Loudest SPL/SQL sealed set up

[Triticum Agricolam]

Are your current subs facing up? I am assuming they are since you only have 11" of height available. Is 11" the max? It would be nice to have your subs firing forward or firing back.

How is your current box positioned in your trunk? A picture might be helpful.

[Inetba]

Go to any high quality audio shop and ask of they have a "term lab" microphone.

If they have a term lab microphone then they will have a CD that does frequency sweeps. Tell them "I am trying to find the resonant frequency of my car at the head rest."

What they will do is put a microphone on your head rest. Connect the microphone to a laptop, and then find out which frequency is loudest. This will ONLY work if your subs are currently in a sealed box. Since your current subs are in a sealed box, this will work.

The shop SHOULD charge you less than $50 an hour. My local shop charges me $25 each time I drop by but I have a good relationship with the shop.

Once you know the resonant frequency of your vehicle, you can tune your box to that frequency and get a HUGE SPL peak. Or you can tune your box below that and kind of smooth out the peaks.

[akuma4u]

Are your current subs facing up? I am assuming they are since you only have 11" of height available. Is 11" the max? It would be nice to have your subs firing forward or firing back.

How is your current box positioned in your trunk? A picture might be helpful.

I posted several links to pics (i guess this forum doesnt allow actual pics to be posted and only links) to my current set up.. Its on the 2nd page.

And yes, 11 is the max height i can have so subs are facing up. If i remove the spare tire, then i can have the subs firing back but then the depth has to be reduced and that makes the overall volume less... the problem with this car is 2 things:

1) bass trap type trunk , very small opening only when seats are down for bass to get into cabin - resulting in poor cabin game and almost NO cabin gain or bass when seats are up

2) the mouth or opening of the trunk is so small that its almost impossible to get a decent size box in there or to get 12s to face to the rear.

I MAY have to downgrade to 10s cuz then i can keep the 11 height and have them facing rear. BUT ive always been a 12 inch man my entire life so , im a lil skeptical of moving down to 10s.. in my mind i just feel 10s wont deliver the impact and depth a 12 could.

[Inetba]

It's all about the enclosure. I mean, you can't expect a 6.5" woofer to sound like an 18, but a ten and twelve are so similar that a ten can definitely get down like a 12. Assuming you get the right enclosure and quality parts. However you are right that visually it won't look as impressive. Ultimately it is your car so you need to go with what YOU want. If a ten will leave you unsatisfied then do not buy a ten. Trust me, we won't judge.

Before you downgrade, make SURE you get a sealed box and find the resonant frequency of your car first.

Also I'll see if I can post those pictures of your car on this thread for everyone else to see.

[Inetba]

[Inetba]

[Triticum Agricolam]

OK here is what I came up with for you. For subs I suggest either the SSA ICON 12, the Ascendant Audio Chaos 12, or the Alpine SWR-12D2. Assuming the published specs are accurate, all three subs should have nearly identical performance. I can't speak as to which one of those three is the "best", they should all be really good, however you will probably get what you pay for.

For box specs, its the same for all three, I'd go with 1.5 cubes tuned to 32 hz with 30 sq in of port area. That's on the smaller side for a single 12" but the decreased box volume will lessen the peak in output around tuning and will provide a little more mechanical power handling. Here is what the frequency response looks like both without (green) and with (red) approximated cabin gain:

Here is a box with those specs that will fit your space:

I can provide you with additional information on the design if you think its something you would like to use.

I really wish there was a way to mount the sub on the same face as the port opening, since firing subs up in a trunk car is significantly less than ideal, but with your space restrictions there just isn't any way to do it. You don't really have enough space for two ported 10"s, so I think the single 12" is your best way to go.

[Joe X]

Here is another suggestion based on two Fi X 10" subwoofers, power to 1500W RMS and the possibility of firing the port and subs forwards or backwards:

Theoretical in-car response:

[Triticum Agricolam]

Lol, when ever I say something won't fit JoeX finds a way!

Since JoeX's design allows you to have the subs on the same face as the port, I'd prefer it over my recommendations. Those two FI X10's should have VERY similar frequency response to the stuff I was suggesting anyway.

[akuma4u]

OK here is what I came up with for you. For subs I suggest either the SSA ICON 12, the Ascendant Audio Chaos 12, or the Alpine SWR-12D2. Assuming the published specs are accurate, all three subs should have nearly identical performance. I can't speak as to which one of those three is the "best", they should all be really good, however you will probably get what you pay for.

For box specs, its the same for all three, I'd go with 1.5 cubes tuned to 32 hz with 30 sq in of port area. That's on the smaller side for a single 12" but the decreased box volume will lessen the peak in output around tuning and will provide a little more mechanical power handling. Here is what the frequency response looks like both without (green) and with (red) approximated cabin gain:

Here is a box with those specs that will fit your space:

I can provide you with additional information on the design if you think its something you would like to use.

I really wish there was a way to mount the sub on the same face as the port opening, since firing subs up in a trunk car is significantly less than ideal, but with your space restrictions there just isn't any way to do it. You don't really have enough space for two ported 10"s, so I think the single 12" is your best way to go.

this box design is exactly what i was thinking in my mind. Thanks for the help and time u put into this for me.

only thing im a little confused on , you said that it should be 1.5 cubes but the dimensions you used (17 3/8 x 11 x 30.5) were giving me like 2.25 cubes..