sound system upgrade + custom sub enclosure

Looks good

So was the Alpine amp just powering the subwoofer or did you run it as a 3channel with front to the front speakers and the rear 2 channels summed to the sub?

Another way to mount larger than factory speakers is to use wooden spacers. You can silicone or Dynamat the surface that mates to the door to reduce vibration. I did this to mount my 7" Diamon Audios.

 

Ahh ok. I didn't realize it was a 5ch amp. Very nice

It's so tiny too! My 2 amps take up 3/4 of the whole storage tray.

 

If the right cubby is about right for an 8", but that's too small, and the left cubby is about right for a 10", and that's not enough (though it probably should be) ...what about a custom floor over the 'trunk'? Is there enough depth and air volume in there for a pair of 12s?

 

No need for a PAID of 12s my friend. Just get ONE of the subs I'm replacing my 2 10s with....

Orion HCCA122! 2000watts RMS and 30mm Xmax (total cone movement). Damn thing weighs approx. 70lbs without a box! The picture does not do this thing justice. The first one that was delivered to the shop totally blew me away. Funny thing is, they sound awesome with rock music.

 

Only one? But what if I want to go deaf twice as fast? Isn't two always doubly good?

Did you say two thousand watts? The windshield can only take so much deflection, you know. And you might need 'hood pins' on the hatch, just in case the catch lets go. But hey, no need to worry about your car rusting. It'll blow apart at the seams long before that.

 

LOL!

I'm running 1500 watts RMS to the 2 10s I have now so swapping to the single 12 is just for convenience and to reduce the box size.

 

Nice install! I mounted my Clarion 5 channel in about the same place. My Rockford Fosgate Punch 10" manual says their 10" needs .7 (7/10) cubic foot enclosure. I use a very small down-firing box. You might want to measure your current enclosure volume - if it is close to .7 cu ft or bigger (that's about what that space looks like to me) it should be OK. You will get tighter bass out of the sealed enclosure than a ported enclosure, but it takes a bit more power to run it (no worry there with your amp). Plus a ported enclosure has to be bigger.

 

Well, I would hope so. No point going to all that trouble and expense to listen to Willy Nelson.

Ashe, that's a very nice setup. Too bad we can't hear how it sounds.

 

Would the larger volume available by using the space in the storage box on the left rear make a 10 inch sub sound better? I know you would lose the storage but that would be a small price to pay I would have thought.
Did you put any ports in the sub box?

Sorry, I know nothing about car audio.

 

Yes, so I'm told. I don't know much about car audio, either, but I'm learning. The bigger the better, for bass, assuming a high quality speaker. The airtight enclosure has to be sized to the speaker to give it the right amount of oomph. And yes, that's a technical term.

 

The minimum size is more critical than the maximum, and there are marginal diminishing returns past the optimum size (going bigger won't have much effect). Ported enclosures need to be bigger. If you get the paperwork with your sub it should have a chart/table for these sizes. If not check their web site.

EDIT: I just checked Crutchfield's site and they list the following enclosure sizes for your sub:

sealed box volume: 0.3 cubic feet
ported box volume: 0.35 cubic feet

That's nice and SMALL! You should be in great shape for the enclosure you have.

If you want to measure the volume of an irregular enclosure (like yours), or any enclosure for that matter, take out the enclosure, take the sub out and fill the enclosure with something like packing peanuts until completely full. Then poor them out into something to measure the volume. If you use something like a large kitchen measuring cup, you will need to convert cups, pints, or liters to cubic feet (look up the conversion you need on the internet).

As for ported vs non-ported, most sites say ported gives more bass, but it isn't as crisp and defined as non-ported. I prefer the sound of a non-ported enclosure. If you like the trunk-rattling, buzzy type of bass, use ports (that buzzy sound is distortion, and ports usually add some distortion).

EDIT 2: Here's the enclosure volume for a similar JL Audio Sub in 10":

sealed box volume: 0.65 cubic feet
ported box volume: 1.125 cubic feet

You might want to measure your enclosure volume - it will be close for this. Also check the depth to make sure a 10" will clear before cutting out the front!

 

Sneak up someone on EV mode and blast it off. That would be fun!

 

What an idea! Now I want to go find a CD of various dragsters launching. Pull up in EV mode, open all the windows, and fire off a Top Fuel Dragster soundtrack as you accelerate! That should take care of the "bell the hybrid" crowd! I gotta find one - it will be lots of fun for this summer's hot rod cruises here in Colorado!

Oh! Oh! For burn-out competitions, I need to put smoke generators in the front wheel wells (or better yet, the BACK wheel wells) and kick them off with the burn-out soundtrack! Hmmm - where to find smoke generators? Gotta go surf the web!

 

The JL subs are good with a smaller than recommended box volume. Their own enclosures are smaller volume than what they recommend.

 

Additionally a ported box will usually play louder at a lower frequency until you go below the port frequency, at which point volume drops drastically and you tend to get more port noise. This is easily fixed with a subsonic filter to cut frequencies below that point. For playing ultra low frewuencies like whale songs then you would wish to stay sealed since the drop off frequency is quite low, well below our effective normal range of hearing.

Most ported boxes are tuned to 40-58hz or so and since most music is recorded above those frequencies you won't be missing much with a ported box but you will get much more volume overall. Just have to choose your port size and style accordingly to reduce potential port noise. If you like listing to speed metal or tight jazz then seal is a better idea.