Just ordered 2 E8 v.3 D4 ... need some advice!

[jasonv31]

I ordered two of the new Sundown E8 v.3 D4's need some advice on the best sub box placement and design. Please bear with me this is my first post on SMD! :-)

I have a 1999 Isuzu amigo, custom vortec v6/4l60e drive train out of a 2004 chevy blazer (swap done by me) and I have the shop (new one being built!) and mostly the skills and equipment to build my own box, have built several sealed ones over the years and worked at a furniture factory and custom cabinet shop years ago. (OK enough rambling)

This is the rear area of my amigo ...

As you can see my space is limited. Well... limited because I want to keep as much of the floor area as possible, one of the reasons I went with the 8" and not a bigger sub. Also the sundown 8" fits in a small area even ported. For this 8" they recommend a ported box so I have a few possible configurations based on my truck. (The E8 v.3 D4's has a recommended 0.5 to 0.75 ported box tuned to 35hz.)

1- I could do two enclosures on each side, both firing towards each other. Essentially I could gut the plastic panels on each side that "hide" the roll bars on each side. The area behind there could soak up some of the box area and the rest could intrude minimally into the cargo area. It would be more work than the next option and I dont have a problem with that, but would it sound good? For this direction would the port be best on the front or firing up into the cabin ? I say this because although the ports and drivers would be the width of the cargo area apart (Likely a bit less than that once the boxes are in) would the opposing subs firing at each other impact the sound ? (SPL and SQ)

2- I could build one large enclosure (with two or one chamber) in a down firing configuration that would as thin a possible (maybe 6-10 inches) and after complete would have a false floor appearance. I could leave a space towards the front of the box (portion that is closest to the rear seat back) that the sub port could exit, leaving space for the length of the port. I ran this very roughly in a box calculator and it is possible.

So after all this what do you think ??? Please ask questions ... I know I may have left some things out or unclear.... lol

[jasonv31]

I wanted to add... if you have any other ideas on enclosure design even outside of the ones I listed please sound off!! I want to hopefully build this once ... at least once until I get some new subs ! LOL ...

[soBASED]

A smaller box with more power using an aero port should save you space. I got a v3 in a .66^ft tuned to 35hz on 520 watts and sounds great!

[Thumpersplbassx]

Subs up port back would work too. 2 cubes net tuned to 35hz

[stroupe79]

first I will just go off your ideas

1. with the 2 enclosures on each side, it is just more of a pain in the ass than it's probably worth

2. most of the enclosures I see either have the port facing the rear tailgate or up toward the ceiling(sometimes they aim toward rear quarter) toward the tailgate would be ideal

I would recommend you build a single enclosure with 1 port in the center of the box between the subs and have everything facing the rear, now if your planning on using the cargo area and are worried about damaging the subs (reason for downfiring enclosure) you could still do down firing subs and port to the rear..

maybe somebody else has a better idea

[jasonv31]

I was looking at downfiring for three reasons, to minimize damage (I run a soft top in the summer, throw shit back there etc), so if i want to haul something small I still can, I was even looking at putting a rubber suv mat on top of the box, and finally to make everything more secure and more hidden. I even plan on lag bolting the box through the floor to make damn near impossible to steal:-)

As far as the box goes I've narrowed it to a folded horn design (similar to some by decware) or a ported design down firing subs with port/s firing to the rear leaving a several inch space between the box and door for the port/s or horn.

The horn will be much more complicated but much nicer, however even with a 8 I may not have enough space for how I want it mounted in the rear. I will post back what I come up with.. got my E8v3's in the other day, also picked up a used sundown 1000d. Its gonna be sweet! Thanks everyone for the comments! J