Keep in mind that: 1) I have no budget to speak of. 2) This should just bump the low end enough to notice, not wake the dead.

Background:
I already replaced the dash speakers with Pioneer TS-G1040Rs (with bass blockers) and the door speakers with Pioneer TS-A1780Rs. I'm planning on upgrading to a 4-channel amp, driving the front and rear speakers from 2 channels, and bridging the other 2 to drive a sub. Right now I have a single 10" sub under the passenger seat with a mono amp; it was a no-name package deal that I installed just to see if I could install a sub and amp without blowing anything up. To keep maximum cargo space I'm basically limited to using the spot under the passenger seat.

Question:
What would give the best bass response in this setup - one good-quality 10" (up or down firing) in the biggest enclosure that will fit, or one good 8" sub (probably rear-firing) to be a better match for the small cubic foot space under that seat)?

 

With today's woofer technology, you do not need massive amounts of airspace for a decent sub enclosure. That being said, what are your preferences to music and what is your ideal concept of your stereo? Most of today's rock has a wide range of low frequencies without the extreme lows that are common in most hip-hop. This all comes down to your personal preferences and what you would consider an ideal volume.
From the sound of it, you would like to have the ability to bass if you so choose, but are not necessarily out to disturb the neighborhood. I would recommend going with a decent 10" in a small enclosure in the back. Ideally, a JL Audio 10W3v3 in a sealed enclosure would give you a tight, accurate bass response with minimal space taken up by a sub enclosure. Power it with a decent amp and you have your ability to bass if you choose without the ground-pounding, call-the-cops-cause-it's-too-loud thunder, but still have plenty of storage space for that occasional trip to the grocery store.

 

Thanks! Would that still apply if the enclosure is under the passenger seat? I'm trying to maximize the available cargo space while still getting decent low-end sound. Mostly metal, so it's not critical, but a good double-bass line should still hit enough to wake me up.

I remember seeing someone with a crazy Frank Lloyd Wright undersest box that filled every nook and cranny under the passenger seat had had just one rear-firing 8". Terribly complex to build but made the most of the limited space. Who was that? I can't seem to locate it.

 

Found it! Belonged to superjeer.

 

That is cool. He made that?

 

yep, you can get the w3 under the seat... a couple of folks also make an 10" enclosure for the cargo cubby off to the side of the spare.

 

Ah, Brunnen's a fellow Metal-Head! At least I know I'm not alone here.
Yes, you could fit the 10 under the seat which would keep the stereo imaging more up front. This would be ideal if you are willing to build the enclosure to support it. The 10W3 does not need a whole lot of enclosure, only about .75 cubic feet for a sealed enclosure. Keep in mind if you do build it, the .75 cubes is not taking into account the space occupied by the enclosure material (wood, fiberglass, or a combination of the two) or the displacement of the woofer itself. This would all need to be accounted for in order to maximize the capability of the woof.

 

Right! Superjeer's custom use-every-inch box came out around .7 to .75 ft3, ported with an Audiobahn 8"; a 10" may be pushing it if it neesd all .75 ft3 to hit. I may try to replicate his feat with an 8", and he did it without using any polyfill. Right now my cheap-o 10" just doesn't cut it.

Link: https://www.scionlife.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=35529

Yeah, my goal is for a good overall range, including the low end, so that everything from Metallica's cover of "The Wait" (my favorite 'drive too fast' song) to the opening track off the latest Rammstein ('Benzin" from ROSENROT) will kill. On a junkyard budget, that is.

 

If you are looking for some "drive too fast" music by Metallica, try Dyer's Eve off of Justice... nice high-speed riffs. Man, I wish they still did stuff like that! What happened to them?!?
As for the enclosure, I rechecked on the 10W3v3 and it only needs .625 cubes for the enclosure, but that is sealed. A ported enclosure would be quite a bit bigger, like up in the 1.25 cu. ft. range.
JL also makes an 8" in their W3v2 line, but I would go with the 10 if at all possible. Considerably more surface area of woofer will produce a much larger bang for your buck.

 

Take a look at Elemental Designs 11Kv2 or Sq10...

http://www.edesignaudio.com/edv2/index.php?cPath=21

Only needs .5 cu/ft. Or the 9Kv2 @ .35 sq/ft. Great value, factory direct, great service and lifetime customer support. Buy a nine.4 amp and sub-get 15% off.

Be sure to put a fair amount of power to them!

 

^^ good call!!! the SQ10 is a robust 10" sub that's only 3" deep!!! throw it in a .3-.5 sealed box under seat and feed it 200-400 watts and you've got some killer sounding lows!!!

 

Good advice all around - thanks! Just to make sure, this will work powering the 6 speakers from channels 1 and 2 of a 4-channel amp, using channels 3 and 4 bridged to power the sub, right?

 

^^ as long as the impedances of the speakers (depending on how you wire them) and the amp's capabilities match up, you'll be just fine... If you need to know more, PM me and I"ll be glad to help.

 

Yeah, I'm a big fan of a 10" under seat sub. My set up thumps pretty good.

If you are on a limited budget, I would try some dynamat or similar padding in the doors. Do a search, there's lots of info on this. Form what I've read, you get a better db gain for the money compared to buying a larger amp/speaker, etc..

That's my next mod.

 

anybody know who i could talk to to find out how to make one of these?
i have searched and searched with no avail and its driving me nuts!

 

If you are looking to try to keep the size of your box down, you could always try some aperiodic vents. Scanspeak makes some that are super cheap and work great. Check them out http://www.madisound.com/cgi-bin/ind...23563&pid=1606

 

Hmm, as usual money has decided the issue for me. Sadly I can't afford to drop $115+ on a single ED 11kV2 or other shallow-mount sub, but in the meantime I "inherited" a brand-new Polk DB104 SVC 10" sub. It needs a minimum of .66 CF to hit, so I'll attempt to replicate Superjeer's Ultimate Under Seat box:

https://www.scionlife.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=35529

Sealed, and modified slightly to hold an up-firing 10" instead of a rear-firing 8". That should net me between .66 and .75 CF, and a little polyfill should bring it between .8-.9 CF, effectively.

Better amp'll have to wait for more $$$, as usual, but I've located a 4-ch I can use in the meantime. It'll only be putting 150w RMS into the Polk, but that should do for now.

 

Check this thread out, I just finished my DUAL under seat enclosures and posted pics there!! I used an 8" RF sub for each box and love them!!

https://www.scionlife.com/forums/vie...874069#1874069

 

I have an 8" under each seat and they work great and stealth I also run 2 12's in the hatch...... I can recomend a good builder of the boxes. They are both ported and even redirect the air ports....

 

^^ you runnin the 8's and 12's at the same time? or just alternate?