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Installing all my upgrades this weekend. It took me 4 builds, but finished my Sub last night! Pretty damn proud of it for my first sub enclosure build. It has a 10" JL 10tw3-d4 that will be using Rockford Fosgate DSR1 and a JL HD900/5 Amp.
It sounds like you're looking to do something a little more elaborate than what I did, but here's my simple, inexpensive, addition to the stock, factory 8" touch-screen system...
I purchased a Pioneer TS-SWX2502 10" single-sub, sealed speaker/box and the Pioneer GM-D8601 300 watt amp. I tapped the rear speaker leads in the B pillar (for signal and amp turn-on), ran a cable for power, ran the bass boost controller wire back up front, and plugged everything in. For me, it's perfect... and cost only about $200. It's a great compliment to the factory system, and it tucks under the seat nicely (I held the subwoofer enclosure in place with 36" zip ties... so that I can take it out if necessary).
I'm running an older DD 10 in a down firing box that sits between my console and the rear seat. It's been my temporary fix for about a year or so....I wish it was less temporary at this point, but it does the trick.
The plan is to build an under-seat box for, most likely, a single 10. Small box volumes choke the sub's low end performance, even subs designed for small boxes. For example, I had an Image Dynamics 15" IDQ v2 back in the day. ID called for a 1.5 cu ft box for the small box, sealed enclosure. It sounded really good, but lacked low end extension. Moving it to a 3.5 cu ft sealed box, their audiophile-spec box, it came alive. It went from being a good sub to a sub I'd recommend people buy. Not only did the low end REALLY come alive, the sub became more musical. I've seen this happen with a 10w7 as well.
I'll likely use the entire under-seat area for a single sub, so I can milk the box volume for all its worth. I have a 10w6 and 10w7 that I might put down there, but I don't think I'll be able to make them fit. I'll look to thinner subs that I can down-fire if I decide against the 10wX protruding from under the seat.
If you have the know how, I'd recommend using fiberglass where it makes sense. You can cut down on bulk and take advantage of all the nooks and crannies if you use it smartly.
All that is a snap shot into why I haven't built my box yet. It's just more involved than I've had time for, and AK only allows a few months of good building weather...most of which is eaten up with camping/fishing trips.
I haven't had a sealed box in many many years and they are much different than ported. Honestly, I'm not sure if I like them. They get low and they are punchy, but I just don't "feel" them like my old single 10" ported in my old hatchback.
there is a lot more to it than just sealed vs ported. some subs can work in either configuration, some really perform better in one. the key to any sub and box combo is building it to the right specs. you could have a sub that sounds amazing in a sealed box, stick it in a ported enclosure and it can sound like crap.
a current example would be the alpine type-r subs. while they will be just fine in a sealed enclosure you can get a lot more out of them if you build a ported enclosure using the right specs. use the wrong specs and it will sound like garbage.
the only real difference between them, all other things being done right and equal, would be that the ported enclosure can have a slightly higher db output but that is inherent to the design.
I've got a Pioneer 10" Shallow Mount in Pioneer's 10" shallow mount sealed enclosure behind the rear seat. It's being powered by an Alpine MRV-M500 amp pushing about 300W RMS. I've got the bass **** mounted above the gas pedal. It's 100% hidden, and everything (aside from the ****) is held in place with 15 pound outdoor velcro. I prefer it to my last setup that was a Pioneer TS-W254R 10" sub downfiring in an Atrend box under the rear seat. It sounded great, but I hated losing my under seat space. When I eventually do my door speakers I may replace my sub with an under seat setup with 2 10's, but we'll see what happens.
Installing all my upgrades this weekend. It took me 4 builds, but finished my Sub last night! Pretty damn proud of it for my first sub enclosure build. It has a 10" JL 10tw3-d4 that will be using Rockford Fosgate DSR1 and a JL HD900/5 Amp.
09-26-2017, 07:29 PM
