I would have to say that JL and Hertz have definitely stepped up their game in the last decade to provide a high quality speaker/amp product. The biggest difference that you did from me was the sound dampening. I haven't done that yet because I was wanting to compare the quality of the OEM + system from "naked" metal to dampened metal. That is my next goal with this system just to see how much that will affect and increase the performance of the system. I can say this much, with my OEM + system is that it has shocked any and everybody that has listened to it. My local Toyota/Scion dealership and the local Scion rep couldn't believe the sound quality that was coming out of the system. They were shocked to find out that the amount of bass that was coming out of the hatch was from such a small woofer and the sound of the interior was so clear. As you said, it is definitely something that has to be experienced to really know the difference. If you were close to me I would demo in a heartbeat.

 

its temporary, so i didnt feel like carpeting it, as for meter time, haven't metered this one yet. i had a solid setup in my old vehicle (2002 pontiac grand am) i was able to do 149s daily this past summer before i got the tC, its tuned to about 34hz with a pair of sundown z12s on a saz3500d, more of a SQL setup as it was designed to play music anywhere from 27hz-50hz (im not a fan of that higher bass above 50, thats what good mdis are for)

here's a vid of it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEkJn-7nCok
thats from back in feb, really saw improvments at the beginning of the season but ended up getting the tC and sold it all before finals this past year

 

The $1400 only justifies itself to me if I were really hard pressed for time, however I simply can't see that these days since alot of people that claim they are short on time are infact using it for other meaningless things such as facebook and twitter. The avg person in America spends 7 hours a month on Facebook alone and other excess hours during their idle time infront of TV, tablets etc etc. Add that up and you can easily have enough time to do alot of things in your day such as cook your own food instead of eating out as frequently as most people do because they are lazy. You could even use that extra time to customize your own car audio system or whatever.

Also, putting in your own handy work shows more than simply buying an already made system to plugNplay into the car considering you can easily match OEM Audio+ quality with components totaling less than $1400. This system is simply for convenience saving you time. Time that allows you to go back on Facebook and other crap that people in America do nowadays which is why 60+% of the population is overweight.

As far as conserving space in the hatch goes. A good sized portable sub box retains all the free space in your hatch in just the same sense as fitting the OEM Audio+ 8" enclosure at the rear. Mine is 1.5cubic feet and I can easily take it in and out at anytime IF I have to. I also connect it via banana plug so I don't have to waste time screwing/unscrewing the wires each time I take it in/out of the car. It's also small enough for me not to even have to take it out in the first place unless I were to fit something in the back that really requires me to put the rear seats down.

To be frank... the hatch in the TC2 has a great deal of space and you'd have to really occupy that space with a tonnnnnn of stuff on a daily basis to justify the 8" OEM Audio+ custom enclosure instead of a normal rectangular subwoofer box.

 

Pretty cool, keep us posted if you enter the TC in any comps, be interesting to see how you do!

 

was at a buddy of mine's a couple weeks ago and we took out the termlab for ____s and giggles, it did a 146.9 sealed @ 42hz, 145.1 sealed @ 32hz, 147.7 with driver door open @ 43hz and 147.1 driver door open @ 32hz

did a musical average of 145.8 sealed up for 1 min.


its decent for a single 15 on 1500w... and this is the first time i have ever built with a hatch, i have always built out of trunk vehicles... but then again it could use a better box as i load directly into the port.. but last week i sold the 15 to a buddy of mine who gave me an offer i couldnt refuse, got more than i paid (still a good deal to him as i'm sponsored by sundown audio, so i paid nearly nothing)

i've just got a single sa-12 as of now, will be doing a pair of X-12s come next year, on two of these saz1500v.3s