Sub stage redesign: thinking out loud

[wannabang]

I've had the car a year, along with the current sub stage, but spring break made me realize that I don't have as much room as I thought for long trips with luggage and passengers. For those familiar with my current set up, I built my own floor to allow me access to the spare tire and some storage space while keep the stock floor height. Here's a picture.

 

 

So my new plan is to create two separate boxes for two Sundown SA-8s, one in each. These boxes will be on either side of the car, with the sub facing back, and fit on top of the side storage boxes only. Its inner side will be angled to allow enough room for the 8" sub to be mounted at the top and allow for the center of the floor to fold to the sides (cut into fourths), to allow me access to the spare. I'm on vacation, so I'm unable to do particular measuring, and I'll sell my current set up before I begin. These are simply preliminary thoughts. I have a rough sketch of what the box will look like.

 

 

It will most likely be sealed, since it's going to be hard to keep it relatively small, below the headrests, and have enough volume for the SA-8. This box is around .62 cu.ft. What do y'all think? I haven't yet figured out where/how to mount the amp.

[Hollywood1]

I think your design looks nice. You should be able to sand/shape the corners for a smooth look. If you remove the stock sub, but leave the grill in place (using black cloth to block the view into the space) you could mount your amp in that space and maintain ventilation. I haven't used those subs before, but I can recommend the JL Audio HD series amps, they run very cool and are extremely compact. I'm not sure if you can make space for a 1 cu ft enclosure, but with the JL Audio 8W7, you would only need one. This sub absolutely pounds!! I have personally replaced a pair of 10W0 subs each getting 200 watts with the 8W7, and using the same amp the 8 inch was producing noticeably more SPL and bass.

[wannabang]

I used to own all JL stuff, but decided that my systems wouldn't be made of mass-produced items, with the exception of the amp, since apparently those are expensive to have handmade.. I already have my amp, and 1 cube would be hard-pressed. I'll probably leave the stock sub, and hopefully replace it with a midbass driver. Thanks!

[Hollywood1]

Well...to each his own. I installed car audio professionally for 6 years. As far as mass-produced, I definitely have my preferences, Morel components for midbass drivers, JL Audio for subs, AudioControl for factory integration. The HD series amps from JL are simply amazing. They consistently make more power than advertised and the crossovers are super accurate (in the HDs). In my previous 2008 MKX I removed the factory sub and put in a custom fiberglass box with a JL 8W3V3 (box was .85 cu ft), Morel Elate 6.5 components front and 5.25 rear and integrated with an AudioControl LC7i. That system was amazing, crystal clear, tight mid bass and thunderous sub bass, I miss it.

Do you have any experience with fiberglass? You could really open up your custom solutions with some glass work. As far as running a midbass driver in the rear, I don't think those frequencies would travel far enough from the rear without getting sucked up by seats, carpet and reflections to be very audible.

Good luck on whichever route you decide to take, let me know if I can help with anything.

[wannabang]

I've never tried fiberglass. Always thought about it, but never wanted to sink money into something I could potentially fail at and never try again. LOL JL is a fantastic company, expensive in their higher models, but great nonetheless. I went into a buying local, organic, and from small business phase, nothing against JL. I have a pioneer deck, too, and owned a 13W3 and a 500/1 that I've since passed onto my brother. The one thing I will miss about my JL amp is its efficiency. My current Cadence doesn't live up to it.

[wannabang]

If I extend the top to the top of the seats, and port it with 1 3" aeroport, 30" long (with bend), I get a box about .6 cu.ft. I'll map that out in WinISD. I checked out the SA-10 as well, but don't have enough room to port that. I'm also wondering if the SD series would be better sealed than the SA series. I'll talk to some guys on an audio forum about that.