en11871

Hi Guys,

Just curious, does it matter whether the replacement subwoofer is Free-Air or not? Some have said it should be free air, even the tutorials has free-air sub in it. Let me know. Thanks.

1996LS

Neofate

iTrader: (1)

If you are placing it in the factory slot -- Yes it matters. You need an IB/Free air design to operate (sound) appropriate. A subwoofer designed for X-cubic feet of enclosure will not give you the sound you are hoping for.

If you do not utilize the factory sub hole in rear deck, but put something in the trunk,.. Then no, free air is not necessary -- You will be sealing the enclosure to some measure , ported, non ported, etc --

A good reason many people do replace the factory sub with a free-air aftermarket and amp is because of the design of our vehicles. The gastank is between the trunk and the cabin. This makes it extremely difficult to pass sound to our cabin from a sealed enclosure in the trunk.

Some people get around this to some degree by porting the sound from the enclosure through the armrest area. (Porting the output sound.) --

There are other variations.. as some people remove the backseat all together and create a virtual 'Wall' for the subs to reside on. (ie: Competition use etc..) --Little extreme, but effective.

hope that helps.


Simple put: Free -air (Inifinite Baffle) means the sub is designed to operate without any enclosure surround it. It just sits in there, it is its own enclosure by design and frequency response.

A non ib/free-air is just that, it is the more traditional woofer that operates best, by design, enclosed in X size box/enclosure/wood/plexi etc.

Hope that helps.

*You'll find bits and pieces of answers in our Audio forum -- but it isn't nearly as frequented as this one,.. so it is hard to get a straight complete answer sometimes. *

Also to properly answer your question your expectations of the sub would help a great deal,.. to answer will you be satisfied with a free-air. (They can be surprisingly loud/boomy.. just because it is free-air does not mean it sucks.. I assure you)

en11871

Neo,

Thanks for your reply. Yes, I'm putting the sub in the factory location. So I would need a Free-Air right? I plan to stick with the factory Pioneer amp as well. So if I can find an 8" Free-Air, will a NON Free air sound bad? BTW, can I replace the factory Pioneer amp with an aftermarket one in the same exact location (under passenger seat)? There are only a few mono amps that are small...perhaps not even small enough. Let me know. Thanks.

Neofate

iTrader: (1)

Ok, you are asking some questions I have asked recently, and some new.


Free - Air = Yes,.. absolutely. Referred to as Free-air or IB (Infinite Baffle)

NON Free air = Will sound bad.

Replace factory amp = Yes, and highly advised to do so.

Fit aftermarket amp under seat = Possible, but questionable,.. and why not just put it in the trunk with the sub. It isn't that bad to wire up another amp, or you can get an audio shop to do it.

Only advice I can offer is to make sure you match up the Free air sub with the proper amp. Try not to under power the rated sub you get.

IE: Don't stick 20watts on a 500watt RMS sub

link13

Neofate, that was a great post. I am contending with the same issue as the first gen GS also uses a free air sub from the factory. I've decided not to go with free air for the replacement mainly because I have a guy willing to build me a smallish, but effective box for a sealed sub.

en11871

Neo,

Thanks. The reason I want the new amp in the factory location is that I want no trace of a sub/subs. If I place the amp in the trunk it will show AND definitely subtract trunk space.

Neofate

iTrader: (1)

Great link13. Just make sure you take care of any potential trunk rattle with dyno-mat or other sound deadening material. If any is likely to present itself.

Neofate

iTrader: (1)

Well. For instance the amp for my 8" factory sub is actually in the trunk, it is factory, and is nicely hidden behind the carpeting on the wall behind the backseat in the trunk. An aftermarket amp can be well hidden, and amplifiers are not that big to be honest. I honestly would not think an aftermarket amplifier would compromise but a small , small percentage of your trunk space.

However go with what you feel is best of course..

Good luck!

jdmsole06

i put my amp under my seat but it doesn't really fit...i wish i had put it in the trunk but i didn't have wires long enough for them to reach and plus taking the rear seat is a pain in the butt...my other mistake was getting a sub thats not free air but still sounds good...not so loud when you're outside but sounds like a movie theater when inside.

en11871

J,

Do you have a 1LS or 2LS? I'm assuming you have a 2LS because of your amp location. So did you keep the plastic vent thing that supposed to cool the factory amp? By the way, how doesn't your amp fit? Is it too big or mounting holes, etc.? I really want to put a small MONO amp in the same factory amp location. So you don't have a free-air sub? It still sounds good right? Your problem is the loudness right? Sorry for all the questions. Let me know.

PureDrifter

iTrader: (10)

if u replace the amp in a 2nd gen car w/o nak you lose the cd changer function.

you can ADD an amp tho...

jdmsole06

i have a 1ls. i have the amp under the seat bec my wires were too short and i was too lazy to take the back seats off just to run the wires all the way back. the car came with an eclipse head unit and the factory amp is not connected but still in place. the amp i have now is a little bit wide and long so it sticks out a bit and i didnt want to mount it on the floor coz i will be relocating it to the back sometime soon.

i dont have a free air sub which is mounted to the stock location. sub sounds ok but would definetly better with a free air sub. im limited as to how loud i can go but it might be just the sub that i bought coz it was some cheap one and just wanted some bass. in my opinion the set up i have right now is simple but is perfect since i didnt want it to be too loud and dont really care if ppl outside can't hear it. i just wished i had purchased a free air.

Neofate

iTrader: (1)

Hrmm.. in that case go buy a Klipsch 10 or 12" powered floor sub,.. Run a single mono RCA from your preout (or even speaker wires,.. either work) -- Run a DC to AC convertor and your set.

Seriously, if mounted right it might not be that bad,.. especially if you removed your factory sub and aimed it bottoms up toward the previous sub location.

Might rattle the heck out of the trunk though, but easy to control volume/gain and X-over controls (plus phase) on those things.

I am saying this in jest,.. but I bet it wouldn't be to terribly bad.

nawls400

With my 1LS I had a local shop cut out a hole for a 10" and mount it (instead of going with the 8" again , which wold have fit, because i wanted to be able to hit the lower freqencies and other reasons as well...) but it's a 150W Kicker Comp and it's not a free air but it is still very powerful in the free air location the only unfortunate thing is that the brake light cover in the back rattles at certain frequencies (and if anyone knows how to help me with that let me know please! )

...sorry but yeah to answer you're question...if you're lookin for it to slap it'll be tough because it's hard to find free air subs, of course if you're just looking for a sub that will give you the bass that our small doorside speakers does not give us (not necessarily need the sub to hit hard...) of course the Kicker I bought works very well in both situations (and the amp is only the size of a textbook in most cases; and i just have mine chillin in my trunk lol)

hope that helps!

Neofate

iTrader: (1)

Check out elemental design products. There are several threads regarding Free-Air subs in the audio forum, do a quick search on it.

Nawls: For your cover rattle -- It has latches holding it down. I would simply modify the cover itself. You can rig the latches to have more holding power.. (make sure you shake the cover when you pull it off to ensure it isn't a 'free moving' part making the noise) -- And/or you can insulate the cover with foam/rubber or dyno-mat and then force clip it on. Where it won't have any room to rattle. Basically reduce any possible play in it.

Again if it is already as tight as it gets .. do the shake test and remove or secure whatever is make the resonate noise.

Cover is super easy to get off, so modifying it or adjusting shouldn't be a big project.