Hidden sub box

calgarygts · 07-26-05, 04:53

I have everything pretty much done with my sub box now - I've taken out the spare tire and put in a fiberglass box in it's place. Now that I don't have a spare I keep a bottle of tire foam in the car in case of a flat.

With cover I made for the sub/box:

With the carpet on:

There was a hole in the carpet when I bought the car, I'm assuming the previous owner had a similar setup to mine but with an exposed sub. With this setup I've actually kept about the same weight as stock so no difference in performance. Now I just need to build something for my amps and I'll be done!

J.J. · 07-26-05, 05:51

Very clean!

JJ

papi_jay · 07-27-05, 11:22

How far away from the front of the sub is that compond loading panel ?

calgarygts · 07-27-05, 01:00

A couple of inches - it's more than what it looks like from that angle. The sub doesn't have a lot of movement so it's fine as far as too much excursion causing it to hit the cover.

Griz · 07-27-05, 01:16

you might try getting a speaker grill and wrapping it with sound transparent carpeting that matches the trunk mat. then attach the grill on top, that way you have a sturdy barier that won't muffle the sound, not to mention give a more finished look.

calgarygts · 07-28-05, 04:52

That's a good suggestion, but I made that cover to protect the sub and hide it. The sound is not muffled at all - I had the cover off for a few days and when I put it back on it actually sounded better! What I'm going to do is find a trunk carpet without a hole in it. Once I've found a more hidden place for my amps and have a new carpet I think it will look very good. I'd rather have everything hidden, much better in my opinion when you can't see any equipment but you can hear it!

papi_jay · 07-28-05, 05:05

There is no point for breathable fabric when there's a panel covering the sub anyways . Whenever a panel is there , 3 times the subs rated xMax is recommended for spacing between the surround and the panel minimum .
If I were you , I would simply get a piece of cardboard to make a mocked up cutout for that area . Get it perfect then add 1/8" all around . Then transfer that to 1/2" MDF board and cover it with matching carpet from partsexpress glued with 3m 77 spray .
If you can find that trunk carpet piece thoguh from a scrap yard or something by all means go for it
I assume you have the cover for the trunk area so no one can look in and see you have audio equipment on the back of your seat ?

calgarygts · 07-28-05, 06:15

I do have the cover for the hatch area but the back window is tinted dark enough that you can't see inside anyways. I'm want to fit the amps underneath the seats so that everything is hidden, but don't know if they'll fit. I may need to fab a rack on either side of the box and take the plastic pieces out of the trunk. I'm not sure if the cover I made is 3x farther than the xMax but I don't care - it sounds good and that's all I care about. Good suggestion with the carpet though - I may do that!

00GREENMACHINE · 07-28-05, 05:58

if you are covering the woofer with a board whats the point. All the sound is muffled? I would just make the box and face the sub down firing and port it out one end. You can put a 2x4 on the ends of the box so the subwoofer is off the floor 3". That will sound 10 times better. Also you will not see the subwoofer only the back of the box.

JDookie · 07-28-05, 06:03

If it were my car, I'd leave it firing up like you have it, but would mount it on top of the carpet like the previous owner had it, and just put a nice grille on top of it to protect it. Also, did you Dynamat inside the spare tire well? If not, you're losing quite a bit of sound through there.

calgarygts · 07-29-05, 05:24

Wow you guys, read the posts. I did not dynomat because I'm not an audiophile, I just enjoy having a decent system. That and adding more weight to the car is never a good thing, especially with a torqueless wonder like mine. I assure you this setup sounds great with the cover on there, actually better than it does without it. From listening to it when it had the cover off I think it would actually sound worse if it was exposed with a grill. Then it wouldn't be hidden either. And there is NO room to face the sub down, it barely fits in the box as it is - the box is fairly thin fiberglass formed to the spare tire well.

JDookie · 07-29-05, 03:22

Oops, sorry about that. I read so many posts each day that I just kind of skimmed over them, and missed where you already talked about the dynamat.

In response to that, I *am* an audiophile which is why I was suggesting the dynamat. To me, a car isn't complete without an awesome sound system. Check out my gallery and you'll see why I say that.

As far as being a torqueless wonder, that's easily fixed with some *upgrades*.