look which would be undetectable with the OEM mat over it. I could make it for 10's or 12's. . . who would be interested, and how much would you be willing to pay for it? Realize that if I find it is worth my time to build this, there is a higher chance that I actually will. I should have a prototype done soon.

Oh, and you'd still be able to reatin the spare.

sounds stealth.... id be interested, but as of right now im a little "low on the dough" haha.... any pictures? nice job! you can make a profit out of this, i hope i can get one in the future

Can't wait to see the pics.

Yeah. . . I'm just gauging interest for now. It'll be done in 1-2 weeks, and I will post pics.

Had I not already had one made for my xA I would be interested. I used the storage compartment space next to the spare tire and had an enclosure for an 8" seald sub placed there. It sounds much better than expected for an 8" sub.

I still have complete access to the spare and space left over on the left side of the spare tire compartment (keep the jack and tools there)

Completly stealth, no raising of the rear floor and I can still use the stock rear cover and have all rear cargo space than before the install.

I'd show pics, but my digi cam is pretty much worthless.

I'd like to see the pics you come up with though.

Yeah, I'd preserve room for jack and tools, as well as the spare. . . but this enclosure is going to be for a 12" sub. It too, will be completely stealth (unless you already own an xA and know how big the trunk is). But in all reality, 2-3 inches is not a huge loss in room, especially for a 12" enclosure. I'd mount it completely flush, but it is too difficult of a design to mass produce. But from what it seems, not that many people are interested, so I may not make templates. When I finish the prototype, I will post pics.

hey is this a dual 10" and dual 12" enclosure, or single? sounds really awesome!

I really want a custom sub box that will fit underneath the passenger's seat. I know someone on the boards makes them for the xB, but I don't know if it'll work for an xA as well. From what i'm thinking, it would only fit a 10" sub in there but that's all i really want/need...

hey is this a dual 10" and dual 12" enclosure, or single? sounds really awesome!

Single 12". . . Could I fit 2? Probably, but there wouldn't be sufficient volume, and it would sound like crap. IMO, it would sound better with a single properly tuned sub, than pushing the limits and goin for two. . . although I would love to have 2 10's or 12's. . . or both.

yeah, thats true... go for it and let us know the result!

I am extremely frustrated. I bought a wheelwell sub enclosure off ebay and it was just a bit too big. My subs are too deep for a truck box, and I am addicted to the bass :doh: . I just can't give up the space in the back due to other joys in life. I need to build one, fashion one or something but I am impatient.

fiberglassing is the best way to go. . . but I'm really bad at it. If you get some practice, you should be able to pull it off. The easiest way is to lift the trunk floor. Basically, you pull out the tray, and you build a template that fits and replaces that tray. Then you cut a ring so that you can flush mount the sub onto the tray. Now you build a sealed box on top of that baffle. . . here's the trick to saving space. . . it'll be a downfiring design, with the sub mounted backwards, firing into the spare tire well.

It'll look like this
_______________________ new floor height
| |
|______<----->_______|___OEM Trunk floor
\ /
_________________________spare tire well

I've tried it all. . . a big box --> too uneven, front to rear, no cargo room

truck box--> horrible lows, overbearing highs
Infinite baffle -->distortion, and woofer bottoming out

I hate how the people in the rear go deaf, and I can't hear any bass up front. . . and with design, I think I'll be able to get better dispersion, and not sacrifice too much cargo room. . . I'm not guessing either, I ran some tests, and am gambling with this prototype. . . if it works, I'll let y'all know, but I am leaning towards not building it to sell, as I doubt I can maintain high quality levels of mass production. But if it sounds nice and looks good, I'll take pics and give instructions. It's very simple to build, and is the simplest way to save the most amount of cargo room. More to come in a few days. . .

I definitely want more info. I've been looking for a way to flush mount one in the space next to the well like someone mentioned, before I can ever afford the super system I have in my head but will never be able to afford.

djct_watt -- keep me posted. I may drive to sacramento and have you install one for me if it sounds and looks good in yours.

get the pixs i'm down,,,,i live in sJ..willin to come down 2 peep it out give a hand!!! i'm not sure wit 2' 12' or single....

Hey Sid, I'd be in for the sub enclosure as well. Lemmi know if you need help building it. I'm on Spring Break and got nothing to do but go to work during the day.

I'd love to see some pics up as well. Putting some stuff along those lines in my fiance's xA come xmas time...

i'm interested too....get the pics up... :pray:

Gee wonder where the idea came from.... :P By the way there is no way you could do 2 10's or 12 and keep the spare without raising the floor at least 3 inches. The depth of the woofer is going to be the bigest factor in the box. If the magnet is deeper than the box you either have the worlds coolest paper weight or a box too small. The factory 'mat' is solid rubber on the bottom. You would have to cut it in order to get any more than a womp womp sound out of it, not to mention the woffer damage that would occur. I'd suggest running the edges of the box over the plastic molding on the sides, notching out an area to grab as I've come to realize my box is a PIA to get out on my own. My wife or some people smaller than me might have a problem lifting the monster out. I replaced the p1 12 with a p2 12 and haven't smoked it yet, the depth of the p2 vs the p1 was only about 5 mm, so it wasn't a problem to just swap out the woofers. Also if you ditch the plastic 'nut' and bolt that hold the spare in place you can gain another 1.5 inches. But for safety's sake I'd make sure there is at least a piece of 3/4 mdf between the spare and rear seats. About a 50mph accident could spell trouble for anyone in the back seats. What I'd highly suggest is to make a mold of the bottom of the XA (Maybe even xB) then you can glass a bottom on the 'box' glassing in place 4 pieces of MDF on the outside edges. Then you can make a top 'plate' thats the same size for all the box's. Cut your top plates as needed and you can crank out a bottom in a little under 4 hours. I would highly suggest figuring out how much depth you'll have from top to bottom (inside the box) and anyone who wants one should check the mounting depth of the woofer they chose. Also keep in mind if you do 2 woofers this will be a mono box thus the 2 woofers must be powered off the same amp or calibrated using a multimeter.

Pics of my xA box Link:
http://www.scionlife.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=43358

fiberglassing is the best way to go. . . but I'm really bad at it. If you get some practice, you should be able to pull it off. The easiest way is to lift the trunk floor. Basically, you pull out the tray, and you build a template that fits and replaces that tray. Then you cut a ring so that you can flush mount the sub onto the tray. Now you build a sealed box on top of that baffle. . . here's the trick to saving space. . . it'll be a downfiring design, with the sub mounted backwards, firing into the spare tire well.

It'll look like this
_______________________ new floor height
| |
|______<----->_______|___OEM Trunk floor
\ /
_________________________spare tire well

Where does the sound come out? (need some place to vent the pressure)
Your going to need atleast 3 inches between the woofer and floor just to keep from pressurizing the woofer and smoking it.
You'll also need a Dynamat Extreme trunk kit as my 12 makes the floor resonate bad and the woofer fires into the roof.
Down fire boxes are great the only downside is it's really hard to tell when your overdriving the woofer until it blows. In the XA a down fire would be killer but the whole back end need to be dynamat'ed or your feet will go number and the girls in the back seat will either scream with happiness or throw up in the seat :doh:

http://photos.yahoo.com/djct_watt

Ok ok ok, I know it's not exactly super pretty from the inside, but it is unnoticeable from the outside, which is what counts. It's completely stealth, and doesn't really take out much useful cargo space.

I used to have the exact same setup in a truck wedge, and it sounded like shiezen. . . soo much distortion, and the high bass was overpowering the low bass. This is my second attempt at a custom box, and the design is not overly complicated, as I am currently trying to decide whether or not I want to build more, to sell. I'm trying to see if there is enough demand to make it worth my time.

The sound? Let's see, that this crappy amp and sub (xplod and 250watt Kenwood Amp) hit HARD. Man, the gain is set all the way down, and this thing shakes the hell out of the rearview mirror, with very little distortion. The downfiring design really does a good job of dispersing the sound evenly throughout the cabin, rather than a rear firing or upfiring sub, which (because of HB design) makes the bass in the rear of the car unbearably loud and overpowering, and unnoticeable in the front). I've really played around with this. . . Of course, if I build more, I would carpet the entire box and change a few things (this box was built as a test mule, for a future, reinforced version). But I basically have it down to as few pieces as possible to make production easier.

It looks great, sounds great, it's stealth, and best of all, I still retain the spare tire. Sorry about the yahoo pics. . . if anyone wants to host the pics, go for it. I'm lazy. If anything, I feel great saving money by building it myself (which I encourage others to do), but hopefully I can get the manpower (friends) interested to build a lot of these. I'm trying to get some investments (aka mooch money) to possibly make these for different applications as well. . . maybe the xB. . . but I'm also still in school.

Yeah, I know there are some slight flaws (I used an existing piece from my last design and modified it, as this will be junked soon anyway). But the flaws will be corrected on the rebuild. If you noticed, the sub cannot be removed, due to the way it was mounted (which will be fixed). I am very VERY happy with this design, regardless of whether or not I decide to make and sell them.

i want one bad....just tell me how much and ill have it for you....im sick of having a huge box in my hatch and no cargo space at all...give me a price and ill get it...that is awesome...it looks invisible