Best Way to make aftermarket sub sound acceptable behind the drivers seat?
06-20-2009, 08:26 PM
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Best Way to make aftermarket sub sound acceptable behind the drivers seat?
I am looking to add a small sub and amp in my 03 enthusiast Z for DECENT at best bass sound. I honestly, do not like a lot of bass at all. My friends Mazdaspeed 3 has a 6" bose and it sounds fine enough to me but he complains it doesn't have enough.
I am a college kid who has the Z as his daily driver and I enjoy all the hatch space I can get, therefore I want to place a sub behind the drivers seat where the stock bose one would go. I would like not to spend more than $150 for a sub and amp (not including a box) just to get SOME sort of bass. Like I said, BY NO MEANS do I like a lot of bass really. I just want a little bit of something. I FULLY understand that It would sound better in the hatch where it would have more air anyway.
What do you guys recommend? I was told to put in a 10" kicker since they are smaller, but I really have no idea.
I am a college kid who has the Z as his daily driver and I enjoy all the hatch space I can get, therefore I want to place a sub behind the drivers seat where the stock bose one would go. I would like not to spend more than $150 for a sub and amp (not including a box) just to get SOME sort of bass. Like I said, BY NO MEANS do I like a lot of bass really. I just want a little bit of something. I FULLY understand that It would sound better in the hatch where it would have more air anyway.
What do you guys recommend? I was told to put in a 10" kicker since they are smaller, but I really have no idea.
06-22-2009, 05:27 AM
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It looks like a good buy. A good sub and amp for 180 bucks. Now let me ask though,
What makes this different from getting a shallow 200w 8" Kicker and 200w amp and putting it back there? Is it the design of the sub?
What makes this different from getting a shallow 200w 8" Kicker and 200w amp and putting it back there? Is it the design of the sub?
06-22-2009, 06:13 AM
#4
To make it easy - the speaker is a piston that is designed to throb (I like that word) up and down within it's basket (that metal cage). The magnet in the middle of the speaker serves as a fixed, non-moving, magnetic field in which the manufacture hangs a coil of wire. Into that wire we cause a changing field of AC power to be introduced which interacts with the fixed field of the permanent magnet creating forces. Those physical movement forces are directed into a speaker cone and we get music!
If you built an amplifier big enough it could rip the cone right out of the speaker - driving the coil down into the very bottom of the speaker chassis or throwing it upwards out off of the permanent magnet. There are one or two pieces of rubber (or something better) that try to hold the cone in place - on the top around the big part of the cone is the surround and sometimes on the bottom is the "spider" surrounding the smaller end from behind.
Most (say high 90%) of speakers are designed to work against a certain volume of trapped air behind them. This air acts a spring to limit the speaker cone's movement in each direction. The trapped air has to be 100% sealed - no leaks at all. As the speaker pops outwards the air behind the speaker becomes rarefied and creates a bit of a vacuum pulling back on the cone to limit it. As the speaker press downwards the air becomes compressed pushing back up against the speaker.
A properly designed box volume perfectly matches the speaker motor to allow it to drive close but not beyond it's limits. As the speaker is under or over controlled by volumes too big or too small it's tone changes greatly. You can make or break a good speaker by putting it in the wrong box - or in your case - no box.
Two Australian guys wrote book on subwoofer response and the numbers that the manufactures provide us are based on their work and formulas. Thiel and Small studied and formulated the reactions of the speaker motor inside box volumes and their brilliant work has advanced the science greatly. When I was young in the late 1970's it would take me about 3 hours to crunch some of the numbers to just begin to plot the response - now it takes 3 minutes to produce a full chart using on-line Thiel-Small calculators.
Without sealing that box behind the seat completely and at the exact right size (or darn close to it) you're wasting your time.
I'm sure glad I took all those engineering and acoustics courses!
06-22-2009, 11:43 AM
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Are you and EE or physic's student?
To make it easy - the speaker is a piston that is designed to throb (I like that word) up and down within it's basket (that metal cage). The magnet in the middle of the speaker serves as a fixed, non-moving, magnetic field in which the manufacture hangs a coil of wire. Into that wire we cause a changing field of AC power to be introduced which interacts with the fixed field of the permanent magnet creating forces. Those physical movement forces are directed into a speaker cone and we get music!
If you built an amplifier big enough it could rip the cone right out of the speaker - driving the coil down into the very bottom of the speaker chassis or throwing it upwards out off of the permanent magnet. There are one or two pieces of rubber (or something better) that try to hold the cone in place - on the top around the big part of the cone is the surround and sometimes on the bottom is the "spider" surrounding the smaller end from behind.
Most (say high 90%) of speakers are designed to work against a certain volume of trapped air behind them. This air acts a spring to limit the speaker cone's movement in each direction. The trapped air has to be 100% sealed - no leaks at all. As the speaker pops outwards the air behind the speaker becomes rarefied and creates a bit of a vacuum pulling back on the cone to limit it. As the speaker press downwards the air becomes compressed pushing back up against the speaker.
A properly designed box volume perfectly matches the speaker motor to allow it to drive close but not beyond it's limits. As the speaker is under or over controlled by volumes too big or too small it's tone changes greatly. You can make or break a good speaker by putting it in the wrong box - or in your case - no box.
Two Australian guys wrote book on subwoofer response and the numbers that the manufactures provide us are based on their work and formulas. Thiel and Small studied and formulated the reactions of the speaker motor inside box volumes and their brilliant work has advanced the science greatly. When I was young in the late 1970's it would take me about 3 hours to crunch some of the numbers to just begin to plot the response - now it takes 3 minutes to produce a full chart using on-line Thiel-Small calculators.
Without sealing that box behind the seat completely and at the exact right size (or darn close to it) you're wasting your time.
I'm sure glad I took all those engineering and acoustics courses!
To make it easy - the speaker is a piston that is designed to throb (I like that word) up and down within it's basket (that metal cage). The magnet in the middle of the speaker serves as a fixed, non-moving, magnetic field in which the manufacture hangs a coil of wire. Into that wire we cause a changing field of AC power to be introduced which interacts with the fixed field of the permanent magnet creating forces. Those physical movement forces are directed into a speaker cone and we get music!
If you built an amplifier big enough it could rip the cone right out of the speaker - driving the coil down into the very bottom of the speaker chassis or throwing it upwards out off of the permanent magnet. There are one or two pieces of rubber (or something better) that try to hold the cone in place - on the top around the big part of the cone is the surround and sometimes on the bottom is the "spider" surrounding the smaller end from behind.
Most (say high 90%) of speakers are designed to work against a certain volume of trapped air behind them. This air acts a spring to limit the speaker cone's movement in each direction. The trapped air has to be 100% sealed - no leaks at all. As the speaker pops outwards the air behind the speaker becomes rarefied and creates a bit of a vacuum pulling back on the cone to limit it. As the speaker press downwards the air becomes compressed pushing back up against the speaker.
A properly designed box volume perfectly matches the speaker motor to allow it to drive close but not beyond it's limits. As the speaker is under or over controlled by volumes too big or too small it's tone changes greatly. You can make or break a good speaker by putting it in the wrong box - or in your case - no box.
Two Australian guys wrote book on subwoofer response and the numbers that the manufactures provide us are based on their work and formulas. Thiel and Small studied and formulated the reactions of the speaker motor inside box volumes and their brilliant work has advanced the science greatly. When I was young in the late 1970's it would take me about 3 hours to crunch some of the numbers to just begin to plot the response - now it takes 3 minutes to produce a full chart using on-line Thiel-Small calculators.
Without sealing that box behind the seat completely and at the exact right size (or darn close to it) you're wasting your time.
I'm sure glad I took all those engineering and acoustics courses!
06-22-2009, 11:52 AM
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I am in no way a Physics or EE student, however I did understand some of that lol. it gave me insight as to how a sub works with a box. So basically the Infinity sub that the person linked me has a sub, amp, and box all in one and was already designed for tight spaces, there for it works well. Is that correct?
j/k...
Yes, that is correct.
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06-27-2009, 03:14 PM
#8
I recently bought a box and diamond audio D6 series 10" sub that fits exactly perfect in the space behind the seat. It fills every single available space that can be. I am able to get the Bose cover back on as well so it looks stealth. The sub is downfiring. 500 watts RMS/1000 watt max. Now I'm looking for a good amp to power it.
I did have a Rockford Fosgate P3 shallow sub in a truck box behind the seat for a while with an 850Watt mono block soundstorm. It sounded pretty good in my Roadster, but having the custom box is probably the best option.
I did have a Rockford Fosgate P3 shallow sub in a truck box behind the seat for a while with an 850Watt mono block soundstorm. It sounded pretty good in my Roadster, but having the custom box is probably the best option.
06-29-2009, 12:02 PM
#9
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3 cheers for the basslink..
I am in no way a Physics or EE student, however I did understand some of that lol. it gave me insight as to how a sub works with a box. So basically the Infinity sub that the person linked me has a sub, amp, and box all in one and was already designed for tight spaces, there for it works well. Is that correct?
Yes, I think the infinity works well. I just put the basslink II in when I replaced my entire system. I, like you, was not looking to wake up the neighbors but just wanted better then OEM (cleaner, crisper) sound. Having the trunk space un-used. I'm impressed with it and like it alot.
Yes, I think the infinity works well. I just put the basslink II in when I replaced my entire system. I, like you, was not looking to wake up the neighbors but just wanted better then OEM (cleaner, crisper) sound. Having the trunk space un-used. I'm impressed with it and like it alot.
Last edited by Dealsgap; 06-30-2009 at 07:18 AM.
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