so while i love the ML audio system.. being the audiophile i (think i) am.. i needed to make some upgrades.. 1st the dash speakers we're swapped for focal 3" mids an diamond audio D9 tweets.. now i'm lookin at the low end..

what i came up with to maximize trunk space and give me the sound i was lookin for. i went with (3) pioneer shallow 10" subs in a 1.1'cu net vol enclosure. here are some preliminary pics of the raw enclosure.. still deciding how i'll dress it up (carpet,vinyl,plexi, lights etc) for now i'm doin audio tests to see whats going to sound best..

 

i've been meaning to get on this, interested to see what you come up with. shallow mount do save space but I think something ported into the cabin might be best but you will have to take the 8 out of the trunk lid... how do the focal sounds with the ML system..

 

the oem sub is definitely coming out..i plan on playing with a few ideas for channeling the subs output to the interior... the 1 that works best will be the 1 i go with.. (as long as i maintain trunk room)

as for the focal/diamond combo... there are no words to describe how AWESOME it sounds on the oem amp.. (again me being me) i plan on adding a ton of clean power to it...

 

looks clean, I will definitely tackle this once my wheel suspension situation is figured out... (never knew the 460 suspenison was soo soft to rub at stock ride height....

 

Looking forward to the out come buddy!

 

wow you guys have so much more trunk space than i do. i've been meaning to get something started on a sound system but my rear trunk is already so small i might end up having to build sub boxes on each side.

 

your rear passenger will have massage option now

 

 

Build me a system!!! I'll pay you!! LMFAO Iv'e been meaning to do some test fitting myself...

 

we'll lemme sort out all the details 1st..then i can get a better idea of what sounds good in the Ls' trunk...

but things are looking very promising

 

I want that box willing to build another box????

 

I'm not trying to rain on your parade, but don't be expecting too much of a sound improvement if any from the stock ML system. I owned a custom auto shop for nearly 10 years and had a few ls's come to the shop for upgrades. We did a HUGE audio upgrade on one ls460l that consisted of all focal speakers throughout, 2-12w7's and 2600watts of power. We played with the enclosure to get the most mount of bass out of the system and no matter what type of box we tried out the output wasn't nearly what we expected. We finally tried adding an aftermarket deck to the system and the subs were crazy loud. We figured out that the mark levinson system was turning down the subwoofer output as you would turn up the volume. We tried a JL clean sweep, a Rockford 360, an audio control unit, and finally a cheap hi/lo adaptor to convert the stock stereo outputs to a low level input. At the end of the day the stereo looked excellent but was a HUGE let down from the performance we got out of it. I'm curious to see what you experience after you ge the system done. I just bought an ls SWB for myself recently but after my previous encounters I don't plan on touching the ML system.

Here's some pics of the car. I have more install picks if you guys want to see them too

 

ADD - what type of grill is that ? I just got a smokey granite 08 swb last Saturday and would like to start with the grille and so on..your Ls is really HOT ! Love the wheels and kit...thanks !

 

Thats the Asanti grille. And idk why there was so much problem getting bass I have two Alpine Type-R's 10's in a fairly small box since I have the miniscule Hybrid trunk hooked to 1500wRMS and its plenty loud. Nothing like the 15's I had in my LX470 but more than enough to get me pulled over

I think if you went 2 10's you would be much more content with the low's that are obtainable over 3 8's while the surface area is similar the excursion won't be the same and you might bottom out the speaker. Maybe have a box built from one end to the other mount the amp in the middle with the subs on the ends or have it ported to one side and sit the amp on top. Just throwing out idea's in case you wanted to play around with things your set up seems nice however.

 

not looking for super bass i have a shallow 12 fosgate with a jl amp with the 360 and thats good enough for now, no ml i just need a lil more bass but from what i got there is room for improvement.