i put a 10 right behind the driver seat ina truck box. it sits on the floor and kinda wedged between the seats. the sit is still usable to put stuff on but not to sit on. the pass side is still functionable as intended
Yes and no. It would depend on how you mount the driver. If you back mount a low excursion sub, you would likely never have a problem. If you run a high excursion sub, you would probably need to limit the volume so that the cone would not touch the seat. On the other hand, if you front mount the driver, you would end up with someone's large posterior pushing on the cone. Not the best conditions. I included some of the pics of my project, but do not have any of the completed project. With this sub/amp/box combo I metered a meager 139db at my first SPL comp. The enclosure is completely glassed in and then coated with two layers of (ghetto, but inexpensive) white roofing elastomaric coating (to add mass). The driver is mounted in a piece of 3/4 MDF that is cut to fit tightly in the access hole for the stroage location. It is then bolted in place to seal it tightly. BTW, the enclosure is approx. 1 cubic foot of volume, and you can make multiple mounting baffles for either sealed or ported applications. Makes changing drivers and experimenting very easy, which I do often.
Litneon, that looks badass! Nice Job! They look like Civic seats? j10nk, yah on the current box. Sorry, I should've been more specific
Litneon... sorry for my ignorance... but I am and will always be a newb to car audio. I have a Rockford 10" P2. Don't know what category you mentioned that fell into... Do you see it working in a setup like yours? How difficult was it sealing that box?
The P2 has an Xmax of 13mm or so one way. This falls under the low excursion category (the driver I run has 30mm one way). It would be a good candidate for this project as long as the plastic trim ring can be removed for back mounting. Sealing the enclosure was a bit of a challenge, but with multiple layers of matte and resin, it turned out to be pretty solid. If you start the project, let me know and I can give you some pointers. You will also need to fill some of the volume of the cavity, as the P2 only wants .65-.85 cubic foot of volume.
, i can chop tops and do bodydrops but i still couldn't hook up a stereo to save my life....... it sucks.
So I started the project today with the help of my grandfather. I wanted to buy some MDF but he insisted on using some plywood he had sitting around. I figure use it to try it out for fit and can always change it later. I am assuming that by back mounting you mean mount it up to the underside of the board as opposed to the lip sitting on the topside like a "normal" box? I wanted to do this however I wasn't sure because when I sat the speaker on the lip of the box (without the lid) there was maybe 1/2" or so underneath the speaker. If I sit the speaker on the metal lip with the cover on top of it I don't know how I would get it to seal. The plastic ring can be put on either side of the speaker for both mounting... As far as taking up some of the space how do you recommend doing that? I did a test run and dropped in the lid and speaker without sealing the box or really bolting anything down... I hope sealing makes a 10000% difference because I can't even hear the bass of the sub over my 5 1/4". Thanks for the info going to continue working on it in the next few days.
I'm not sure what you mean by the 1/2" under the sub. But if you mean clearance between the motor and the bottom of the enclosure, 1/2 is fine. If you have a rolled up lip around the edge of the top of the basket, you can get the cork gasket seal from just about any stereo shop that will seal that up. BTW, my seats are from a Honda Accord. and no they didn't just bolt in. There was some modification necessary. To take up space in the enclosure, you can either stuff it with poly-fill, or build a baffle and glass it in when you seal the rest of the "box". And sealing the enclosure will definitely help.
Thanks for the help... you nailed my questions right on the head. I started fiber glassing today. I can't say it went the smoothest but better than I thought it would. I had a very difficult time getting the areas under the lip of the compartment and the fist size hole that goes through to the compartment that holds the jack. Needless to say I blindly painted the underside of the lip with generous amounts of resin. Some of the fiberglass cloth was not sticking flush to the metal since I could barely see what I was doing. Tomorrow I will go over the known holes as well as a couple more layers in general. This brings me to another question. I carpeted the "baffle" I made. The carpet is rolled underneath on the outside edges (the surface that will sit on the storage compartment) and rolled underneath the cut out as well (the surface that the sub will mount to). Will I be able to get a proper seal like that or is it best I trim back the carpet as much as possible. Also... my sub is recessed and not clean match up like yours in the picture (although I don't mind since it gives me more clearance although this is why I carpeted the inside). Thanks for the guidance so far and anything else you think I am doing wrong or would help by all means chime in. I really should be posting pictures but I have to find my camera. Perhaps after I finish glassing I will take a picture of my lid and the box. Thanks
Couple of things. Could be too late, but if you use a 1/4" roundover bit in a router to edge the topside of the baffle for the sub hole and the outside, it will make the baffle look more presentable. Also the fist sized hole can be filled with something else (such as a piece of MDF cut to fit) before you resin it. You will have a bit of resin pooling in the bottom, that's OK. It will add mass and result in less vibration. Your sub is recessed more than mine because my Zenas has a very tall surround that allows the cone to move further. This allows the output of the driver to be as much as three times that of yours. (My Xmax is almost three times greater than the P2.) Don't worry too much about trimming the carpet back. It will seal quite well when compressed, that is, depending on the type of carpet you used. I didn't trim mine when I finally carpeted it.
Well.. I finished my project... at least for now. Some things that I don't like about it... I couldn't get it to seal completely. I feel air coming out in a few spots. The lid does not sit flat and seal due to the sub being mounted underneath it. I don't have nearly as much sound as I did before when I had it in the the premade box. There is a big difference from not having a sub in there at all... however I don't think I am using the sub even close to it's potential... The good... it looks nice... my seat is fully functional... and the sub is totally hidden when I want it to be. I suppose if I am up for it later on I can always open it back up and improve on my baffle so it seals better... as well as add more fiberglass. I had a really hard time negotiating with the seat belt mount as well as all the other nuts and bolts sticking out in the compartment. Getting the cloth to stick to the top parts was very difficult for me as well. I figure it is not half bad considering it was my first time playing with fiberglass. I didn't coat mine like you did... but I stuffed it with poly fill. I figure someone who is not an audio expert or inspecting my work will not think all that much... but anyone who is a music enthusiast will notice something is missing. I figure I am my biggest critic so that is why it bugs me a little. Any the case... I will try to post a pic of the finished work later as well as some of my truck. Thanks much for everyone's input... at least I know the answer to my question now... I can do it now... but it does not sound nearly as good as before... but now I don't have to shuffle an irritating box around.
Yes, work on the baffle. It has to be tight, also how did you fasten the baffle in place? A couple little leaks will make a big difference. I welded 10 nuts to the underside of the baffle mounting plate to allow me to use 1/4-20 bolts to hold everything down. Was the enclosure you had before ported? If so, I can give you some pointers on how to build your new baffle with a port that could tune your driver/enclosure combo to a desired frequency. I have a program called Bassbox Pro that allows me to "see" in graph form what a combo will sound like. Just send me a message when you get time to mess with it again.
The baffle didn't sit 100% flush because I think I need to take a rotary tool or something like you suggested so I could recess the underside of the baffle to compensate for the lip on the sub. The box is still not air tight do to my poor fiberglass job. I could always go back and add more glass in the future to work on that. This was the first time I played with it. I know that is leaking because I can feel air coming up through a hole that the seat belt retainers in the middle of the 2 jump seats mounts to. I will give it a rest for now and once I get the drive to mess with it again it is only a matter of a bunch of sheet metal screws that are holding the baffle down. Thanks for all the help thus far. The enclosure I had before was not ported... so the goal of the task ahead is simple enough... but actually getting all the leaky points may be a challenge