As much as I love the sound of my Greddy exhaust its nice to have an upgraded sound system. without going over the top I add an Kenwood excelon head unit with some kicker replacement speakers. sounded nice but there was no low end and the 6.5's trying to play under 80hz at a loud volume made them sound clumsy.

My days of 15" solobarics, huge bass, and huge boxes are far behind me. I want nice low end that fit the system and didn't over power the music. After researching, calling manufactures, and searching sites I found a great deal on a VIBE Black Air 10" sub. I loved its specs and its ability to be used in infinite baffle applications. I must admit I didn't know anything about the company but after some research it seems that they are pretty big in the U.K.

I took a chance and I'm glad I did! I bought a 200 watt rms amp for it (on clearance) and BOOM! I added the perfect amount of bass for under $180 installed! I really liked the look of the sub so i opted to pair it with a pioneer sub grille instead of hiding it behind the factory bose panel (this was the cheaper option as well)

I think this set up is perfect and I wanted to share it with you all.
amps under the seat, here's what the sub looks like:

 

Thats a pretty sweet lookin setup. I drive with my seat touching the cubby so this probably wouldnt work too well for me lol.

 

Nice setup! is this bolted to stock factory bracket? and did you fill in the open compartment, or is it free aired?

 

Yes it is bolted to the factory bracket and layered with dynmat. Its free air, no box needed.

 

I got a two for one deal on this sub and just listed the other one new in box in the classifieds forum.

 

Looks great, but it's been my experience that there's no free air sub in the world that sounds good using an infinite baffle application. I tried two free air subs in that location with and without Dynamat (I even tried shoving a foam pillow in there) and no matter what I did, it still sounded like garbage. I'm a firm believer (along with most of the rest of the posters in this forum) that the only way to get good results in the factory subwoofer location is to install one of those manufactured fiberglass (or make your own) sealed enclosures or to throw an Infinity Basslink in there. Even then, the sub is too close to you to fill the cabin with good, solid bass

Honestly, I'd love to actually see your Z and hear it, because I really DO want to be amazed at an infinite baffle sub, especially after all the time and $$ I put into trying to get decent sound out of that stock location. Given the subjective nature of these things, meaning, "Hey, I got bass and it didn't cost much or require much work, how cool is that!?" when in reality, you could do much, much better for just a few more $$, I'll stick with a quality box, sub and amp any day. I'm not knocking you for your effort, but honestly, compared to a car that has the sub installed in the traditional aftermarket fashion, does yours really even come close in terms of sound quality? I'm just asking.

 

It's a very sweet setup, like Zakmartin said, I have to agreed with Zak. I actually wanna hear it.

 

I would love to know your experience to qualify the statement
"there's no free air sub in the world that sounds good using an infinite baffle application."
Its got to be more than, I've tried two different subs and I didn't like the results.
free air=infinite baffle that statement was redundant.
As much as I think you rant was ridiculous, you did get one thing right, it is entirely subjective.

I stand by my statements. It works for me and it very may well work for others.

Thanks for your input and keep on truckin.

 

L0Lz if you are ever in Tempe Arizona look me up, I'd be happy to talk shop with you and let you judge for yourself.

Thanks for you service!

 

His so called rant was not ridiculous. His own experiences was mentioned plus the hundreds of others that have posted similar results, yet he was interested enough in your post to express his thoughts and a desire to hear your setup.

 

OP took zak's reply too literally.

its obvious he was saying it in respect and is curious to know how it really does sound like.

in all due respect, your setup is pretty unique and tidy.

post some sound clips up

 

I didn't intend for that post to come across as a rant. I know that pride in doing what you consider a "job well done" will often skew your perception of the actual end results. Like I said, it looks good, but in my experience there is no such thing as a good free air sub. They're an option that's available for situations where no other options would work, but that's about it.

I realize that, and I worded my post that way intentionally for the benefit of anyone who reads your post and thinks that the installation of a free air (or infinite baffle) subwoofer without a box is a good idea. Again, this is based on my experience as well as the experience of many others who have posted similar results on this board and other car enthusiast websites over the years.

Occasionally, I run across threads like yours that go against what everyone else says, and I'm not challenging your perceived notions of what qualifies as good, solid sound, because as I mentioned before, that is entirely subjective. You appear to have taken my post as an insult, and trust me, that was not my intention. I do however, still doubt that you're getting the best bang for your buck with the subwoofer being mounted the way it is, but the bottom line is, if you're happy with it, then great. I'm only writing this in consideration to others who read your thread and assume that it's a successful solution to what everyone knows is a poorly designed factory sound system.

 

I am sorry your two free air efforts failed. I am sorry there are so many talking heads on the internet and audiophile experts. Enjoy your rainbow components, focal subs, zapco amps, and being on your high fidelity horse.

MANY MANY people have added free air subwoofers to their systems and been completely happy. As good as a sealed enclosure? maybe, maybe not. Unless you are prepared to set measurable standards of what "good" is, you're talking about subjective preference. I have had plenty of subwoofer set ups and shake the street systems in my day. I'm over it, I wanted the lower end represented and the lower frequency burden taken off my mids. My sub is crossover is at 80hz, its tight, sounds great, and doesn't over power the other stages. Having a the sub set to low range (30-80hz) of audio responsibility helps eliminate the sloppy bass normally found in free air systems, most subs crossover points are set to 100,200 or even 400hz. My system also benefits from the black air sub being extremely rigid and having a duel spider design which helps keep the subs xmas very linear and very tight. Another thing to remember is that sub used in IB applications can't take as many watts as they would in a sealed enclosure. By cutting the watts in half you DO effect the performance but I would say any sub at half its normal watts would not preform as well. The main problem with free air installs is the front wave cancels out the rear wave, resulting in bass cancellation the design of the z isnt that bad. Optimal? no not by any means. The baffle board if stiff and the plastic/metal enclosure it sits in helps guard against front wave/rear wave bass cancellation.

I understand the sub would preform better in a sealed or properly ported box. If I was unhappy with the system I would have bought a sealed box. I 'm not, I couldn't be happier with it... which is why i posted this thread. The thread you're shitting on with your infinite wisdom. I'll tell you one thing this set up would out preform a basslink by any measure you would want to throw at them.

For those that want a sound clip: A common mic on a smartphone or hd/digital camcorder wouldn't exactly replicate the sound quality of any system. This problem is then compounded by most peoples computer speaker set ups.
read: It would prove nothing.

For anyone looking to do an IB set ups here are some helpful links on what to look for in the design, baffle board, and sub itself.

http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum/...pros-cons.html

http://www.audiogearreviews.com/tech...ite_baffle.asp


All done with this thread.


:end rant: ;o)

 

You were done with this thread before you even posted OP. I have not read one negative comment about your setup and yet you think people are $hitting on your thread.

 

Yup.

 

Im not even into audio stuff, stumbled in here, OP clearly has a bleeding vagina.

The forums are for DISCUSSION. Nobody made fun of you or your set up OP. Nobody $hit on you. The only $hit here is what you are typing. You must be 5'1" tall to take what was said in here as an insult towards you/your setup.

Forum etiquette owns OP.

 

Thank you for the contribution.

 

I've done about the same thing you describe/did. As you point out it's not ideal, but does provide a solution that has very good sound.

It's all about the degree of what you want, what you demand, or what you are willing to accept.

Thanks for posting your experience. It's useful to a lot of readers here.

--Spike