Subwoofer in front trunk?
 

I just upgraded my head unit and speakers and still arent getting enough bass.....and thinking about adding a sub-woofer.

I'm wondering if I can add a powered sub (Bazooka) and mount it in the front trunk? Will the bass come thru to the passenger area?

I'm not looking to spend $500 or rip up my interior/put a big box in the back seat, etc.

ps-I'll admit to being pretty clueless about car audio.

thanks!
Tim

Tim,

I have a Bazooka tube in the front trunk of my 930. It takes up a bit of space but it sounds fine. I am using a small Fosgate Punch 45 to power it. I agree with you, I also didn`t want to rip up the interior to get some bass. From my understanding the bass frequency is non directional, so it really doesn`t matter where you mount.

Tinker

how about using the A/C hole, if it's empty, and cut a hole into the passenger side under the wood floor board

I have a Kenwood Sub located in my trunk between the camber bar and firewall. The bass is great.

You can't say A/C hole on the board John.;)

I'll agree with JW the "hole" where the AC compressor is would be a great spot to place a small sub and not lose any space. But it would be a custom job and might cost a bit more than a bazooka tube. But I guarantee it would sound better.

I used to be quite into car audio till I got the 911. Now I don't need or want a big system, but to each thier own.

Shawn

I just installed an Infinity BassLink in my '83 that I got on eBay for about $200. It was a bit larger that I anticipated, but worked out good! It is self powered so does not required anything more and it thumps. You might want to look into one?

When I emptied my smugglers box of all that A/C crap I thought " what a great place for a woofer." There is already a hole going to under the passenger floor board, and there are even hoses to the cool air vent in the cabin. It's the perfect spot. It's as good as a Bose design. Now to figure how to get a speaker in there.

Tim,

Check out the link below. Looks like a great way to add more bass without sacrificing room upfront. I plan on using this in my 911 as well. I haven't ever bought amything from these guys, but after browsing their website, it seems as if they know what they are doing. Pretty cool guys as well. I emailed them requesting plans and demensions for the enclosure, and to my suprise, they responded quickly with all the info I needed to build it myslef. They mentioned that all questions are welcome whether I purchase anything or not. I was impressed. Good Luck!

Jimmy

http://www.caraudioinnovations.com/porsche.htm

Hey Tim,
I just instsalled the Infinity Bass Link Powered Sub and I can honestly say this is the way to go. This Sub is very versitile you can add a remote control unit to further customize the sound as you drive. The sound this baby puts out is very clear Bass fully tunable to your type of music and it fits great in the front trunk area with out sacrificing to much space.
My targa top when folded up still fits in my trunk just as an example.

Good Luck.. Jorge (Targa Dude)

First thing I did when I bought my 911 was buy a new head unit (Blau) and speakers all around (PPI). It still sounded like *****.
I was contemplating the whole subwoofer thing.
Fortunately the second thing I did was buy a dual out exhaust.
Guess what?
Now I never listen to the stereo. The exhaust sound so sweet it would be sacrilege to turn on the music (not to mention that you couldn't hear it anyway).

I don't understand how a sound wave in the trunk transfers to the cabin unless thru sympathetic harmonics. Does that make sense?? If so then it should be inefficient/limited in reproducing tunes?? "bell" and "Steve W" are good with this 911 audio art, IMO. Rod Birch at Car Audio Innovations has a big rep in 911 audio...

thanks for the input !
 

I've decided to go with the 2 x 8" sub setup like the one from Car Audio Innovations.

The more I thought about it, the less I wanted to lose trunk space.....and no one (no human anyway) can even think about riding in my backseat anyway.

I'm going to give a run at making my own enclosure modeled after the Car Audio Innovations enclosure. I'm pretty handy (except around the dipstick/oil filler tube).

I'm happily surprised to hear that Rod at CAI would send out the plans/specs. I've sent him an email asking him for assistance as well. Wish me luck ! :)
Tim

on my carerra if the dash wasn't there it'd be open to the trunk, so a sub up front is easily heard. bass is nondirectional but other things vibrate which can make it dirrectional, so up front is an ideal place for a well balanced soundstage.
bass will travel through everything but it has major losses going through metal, the 911 dash's are pretty "soft" and is a minor obstacle for the soundwave. you do want too keep the sub "firing" forward or backward though as you will loose around 6db if it's firing strait up or down (i tested this when designing my setup). i'm using a single 10" with 100 watts and at 70-80mph with the top off you can still feel the bass very well.
hope this helps
bell

Like I said last time we were on this subject I have a Desiegn for a subwoofer in the smugglers hatch. I have one avail. for a 74-89 coupe. I was going to use this for a mold but found it would be easier to start from scratch. The new desiegn will fit targas,cabs,and coupes. I'm about 1/2 way done with the mock-up needed for the mold. For you people who e-mailed me before sorry it's taken so long but I had to find an A/C unit to use then I have to make exact model of the enclosoure to use as a mold. Probably 1to11/2 months to compleation It tkes almost 1 month just to make the mold Each step needs to dry for 5 days. If anyone is interested in the one I have let me know Installation is available in washington.

bell.....most excellent reply........Ron

oops! forgot to add. if you have the means to do the "smugglers hole" enclosure, i would say go for it, takes up very little space and every setup like that that i've heard has sounded great at all volumes (i've done a few like that but MANY years ago). it's not going to be the loudest steup, but the tradeoff of saving space is worth it.
my .03

I had a box made to fit behind the pass seat and had the carpet matched as close as possible. The good thing about this set-up is the box is inside the cabin, but does not have to be drilled in because the seat holds it in place. I can remove it in 10secs for security if needed. I did have the amp mounted in the trunk so the batt cables would be as short as poss. Very happy w/ this system:<p>
<img src=http://www.pelicanparts.com/ultimate/image_uploads/87jlaudiobox2.jpg><br>
<img src=http://www.pelicanparts.com/ultimate/image_uploads/87rearseats2.jpg><br>
<img src=http://www.pelicanparts.com/ultimate/image_uploads/87trunk2.jpg><br>

I checked out rod birch's site which is very informative but since I have kids I needed my rear seats. Car innovations only had a dual sub which covers the floor of both rear seat areas. I was looking for a one sub solution.

I ended up with a hybrid of previous posts. I purchased a self powered infinity basslink as vesnyder and targa dude but did not put it in the trunk. It sits wedged between the front passenger seat and the rear seat much exactly like carnut169. I can detach the cables in seconds for security or if both of my kids are riding. It gives excellent bass, though I haven't tried putting it in the trunk since I need the space for the CD changer, car cover, bra and cab cover.

The controls are within arm distance which is a plus.

Happy motoring!

There should be a way to fit a single 12" or dual 10"s in the trunk firing into the smuggler's box. I've seen it done before. The trick is not to fit the sub in the smuggler's box, but to fabricate a sealed board replacing the smugglers door, and mount the subwoofer firing down (magnet up) on the board firing into the smugglers box. You would also need to find a way to modify the ac system so bass flows into the cabin properly, perhaps remove it all together. The subwoofer you select should properly match the air volume of the trunkspace behind it, perhaps one suited for large enclosures or infinite baffle.

I tried an experiment once, taking a 12" sub and porting the output through the ac/vent ducts behind the dash - that experiment failed miserably. Loss of output and lack of transient response.

Interestingly, the smaller the bass speaker, the larger the necessary air volume behind the speaker. In other words, small woofers require large boxes and vice versa. Back in the olden days of tube amps (and REAL rock and roll) Ampeg made a bass cabinet with a plethora of 4" speakers that sounded great. You don't need 12" or 15" speakers, but they SAVE space. Go figure. Another thing is that bass speakers require some room to develop their sound. Particularly large ones. This is why we can hear those mega-bass stereos better from across the street than the car passengers can. And bass frequencies are hard to muffle or absorb. They cannot effectively be absorbed by a thin wall. Their waves are too long.

So the point is I agree with the above post. I'd like to find a spare smuggler's box door, cut a hole in it for perhaps a 6" or 8" woofer, and this would make a baffle out of the entire trunk. Actually a very high quality 4" speaker (JBLs are probably still the standout favorite among pros, though you have to be careful to stay away from their 'consumer' line for the application I am describing) driven by a clean, high-power amp would probably produce stunning results, believe it or not.

Am I alone in thinking the cutting a few holes in some particle board and glueing carpeting on it and then mounting in the rear footwells of your car so no rear passengers can use it plus blocking the rear travel of the front seat is a lame idea? I know the guy is nice but these seem like a compromise at best. Sort of borders on the Honda crowd with the trunk filled with speakers so its useless. We just removed the AC out of an 87 and those that mentioned before are right, the smugglers box would be the perfect housing for a subwoofer. Most car stereo shop worth anything can quickly build a custom box to fit in there. You can then port it right into the car behind the floor board. Nice idea.

A free air woofer as it is called,uses the air in the trunk for volume but is misleading they really just make the suspension very tight so the woofer won't bottem out not real high sound quality usually. I don't know where you got your info on speaker size but most 8's in the industry use about .36 air space while 10's use .50 and so on. the reason they use to (and still do) use many small speakers is for tightness of bass sound.It all has to do with how much air is moved ie 10 4's = 4 10's thats why alot of people in the industry goe for 3 woofers now, 3 10's = 30", 2 12's = 24" but they use appox same airspace the 10's will be tighter and have more impact according to theory the 12's how ever will play lower. I have a encloser for the smuggler box for a coupe,it is alot louder than you think. Not having to pass through any interior and being in front makes an excellent soundstage It is for sale.

..

Who in this world has short enough legs to fit in your rear seat? I would love to meet them so that I could feel tall for a day. The enclosure does not interfere with seat travel as well. Also, removal of the A/C system isn't a compromise for some? You should visit me here in Atlanta mid summer with 95% humidity and 105 degrees!

Phew, a few things going on here.

1. If you ran a woofer mounted into the top of the smugglers box as infinite baffle then it may sound crappy as both the smugglers box and the trunk are (more or less) vented to the cabin. If you are installing a speaker infinite baffle then unless the front and back wave are well separated you will lose output (and bass is first to go). So without trying it I would estimate it would not sound so good.

2. 4x10" woofers has a cone area of (roughly - not exactly 10" for a start) 4 x (10/2)^2 x pi, or 314sqin. 10x4" woofers has a cone area of 125sqin, or less than 50% of 4x10". Plus to get the same output you need the same cone area and same cone travel (a good 10" woofer should be able to go about 1" peak to peak). Plus you probably need more power to run 10x4" woofers. Thus bigger usually better.

My solution would be.... haven't decided :D, but it isn't easy. Anyone have dimensions of the smugglers box, by the way? I would probably try a sealed 10" woofer (estimating smugglers box will fit a big enough box) firing toward the passengers feet OR out the top.

Bought a subwoofer. Put it on a scale. Grimaced. Considered the additional weight of the particle board, ***** my pants and went with 4 Polk speakers 6x9 rear, round front.

Sounds very good--yeah a subwoofer would be nice, but not when it weighs half of what a (slim asian female) passenger weighs! Not worth it.

Just using those #'s to illistrate a point. When using the three 10's to two 12's it is very close and the sound I described, 10's being
tighter and 12's being lower is true in the right encloser and same type type of encloser ie sealed against sealed.As long as the empedence is right the effincincy of the group of woofers have more to do with how much power to run than size to a point unless your going for db's. As far as making the box to fit in the hatch I dont have the air space in front of me but what I do know is that because of the angles, and the steering I found it easier to take a mold off of the a/c unit which barely fits in there as is.
This is around .4 cu. ft. I sealed this against the fire wall. I then made a baffle board for the 8" woofer mounted this inside the cabin I then cut out the whole for the woofer in the firewall. I then sealed the two parts sandwiching the fire wall between them this gave me appox .36 cu. ft. which is what the JL audio 8W3 requires. I then cut out the footboard and covered it with metal mesh,replace the carpet and it is completly stealth. This woofer has an excursion to rival most 10's. I have children that ride in my back seat need the floor space

i know where superman is going with the 4" concept. i have a good friend that is running 144 4" in EACH of his 2 custom speakers. they're running off of a 125 watt krell amp, all i can say is those things are freaking spooky, they are the most impactfull home speakers i have ever heard.
unfortunately using a 4" in a car can be very limited as far as output goes. more so for the limited power handling of most all 4" speaks.
a "freeair" sub is more than a tight suspenson, although the tight suspension is needed for what it is doing. the airspace in the hood would be the average needed for a single "freeair" 12" woofer, CamB is correct in saying the hood and cabin is vented to each other, you would have to isolate the 2 to get a "freeair" to work properly in our cars (ALOT of work/weight)
i have heard a few 911's that used the "freeair" sub on a board in the hood over the smugglers box, they had bass but they always lack the punch. for usable lowend stick with a box and stay away from "freeair" for a 911.
again......this is my .02:)

Piedogger's setup sounds like exactly the way to go (except you have to cut the firewall - but there have to be some sacrifices). I have a JL 10W6 (which is too big) but can vouch for the quality of the W6 line.

A 10" might fit if you put the baffle board on the floor in the cabin out another few inches (you need to raise the box space to about 0.60cu ft for the 10W6.

Kurt - a quality 8" sub puts out a surprising amount of bass, and probably doesn't weigh so much. We would still be talking 30+ lbs with the enclosure though.

Maybe when you have kids you'll realize that there are some beings that actually fit in those seats!

you can save more weight than that by simply turning the smugglers box into a box. cut a board for the pass footwell for your sub and build it out a little if you need room for the speaker.
then get into the smugglers box (not literally:) )and use an all weather silicone to fill any open welds/holes/whatever (clear is nice for cosmetic reasons) then build a "replacement" panel for the smuglers door. THEN grab a calculator and a tape measure and see how much internal airspace you have in the box (get as close to accurate as you can, if it's off a little don't worry about it) take that airspace of the box then get the airspace of what the sub calls for.
once you have those 2 numbers take the difference and cut yourself some wood that equals that amount. screw those pieces onto the underside of your replacement door (this is where multiple pieces make this easier). now simply take some weatherstriping/rubber/whatever and make a seal for your replacement door. secure the door with either screws (means using screws into metal on your pcar) or fabricate brackets to hold the door tight utilizing the stock door hinge/latch holes.
hope this gives you some insight, it's gotten me thinking of pulling my A/C :)

Bell you have the right idea although it would be really hard to seal the steering column theres also a plastic cover over the steering column. Being that I'm making some of these to sell I have done a lot of research and have found three different hole configurations in the firewall, from no hole to 4"x5" to 5.5"x10". Also what has slowed me down is the cab/targa firewall is much thinner because of the extra bracing in the kick panel it is barely larger than the woofer. In the coupe I made a wooden baffle but
for my cab I had to make a fiberglass mold just bigger than the woofer. In a not quite sealed enviroment a free-air 8 might work OK. Another consideration is that a metal enclosre can "ping" which colors the sound of the bass I find the same problem with fiberglass so I usually put sound deadining on the encloser walls

when i get my stuff pulled from under my hood i'm gonna get in there and see what you mean. i didn't realize the targas and coupes were that different under there.
i've been doing high end audio for 11 years.......we're on the same page:)
learn something new everyday

Its inside the car thats diff. not the smugglers hatch it self

ok i know where you mean. i did think my pass. footwell opening seemed a little small :)
thanks

89911,

That is a pretty good point...hopefully I will stay a batchelor and will not have to worry about rear seat occupancy :)

i am a bachelor, still looking for the right "passenger" for my 911, anyone have sisters?:))
never though about hiding stuff in there, but then i never needed to i guess :)

I'd like tio see some poics of front trunk install. I am considering the same. Please post some if you can

bell I have two sisters

but they aren't lesbians

oh and one is married

nevermind