da_bull...pls come to my aid once again

[MiguelACA]

ok, so my oem subwoofer sucks, im having my top replaced on friday and while its off im gonna run some cables into the trunk from the head unit, which has encouraged me to get some custom sound stuff done, heres whats gonna get done, do you think this set up might work out pretty well? ill be using my old Xtreme 500 watt monoblock amp to run the 8'' cvt kicker sub

im gonna get a custom "lid" made to hold an 8'' kicker cvt subwoofer, which will look like this, except with a single 8'' hole


since i want to keep as much space as possible, me and the sound guy came up with this idea...instead of building a box, were gonna cover/seal the area in dynamat, to make a sort of basket, something like this, except there will be no holes to anywhere, the area will be sealed off, i think kicker doesnt recommend for the cvt8 to be ported anyways

[da_bull]

I'm not too sure on the specs of that particular Kicker, but if it calls for being sealed, any air leaks will kill the sound. A free-air woofer may fit the bill a little better. Kicker used to make a free-air woofer. Basically a free-air woofer has a stiffer suspension, letting it control itself, rather than relying on the box for control.

I just did a quick overview at Kicker.com. That looks like a pretty good woofer for the area you have available. Just make sure its sealed REALLY well.

[MiguelACA]

Originally Posted by da_bull

I'm not too sure on the specs of that particular Kicker, but if it calls for being sealed, any air leaks will kill the sound. A free-air woofer may fit the bill a little better. Kicker used to make a free-air woofer. Basically a free-air woofer has a stiffer suspension, letting it control itself, rather than relying on the box for control.

I just did a quick overview at Kicker.com. That looks like a pretty good woofer for the area you have available. Just make sure its sealed REALLY well.

so you think it will work making a "basket" for the sub, as long as everything is sealed off really well right? i have 2 12x15 sheets of fatmat that i was gonna use, but ill order some more if needed

[RoadsterMadness]

Miggs -

HOW are you fitting an 8" diameter Kicker cvr Sub (which is PRECISELY what I have!) into the stock area from the ridiculous OEM 2 1/2 inch sub?? My box, which barely extends past the edges of the sub, encroaches by 3-4 inches into the top's "well" and I need to "clear" the top by pushing it out around the sub-box every time I put it down. Are you going SIDEWAYS?? Otherwise I don't get the dimensions...

I do like the LOOK of the thing you are planning though - and recall, I donlt have a cover on my sub and it jumps just fine!

[RoadsterMadness]

PS - here is a picture again FYI...


By gordonjagman at 2008-03-26

I hope this helps.

[MiguelACA]

Originally Posted by RoadsterMadness

Miggs -

HOW are you fitting an 8" diameter Kicker cvr Sub (which is PRECISELY what I have!) into the stock area from the ridiculous OEM 2 1/2 inch sub?? My box, which barely extends past the edges of the sub, encroaches by 3-4 inches into the top's "well" and I need to "clear" the top by pushing it out around the sub-box every time I put it down. Are you going SIDEWAYS?? Otherwise I don't get the dimensions...

I do like the LOOK of the thing you are planning though - and recall, I donlt have a cover on my sub and it jumps just fine!

ah my boosted friend...i am going with one of the new 8'' Kicker CVT subs they are shallow mounting subs, so they dont have to go in as deep, i have your picture printed and am going to tell the sound guy that i DONT want my lid to look like that, i use the top cover alot and it seems ur sub setup would not alow it to fit rigght...and...wait...what....you have an 8'' sub??? i was always under the impresion you had a 10'' kicker???

well anyways, yes, im going with an 8'' kicker cvt, ill let you know how it thumps when i get it, ill be doing the wiring for it on friday when they remove the top since ill have easy access in there and save $$$ on the amp installation and wont have to worry if theyll fuck up something trying to route wires from the cabin into the trunk....the power and ground are a breeze in these cars...damn i love having the battery in the trunk

i still want to see a picture of whats UNDER your sub dude...i want to know if they sealed off everything like i am going to do, or whether they made a custom box

also, you seem to have the cash...did you never check the options from roadstersound.com ???? it would look way cleaner than what you have now and still have an 8'' sub....im just too poor to blow that kind of cash on a sub box...

[RoadsterMadness]

Originally Posted by MiguelACA

ah my boosted friend...i am going with one of the new 8'' Kicker CVT subs they are shallow mounting subs, so they dont have to go in as deep, i have your picture printed and am going to tell the sound guy that i DONT want my lid to look like that, i use the top cover alot and it seems ur sub setup would not alow it to fit rigght...and...wait...what....you have an 8'' sub??? i was always under the impresion you had a 10'' kicker???

well anyways, yes, im going with an 8'' kicker cvt, ill let you know how it thumps when i get it, ill be doing the wiring for it on friday when they remove the top since ill have easy access in there and save $$$ on the amp installation and wont have to worry if theyll fuck up something trying to route wires from the cabin into the trunk....the power and ground are a breeze in these cars...damn i love having the battery in the trunk

i still want to see a picture of whats UNDER your sub dude...i want to know if they sealed off everything like i am going to do, or whether they made a custom box

also, you seem to have the cash...did you never check the options from roadstersound.com ???? it would look way cleaner than what you have now and still have an 8'' sub....im just too poor to blow that kind of cash on a sub box...

Yes I have an 8" Kicker sub, I would have probably gone Alpine if I could've git a 10". And don;t get me wrong, despite it sticking into the well a little bit, it is NO BIG DEAL at all when you want to put the top down (takes me an extra second, literally - like nothing). It jumps really good after you get it broken in (DON'T forget to go easy for a good 3-4 weeks with the crossover set to protect and the sub amp DOWN or you will screw the pooch! Once I went through that the wrong way (and had to get my solo baric changed to a CvR , I did break it in, the sound place adjusted the Alpine power amp running the sub from the trunk, connected an i-link for direct sub volume control, and I was good to go! My guy DID custom build the sub box for me, and from my recollection when they change out the blown sub 2 days after I got it, there was no special padding or liner in the box. For an 8" single sub (with its own 700 x 1 power amp) it thumps really good, escpeially in conjunction with the screaming mids and highs I have going (note, the pnly speakers I did NOT change are the top tweets, as they were great to my ears and my specialist's ears.

And by "top cover" you mean (i'm forgetting the right term this second, but the leather thing that snaps over the top when it's down to give it a "finished look?? If you mean that, yes, no way will that fit again with the sub box there, but it was a huge pain in the ass and I very rarely used it and I'd much rather have great sound so - there you go. I thought you may have meant a cover for the sub itself, like a screen of some kind. Dunno, looks pretty cool and sounds great (unreal actually for a roadster, barring maybe using the whole trunk for more subs or sounds stuff or rippin out the passenger seat for amps and speakers and other extreme shit. I did speak to Kicker a lot and research stuff last year before the system was adjusted . I looked into a square sub, space requirements, changing the exisiting box, shallow subs tec, but once I ent in to my guy, he just adjusted my amp, told me everything was broken in at last and to take my ride and feel free to crank it at last (I had been upset because it had been making this "flapping" sound, like a piece of rubber being slapped against a counter top when real bassy stuff was played loud. This really only happens in the most extreme situations now, having reached the edge of the envelope for an 8" sub. I must say, I'm pretty happy with it the last year and the sound it crystal clear with and without crunching, distorted music. NICE.

I never heard of but will def check out roadstaersound.com. Curious always! We will discuss things if all goes as planned and I have that other project to work on with lots more room for subs...You've made awesome progress since getting the Z, you should be proud of yourseolf, just don;t freaking hot or get hit by anything or anyone to damage the baby!!

[RoadsterMadness]

OK- I just looked at the roadstersound.c site and yes, some really cool set ups, espcecially the M Roadster with the HUGE JL Audio poewr amp set ups unde rthe trtunk carpeting that are not even visible when done!. Who knows if they need to breathe a bit when going awhile, but sick nontheless! And yes, the housing fo rthe 8" DOES bulge a little bit each way, but less than mine does (it "hugs" the edges of the sub, rather than the extra surface area. Cool site and maybe food for though iu the future, but since mine is done and sounds so good, I'm not gonna mess with it for a good while.

[MiguelACA]

i love the way the roadster look with the top down and covered, looks real clean, so i want, that and i want my setup to look as clean and as OEM as possible

i just ran the wiring for the soon to be sub and amp....FUCK it was a royal pain in the ass....that is one complicated little SOB car! but i got the wiring done right before the sunset!!! i hope I HOPE i didnt mess anything up...i would hate to have to go back and redo something...i should have just paid the guy to install it...no...i dont trust them to rip my car apart...


hey da_bull....you didnt answer me you think my setup with making a sealed dynamat basket enclosure will work?? or do you think i should have some sort of box done?

[da_bull]

Originally Posted by The Messican

hey da_bull....you didnt answer me

Its because I dont like you

As long as you seal the box (i.e. no leaks), it should be ok. If it is a plastic chamber, you will want it as rigid as possible too. If not you will have rattles. If you have the room in the chamber you are talking about, you can line the inside with wood to make it more rigid. The less power your woofer uses to "move" the enclosure, the more sound output you will get too.

[MiguelACA]

Originally Posted by da_bull

Its because I dont like you

As long as you seal the box (i.e. no leaks), it should be ok. If it is a plastic chamber, you will want it as rigid as possible too. If not you will have rattles. If you have the room in the chamber you are talking about, you can line the inside with wood to make it more rigid. The less power your woofer uses to "move" the enclosure, the more sound output you will get too.

aww...that hurt...it really did

well the whole "box" is pretty rigid except the back wall, its really flimsy, so ill have the sound guy reinforce that somehow

thanks alot, i really appreciate your input

[da_bull]

no problem, hope that helps...

Bill

[MiguelACA]

Originally Posted by da_bull

no problem, hope that helps...

Bill

it does, also, one more question...ive always been curious about the poly fill thing they stuff sub boxes with....from what i understand its supposed to make the act as if it were in a bigger box...would it be worth much to try it in mine? how much should i use?

[da_bull]

Calculate the volume you have, compare that to what the woofer requires. If its clsoe dont worry about it. If you do need some, loosely drop small handfuls in the box. Dont go over half of the enclosure. It does help if your box is too small. It fools the speaker into thinking its in a slightly bigger box and it'll play lower frequencies. Maybe by 10% or so. Not a real noticeable difference to the ear, but the woofer will be happier.

Oh yeah, eat more Taco Bell cinnamon twists, that helps...

[MiguelACA]

Originally Posted by da_bull

Calculate the volume you have, compare that to what the woofer requires. If its clsoe dont worry about it. If you do need some, loosely drop small handfuls in the box. Dont go over half of the enclosure. It does help if your box is too small. It fools the speaker into thinking its in a slightly bigger box and it'll play lower frequencies. Maybe by 10% or so. Not a real noticeable difference to the ear, but the woofer will be happier.

Oh yeah, eat more Taco Bell cinnamon twists, that helps...

hmm...well on the kicker website it says for a sealed box u need .4 - 1.8 cubic feet, i think i was under .4, couldnt hurt to try it, if anything i can just take the filling out no? not like i have to glue it or anything in there right? if i have read correctly you just pretty much just drop it in there...not really pack it tight or anything