Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion The Water Cooler Dumb car audio question

Nick, I've had all different combinations over the years. Four infinite baffle 8", two isobaric 10", two sealed 10", four sealed 10", one ported 10", and two sealed 12". By FAR my favorite setup was the two sealed 10's. I found the 12's too sloppy and boomy. Great for 80's rap, but that's about it. The sealed 10's sounded good with just about anything.

As Alan stated, the interior pressurizes very easily. The key is having enough amplification for the REST of the system....

Thanks. That helps....

Now I just need to find a good priced box between 0.70 and 1.30 CuFt for the 10" sub... I could make one (I even have enough 3/4" MDF just sitting in my workshop, but honestly, I am up to my neck in projects at home that I am seriously considering buying one.

There is a difference with car audio subs. If you want SQ, you look for a sub with those characteristics. If you want to rattle your neighbor’s windows, you look for that. Seal boxes tend to be more musical as well. Thinking of boxes, careful design and fabrication is a MUST. They need to be rigid with the appropriate amount of volume for the sub you buy. Each sub will come with cubic feet requirements. And then of course power is another consideration. Amp design is vastly different. I wouldn’t go cheap with the amp.

My last install was around four years ago, and I have not kept up on car audio since then. When I did install the system (03 Dodge Quad Cab P-up), I used two, 10” Soundstream Van Gough subs and built my box out of 3/4” MDF with internal braising. I went through several different amps and ended up with two, 500 watt Phoenix Gold mono’s. The combination was very good. I think you can find the subs for under $150 each now and the amps can range anywhere from $200 to $400. I also opted for an Optima Yellow Top deep cycle battery and a capacitor for each channel. Some folks tell you to run a new alternator, but I disagree with that theory. Don’t forget running good wire and connectors. #2 depending on the amp current draw, or possibly #4.

You should also consider Dyno-matt everwhere you can. Just that alone can make a car's audio come to life.

Jeezus, Mike, is there anything you don't Over Kill?

2x$150 a sub +$300 for the amp = $600 + wiring + enclosure = $750

Remember, I just want to add a little bass. I don't want to go with the Walmart Durabrand or whatever, but I don't want to pay for JL either. Good information though Mike. Thanks!

I've done some looking into sub boxes, and locally I can only find crap, or expensive (overpriced) stuff.. I may just have to make one myself after all. SO if I have a range of 0.7 - 1.3 CuFt, does the larger box provide a deeper bass enxtension?

Nick,

Yes, other things being equal, a larger enclosure always provides deeper bass extension, but other factors intrude. I'll try and find the old article on my installation with the dimensions of the box and the driver model. The design was by the late Peter Mitchell, an audio guru and former astro-physicist who used to occasionally write a column for me on car audio. At the time, he was regular contributor to one of the US car audio mags.

Peter supplied the box dimensions and driver number and a kid from Pioneer Canada built it for me, the first person I ever heard use the expression "tricked out".

Alan

You could check with eD and see what they would have to offer. They are from out you way Nick, Newton Ia.

I wonder if there is a way to put all axiom 6.5" woofers and tweeters in a car?

Too funny Rick. I was just watching some of the eD videos on YouTube literally 5 minutes ago (about the time that you posted)...

I am finding all sorts of "guidelines" online about building a box.

Add at least 2 inches to the depth of the actual speaker for movement.
Depth = 0.7 x Width
Height = 1.4 x Width
Add 20% to cubic feet to allow for speaker itself
When in doubt, target the middle of the recommended cubic feet range.
Make sure that the finished sub box will actually fit where it needs to go.

So in my case, if the sub says 0.7 - 1.3 cubic feet, the middle ground is an even 1.0 cubic feet. Add 20% and you get 1.2 cubic feet.

Follow the math above, and a box 10.5" deep, 14.5" wide, and 20" tall yields 1.213 cubic feet.

I don't know if that will fit in my trunk, however. I'll need to mock something up and test fit.

Nick,

When I was doing this stuff as another "hobby", I found this forum helpful. http://forum.elitecaraudio.com/

If you think that was overkill, I better not tell you about the head unit and components I used Tom. But I have heard that I do get carried away from time to time.....