Sub Under Seat Install Beginning

[Rescu2000]

Well, I'm finally gonna do it. I'm going to put my two 8" soundstream subs underneath the front seats. I've measured, run it through my box software, and checked it all out. It'll work with no problems.

First off, know that my seats are not power seats. This gives me plenty of room. I've cut the carpet and padding away and this gave about another inch or more in depth. (Be careful if you do this, there is a group of wires behind the front cross brace.)

I'll be taking pictures as I go along and I'll post them. I'm still working out whether I want to Fiberglass them or whether I am going to build a wooden enclosure. I'll decide tomorrow when I go to buy the materials. I know that there were several people insterested in this so I'll post more as I go along. For now though, I have at least 0.33 cubic feet of space each with a wood box. This is almost perfect.

More to come...
Rescu2000
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[hyde]

sounds like an interesting project, looking forward to it.

 

[Rescu2000]

I have the first box fabbed up and the first layer of Fiberglass laid down. I'll be finishing up the rest of the fiberglass tonight and I'll be able to test the sound tomorrow. The top of the box ended up being 12" X 12". A person could get a 10" sub in there if they flush mounted it the lid. I have a 10" kicker I may try in it tomorrow. I offset the 8" to the center of the vehicle a little to make it miss the linkage on the seat adjuster (It's not flush mounted). Making the top of the box even with the seat rails was perfect for allowing the seat to slide without contacting anything. I don't know if I'll have room for a grill, but it really won't need one where it is. I'm wondering if a 10" solobaric will fit. It would be close...
Rescu2000

I'll post pics as soon as I find a place to upload them.

 

[Rescu2000]

Pics are up

Pics are up of the fist layer of fiberglass. They are on my CarDomain page at
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2512777/1

Rescu2000

 

[Rescu2000]

First sub is in. Sounds very good! I wanted to build one complete box and hear it before I started the second one, in case I didn't like it. My advice for anyone else is do both at the same time. It'll save tons of time. My airspace is around .3 cubic feet. A person could get more space under there by going further towards the rear seat. Just be careful to not block the seat hold-down bolts. I had to notch the lid a little in the front to clear the front center foot. It's flush against the cross brace in the front ( I rerouted some wires there to allow this. I'm not certain I wouldn't do it out of 1/2" MDF in the future. I bought the 3/4" because I'm going to use the rest of the sheet for the removable box for 2 12" subs in the back.
Rescu2000

 

[Rescu2000]

1:30 am and the install is complete. I'll put all of the pics up on my cardomain site tomorrow. It sounds pretty good. Bass is pretty tight on it. I'll still drop 1 or 2 removable 12's in the back. I have to precision power amps that I'll install next. Right now I'm running a scosche (sp?) amp. The PPI's are sitting on a shelf waiting. One is a 600 watt (for the 12") and the other is a 4X50 for the door speakers and 2 8" subs under the seat. Both are Black (which was rare... everyone bought the white ones)

 

[Rescu2000]

Final Pics are up.
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2512777/1

Let me know what you guys think.

 

[06Liberty]

man that looks really good. seems like alot of work, but the end result is probably worth it. how does it sound?

 

[Rescu2000]

Sounds really good. It's not "2 12 subs on 1000watts good" but it is great for not losing any space in the hatch. Outside the vehicle, you can tell it has subs in it. Inside and it moves your pant legs with the bass coming from under the seat. I'll probably notice more difference when I get my other equipment installed. I'm looking for some good 6 1/2's for the door. I also have some competition quality amps I'm installing and an Audio Control crossover.

As for the work, it could be done with a lot less work if someone wanted. Make it out of 1/2" MDF instead of 3/4" and make the box 12" long by 7" wide and slanted from 6 1/2 inches in the back to 7 1/2" in the front and you can make the whole thing out of MDF. No expensive fiberglass. This gives about 0.28 cu ft which is still enough for an 8" sub. You'd still have to cut the carpt, but it's not noticable if you do it right.

Rescu2000

 

[sqliberty]

Looks like it worked out well for you. I was surprised you got them in there and I bet they sound good. If you are looking for a good set of front speakers check out Diamond Audio. I compete in Sould Quality in MECA with my set up. Check out my set up if you have time on the carstereo.com link in my sig

 

[Rescu2000]

Yeah, I finished tweaking the system today. They sound REALLY good. I also put the 10" kicker back in there for a while. Together they sound great. I hate the sound of the factory speakers now I do have an old set of woven carbon fiber Altec Lansing components (these were close to $500 a pair new). I have 2 sets. They are 5 1/2", but I have em so I'm going to try two things. First, I'm going to hook the factories up to my amp instead of the head unit and see if going through my crossover and a clean amp helps. If that doesn't greatly improve things I'll drop in the altecs. If I'm still not happy, I'll definitely have some more questions about those diamonds. :-k
Rescu2000

Oh, and I'd seen your jeep before as I was Jeep surfin on car domain. Very nice setup. I'll never show mine. I just like a good audio system. I don't want to lose my ability to go trail riding, camping, etc either. That's why the larger sub box will be easily removable. My amp rack will take up the bottom 4 inches of the rear hatch. This isn't a big deal considering that the seats don't lay flat anyways. This makes the hatch about level with the front of the seats when lying down.

As far as fitting them in, I honestly believe that I could physically fit a solobaric 8 or a 10" in there, if it's enough airspace. I'll run those through my software and see what it says...

 

[carterdea]

if I show a guy your pictures and this thread, do you think he will be able to recreate something like this in my jeep?

 

[onebigbagostupid]

cool

thats one of the coolest things I've seen done for sound, all my tuner friends are jealous. Props.

 

[Rescu2000]

if I show a guy your pictures and this thread, do you think he will be able to recreate something like this in my jeep?

If he's ever laid fiberglass he can definitly do this. If he's never laid fiberglass, but is good at building stuff, he can probably still do it. This took some time, but it is not extremely "skill oriented".

The most important thing is the carpet. Cut or no cut. I do have a few spots that aren't covered well now. I could have done a better job in cutting it. I wasn't overly concerned because I planned on replacing it anyway. There was a hole in the back floor board from the previous owner (looked like a fire had burnt a hole in it). I would recommend not cutting for 8's and cutting if you plan on putting a 10" in. If you really don't mind cutting, then do it for the 8's also. The area you are likely to cut too much is in the front and back corner over the hump.
The front driver's side deosn't have to be cut all the way to the brace because of the wires under there. You can do it and make it look great though.

Rescu2000

Thanks for the compliments too guys.

 

[carterdea]

awesome. Thanks, it looks great. I hope to do that soon!

 

[carterdea]

ok, my guy said that I should put subs in the back seats, not the front. Can this be done?

 

[Rescu2000]

Possibly. You just can't fold the seats down if you do.

 

[carterdea]

cool. Has anyone done this before?

 

[hyde]

who is your guy? does he know your jeep? Front is really a good spot if you want to get the bass. It will rumble your ass if you really have to put something in the rear, then just get it in the cargo area. I wouldn't put anything under rear seat.
Let us know what you go with

 

[carterdea]

he's a friend of mine. He says I can't fit anything under the back seats. But I might try the front.


Is there a way I can put one in the trunk and not take up any trunk space? Or at least minimal trunk space?

thanks a ton! you guys rock!