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sub placement in car? (1 Viewer)

Jonathan T

Second Unit
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Nov 6, 2002
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Much effort is expended by us to find the correct placement for our subs in our home stereo and theater setups. Most people just stick subs where it's convenient, I want to find the best place to put my sub yet still have trunk space. I plan on using 2 subs, either in 1 or 2 enclosures, I just do not know which way the subs should face. Should they face toward the cabin, out toward the back of the car, or toward each other (naturally not directly facing each other). Also, I will need to vent the cabin to the trunk, correct?
 

Brad_Harper

Stunt Coordinator
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Jul 5, 2001
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132
Yes you will need to vent the trunk into the cabin. Most of the time existing speaker holes will do the trick. The best place for subs is facing the rearward about 2 inches from the rear of the trunk. Unfortunately this is the worst place for storage of other items. I have two 10s in one enclosure and face them rearward, but have them located against the rear seat. I get plenty of SPL and still have room for the golf clubs.
 

Jonathan T

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Nov 6, 2002
Messages
360
Brad, I'm sure you know that most car trunks have a small cavity between the wheel wells and the tail lights in the trunk. The cavity is large enough to store at least part of a sub enclosure. Would hiding 1 sub in each cavity whil angeling them toward the rear of the car produce quality sound? It would be advantagous for me to place the subs there as I would be able to make use of the folding seats.
 

Brad_Harper

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Jul 5, 2001
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Mounting the subs in near the wheel wells is a great idea. I have seen lots of installs take that route. Just be sure to make the enclosures large enough for whatever subs you choose.
 

Scott L

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Feb 29, 2000
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It'll definitely be functional and bass is bass, but everything I've read says about 2" from the back facing the rear is the best place sonically (sounds better to my ears too). But as noted above it is the WORST possible place to put a sub when you want to haul something in the trunk. :frowning: So your space looks like a decent compromise.

I also keep the little door open in the rear seat for venting, the difference in bass response is night and day even with rear speaker holes.
 

Tom Tubbiola

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Dec 3, 2001
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Jonathan,

Just a thought but if that photo is of your car and you are planning to use 2 subs (one in either wheel well) wouldn't facing them towards each other like that cause serious phase issues?
 

Jonathan T

Second Unit
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Nov 6, 2002
Messages
360
No, it's not my car. The phase problem did occur to me and to counter it, I decided I would just offset the subs at different angles from the rear quater pannels.
 

Dave Milne

Supporting Actor
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Jul 2, 2001
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No. THis won't cause problems. The woofs are in phase by definition (if wired correctly). The will just "pressurize" the trunk - and car - twice as much as a single driver. Now, if they were incorrectly wired out of phase, then yes, you would suffer huge cancellation.

And the difference in path lengths to the listener is completely negligible at sub frequencies. A path length difference of 5+ feet would be necessary to have any deleterious effects.
 

StephenHa

Second Unit
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Sep 28, 2003
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364
if you look at most competition enclosures you'll see the subs mostly face each other. IN the car the space is so small it doesn't matter a whole lot where it's placed. In a home the walls reverberateand deflect sound, not many smooth flat surfaces in a car
 

Mathis

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Jun 29, 2004
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Buy Dynabel DY9410 sub, it needs only 15 liter closed box. Its faced upwards. Sounds great!
 

brk12

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benjamin klavor
I have a 1988 ford mustang convertable and there is not much room in the trunk because of the top, so do you think it will affect the sound too much if it is not 2 inches away from the back?
 

Clinton McClure

Rocket Science Department
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Clint
I have found more of a sonic difference between sealed and ported enclosures than between facing the enclosure forward, backward or up.

Personally, the best response I experienced was from a single 10" in a 1' ported enclosure on the passenger side of the trunk against the back seat facing the driver side. I was set up for SPL competition and measured 140.1 dB.

My current setup includes a single 12" in a sealed enclosure against the back seat facing the back of the trunk area.

Benjamin - In your case, I doubt it will affect the sound that much.
 

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