Well in an effort to get better bass impact up front I'm looking to install an 8" Elemental Designs 9kv.2 in a custom sealed fiberglass enclosure where the dash center console once lived.
Here's a pic with the console removed:
I'm going to be relocating the vents, heads up display, and pushing the headunit down to the bottom of the stereo bezel where the 'CD Pocket' lives.
Should be a fun project. The sub will be fed by my Alphasonik @ 300watts RMS.
All depends on what I discover during mockup. I'm going into the project with the thought of aiming the baffle below the surface of the dash, and putting a stealth trim/grill piece over top to make it appear stock.
Make an enclosure. attach to firewall. Drill some holes in the firewall and run it infinite baffle so you get better low end response.
2010 MECA Extreme World champion,
2005 IASCA World Champion Pro 600+
2010 MECA Mike Baylor Sportsmanship Award
2011 MECA SQL Spirit Award
2012 MECA SQL Judge of The Year
2012 IASCA FINALS SQ/INSTALL Judge
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Make an enclosure. attach to firewall. Drill some holes in the firewall and run it infinite baffle so you get better low end response.
While IB does sound fun.. I doubt with that huge metal cross member support I'd be able to touch the firewall.. nor would I want to cut a hole in my firewall connecting the cabin to the engine compartment. lol. Tis a daily driver.
If you can seal off the underside of the dash really well, you could also get away with using a variovent behind the speaker.
2010 MECA Extreme World champion,
2005 IASCA World Champion Pro 600+
2010 MECA Mike Baylor Sportsmanship Award
2011 MECA SQL Spirit Award
2012 MECA SQL Judge of The Year
2012 IASCA FINALS SQ/INSTALL Judge
2012 USACi Japan Finals Judge
Ya that is an idea. If I have the sub on 2 extreme planes I might be able to keep the waves separate enough to fend of cancellation. Should be a pretty good separation if i was to vent on the back or bottom side. Have a source for such vents?
tuning in for this build... i really liked your last one as well.
have you thought about larger midbass drivers up front? I'm not sure exactly what you are looking for, but if it's "impact", a lot of that is from the midbass frequencies
Possibly but I do like the idea of killing 2 birds with 1 stone. If I can take the sub up to about 120hz... that will take alot of weight off my midbasses.
i'm not sure how much you have played around with different frequencies and such, but if you ever want to identify the area that you feel you are lacking, get an amp, plug in a sub or midbass speaker, play your favorite "midbass"y track, and as it's playing, swing the lp filter up. if you pass 120 and it's still not "punching" you like you think it should, then you are focusing on the wrong frequencies.
i know you are not focusing on the elusive "midbass" frequencies, but when you say you want "better bass impact up front" i think the same thing. however, I don't feel it'll come from a sub. but that's just my opinion.
i have watched your build log previously, and can't help but think that the weak link is not the sub, but rather your choice of midbass drivers. i have never heard them, so this is just conjecture, but two drivers with that little cone area can't possibly give the midbass "punch" that you would expect in those frequencies.
i'm not trying to crap all over your thread and idea at all, i think this will be cool if you go through with it. however, before I would go through the relocation of vents, fiberglass, moving radio and ac controls, etc, i would attempt to get more cone area in your midbass region...
Possibly correct. The midbasses I selected while having a smaller cone area (I already owned them) have a long xmax. They can move a bit of air. Being crossed over from 80hz to 450hz gives them a decent sweet spot. I have played with the eq a bit and some tracks have more punch than others... But anything over 80hz @ 18db I can start to localize the sub. About the 120hz crossover point is when I can start to feel in my back the area I'm missing. So maybe it is in the bottom of the midbass range.. But an upfront sub can't hurt.. Will I swap out the midbass for the 6.5" version in the future? Possibly. Lol.
i'm not sure how much you have played around with different frequencies and such, but if you ever want to identify the area that you feel you are lacking, get an amp, plug in a sub or midbass speaker, play your favorite "midbass"y track, and as it's playing, swing the lp filter up. if you pass 120 and it's still not "punching" you like you think it should, then you are focusing on the wrong frequencies.
i know you are not focusing on the elusive "midbass" frequencies, but when you say you want "better bass impact up front" i think the same thing. however, I don't feel it'll come from a sub. but that's just my opinion.
i have watched your build log previously, and can't help but think that the weak link is not the sub, but rather your choice of midbass drivers. i have never heard them, so this is just conjecture, but two drivers with that little cone area can't possibly give the midbass "punch" that you would expect in those frequencies.
i'm not trying to crap all over your thread and idea at all, i think this will be cool if you go through with it. however, before I would go through the relocation of vents, fiberglass, moving radio and ac controls, etc, i would attempt to get more cone area in your midbass region...
just my .02 cents
I agree
No replacement for displacement.
I would never run a sub regardless of location past 90hz-thats getting well into bass/midbass regions where there starts be to some stereo separation.
2010 MECA Extreme World champion,
2005 IASCA World Champion Pro 600+
2010 MECA Mike Baylor Sportsmanship Award
2011 MECA SQL Spirit Award
2012 MECA SQL Judge of The Year
2012 IASCA FINALS SQ/INSTALL Judge
2012 USACi Japan Finals Judge
a solid pair of midbasses up front will make all the difference. the best sounding car i ever heard had a pair of 10s in the doors as midbasses (they played pretty low though). almost was perfect even without a sub running at all.
The SoundSplinter Sub has alot larger motor structure than the IDQ I want to use (have still to find/buy). But I will use this for mockup. If this sub can fit then the IDQ will have no issues!
These pics were taken with no cutting done. Just the vent removed, heads up display removed, and hu moved to bottom of bezel. If I cut some of the dash area in front of the sub (windshield side) the sub will center up alot better.
Any progress is good progress.. Only had a couple hours to work on it this weekend.
It doesn't seem that you can get enough air space for a 10 inch without going towards the firewall. I really like the idea though.
On a side note, I am also on the quest for impact up front and took a different approach to do it. I am using 7" Tang Bands underhung midbasses that will play down to 50hz mounted in ~1.0ft^3 kicks. I had to cut into behind the tires and basically made a sealed enclosure using fiberglass inside the inner fender (have one side complete). If you have mid-basses in the doors and subs in the kicks you would end up with true stereo bass response up front, something that very few people have experinced! Just my .02
Dash Console Sub Project
While IB does sound fun.. I doubt with that huge metal cross member support I'd be able to touch the firewall.. nor would I want to cut a hole in my firewall connecting the cabin to the engine compartment. lol. Tis a daily driver.
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