89 Subwoofer project

[Eliw]

I've begun my subwoofer project. I am putting a 10" Pioneer sub in a "as small as necessary" box that will replace the rear seats arm rest. Thats right folks, a subwoofer in the middle of the back seat .

The woofer is a pioneer 10" 800 watt max sub.
The amp will be a pioneer 800W mono amp.

I would normaly go with an amp that has twice the maximum power of the sub, but I dont want the sub to bother neighbors. I want the sub for the bass of the music. For my enjoyment. I dont plan on using it to set off alarms as I drive by.

Also, the reciever is a JVC KD-ar5000 and the speakers in the car are Kenwoods. They have decent bass, but being that I'm a guitar, bass and drum player and I like music to have nice deep bass. Hence, the reason for the sub.
I've already planned for the bass box to extend past the center support bar in the trunk by going around it.

Comments? suggestions? Thanks in advance for the responces.

 

[SuperHO]

The only problem that I can forsee is that center support. It runs directly behind the armrest. But I do have a thought on that.....


Cut the center support out, as I don't think it does anything but hold up the back seat, mount your sub as close to the rear seat as possible (put a trim ring on the front of the sub to keep occupants from pushing the seat into the sub) with the sub facing the opening you put behind the armrest by cutting the leather piece out. Once you have your enclosure mounted, run down to Home Depot and buy a flimsy piece of sheet metal. It ain't gotta be thick. Then either rivet, or if you have the tools weld, that piece of sheet metal into that rather large opening behind the back seat. That serves a two-fold purpose.....keeps occupants of the back seat from ending up in the trunk the first time you flat-foot the gas pedal....and it stiffens up the car. If you don't believe me on the stiffening part, have you ever put together a Wal-Mart bookshelf? remember that pathetic piece of cardboard that goes over the back of the shelf? remember how flimsy the shelf was before you put that cardboard on there?

Oh yeah, and if you REALLY wanna be spiffy, build a little port in front of the sub so that the only place that sound is going is through the hole behind the armrest. Something of a bandpass enclosure, ya know?

I have a lot of really great ideas...it's just too bad I can't word em the way I imagine em.........

 

[Eliw]

Question.... do you mean the support that holds the armrest, or the one that is part of the car/trunk? I plan on cutting out the metal that held the armrest, and building a split box that will go past the support beam in the trunk. The sub, according to my plan, would end up facing into the car. The box itself is going to be sealed.

 

[shoteen95]

ooo, this sounds neat...

sometime during the summer i'm going to retire the stock jbl box and 8 incher i have in mine..

i was thinking of a custom MDF box to go in place of the stocker...but with the correct volume to accomodate a nice, healthy 10 incher...

i can't wait to see the progress..i just love this stereo stuff.

 

[Eliw]

I wish the my 89 would have come with a subwoofer like the later SHO's did. I would have just put it there. Then again...

I originally planned on replacing the 89 rear deck compartment and with some metal work, putting the sub there. I lost all wanting to do that when I installed my rear STB. The only other place to put the sub? In the rear seat. Also, since I always tend to be carrying around guitar equipment, I need all the space in the trunk. Thats the reason for the small box sub. The Pioneer sub I've got only needs a maximum of 1 cubic foot.
Though because of space limitations the box wont be perfectly cubed, I think it will work.

 

[SASHO91]

Hey matt. how is that working out for ya??
I was going to put a 10 in my last box.... but.... i wasnt thinking straight, and cut a 10'' hole, instead of 9 3/4''..... so i had to trash that box...
but now i have another one that i want to put an 8'' in....
how does it sound? i know your running a bigger amp as well, but what are your lows, mids, and highs like???

hijacker <<<<< me.... :laugh_ti:

the arm rest's, are they the same size in the GII's, as the GI's?

 

[Eliw]

Im not sure about the size. Ive only seen the ones in the GenI's. My sho and my friends sho

 

[SuperHO]

Question.... do you mean the support that holds the armrest, or the one that is part of the car/trunk? I plan on cutting out the metal that held the armrest, and building a split box that will go past the support beam in the trunk. The sub, according to my plan, would end up facing into the car. The box itself is going to be sealed.

naaah...I mean that flimsy lil aluminum chunk that runs up and down in the trunk, lookin like it's doin somethin.

But now that I see your new post, I see what you're talking about.....the box is going to be where the armrest is now....i thee, thaid the blind man.

I'd still cut out that center support, just so you can extend the enclosure out about 5", add just enough airspace to make it work right, ya know?

 

[Eliw]

Exactly! I want to have the woofer and the box sort of flush with the rest of the seat. I'm guessing that Im going to have to do something about that "support" in the trunk.

Annybody know if that bar in the trunk that is in the middle of the seat actually do something?

 

[SuperHO]

It gives me somewhere to ground my amp and cap to...


In all reailiy, I'm pretty sure it's there to keep back seat passengers from ending up in the trunk when the secondaries open. If you ever notice on cars that have fold down seats, the backs of the seats are reinforced. if you ever look at the back of a SHO seat, it looks like it'd fold in if you breathed heavy on it.

 

[HoustinoJillian]

why dont you just cut the support off leaving about an inch or 2 extra, then bend that up/down, and screw it into the top and bottom of the box, thereby keeping some stiffness, and also having the box mounted where you want it? as long as you don't use the back seat too heavily i think it'd be fine.

 

[SuperHO]

that's kinda what I said up there somewhere......ain't it?

 

[SuperHO]

Didn't I already say that up yonder somewheres? At least, I think I did.........

 

[kickeralpine]

i cut all the suports behide the seat they dont do anything go for it cut them out i got 4 12s in my trunk

 

[Eliw]

My thing is that not only do I have to cut out that bar in the trunk, I have to cut some support off of the seat to fit the box in the first place. I already cut some off but since I had to go out, I didnt get to finish.

 

[HoustinoJillian]

4 12's? jeezie creezie man whatever for?

 

[SuperHO]

Don't ask him nothin...he can't hear you anyway.....

 

[Eliw]

I have cut out the support beam, removed the supports in the seat for the armrest and the sub box is only missing the vinyl, and to be mounted in the car. The bux will serve to support the seat a little and I have sat in the middle of the back seat without the support. No change what so ever. By the end of next week, my sub will be mounted and I will beging to run the cables in prep for the installation of the amp and capacitor in mid june. I will keep it updated and try to get pics. Thanks for all the responses.

 

[Eliw]

Update:

I am now 96% done with the speaker through back seat setup. While I decided against making the sub visible in the back seat, I do have to modify the seat a little more to let the sub go farther into the seat. My only set backs at the moment are: My cars battery is old and needs replacement, I have to find a way to permanently tie down the sub box, and find a way to hold down the amp on the other side (held down on one side only).

Other than that, the system sounds exactly like I wanted it. Deep and bassy on the inside, and quiet on the outside. The kicker is that while everybody else on my block has stupid loud cars, that are prone to getting stolen, and have equally as loud rattles accompaning the bass, my SHO is rattle-less. No rattles whatsoever.

On a side note, my girl, who could care less about anything I do with my car, like my setup so much that now shes always asking me to leave the Bass boost remote **** all the way up. Before the sub, she would tell me to lower the volume cause "its too loud" Now shes asking for it to be loud.

I will add pics soon and want to thank all those who chimed in on this thread and drop good pieces of advice. Thanks again.