I'm working on a project to put a 10" sub into the Bose area behind the drivers seat. My goals were to use existing equipment, not lose any storage space except for the sub location behind the seat, and connect my Ipod. Money was definately an issue here, below I will put what all the components cost.

Equipment: I'm using an Infinity 1030w sub which is compatible with free-air use. I'm installing an MTX Blue Thunder Pro 75X2 amp under the passenger seat.

Here are some pics of my progress so far. I would have more done but I'm waiting on my Alpine CDE-9852 headunit to come in tomorrow.


My custom painting booth on the back porch.


I laid the sub on the bracket and market the holes and then drilled them out.


The sub is mounted to the back of the panel. It is not going through the panel.


I need to figure out what to do with the screws that are sticking out past the edge of the bracket. I don't want to cut them off in case I need to remove the sub.


I put felt on the edges to stop vibrations when the bracket is attached to the metal frame of the car.

Cost:
Sub: Infinity 1030w - I bought it 4 years ago at Circuit City for $75 after my last system was stolen and it's been in my last 3 cars.

Amp: MTX Blue Thunder Pro 75X2 - I bought this 8 years ago for $100 from Circuit City. I bought it open box and it has never had a problem and has been pumping out power every day since then. This has been in my last 4 cars.

Wires: I bought a 12 gauge power wire kit from Wal-Mart for $18. It isn't the best but this amp isn't very powerful and it works really well with any size wire. I've used 0, 4, 8,10, and now 12 and they have all sounded the same.

CD Player: Alpine CDE-9852 from Crutchfield.com. I went with this because I have always liked the Alpine headunits and this one had an Ipod cable and a set of pre-outs for the amp. $175 including radio wire harness, dash kit, Ipod cable.

Spray Paint: 99 cents, I took in the cupholder and tried to match it to something as close as possible. I think it is just a flat black, maybe primer.

 

How does it sound? I know free air won't hit as hard as a box, but I need the trunk space and not sure I want to do a custom box behind the seat. Listening to mostly hard jazz, classic rock, and blues, do you feel it works well enough?

John

 

Hopefully I will be able to install this tonight, I'm waiting on my headunit and I didn't want to take the center console out twice for this install. I just laid it in for a minute and it sounds good. People all say that it sounds like crap and the location sucks but to me it is going to be 100x better than the stock. People fail to realize that you have to make due with the small space given and taking up all the room in the hatch and taking out the rear tire isn't the most practical thing to do for all the people on here. I still have to buy a trunk load of groceries every few weeks.

Actually if you don't want to mount the sub to the panel you could just get a small box and stuff it in the space after you take off the bose panel. I tried doing this but I couldn't find a small enough box without paying for a custom one to be built.

 

Are you going prep the location with flat matt?

 

I don't know what flat matt is. Last night I got the cd player in and the dash kit took way too much time to finish doing anything else with the sub or amp.

Cd player looks awesome and sounds 10x better than stock!

 

Hey TurboTrey, nice writup and looks good so far.

You mentioned what to do with the screws? Why not run machine screws in from the front and secure with lock washers and nuts on the back? You could even use those security hex screws from parts express......

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showd...number=260-846

......and then just get some nuts and washers from home depot. The screws are already flat black and will look nice i think.

 

I saw some nylon nuts at Fry's the other day and I thought they might look cool going around it. They are white and I thought it might add a little accent to it.

Hopefully I can do most of the amp and sub install tomorrow. Luckily I remembered to hook up the remote and RCA's to the cd player so I wont' have to take that out again. Putting the dash back together was 10x easier than getting it apart...

 

The best option for doing something of this nature without making a custom box would be to get something like an Infinity Basslink...That's what I have in mine, and it is more than acceptable.

I took out a trunk subwoofer to get my space back...The sound isn't quite as good, but it is more than I will ever need for daily use.

 

The Basslink did sound like a good idea but it seemed way over priced for what it was. I was trying to do all of this on a budget of not spending anything...I originally was going to use the line level inputs and use the stock radio.

 

you actually have the same idea as me but I'm taking it a bit further. I'm going to put 2 8" JL W7's. One where the stock bose sub is and the other where the glove box is. I'm going to start it this weekend by seal up all the cracks and holes back there and then using the Elemental Design EDead paint in there. Once done that I'm going to put down some carpet and then build a fiberglass enclosure for each. I'm planning on mounting my amps in the 2 corners of the trunk after I make amp racks. It should sound good. Oh and ya I'm planning on porting the enclosure probably toward the back of the car cleanly.

 

Your install is what I dream of. I saw an install on here once where they took out all of the stuff behind the seats and put to subs in facing the front in a full custom fiberglass enclosure. It really did look awesome.

I just want my system to sound good and have some thump. What is it with all you people wanting 2 huge subs with tons of power!?!

I also wanted to do this to find out for my self how this would sound with minimal modifications and a low budget. Hopefully if it works out well then others can believe it and do it on their own. I got real tired of reading how everyone just dogs on this location. I can't get over how stuck up everyone is here when it comes to audio stuff. We don't all want mind blowing bass that wins awards for Sq.

P.S. Don't ever ask for advise on speakers for your doors because everyone will tell you to get $500 components and that everything else is crap!

 

trey - i'm interested to hear your opinion on this and a comparison to the stock bose subwoofer when you're done. i have a 2007 Z on order with the bose system, and if you give this a good review, i will be doing the same. like you, i don't need tons of bass. i did when i was younger, but nowadays, i just need it to augment what i'm listening to, not be the main focus. thanks.

 

How tall is the space with the Bose sub removed? Q-Logic makes a box for an 8" sub, .35 cu.ft. that is 12.0 W X 10.5 H X 12.0 D (bottom). I think there is enough width and depth in the space. The box depth is at the bottom, top is not as deep. If the height (10.5") fits I'd have a forward firing 8" sub.

They also make an 8" box (QLT-.3508ss) thats 16.5 W X 13 H X 7.5 D (bottom) This would possibly fit turned with the sub downfiring, similar to some other home made boxes I've seen here.

John

 

I'm not sure on the measurements, I think I saw on here one time where someone did some. I almost got a Q-logic 10" box to fit in the space but it didn't fit by about a 1/2. I'm pretty sure you could get an 8" sub in there lying down with the sub facing up. I'm not so sure about having the sub box just sit in there and facing forward.

I don't have the stock Bose system, just the regular. Last night I changed out my head unit with a $150 Alpine and it sounds so much better. It almost sounds like there is an 8" sub in there now. My friend had a G coupe with the Bose and my stereo now sounds much betters than hers did.

 

Was the 10" Q logic box the thin truck design, facing down or up, that you almost got to fit?

 

I think it almost fit facing up. I was thinking about taking the trim on the sides off but I decided to go with the setup I have now. I went to see The 300 tonight instead of working on the car. Tomorrow when I have daylight I'm going to do the amp and sub.

These did not fit even with the black edges taken off:




The problem with the space is that it is very oddly shaped inside. There are bumps and spots hanging down and sharp edges every where. There are also some brackets hanging down in the middle but they didn't interfere with the box trying to go in.

 

These are similar to the ones I was thinking about in an 8". you think based on the previous dimensions I listed either 8 would fit? Possibly the thinner design firing up?

 

I def know the 8" will fit. The 10" was just barely too big and I looked at the 8" boxes and knew they would fit easily. I think even the 8" hatch box would fit, not just the 8" truck.

If you really want to put a box inside there get it ready and then go to BB or CC or somewhere and try to stuff the boxes in in the parking lot.

 

So of the 2 boxes in your pics, the slimmer bottom pic box, or the more cube shaped box?

 

In the 8" size? I think they both would fit. I would try the 8" hatch first instead of the truck box. I think the hatch box would sit in there fine and wouldn't slide around. The other might have to be laid down to keep it from falling over.