so i got my subs and amp

[MiguelACA]

but since im using my old box, they sound ok i guess, not the hard bass my cousin is getting with the same setup, guess im gonna have to get a bigger box

also, damn bmws and their luxury BS, its hard to get good bass into the cabin without folding down the rear seats...anything i can do to get more bass into the cabin???


and there is a big difference when i cover up the holes on the box, bass sounds deeper or something

[da_bull]

Not really on the bass, Bimmers are designed to keep unwanted low frequency road noise from the cabin. Guess what frequencies they block. The same low frequencies that your sub produces. Sell your car and buy a Neon, they are horrible for blocking noise .

I built a 5th order box and ported it through the ski hole, so it is all forced into the cabin, and my trunk doesnt rattle. The downfall is you cant hear the actually sound quality of the subs, only the port frequencies. This is unfortunate, because I really like the natural sound of my Focals...

[MiguelACA]

my trunk rattles, well, actually its the trunk button, lol

as for the ski hole, i dont have one, just the fold down seats, i noticed that the rear seat backs have like a hard shell, any way i can take that off? maybe replace it with something not as thick to get more bass in?

i also noticed that all of a sudden my other speakers dont sound as loud, or as if some of the speakers just cut off all of a sudden...then all of a sudden they come back on when i change a song or cd..???

[da_bull]

The rear seats are hinged by that hard piece of metal, so there's not much you can do there. I am pretty sure that's what holds the foam of the seat. Not sure what kind of mod you could do there. Unless you want to take the material off the rear and cut like a 10" hole in the middle of each piece of metal.

I cant remember if youve replaced them or not, but if not you are dealing with 12 year old speakers (most bimmer owners dont replace their speakers until one goes bad, unless they're of the younger crowd). You may have one or more going bad. Use your fader and listen to each corner really well.

[MiguelACA]

damn, well that sucks, guess id have to get some big ass 12's or 15's to get decent bass in the cabin. lol

ive only replaced the rear speakers, and i did the whole fader thing, and they all sound fine, then they cut off at random, then come back on

[da_bull]

I would still put my money where the factory speakers lie. They're old like me...

It would only take one to intermittently work to freak out your factory amp/headunit.

[MiguelACA]

yea, ive been thiking about replacing the 2 speakers on the door first, i know that the ones it has right now is like one whole thing with the color matched ring and grill, could i put some aftermarket ones in there without too much cutting or something?

[da_bull]

Oh yeah, I forgot about those. I did one of those, the speaker is attached to the colored grill. They are one unit. I took a Dremel tool and cut off the factory speaker, attached the grill back to the door, and mounted the new speaker to the door itself instead of the panel. Its kind of a pain to do.

[MiguelACA]

yea, i wouldnt mind doing it, of course id probably do it until one day im just bored and really have nopthing to do...lol...i remember seeing someones picture of their door panel with new speakers, but they didnt use the colored grill, think that would be too mcuh of a pain to accomplish

[da_bull]

If you dont mind the different colors (or you could Fusion it to match) you could just slap some new speakers with their own grills in there. You might have to enlarge the holes to like a 4" or 5.25".

[MiguelACA]

i wouldnt mind the colors, as long as its black i might give it a shot next week

as for he subs, i put in my cousins box with the exact same subs and amp that i have, except he has a bigger sealed box....wow...day and night...awesome hard bass even with the seats up...didnt have time to go buy the box, so now i have to wait till monday

[da_bull]

Cool, it sounds like your box dimensions are way off for your subs, and your cousins box is closer to what the subs need.

[MiguelACA]

yea, i thought they were both more or less the same size...damn i was wrong...his box is twice as big as the one im using, ill be going to buy the box as soon as i am out of class tomorrow...ill finally have the boom boom ive been wanting..lol...boom boom...

[da_bull]

A bigger box will lend to lower bass, but as everything else in car audio, there is a trade-off. A bigger box will give lower frequencies, but the speakers wont handle quite as much power. A smaller box controls the speaker better, but wont play as low. I say all this to say this: Just make sure you listen to the subs when playing loud to make sure they arent distorting, thats what kills speakers, not necessarily power. The speakers will tell you (by not sounding quite right) that they arent happy, and need to turn it down a bit. Have fun...

Bill

[MiguelACA]

thanks for in the info, i just got done setting up everything again, wow, im happy with my bass! now i gotta work on my mids and highs, lol...its a never ending feat...thanks for all the help, im sure ill have more questions about other things later, thanks