Sub problem; opinions please!
 

Hey all, I took possesion of my 03 Accord EX last Saturday and I can not be more pleased with the car blah blah blah and all of that.:D
The wife loves the car but has put a restriction on me [sm=icon_blah.gif]I can do pretty much whatever I want to the car so long as I dont take up trunk space and I pay for it with the money from my spare job.
So, I have started to work on getting the speakers upgraded and so far I have bought a pair of MB Quart 6.5 components and MB Quart 6x9 two-ways for the rear deck. I also bought a PPI Ax400 amp to run the fronts and rears. However, i can bridge the 2 rear channels to get 150w to the sub. That would allow me to buy another amp for the rears :D

Here is the rub. While I don't want earth shaking bass from 2 12's, i would like to have a good low end sub to handle the bass. Do any of you gents have an idea as to how I can put a sub in? If I went with 1 12' can I have it where the box comes out easily and therefore I can save trunk room? What about a Bazooka Tube? Remember, the overarching factor is that the box has to be removeable.

JL subs are what I had previously and would like to get another. So, any suggestions?

RE: Sub problem; opinions please!
 

If you are familiar with custom installation at all you may be able to get away with mounting it in between your two rear speakers facing up into the car so it's out of the way, then mount the amp to the back of the rear seat or under the passenger seat, the other option is to go with a smaller 8 or 10" sub that's a nice high quality and mount that in the rear deck....Option 3: remove the spare tire and build a custom box in there so you don't loose any trunk space.... just your spare tire...

RE: Sub problem; opinions please!
 

I was planning on mounting the amp on the left hand side (driver side) right in front of where you access the rear bulbs. That way I can easily get to and show off the amp.
I have thought about the spare tire but figured that would be expensive. What about a JL or other 10/12 in a small box that doesnt permanantly mount to anything? Think that would work?

RE: Sub problem; opinions please!
 

I had/have an eclipse 12" in a sealed box that is "loose" in my trunk and that seems to work well for me, it's like 1.5' tall 8" deep (roughly) so it doesn't take a lot of room but still sounds nice if you like a sealed box.... as for the spare tire, if you wanted to mount it there just take a piece of mdf, remove the cardboard like piece that lays into the spare tire area, trace around it, cut it out, make sure it fits then cut a hole for the but to mount in, if you wanted to get fancy you could use some 3M spray glue and a little bit of carpet from an audio store and cover the mdf.... but then you don't have a spare tire unless you just leave it loose in the trunk and most wives aren't too keen on that either....

RE: Sub problem; opinions please!
 

unfortunately theres no staelthbox as of yet for the accords, but you could always flush a sub into one side of the trunk and still keep most of your space

RE: Sub problem; opinions please!
 

Good idea! Ill see what it will cost when i go to the installer next week :)

RE: Sub problem; opinions please!
 

yea i would say flush it to one side and that would still leave you with like 2/3 or your trunk or more

RE: Sub problem; opinions please!
 

See if you can make a compromise with your wife, and take up only the back 6 inches or so of the trunk (meaning the furthest from the trunk opening, up against the back of the back seat where she really doesn't want to reach anyway) - this gives you some space to play with, enough for an amplifier and a custom-built subwoofer enclosure - keep in mind, the back of the back seat is angled, therefore an enclosure that fills that space and is straight up-and-down at the back will be wider at the bottom than at the top without your wife noticing it - there are numerous subwoofer enclosure designs out there on the web & available in books from your local library that can be adapted to suit this space - anything that will fit in the space behind a pickup truck's seats should also fit into this space. Most of these enclosures can be built pretty easily; if you don't have the tools or doubt your skills, most stereo shops will custom-build an enclosure from whatever plans you bring in.
Two things to keep in mind -
a) whatever enclosure you decide to use, you must match it to the subwoofer you use - there's no point to putting in a sub if the sound is crappy due to improper enclosure matching - matching the sub to the enclosure's internalvolume is crucial - luckily, most manufacturers post the necessary information on-line (if not in the subwoofer's description, then in the owner's manual) - sealed enclosures are usually smaller than ported enclosures, and provide tighter bass which most wives find more musical &less offensive-
b) If the enclosure is covered in darker-colored carpet, it will appear smaller than it actually is - and thus will be more appealing to the wife.

RE: Sub problem; opinions please!
 

Thanks for the info. I dont get what you mean about matching though. Could you exand on that a little please?
I am thinking about doing a sub with a box that I can remove if need be. Might need to have the amp mounted to the box but that shouldnt be a problem.
I imagine that I will need to make sure the box I buy is compatible with the sub i buy. Is that what you are saying? Making sure that it has enough sq/ft of air to make sure it sounds good.
Also, dont that make subs in different ohm loads? The amp I am thinking about using would be a PPI A200 and at 2ohms it puts out like 200w bridged.
Thanks
Arex

RE: Sub problem; opinions please!
 

Okay, I hate to be the mean person that talks other people's choices down but JL just isn't cutting it anymore unless you go with the w7 and that takes up too much room. There are some pretty nice subs out there for less money than JL will charge you. I want someone to look at these: They are made by a small company here in washington state and you get a TON of bump for a little bit of size. My friend was running one of the SE series 12s in a small sealed box, not ported with 1500 watts going to it (roughly) and it hit 143 db. Everyone was astounded. He then moved another one in and split the 1500 between the two, also FIBERGLASS IS your friend when you don't have room! A small box can be made in many corners and still get you the 1cuft that you roughly need for most 12s. however I would say skip it, build a nice box and use a couple of these eights. Following is the link to the website:

http://www.reaudio.com/woofers.html

Personally I would go with the se series and get 10s. but that's just me. now for brutality! The XXX 18 weighs something like 68 lbs! its ridiculous! but its also gigantic!!!!