I've decided my next stupid purchase will be a sub/amp for the Max. Question is, what size should I go with? I listen to rock, ska, punk, techno, but almost no hip-hop or rap. This leads me to not worry about earth-shaking bass, but I do want something punchy and it's got to have good sound quality. Because of all this I'm thinking a sealed box will fit my needs the best, but what size and power? I've got to be able to hear/feel it strongly with all the windows down. Thanks.

 

If you want punchy bass I would say stick with 10's, probably in a sealed box....Make sure you get a good amp, and then go listen to different subs in your car to see which ones you like. Most stereo shops will have subs you can carry out and hook up in your car, but you will need your amp already installed. JLs are pretty good for the money, I am sure you can find lots of opinions about subs on here though, try searching in this forum and you will get more threads than you care to read

 

What you get will most likely depend on how much money you are willing to part with. If you are not an audiophle I would just try the local market to get an idea for how different subs sound. Of course the listening room will have a huge impact on how they sound. And anything a small eight or ten can do, a twelve, fifteen, or 18 can do better. But if you just want great midbass and not low sub bass I would mod the front doors for eights'.

 

get a 12"

 

I thought about that but I'm very happy with the four Pioneer 3-way 6.5s I have now, and I don't feel like buying more speakers than I have to.

 

if you want good sound sq and want to also be able to hit mega lows, do a trunk mount with a 12. (also good for low weight becuase you don't have the heavy box and is closer to the center of the car.
http://briefcase.yahoo.com/bc/mtcook...c=bc%26.view=t

 

I was thinking of that, is the sound quality as crisp as a sealed box? I do like the trunk space.

 

trunk mount?? what does that mean?? is that a wall in the trunk??

 

yup exaclty. i put a piece of wood behind the seat and cut it to the shape of the whole behind the seat then screwed it in and put the sub in.

 

if you do go this route, make sure the wall completely seals off one side from the other.

 

And about 75 holes in the rear deck and sail panel area. Not to mention the cavities in the top brace directly behind the seat.

 

lol. yeah, it's a lot of work, so i suggest to weasel to just make a sealed enclosure.

 

Completely seal the rear deck? Hah! Not a chance. Much respect to Sweetsound for doing it but I don't have a chance in hell. I'd get the interior completely apart and just say "f*ck it" and leave the car like that for a month. It took about a week for me to put everything back together after just putting in new speakers. I'll just stick with Victor's idea and the sealed box with one 12". Thanks all for the recommendations. Now to pick subs and amps...

 

you can have about an inch or two of space on the bottom of the wall. the seat seals it up for you pretty much. and also, if you put it in the center like i did the air goes through the arm rest so you don't have to worry about air going through the wall.

 

My suggestion Weasel is to look into getting a Stealthbox. You and I listen to very similar music, and its perfect for it. While pricey new, used they can be found for a sweet deal, not to mention the fact it's not getting stolen easy if they even know its there. If I was still in FL I'd let you listen to mine and get an idea of what they sound like. Wanna drive to GA? LOL

 

I've been looking for one for almost a year. They can get pretty pricey when they do show up on eBay, and that's rare in itself.

 

You should be able to get one new from a local JL dealer for $400. If they try to charge you more, go to another shop. I've found int he past places that went as low as $30 but that rare. I've seen them on here a couple times used for around $200....

 

I was watching when Jambo sold his a while ago but I just didn't have the spare cash. I'm looking to spend about $400 for everything (sub, box, and amp). If I could find a Stealthbox alone for around $250-$300 I could probably swing it, but like you said those deals are rare.

 

damn, didn't know stealthboxes cost so much. what a ripoff. lol. that's just my opinion. if you want something that can't be seen, why don't you do a false floor?? kinda like piopremier had at the meet in orlando. sound is good if the install is done right.

 

I like the location of the Stealthbox, takes up very little trunk space and it looks OEM (not as important but also nice). I'm not going to do a false floor because I need to have easy access to the spare, I do a lot of highway driving. Piopremier's setup was sweet as hell though.

I agree though, it's a lot to pay for a single 10", that's why I haven't bought one yet. I still don't know if I will, but if a good deal comes up I'll jump on it. Otherwise I'm still shopping for sealed enclosures.

 

you can make a sealed box for 20 bucks.

 

I couldn't design one that would sound good though, I'll either ask my friend for a hookup at his friend's audio shop or just buy one. Infinity Basslink for about 200 bucks isn't a bad deal either. Argh... can't decide...

 

you should definately get one made, rather than buying a prefabricated one. it's hard to find boxes made out of mdf. i was at audio fashion (in orlando) and that was the first time i've ever seen a place selling boxes made of mdf. the install is a big part of the sound quality of a system.

 

I've been advised by Image Dynamics designers, that Victor just told ya, Put big mdf baffle at the back of the seat. Fill all the gaps and whole around it with liquid nail stuff. Completely seal the trunk from the inside of the car. DO NOT TOUCH THE REAR PANEL!!! It has ventilation holes. Istead I SUGGEST, create the sealed box from the back of the sub. I have IDMAX with this install, I mean I haven't heard bass cleaner and punchier then that. They wouldn't tell me something wich wouldn't work!!!

Let me know what you think!

 

i agree, if your up to the install of the wall, go for it. it will save you lots of space. and make sure the sub you get will be ok for the ib/freeair setup.

 

Do the classic TMS, TMS Jr. set up, JL 12" W3 witha JBL 300.1 all for under 300 bucks!!! sounds good to, just put it in.

 

I'm down to that, JL stealthbox and random amp, or the Infinity Basslink... I don't know how strong the Basslink is though, and I don't know anyone around here who has one. It is $200 + shipping for an Infinity 10" sub and 200W amp.... tempting.

 

So how much money are you looking to spend on the sub and amp? Go with 1 or 2 10''s depending on how much SPL you want. I was with an MTX sub and 400 W amp for several years and it worked great for loudness inside the car, but nothing that would shake the neighborhood. Now if you want to shake people around you while driving, go with 2 10s.

 

"Completely seal the trunk from the inside of the car. DO NOT TOUCH THE REAR PANEL!!! It has ventilation holes. Istead I SUGGEST, create the sealed box from the back of the sub."

I am sorry but you contradicted yourself in that statement. You said don't touch the rear panel because it has vents and yet you are saying to seal the box. And what is "create the sealed box from the back of the sub" ? And if you are worried about completely sealing the trunk and the difficulties it may impose on the regular opening and closing functions, I wouldn't worry. You have a lot of time to work on it before you get even close to actually sealing the trunk. And in the classic IB and AP setups vents to the outside are fine. It's just vents to the car cabin that need to be avoided in order to reduce chances of cancellation and multi-phased response.

 

You cannot touch those vents that are in the rear deck. Period. They are for vent purposes. Even in your interior part of the rear deck are holes with interior parts which cover those holes. And it's really diff to isolate the whole trunk from inside, which I although DID. Damn took me a while and lots of liquid nails stuffer. You need the box for the back power of the sub. For the energy to be pushed from the back wall of the box. That's why to seperate your inside part of the car from the back side of the subwoofer you need to put the box from behind, to attach it to the back seat MDF baffle. I already made this setup in my car, works unbeleivable. Judge told me to do it. he got 5th place in IASCA. Wanna check it out, come over to San Diego. Lot's of chicks.
Mike A.

 

i've never done a wall before, but from my understanding ( i get lost in your guys posts) all you have to do is make sure the front of the sub's air space is completely seperate (as in sealed off) from the rear of the sub's air space.

 

As in infinite baffle. Someone made up a new term for an old fashioned technique. I've seen the term on at least one other forum and it refered to the same technique. So a sealed box would probably be easier, cheaper, and more reliable.

 

i agree. just go with the sealed box. the wall is kinda like a sealed box. that's really really big.

 

not really. i finally have pictures of it. there's only 10 screws hold it in and doing it fine http://briefcase.yahoo.com/bc/mtcook...c=bc%26.view=l

http://briefcase.yahoo.com/bc/mtcook...c=bc%26.view=l

http://briefcase.yahoo.com/bc/mtcook...c=bc%26.view=l

 

What you have is an Aperiodic membrane, using the seat cushion as the membrane. You could probably seal behind the driver, pretty damn small and still have good sound. But power handling will be about half with it totally free air on the rear side. And I imagine quite a bit of vibration inside the trunk. Also the possibility of anything you put in the trunk going through the back side of the cone. I would try to build a true membrane material to cover the cone, and permanently remove the armrest. That way you could tune the sound by varying the amount of material in the membrane.

 

the polk i use they say won't handle free air so i'm going to get some new ones that will, probably blaupunkt

 

Actually, nothing really rattles at all, except for my license plate that is sitting in the window. The thing sounds great, it's just that it does not handle much power and distorts really quickly. i think there are 2 reasons for this, 1. not a free air sub and 2. a "400 watt" sub running on "500 watts"

 

I have my IDMAX with this kind of install, although I've put raam matt around all the holes and liquid nails stuffer. I have 1000 watts playing free air, have few rattles in the rear deck, that's it. BUT they say I have to put the box to make my sub stronger playing. And the bass will be cleaner this way too.