Sub question

stricha

It is simple to ditch it. Just unhook it and take it out. You'd have to run a power wire and a ground to the trunk for the amp, but that is simple as well. I had the bose system in my Z. Wasn't enough for me. I then got a HU and a 12 and it was plenty. I had the Zenclosure 12. It sat in the car nicely. It looked stock and the way the bass hit off of the back window, it sounded even better. If you have NAV, I would say get a LOC, but if you do not, get a HU and imo, the Zenclosure 12..

In fact, I have both of them left for sale (HU and sub box) when I sold my Z. They are waiting for a home and that home could be yours. Amazing setup I had and it comes wit everything you need to install a HU in a Z. PM me if interested

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A car is only as good as it's driver

dts3

In high school I had a small side "business" making sub boxes for people. No fiberglass (I graduated before I had the time to get that advanced) but some of them were pretty creative (this is back when recessed neon lights and lexan windows was what everyone wanted). I want to add that it's more important than most people realize to match the box volume to the sub parameters. When I made them I would calculate out the ideal volume from the sub's specs, depending on whether they wanted a ported or sealed box, and I tuned the port dimensions as well. You may or may not be able to get close to ideal volume by picking your sub and enclosure separately. Also, ported enclosures are easier to get wrong. Are you looking for raw bass, or do you care about sound quality as well? For a sub inside a hatch with no separate trunk you may want to consider sound quality as well.

Just keep that in mind.

CrimsonTide

Hey Guys - Thank -you ~

I do not have Nav, which I guess is a good thing! I like tight bass, but I want it to kick like a rented mule~! Don't care for the noisy boom boom that is distorted.
dts3 - sound quality is very important to me. It just seems that the car setup with the hatch should be pretty easy to make some serious bass. I agree that you need to match the box volume to the sub. You bring up a good question though - ported vs. sealed. What is everyone else running?
My last setup was in a 99 two door Tahoe and I had two Rockford Fosgate 12" subs in a sealed box and it hit pretty good.
Sorry to drag this out, but one more question. With these new amps, is there still a need for a capacitor?

Appreciate you guys~!
CT

dts3

That's kind of why I was trying to poke at what you're after. Basically, IF you can get a correctly spec'd enclosure, you can get more kick from going ported. The trade-offs are that the subs don't reproduce the music as crisply, and you need a larger enclosure. I haven't had our spare tire out to get a good look at the space down there, but I would guess that if you want to run a 12" (or maybe even a 10") that there is not enough room down there to properly spec a ported enclosure. Many people don't look for ultimate sound quality in subs, which is understandable if you are going to be dropping the money for really good component (separate) mid-range and tweeters.

dts3

I haven't run subs in a while, but my last set up (in a Ford Explorer) was 2 JL Audio 12" and one Kicker 15". The amps were JL Audio and Alpine, but I don't remember the specs. I could set off car alarms I've always loved JL Audio. They aren't the absolute greatest out there, but they pack a lot of bang for the buck.


Capacitors are a gimmick and do not help. All you are doing is creating a larger electrical load by putting in a big cap that needs to be charged. The only REAL solution to the problem that capacitors are trying to solve is with a larger alternator. Sometimes additional batteries can help, depending on how you introduce them into the system (you can't just throw them in wired up in parallel, because again, you'll only be using current to charge a large device in the system)... but caps are a waste of money. Hopefully I'm not starting any drama with that one.

Going back to the room in spare tire well, I don't think you can throw enough subwoofer down there in that space to need an amp that will really tax our cars