S13 Hatchback Custom Sub Box

[mrflip69]

Hey, sorry if this is in the wrong area. I looked around and this seemed most appropriate.

First off, this isn't an ad, I'm just simply looking for anybody who's got a custom box--something along the lines of what this guy is selling at TT.net

http://www.twinturbo.net/net/viewmsg.aspx?forum=classified&msg_id=123868

One of those would be great to keep most of the utility in a hatch. If you've got something similar in terms of taking the least amount of space (yeah I know, eliminate the sub if I want room...), please post pics and details. Build yourself? Have someone one-off it for you?

Thanks.

[koukimonster139]

mmm i prefer two 12's in the trunk to rattle the deck lid a lot and for winning nopi

[sxslider]

ive seen a diy sub box in walmart, it fits pretty nicely in the rear sides of the hatch. they have them for 10" and 12" subs. heres a link

http://walmart.scosche-cars.com/products2/?sfID1=105&productID=1278&walmartProductID=3661253

[iitywygms]

http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z161/dabears_rule/SP_A0480.jpgI made my own. The front is 3/4 fiber board and the back is made from fiberglass and shaped to fill in the space behind. I need to clean the front up a bit more but they sound great. I got 3/4 cubic foot of space for each box, with a 10 inch sub. I use to have pics of the build but i lost them somewhere. I am still trying to figure out a good way to secure them.


http://i193.photobucket.com/albums/z161/dabears_rule/SP_A0479.jpg

[driftage240]

that Fuckin clean....good job

[mrflip69]

Sweet!

Just what I was looking for... almost completely stealth too.

Nice work--guess I should learn fiberglassing or just take it to somebody ;)

[GSXRJJordan]

The problem with subs facing transverse like that (as I've said countless times) is that they sounds like ass compared to if you face them up, down, forward or backwards. I'm glad you like how they sound, but from someone who's competed in IASCA SQ, I can immediately hear the difference of an off-axis setup, even with 10s. You'll miss out on the higher freqs of the sub, being so far off-axis, in addition to having some nasty wave cancellation with two subs facing each other.

If you like the look and want a little "bump in the trunk", go ahead and do it - but no one who's interested in fidelity will EVER a] mount a speaker sideways or b] use the skin of the car as part of the enclosure - except maybe the spare tire well, because it's a bit thicker.

[LA_phantom_240]

The problem with subs facing transverse like that (as I've said countless times) is that they sounds like ass compared to if you face them up, down, forward or backwards. I'm glad you like how they sound, but from someone who's competed in IASCA SQ, I can immediately hear the difference of an off-axis setup, even with 10s. You'll miss out on the higher freqs of the sub, being so far off-axis, in addition to having some nasty wave cancellation with two subs facing each other.

If you like the look and want a little "bump in the trunk", go ahead and do it - but no one who's interested in fidelity will EVER a] mount a speaker sideways or b] use the skin of the car as part of the enclosure - except maybe the spare tire well, because it's a bit thicker.

Wave cancellation isn't nearly as great as you stress it would be at such low frequencies, bordering subsonic. In my experience, some subs do very well mounted off axis, though they are definitely few and far between. Usually being mounted off axis works best with low tuned ported boxes with larger, heavier duty subs to get a smoother sound, rather than balls out loudness and accuracy. Also, being in a fastback, it would be best to take that cover off of the hatch (you know, the one on the strings? I forget the actual name) and that will allow the sound waves to resonate a bit better and will result in better sound.

GSXR, what kind of vehicle did you use for IASCA? I know for a first hand that 240's are difficult to use in SQ competitions... or SPL competitions for that matter, because they flex a lot more than I would have expected, though somehow CRX's work very well for SPL.

Also, what kind of equipment were you using?

[GSXRJJordan]

GSXR, what kind of vehicle did you use for IASCA? I know for a first hand that 240's are difficult to use in SQ competitions... or SPL competitions for that matter, because they flex a lot more than I would have expected, though somehow CRX's work very well for SPL.

Also, what kind of equipment were you using?

Lol 240s would NEVER make it - you simply can't get the bass response out of the doors (believe me, I've tried multiple custom enclosures and hacked my doors to bits).

I competed in 2003 with a mkIV VW GTI, with a "budget" setup - eDead throughout, dynamat some places (the big flat spots in the doors), Panasonic mid range head unit (with an Arc Audio EQ), Oz Matrix 180cs 6.5" components up front, CDT HD-series in the back (later upgraded and moved to the front), Tru Technologies prototype 4.100 and 2.100 (later became the "billet series"), and switched between 2 Cerwin Vega IT15s and a Stroker 12". Later the IdMax 10 came out, and I switched to a single one of those. (That and a Arc Audio Foose 4x100 driving only a front stage of custom CDTs and the Idmax in my s13)

IASCA isn't so much about equipment as setup - although my equipment was pretty damn good, it was the know-how of a local (medal-winning) competitor and shop-owner (Devin Oliver @ Audio Advice in La Crescenta) that really showed me the way.

In SQ comps, almost half of the whole judgement is "where does the music sound like it's coming from" - getting a large sound stage out of a car dash, with highs coming off the windshield, mids coming directly to your head, and bass that sounds like it's coming from under the dash is ideal. Another 40% or so is "how does everything sound" - good, tight response and warm, flowing vocals is what everyone wants. The last 10% or so is appearance, but most of the serious competitors changed stuff out so often that no one I talked to spent much time/effort/money on lights, chrome, etc.

Naturally, one of the biggest things we played with was speaker placement - with the sub in a hatchback like the Golf/GTI (and to a lesser extent, the s13), you have a suitable surface on the back to play off of (so you place the woofer as far forward as possible, facing backwards, reverse the phase, and the bass lines up very well with the front sound stage). Bass notes are low freq, thus long wavelength, so you want to give them as much space as possible to form before they hit your ears (near-field bass sucks, in most people's opinion).

Sorry for the thread jack, and I'm sure the OP couldn't care less - but I feel it needs to be noted for future forum browsers who actually care. Oh, and wave cancellation happens with subs too, you just don't notice because there are already so many dips/peaks in most people's bass response.

[Bubbles]

I admittedly know nothing about sound quality or setting up car audio but for me I don't think I could lose the space.

Since there are plenty of people who drift and or daily drive the trunk space is needed for tires, sports gear, groceries, etc....

Is there a nice setup while still maintaining trunk space?

[iitywygms]

The problem with subs facing transverse like that (as I've said countless times) is that they sounds like ass compared to if you face them up, down, forward or backwards. I'm glad you like how they sound, but from someone who's competed in IASCA SQ, I can immediately hear the difference of an off-axis setup, even with 10s. You'll miss out on the higher freqs of the sub, being so far off-axis, in addition to having some nasty wave cancellation with two subs facing each other.

If you like the look and want a little "bump in the trunk", go ahead and do it - but no one who's interested in fidelity will EVER a] mount a speaker sideways or b] use the skin of the car as part of the enclosure - except maybe the spare tire well, because it's a bit thicker.

I know there are better ways of mounting them. All I wanted was some more low end without taking up a bunch of space. You cant tell from the pics but the subs are angled up somewhat. I had to do that to get the correct amount of volume. For sound correction, I have an audio control eql installed. With that I am able to tune the system for decent sound. As for fidelity sound? I have a home system. Cars are made for driving, not fidelity.
I have also been involved in car audio competitions and installation. The shop I worked for had a thunderbird that would make you believe you were on stage with the band.
I agree, using the skin of the car is not a good idea. These are complete boxes that can be pulled out. The back is not attached to the car in any way. I used fiberglass and shaped it to fit the contour of the space behind.

[kingkilburn]

GSXR do you have any pics of a good sub set up for a fastback? I am not concerned about trunk space(I plan on taking the seats out of the back). Would the space where the seats are be a good location for rear facing subs? I have so many questions regarding car audio, I need to do some research and a better paycheck lol.

[BustedS13]

mmm i prefer two 12's in the trunk to rattle the deck lid a lot and for winning nopi

you win. +rep

[s13gold]

^^^^just get 2 10's.

i have 2 10's and its more than enough.

im not here to win NOPI. LOL.

[Tearlessj]

^^^^just get 2 10's.

i have 2 10's and its more than enough.

im not here to win NOPI. LOL.
How about 1 15" RE XXX? I don't know if a ported box for that would fit in the hatch though. lol

[upSLIDEdown]

I used to have a 4.0 cubic foot box ported with a 15" Kove Armageddon. That woofer needed a TON of space. If you build it yourself, you can fit pretty much anything in there. Now I'm just gonna put a single 10 or 12 in it. I was thinking about doing an enclosure on the side, like the ones posted above, but just one. We'll see I guess.

[kanagawa_kouki]

i've been through one 15, two 10's, two 12's ... and out of that i've chosen to just go with one 12... and i love it because two 12's was too much bass for me.. in plus less weight with 1.

[GSXRJJordan]

In my coupe I made a great 1.75ft^3 vented box for my IDmax10 that fit the contour of the rear seat, didn't protrude any further back than the rear shelf, and still had room on the sides for the port to "ventilate" - I'd need measurements (height from the floor to the top of the seats, mostly) to get an idea, but you could probably get away with a similar setup in a fastback.

About removing the seats/etc - You can really put it anywhere you want in this case, and I'd almost suggest putting it as far back as you can facing forwards - again, I'd need height measurements to know if you can do it.

Mounting subs facing up is sometimes a must, but I prefer not to ~ sometimes you get some nasty resonances. Most of the time the reflection is so close that it doesn't matter (like an upwards facing woofer on the hatch glass), but still.

If anyone local to socal wants to piece together a decent system, I'd be more than happy to lend a few afternoons/nights to making a great sounding setup happen in a hatch.

[onefst240]

Fiberglass is fairly easy. I didnt make a box for the 240 but I did make one for a tahoe. 4 Rockford Fosgate 10's and a Rockford 1001bd amp. here is a pic.
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d17/Onefst240/Box.jpg
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d17/Onefst240/Box2.jpg

[firelizard]

x2 on fiberglass being pretty simple.

I had a half-done fiberglass box in the Protege.

The part I like best about it is that you can make a box that is perfectly flat in the front, with MDF, and looks like a flat interior panel, but is actually fitted perfectly into a space in the car, like a spare tire well, or a corner of a trunk behind the wheelhousing.

[CAPTAINNEO]

In my coupe I made a great 1.75ft^3 vented box for my IDmax10 that fit the contour of the rear seat, didn't protrude any further back than the rear shelf, and still had room on the sides for the port to "ventilate" - I'd need measurements (height from the floor to the top of the seats, mostly) to get an idea, but you could probably get away with a similar setup in a fastback.

About removing the seats/etc - You can really put it anywhere you want in this case, and I'd almost suggest putting it as far back as you can facing forwards - again, I'd need height measurements to know if you can do it.

Mounting subs facing up is sometimes a must, but I prefer not to ~ sometimes you get some nasty resonances. Most of the time the reflection is so close that it doesn't matter (like an upwards facing woofer on the hatch glass), but still.

If anyone local to socal wants to piece together a decent system, I'd be more than happy to lend a few afternoons/nights to making a great sounding setup happen in a hatch.

im like 2 blocks away, been thinking about adding a bit more in the 'sounds' department...i may be in touch.

finally installed a head unit a few months ago (no more ipod+portable speaker...), running them to my crappy blown out front speakers. wanna switch out the door speakers, add some rears, and maybe a sub. nothing award winning, just clean sounds...

[kingkilburn]

What would be the advantages/disadvantages of having one big woofer vs more smaller woofers? What would be a good size/combo(for rock music btw) for a car the size of a 240sx fastback? Lastly, what would the optimum angle be for a sub woofer, some thing around 45*?

[eds13]

i just have a 10" truck box that slides around back and forth. if i actually took the time to make one of those.....

[CAPTAINNEO]

i just have a 10" truck box that slides around back and forth. if i actually took the time to make one of those.....

if you dont have any carpet in your trunk, you can use velcro to stick the box to the floor.

[wannabe_drifter]

I have a fastback that I use as a DD as well as for some drift days in the summer. I have a 12" subwoofer that I haven't installed yet.

I go to drift days (tires in the trunk) and I go moutain biking quite a few times (away from home) so I want to keep as much space in the trunk as possible. Since I removed my rear seats I was thinking of making a sub box that would fit on either side where the rear seat was. I would probably make the top and front out of wood and the bottom with fiberglass so it can take all the space available. I would make it so that the top part would be at the same height as the trunk floor an I would put a grill over it. The sub would be facing up. (if it isn't clear enough I could make a little drawing that would show that better)

How good would that be soundwise and placement wise ?

[iitywygms]

In my opinion (some may disagree) the placement of a sub is not real critical. Low frequency sound is not directional. Yes you will get some different sound by placing it in different positions, but unless you are going for a high end competition system, just put it where it works best for you.
A sub will normally be more efficient if you place it in a corner, but in a car this small I doubt it will make a huge difference.
I have seen some systems with the sub mounted underneath the front seat. Talk about ass rumble!

[eulalia]

here is mine

took 2 days to install

sounds really good!!!

best of all i can throw a sweater over it and no one will know its there

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p5/sr20det4mys13/018.jpg

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p5/sr20det4mys13/019.jpg
http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p5/sr20det4mys13/022.jpg

[s13drob]

fukn luv that low pro look. eulalia (http://www.zilvia.net/f/member.php?u=64149) thats how u make good use of space n not get ur car broken into. good thinkin.

[eulalia]

thanks, yeah i went for the low pro look, just because im always in bad areas

[240XTC]

Omggg....now That (eulalia) Is Gansterrr.......clean Like A Virgin, Well Some At Least....lol......do You Have N E Pics Of Wat It Looks Like Underneath??? Any Cutting Of The Bracket/ Screw Hole That Holds The Spare? I Would Imagine It Fits Right In There........thanks!

[eulalia]

i actually dont have pictures of the inside, but there wasnt any cutting of the spare tire section,

just made a box around it and the sub is about 2 inches? higher then the trunk floor

[driftcardotnet]

someone needs to get their car up to this guy in sacramento. he does clean work

[SimpleSexy180]

what material did you use?

[bwake 5]

we need more pictures in this thread!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[s13drob]

thanks, yeah i went for the low pro look, just because im always in bad areas

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