16 replies to this topic

[Sutty01]

ok i have some kenwood speakers all round 2 90watts up front and 2 120watts at the back

and i cant get enought bass out of this atall is there eny ways i can get a gooq sound qwality but acheving my goal ?

Also i need a CD player does this mean i have to have a new head unit

[Madmax]

you dont nessescarily need to buy a new head unit, first check if the head unit you have is 'CD changer compatible' if it is then you can just get an autochanger fitted instead. It wont skip as much compared to a normal head unit either.

if its not compatible, then yes you will need to invest in a new CD player

as for the bass, from what i can tell you'll probably be wanting to put a small sub and amp in there, perhaps an 8'' or 10''

james

[Dan]

I was thinking of sticking an 8" kicker square sub in the middle of the parcel shelf to deal with this on my GFs Mini. Are they any good?

[Pavel]

Dan you would need a free-air sub or you would have to make an enclosure under the parcel shelf (this must be airtight etc.). I would suggest you have a look around for some 8" free-air subs (they have an infinate baffle).

Another option which will give VERY good quality but might cost a bit more is running 2 Genesis 6x9 subs (note NOT 6x9 speakers, these are subs just of that shape), and these you can put under the rear seat and since you cant see under the seat, making sealed enclosures for them out of mdf would be quite easy.

[Dan]

Well, I've checked their webby, and it says the minimum sealed box size is only like 9 1/2 litres. I think i could make up a crate for that which would easily hide in the top of the boot without taking up loads of room. I'm not looking for loads of flesh melting, climax inducing base just decent reinforcement. So I think two subs may be a little much for what I need.

Free air subs sound interesting though (and easier, I am very lazy in real life), how do they work and how do they perform? What is an infinate baffle?

One more question, if I did have it under the rear screen would the vibration weaken the seal and make it leak? Anyone have experience of this?

[Pavel]

You'd need to have SPL competition level wattage going through that sub to kill the seal lol :]

Pretty sure the windscreen would crack before the seal goes...

Free air subs have an infinite baffle meaning the volume of air that they require to perform is infinite (which is why they are used free air... no enclosure so they have infinite air supply). They aren't THE BEST subs out there, but a nice free-air sub will sound A LOT better than a great enclosure-type sub mounted without an enclosure.

I suggest you go the free-air way since it is considerably easier and you're not going for a competiion install anyway... Might even save some dough since you don't have to build an enclosure...

Another option you have is to buy an already boxed sub (10 inch ported would probably be the best option) and jsut chuck it in the boot if you have a boot liner thingie made from MDF... This will provide quite nice sound (ported ones will hit low frequencies to give you that rumble ;]) and means you can remove it whenever you want some boot space!

Then there's things like alpine's powered subs which again require boot space (can be disconnected in about 20 seconds though). The advantage is a nice attractive and quite small package of amp + sub, all ready to go, just feed a few wires to it, and off you go. Supposedly sounds quite nice (uses a 6" woofer, through a ported enclosure so will be quite good as a supplement but don't expect competition figures from it)

You have quite a few options as you can see

[TimS]

there not much cnahce of that unless uv got a very old rubber seal, the rubber will also work like a damper too so i wouldnt be to worried about it

[Dan]

OK, there's loads for me to look into there. Thanks a lot guys! :grin:

Sorry Sutty01, just realised I may have hijacked your post! DOH :nugget:

[Madmax]

i have another suggestion. amp up some good quality 6x9's. yes yes i know 6x9's! but they will get cheap bass under amplification.

subs in a minis parcel shelf are never a good idea, the shelf itself isnt sealed

go for a small box in the boot, it'll sound soooo much better

j

[TimS]

the shelf doesnt need to be sealed as the only subs that are going to be used are free air.

iv heard some infinity 6x9's reference series amped from a Vibe Back Box 2 amp and there was no need for a sub, sounded like it wqas running one anyway

[rob mini]

if you could manage to seal all the boot area, could it be used as a enclosure for a very good 10 inch sub on the rear shelf?

rob

[Madmax]

ive seen it done at a couple of shows ive been to, i think it could work well, however i havent heard the results, technically it should be alright

[Dan]

Wouldn't the fuel tank being in the boot be a problem, even with a free air sub? The sound will travel at a different speed through the fuel surely and you'll end up with echo's and distorted frequencies? And the boot is massive ( in terms of a single sub box) it's got to be around a hundred litres. Would a single 10" need that much volume?

[Madmax]

i think you would probably only take that into consideration for a proper demonstration ICE installation. Sound travels faster through water than it does air, so its not going to muffle it particularly.

10" inch subs dont need much more than a couple of cubic feet of air to work properly, a whole boot would probably dullen the punch.

[miniman5]

Neil (sutty01) broke something in his foot last night i carried him half way up his road and it saounded SOOOOOOOo pain full any way i dont think he will be on here for a few days or what ever just thought id let you know :sad: