NEW SUBWOOFER BOX IDEA. small size, light weight, and good sound
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Joined: Apr 2006
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From: New York
NEW SUBWOOFER BOX IDEA. small size, light weight, and good sound
i've been searching around this site a lot for subwoofer box ideas and made one up myself and figured i'd share it with anyone who is interested. i wanted to keep the weight and size of the box down, because i like having trunk space and was NOT looking to make the car signifcantly heavier. the set up i went with is as follows:
sub: Kicker SoloBaric L7 8"
amp: Kicker ZX400.1
i've done BIG sound before in my last car; i had an expedition eddie bauer with over 3,000 watts of sound in 16 speakers. that set up hit hard, but was well balanced with highs, mids, and low range.
in the evo now, i have (qty 4) 6" kenwood 3-way components in the doors and rear deck, and just wanted some more bass to level it all out (powered by a clarion vrx755vd). the max and min volumes specified for this sub in a sealed enclosure are .75 cu/ft and .33 cu/ft, respectively. i went with close to .75 cu/ft sealed and mounted the sub in the rear arm rest so it beats directly into the car. this sub cone "pushes as much air as a 10" round cone" and since its pushing air directly into the car as opposed to bass traveling thru the trunk wall and rear seat, it sounds equally as good as lets say...two 10"s in the trunk. who knows, it sounds great to me for what i want. lastly, the amplifier easily mounts under either of the front seats (10 1/4" L, 9 5/8" W, 2 1/8" H).
attached are some pictures of construction and finished product. i still need to take a finished in-trunk shot and find the sheet with the dimensions i wrote out so you guys can just follow my exact design if you like what you see and want to do it yourself. i'm pretty efficient at making boxes with MDF, so the entire fabrication of the box including marking/measuring, cutting, assembly, sealing (liquid nails), sanding, and wrapping (carpet on trunk side, black vynil on interior side), took me about 2 hours. drawing and measuring it out (calculating using some simple trig functions) made this MUCh easier. if anyone is that interested or has any questions/comments, feel free to ask.
good luck, and i hope this helps some of you out there.
sub: Kicker SoloBaric L7 8"
amp: Kicker ZX400.1
i've done BIG sound before in my last car; i had an expedition eddie bauer with over 3,000 watts of sound in 16 speakers. that set up hit hard, but was well balanced with highs, mids, and low range.
in the evo now, i have (qty 4) 6" kenwood 3-way components in the doors and rear deck, and just wanted some more bass to level it all out (powered by a clarion vrx755vd). the max and min volumes specified for this sub in a sealed enclosure are .75 cu/ft and .33 cu/ft, respectively. i went with close to .75 cu/ft sealed and mounted the sub in the rear arm rest so it beats directly into the car. this sub cone "pushes as much air as a 10" round cone" and since its pushing air directly into the car as opposed to bass traveling thru the trunk wall and rear seat, it sounds equally as good as lets say...two 10"s in the trunk. who knows, it sounds great to me for what i want. lastly, the amplifier easily mounts under either of the front seats (10 1/4" L, 9 5/8" W, 2 1/8" H).
attached are some pictures of construction and finished product. i still need to take a finished in-trunk shot and find the sheet with the dimensions i wrote out so you guys can just follow my exact design if you like what you see and want to do it yourself. i'm pretty efficient at making boxes with MDF, so the entire fabrication of the box including marking/measuring, cutting, assembly, sealing (liquid nails), sanding, and wrapping (carpet on trunk side, black vynil on interior side), took me about 2 hours. drawing and measuring it out (calculating using some simple trig functions) made this MUCh easier. if anyone is that interested or has any questions/comments, feel free to ask.
good luck, and i hope this helps some of you out there.
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Joined: Oct 2006
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From: I-97
Very impressive. Nice and sleek. I remember seeing a similar set up on a RX8 made out of fiberglass.
Can you still fold up the arm rest without any problems?
And are you going to post a How-To for this sub box?
Can you still fold up the arm rest without any problems?
And are you going to post a How-To for this sub box?
I was talking to my buddy who does professional installs about doing something like that in my car about 2 months ago. I was going to use a 8" JL W7 though. I used to do the whole custom stereo thing but have no desire to anymore. To many headaches for me to take the time to do it myself now. lol
Looks good man.
Looks good man.
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From all of my past experience with installs with the sub facing the inside of the car, it doesn't get the same sound. You want the bass to reverberate off the back of the car then into the cab. You will hear the sub hit harder the way you have it, but if you want to hear all that the sub can do and all the sounds that the music you are listening too is making then you should have it turned facing the back bumper.
Thread Starter
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Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 8
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From: New York
i'll have the how to up later tonight or tomorrow, which basically will consist of a few more pictures and some comp sketches with my exact measurements. that's basically the "how-to" for it. its just mdf, all it requires is a table/circular saw for the cuts and a nail gun or drill w/ screws to assemble it. some kind of silicone sealant or wood adhesive (ie: liquid nails) is useful to make the box air tight, then wrapping is up to you.
and the arm rest closes all the way and the sub still functions fine with enough clearance.
and the arm rest closes all the way and the sub still functions fine with enough clearance.
Very clever...
That sub would/will perform much better in a slot ported enclosure though...
I have made a sealed enclosure and slot ported enclosure to kickers specs and the slot ported sounded much better and had more range than the sealed enclosure..
Personally I have never been a fan of sealed kicker subs...
Thats why 99% of their pre fabbed enclosures come ported with the exception of the l5 truck box....
Also the sub would be louder if you faced it the other direction...as the waves will bounce off the trunk and fire back...there is some equation that proves this I just dont have it memorized..
great idea and design!
That sub would/will perform much better in a slot ported enclosure though...
I have made a sealed enclosure and slot ported enclosure to kickers specs and the slot ported sounded much better and had more range than the sealed enclosure..
Personally I have never been a fan of sealed kicker subs...
Thats why 99% of their pre fabbed enclosures come ported with the exception of the l5 truck box....
Also the sub would be louder if you faced it the other direction...as the waves will bounce off the trunk and fire back...there is some equation that proves this I just dont have it memorized..
great idea and design!
Originally Posted by lexat20
From all of my past experience with installs with the sub facing the inside of the car, it doesn't get the same sound. You want the bass to reverberate off the back of the car then into the cab. You will hear the sub hit harder the way you have it, but if you want to hear all that the sub can do and all the sounds that the music you are listening too is making then you should have it turned facing the back bumper.
its a good idea and it looks real pretty but it would definetly hit alot harder facing in the opposite direction. I had pretty much a similar setup with the same sub (12") and ended up having the enclosure redone to flip the sub around because the sound just sucked ****.