sparky3

As always this is my own opinion but:

I tried several different boxes, ported, not ported, facing up, forwards, to the rear, et al. Always something was missing. The bass seemed too muddy and "boomy". I did a great deal of thinking, and here's what I consider to be the best way to mount 2 subs:

Build a sealed box facing upwards. 30" wide, 15''height, 14 " inches deep.

Now for the controversial part:

Cut enough of the rear deck away that you can visibly see both 12's, enough that there's no obstruction of sheet metal blocking visibility to the subs. No reason to go crazy with this; I had about 1.5 inches of the "hole" still visible from the factory 10" on the rear side of the cut, and stopped just before both left and right rear seat belts. The left center seatbelt is SO gone. Find some good MDF or 3/4 particle board, cut into flat pieces to "butt up" against the space between the top of the box and the bottom of the rear deck. Screw down where you can get to it, then silicone the crap out of the area. This will seal the box off from the rest of the trunk, and will reflect the bass wave off the rear glass. Somewhat emulates a hatchback, yet much better.

Benefits: You get the entire package! Tight snap and clear, accurate bass. L O W end. Incredibly low. I've never in my life heard 2 12's hit so hard and clean...it's quite amazing. I sat in my car giggling about how great everything I played sounded. No more boominess, no more trunk rattle (I have put NO dynamat or equivalent anywhere in the trunk execpt for behind the license plate). It's so unbelivable quiet from the outside of the car; it's almost as if you're inside the box itself instead of fighting with trunk reflection.
Also, the car is QUIETER (less road noise) on the inside now; instead of the 10" hole being exposed to a wide-open trunk, it's now a bigger hole that only meets your subs.

More benefits: I have mounted my amps to the back of the box, so I have my entire trunk back!

Downside? you will cut some metal off the rear deck (not a downer for me, as if I sell the car, I'll put some dynamat to cover the opening). Another downside is IT's A hell of A lot of WORK! Good grief!

Well worth every ounce of sweat to hear such a return on my JL 500/1's and Eclipse DVC subs. I cannot over emphasize how incredible this sounds, fellas. Heck, I think even Percy or Mene Gene might even be impressed with the accuracy and snap! A neighbor kid who competes in stereo competition couldn't decide if my car would be better off SQ or SPL (I'd say SPL, personally; I don't have enough sound processing stuff to cherry it out) and he swears it hits every bit as hard as cars he's heard in the 150 DB range. I could honestly give a flip about this as I don't do this for competiton, just my love of music....

Anyone in Columbus or nearby who would like to hear it please let me know, and if you do decide to do this, you won't regret it. If I had a digital camera I'd show you guys my setup.


Anyway, hours of stereo tinkering finally paid off. Hang in there guys; you'll get your system setup the way you want if you try long enough!

Peace to all,

Shawn

qwalls

Pictures! We need pictures.

LXOGOOD

Sparky3: You are da man........ I was just at my Stereo shop last week getting my trunk and doors accumated when they said they should cut the metal panel in the rear deck to make it sound even better than now. I was like "hell no". "Don't do any cutting to my rear deck". They told me that it would help stop the boomy sound and the major window rattle I'm getting. Damn, I should have told them to do it when my trunk was apart. Oh well... I guess this will be my next mod! Anyway, thanks for the info.

concepts

I just wanted to add some info.

Cutting the back deck is easy (especially for auto sound shops), Bosch and other companies make metal nibblers, you can do the entire job in under 10 minutes and it will be neat (electric).. Cost of nibbler ~ $150.00

When you cut the back deck, you lose some 'rigid' in the back of your vehicle. That rear deck also acts like a brace and keeps the car from flexing (or flex less) during corner. Car manufacturers designed the rear deck in the production of the car. When you take a big chunk out, it really does affect the car.


This is especially noticible in smaller cars (less expensive cars) like Corollas, etc.

Just my 2 cents. Good luck and lets see some pictures.

Mean Gene

Shawn - I've been an advocate of opening up the deck lid area for 2 years now ( as I did ). Something that worked for me ( &, IMO, is easier than using silicone & MDF spacers ) is to go to your local automotive camper dealer & get a weatherstripping "boot". This is what they use to seal off the cab to the camper when they add an aftermarket sleeper. I did this many ( too!! ) years ago with an S-10. I cut the cab & sealed off an enclosure with (4) 15's in it. Yeah, it took up almost 1/3 of the bed space but it was a stereo truck, not a daily driver. The boot is designed for exactly this type of application. As far as pics go, Percy has some of my system under construction in his Primer. U can see exactly how much I open up my deck & maybe even the 1" wide cross braces I screwed in there to reinforce the area ( as Concepts recommends ).

sparky3

If the car has lost flexibility during cornering, I certainly cannot notice. I only took about 6 inches to either side of the factory 10" opening. I will tell you this though; once I put the back seat back in and the rear deck, the rear deck plastic rattles like a ****... Good grief! Just when I thought it was safe to go back in the water.....

Anyhoo....

I will once again pull out the seats and try to figure out the source of the rattle....!@#$#@$ (insert favorite explitive).


Still sounds great though.....

sparky3

You actually DON'T need pictures, Mister! You can see it in person very soon! Once it's complete, you can take pics of it if you wish..I don't have a camera, all my money is tied up in stereo equipment, comics and Lexus payments.


(To all who don't know; QWALLS was a former manager of mine and we both live in the same town)

engin_ear

iTrader: (1)

So what happens if I use the same method with a single sub box and the extra MDF boards, so that I wind up doing minimal deck cutting, if any. If I'm not trying to win any SPL contests, but still want hard hitting clean bass, given all the experiments you've just done, is this gonna do it for me????? I'm leaning in the direction of a single IDMAX 12D4. Pictures WOULD be great if you can manage to scan regular photos (don't need digital camera) - for us non-Ohio weenies.

sparky3

Good grief....I dynomatted the bottom of the rear deck plastic piece....That fixed the problem! There's still a random rattle at certain frequencies coming from somewhere else, but I'm quite tickled pink to have the car back together and sounding so good. As far as a single sub, I think it'd be a great idea! Don't worry, there's plently of "weenies" here in Ohio...Q is one of them ..!(love ya, Q)...

Shawn

qwalls

Shawn:

When I was your age, I had two 12s in my '88 Accord. A single 10 is enough now. Don't want to cause my son to lose his hearing. :-) I'm looking forward to hearing your system though.

Q