subwoofer question

[FredX]

hey im new here and actually dont even have my coupe yet but its on order. right now i have an xterra and the size of my subwoofer box isnt a problem in that trunk. i was wondering what the height of the shortest part of the trunk is. if that doesnt make much sense, the box is a bass slammer from circuit city and its 15" tall, 15" deep and 20" wide, does anybody know if this will fit?

[Afflicted]

This will get moved.

I doubt it will fit. I know it will not fit under the deck. I think it is like 11" tall because I can not fit my 12" there looking for 10" now.

[AppleBonker]

Yeah, this should be in the A/V section and will likely get moved shortly. That is not going to fit. The tallest portion of the trunk is in between the 6x9's and may be 15" tall. Under the speakers there's no way there's that much height. What kind of sub is it? It might be about time to start looking for a new box, unfortunately.

[mikegtr06]

i cant fit my 13 inch high box in the trunk.

[zer0id]

son of a... I guess that means im in the market for a new box too, i just made this one too. Damn.

[rjdmmfl1]

son of a... I guess that means im in the market for a new box too, i just made this one too. Damn.

zeroid, hit me up... there's a local car meet here in San Diego every weekalso, I can take you buy my local audio shop and you can talk to my box master... he's a wizard when it comes to this stuff... I think you said you build em also, but its never hurts to compare notes

[zer0id]

talkin about the fusion meet across from Car audio heaven? Yeah but ive only built one box with a port. :P nothin to be proud of really, after looking whats in your trunk. I dont even have an a/c yet lol, doin some research before I decide to get one though.

[AppleBonker]

talkin about the fusion meet across from Car audio heaven? Yeah but ive only built one box with a port. :P nothin to be proud of really, after looking whats in your trunk. I dont even have an a/c yet lol, doin some research before I decide to get one though.

I say get the A/C.

I had the same problem before purchasing this car. I liked the extra space in the trunk of the Accord Coupe, but I liked nearly everything else about the Altima (not to mention an aftermarket stereo in the Accord would be a pain to install). There are ways to get everything to work. If you pick up an A/C, it's either a matter of time or money to install your sub. Doc and I both have completely custom trunks to support our stereos, so nearly anything is possible. I can't speak for Doc, but since I did my trunk myself, it didn't cost that much. It took me forever, but the materials were cheap (oh yeah, this was only like my third subwoofer enclosure build, and the first with fiberglass). The equipment on the other hand...

[rjdmmfl1]

naww, I actually don't go to the fusion meets, I've heard about them though... me and a few buddys may pop up one evening, our meets are at random places around the city... these are the ones set up by Andy (bluebatmobile)

talkin about the fusion meet across from Car audio heaven? Yeah but ive only built one box with a port. :P nothin to be proud of really, after looking whats in your trunk. I dont even have an a/c yet lol, doin some research before I decide to get one though.

[zer0id]

Alright, hopefully i get an A/C then, haha. I wouldnt mind making a fiberglass enclosure to give it that more custom look, does it still hit hard with that type of enclosure?

[AppleBonker]

Alright, hopefully i get an A/C then, haha. I wouldnt mind making a fiberglass enclosure to give it that more custom look, does it still hit hard with that type of enclosure?

Fiberglass enclosures wont hit any less hard than an MDF enclosure. FG is just more difficult to work with and more time consuming to manufacture. It's also slightly harder to port (and tune said port(s) - although Doc's box builder has obviously mastered that aspect).

[zer0id]

Yeah, seems like it from the pictures. I sort of want to do it myself though, since ive done everything that involves installing my stereo myself, annddd im a cheap bastard

[AppleBonker]

Yeah, seems like it from the pictures. I sort of want to do it myself though, since ive done everything that involves installing my stereo myself, annddd im a cheap bastard

Right with you on being cheap. Having a shop do this kind of work is far more expensive, although Doc might be able to help you work something out with his guy since you're in that area (but you'd obviously need to talk to them since I can't speak for either of them). Sealed FG enclosures are far easier to make, but if you're thinking about doing this, google the crap out of it and see how much information you can come up with (I think I read through stuff for about 2 weeks before I started working on mine).

[zer0id]

Alright, i'll probably start reading stuff up when i get back from class.What do you fill your box with for it to keep its shape while applying fiberglass?

[AppleBonker]

Alright, i'll probably start reading stuff up when i get back from class.What do you fill your box with for it to keep its shape while applying fiberglass?

Nothing. You generally glass half the box. Then you do what is called fleecing to get the rest of the box. When you start reading up, you'll probably find pics in step-by-step instructions. I'd list that all out here (or in my FAQ), but I am certainly not an expert on this (nor do I claim to be).

[FredX]

thanks a lot for the information, ive been searching around and found a box with the dimensions of : 12"H x 17"D x 16"W. would this fit?? i cant make a box but at the same time i dont really want the box to almost look added on to the trunk if that makes sense.

on another thought since i already have to downsize from my 12" alpine type-r, i figured i may as well upgrade to a 10" type-x. has anybody had any experience with this? ive been really happy with the type-r so i wanted to stay with alpine. i also need to upgrade my amp but thatll be for another day. i have a 4 gauge wiring kit running my set-up now. anybody know if i have to upgrade this too? i sure would rather not, im lookin at a lot of money tryin to get a sub in that trunk!

[AppleBonker]

I'd have to go and measure since I'm not sure of the dimensions of the trunk exactly. Maybe someone else has a better shot at this. If not, I'll try to check it out tomorrow (not gonna be able to check dimensions tonight).

For the other questions, if you're only running one amp and it's for the sub, 4 AWG should be acceptable (unless you're running a really high-end amp). My previous sub was an Alpine Type-X 12". I was happy with it. It hits pretty hard and will get low. It's a very good sound quality sub in my opinion. I'm sure the 10" is more of the same, although the fall off at the low end is probably a bit more. There are plenty of louder subs out there, but not too many in that price range that will hit as clean. The Type-R is decently musical (but the X is way better). The R can handle a decent amount more power than the sub is rated for, and I don't believe the Type-X will. I guess I didn't really try to push more than the 1000 watts rated to it cause I didn't want to blow it.

Edit: If an upgrade of the amp is in the future, you may want to pick up a 0/1 AWG wiring kit and do that from the beginning. It'll cost you just a bit to do it, but then you wont have to worry about re-running power cables when that time comes (assuming that your current amp will accept a 0/1 AWG input).

[FredX]

ah so with 1 gauge wiring would i need to get a capacitor? i can see all my money disappearing the more posts i ask about this stuff

[rjdmmfl1]

ah so with 1 gauge wiring would i need to get a capacitor? i can see all my money disappearing the more posts i ask about this stuff

our cars come with a 130 amp alternator, so if you're just running this one sub, you shouldn't need to add a capacitor (which doesn't really help your system out anyway)

[zer0id]

My alternator blew in my last car, but the stock a/c alt should be able to handle a simple load of a p400.2? I was dumb and got the 4ohm dvc version of the P3, should of gotten the 2 ohm. And i cant use my 8 gauge wire for this? I wouldnt mind installing all of the 1/0 gauge wire.. but its costly.

[rjdmmfl1]

My alternator blew in my last car, but the stock a/c alt should be able to handle a simple load of a p400.2? I was dumb and got the 4ohm dvc version of the P3, should of gotten the 2 ohm. And i cant use my 8 gauge wire for this? I wouldnt mind installing all of the 1/0 gauge wire.. but its costly.

get it from ebay, its loads cheaper than going through a retail store... however, when you buy off of ebay, you MUST make sure it is 99.99 % Oxygen Free Copper (OFC) something like http://cgi.ebay.com/Stinger-1-...wItem should work well

[zer0id]

jesus christ 100$. I really need a job.My gf pays for half of my stuff, i still owe her for buying my sub Lol.But is it really necessary?

[AppleBonker]

jesus christ 100$. I really need a job.My gf pays for half of my stuff, i still owe her for buying my sub Lol.But is it really necessary?

Yeah, $100 is a lot. That's the exact kit I'm running in my car. Actually, I think I bought two since I needed the cables/fuses anyway. I would agree with Doc that this is probably almost a necessity. I guess if you're ONLY running the P400.2, 4 AWG would suffice. I don't think 8 AWG would be a good idea (there would be a lot of stress on the cables). Like most things in car audio, I'll always believe it's better to save up and do it right the first time than to take a short cut early on and screw something up or have to completely replace it later.

On a side note, I really need to find a gf that'll pay for my stuff. Even half of it would make me rich right now.

[rjdmmfl1]

If you look on ebay, you'll see cheaper kits.... but the quality on them is not that good... it would be hard pressed to find a high strand count, 99.9% OFC 0 gauge amp kit for less that ~100.

jesus christ 100$. I really need a job.My gf pays for half of my stuff, i still owe her for buying my sub Lol.But is it really necessary?

[FredX]

has any one gotten the measurements of the trunk between the two speakers? thats my depending factor and i dont have a car to measure with

and with 1000W rms will i absolutely need 1 gauge wiring? i have 4g right now and if i dont need to spend the money i dont really want to.

can people post up some pictures of non custom boxes in the trunk?

this site has been so helpful i would have been screwed without it!

[FredX]

can anyone assure me that this box, http://www.sonicelectronix.com....html ... will fit? its 12" tall. would this be short enough to fit under the 6x9s or would it have to go in between?

[notaverage]

can anyone assure me that this box, http://www.sonicelectronix.com....html ... will fit? its 12" tall. would this be short enough to fit under the 6x9s or would it have to go in between?

Sometimes, sonicelectronix has the dimensions wrong. Calling to verify wont help either (IMO), cuz they'll just tell you what the website says. However, if you're looking for a sealed box, I know this box will fit:

http://www.sonicelectronix.com....html

[notaverage]

BTW, just to prove my point, the dimensions of the box I am linking below are wrong, and I told sonicelectronix about this, and they still haven't fixed it. The height is 13" and the Depth is 12", they have it vice versa

http://www.sonicelectronix.com....html

[AppleBonker]

has any one gotten the measurements of the trunk between the two speakers? thats my depending factor and i dont have a car to measure with

and with 1000W rms will i absolutely need 1 gauge wiring? i have 4g right now and if i dont need to spend the money i dont really want to.

can people post up some pictures of non custom boxes in the trunk?

this site has been so helpful i would have been screwed without it!

I keep forgetting to check the dimensions. I'll try to do that tomorrow. Sorry

As far as the wiring, if you're even remotely considering upgrading anything at a later point, I'd go with 0/1 AWG. If not, 4 AWG should be ok, as long as you have a decent wiring kit. The cheaper kits might not hold up well enough for that much power draw. What brand are your current power/ground cables?

[FredX]

heres my current wiring kit https://www.sonicelectronix.co....html .. it goes to http://www.sonicelectronix.com....html which makes my 12" type r go boom boom.

but i want more!! id like to get the 10" type X in a ported box

i had the type r in a sealed before i changed boxes to a ported, and may i tell you there was such a difference! it sounded like a different sub! thats why i want the type X