Subwoofers

[Catbox]

These are just some images I have found on the internets.

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[Sad Sack]

Here is another useful site I have been using for years:

Car Alarm, Car Stereo, Mobile Video, and Cruise Control Info for Installers

www.the12volt.com

 

[Catbox]

You also have to figure out if you want a sealed box or a ported box.
How much power you want.

For a quick idea if any of the cheap amps will live up to their "claimed" power ratings, you can do a bit of math for a spot check.
An alternator should put out a max power of 14.4v.
The amp fuse or fuses need to be totaled up, say that 1000w amp only has a pair of 15 amp fuses in it or 30 amps total.
You then multiply the 14.4v by the total amp of protection, in this case 30 amps to get the maximum those power those fuses will let pass.
14.4 * 30 = 432 watts available.
But you also have to factor in the amp efficiency, the newer amps do well around a guess at 80%.
Multiply your 432 * 0.80% and you can see only that 345 max watts will come out of that amp.

Don't trust less expensive ratings on amps.
Use this simple test to see if it will actually be able to pass the power they claim.

For example, I have this little Kicker ZX400.1 that I got for free as it was rain damaged.
I sent it off for repair and now it lives again.
It has a single 40 amp fuse and is rated to push 400 watts at 2 ohms.
14.4*40*.8=460 watts.

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It is currently hooked to a single vintage 12" Kicker Solo-baric sub in a sealed box in the boys VW bug.
He found these subs on Craigslist and the PO had them in these crappy home speaker boxes for $200.
One of the speakers has a tear in the surround, so we got him down to $125 for the pair.
We pulled them out of those cabinets and put the one into a proper sub box for the car.

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The combo does not miss a beat and will pound inside the car.

 

[TotalyHucked]

One thing I've always thought was interesting is how everybody points the subs into the seat. Of all the setups I've had in my NBS trucks, only one of them was firing toward the seat and it sucked. I much prefer a downfire sub setup and have often thought about why they don't make single cab setups rear fire to go against the back wall? It would essentially be the same thing as an under seat, downfiring setup. I'm no audiofile but I much prefer the base bouncing off the floor

 

[Turbo4whl]

Company called Subthump, bought one for my GMT800.

CLICK HERE

Just one more option to check out. They build to fit many vehicles. They just added Square bodies to their line up. They don't stock all the many models. You call or order and they build what you want.

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[Catbox]

With premade boxes, make sure you have the mounting depth you need for the subwoofer you are thinking of using.

Here is a Savard 10 inch RAP series subwoofer and they have listed the necessary mounting depth along with many other pieces of information needed.

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You may find that you have to use a less powerful or a smaller woofer to fit you vehicle needs.
Here is a smaller 6.5 inch woofer that still needs 4-1/8" inside the box for mounting.

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Long ago in 1996 I had a 1982 GMC S-15.
My brother was into car stereo so by proxy, so was I.
I bought a set of PPI Art Series amplifiers and a set of Kicker 8 inch Solo-baric subs.
Being 6'2", my seat was all the way back when I drove my truck.
I had to build my boxes to be able to mount the sub as well as having the required internal space the sub called for.
Tall and narrow boxes for sure, but built like tanks from 3/4" particle board.
I only have some screen shots from a video my buddy took to show them, but you get the idea.
If you really want it to be done, you will figure a way.

The image shows when I was running an Alpine V12 amp before I was able to fully purchase the other PPI.
I still have all this stuff except for the sub boxes.

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[Catbox]

You should also be real with yourself as to how much power you really need.
With the above set up, I could rattle my eyes with speed metal double bass drum.
It was 150 to each channel.

Now a days power is cheap, but good power is not.
My sons VW as an example, he had a 600w sub amp from Kenwood in there.
But it got wet and stopped working.

He installed that little Kicker Zx amp at 4 ohms and 300 watts and it is a far more robust sound now.
If you buy a 1000 watt amp, you will also need to purchase 1000 watt amp wiring and fusing.
It is a slippery slope.

 

[Finkaire]

I have a JBL 8” Subwoofer located under the passenger seat, absolutely love it! I am utilizing the factory dash and corner speakers with the subwoofer.
Everything is plug and play with the Retrosound head and Crutchfield OE wire adapter. The JBL doesn’t draw a lot of amps so I piggybacked onto the cigarette lighter. Not a boom box by any means, however delivers a rich full sound.

 

[everettfirstlove]

I thought about waiting for the new kicker hs12 coming out at the beginning of this year and just getting one or two of those and putting one on each side. I have a retro sound radio with the sub options but I really don’t want to take up to much space or rattle the windows

 

[vr1967]

With premade boxes, make sure you have the mounting depth you need for the subwoofer you are thinking of using.

Here is a Savard 10 inch RAP series subwoofer and they have listed the necessary mounting depth along with many other pieces of information needed.

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You may find that you have to use a less powerful or a smaller woofer to fit you vehicle needs.
Here is a smaller 6.5 inch woofer that still needs 4-1/8" inside the box for mounting.

You must be registered for see images attach

Long ago in 1996 I had a 1982 GMC S-15.
My brother was into car stereo so by proxy, so was I.
I bought a set of PPI Art Series amplifiers and a set of Kicker 8 inch Solo-baric subs.
Being 6'2", my seat was all the way back when I drove my truck.
I had to build my boxes to be able to mount the sub as well as having the required internal space the sub called for.
Tall and narrow boxes for sure, but built like tanks from 3/4" particle board.
I only have some screen shots from a video my buddy took to show them, but you get the idea.
If you really want it to be done, you will figure a way.

The image shows when I was running an Alpine V12 amp before I was able to fully purchase the other PPI.
I still have all this stuff except for the sub boxes.

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Savard is a name I haven’t thought of much since the early 90s. Preferred the Professional Series to the Rap Series. Mr Bill (Savard) still does some audio, as I see him occasionally when I am in Baton Rouge.

 

[TotalyHucked]

Def not much room in these things with a bench. I went buckets/console and used a Sundown 8", built the box to fit inside the bottom of the console and have it downfiring. It'll overpower my exhaust and that's no easy feat!

Also talking about amp/power, I've got a 900W Skar Audio 5-channel, their low end version. Cheap amp, great power and sound though, I've been very impressed. Also has the option for a bass knob. Would be a good budget option even with a behind the seat box if you wanted to amp everything

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[everettfirstlove]

Thanks for all the help. I think I will get the new kicker hideaway 12 for
Under the seat at the beginning of the year. Also need some thought on what the bass boost should be on the retro sound radio. It goes up to +7 but I have it on +2 with kicker 4x10 speakers behind the seat and the 3x3 speakers in the dash corners. I just got them and really don’t want to blow them. Thanks again

 

[everettfirstlove]

One thing I've always thought was interesting is how everybody points the subs into the seat. Of all the setups I've had in my NBS trucks, only one of them was firing toward the seat and it sucked. I much prefer a downfire sub setup and have often thought about why they don't make single cab setups rear fire to go against the back wall? It would essentially be the same thing as an under seat, downfiring setup. I'm no audiofile but I much prefer the base bouncing off the floor

I thought of that, wouldn’t it just vibrate the seat and echo??

 

[TotalyHucked]

I thought of that, wouldn’t it just vibrate the seat and echo??

Not with sound deadening and/or carpet. Had I kept the bench, I was going to build a rear-fire box for this truck. Long ago I had put 2 layers of KilMat and a layer of Noico closed cell foam on the floor and up the back wall of the truck. With that sound deadener there, that would've kept the back wall from rattling/tin-canning had I gone rear-fire.

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[hoagster]

Here's my setup! Enough for me. And that's the question you should define how far do you want to go audio file big bucks in a small cab. Or just a clean good enough for me sounding system.

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