[Mr. Fixit]

Hey all,

I not sure if this post belongs here, or in the wiring area, but here goes..

I am reaching out in hopes that there are some members that are knowledgable about setting up sub woofers in the trunk area, or can direct me to the info. I already own a really nice pair of JBL 12” subs in an enclosure as well as a 800W Kicker amp. I want to remove the subs from the enclosure and mount them in the trunk. I see some set ups with the speakers facing towards the rear and some facing towards the back seat mounted in the trunk.

Any advice is very welcome.

Thank you,

Steve

 

[SOA-Nova]

If the box you want to get rid of was the proper size, then making a new one with the same cubic inches will be fine. If the new box is wider than the old one, then the other dimensions will change. Just remember that the airspace is the space inside the enclosure to where if you measure the height, width, and depth and the enclosure wall thickness is 3/4", then if measuring the outside, you would subtract this thickness off of the three dimensions and then do the math. If it's not a rectangular box, then there are formula's out there for figuring air space.

Here is where I would rather see your subs facing and sealed into the interior instead of firing into the trunk and possibly having trunklid rattles, floor rattles, the filaments in the brake lights possibly breaking, and such. Yes it's nice to show off your subs when you open the trunk but opening the trunk or having the subs fire into the trunk normally reduces the bass heard inside the car which is where you normally will be at listening to things. Since subs move in and out, if they are on the same plane, they should sound better and couple to each other increasing the SPL than if they are firing towards each other or one firing forward and the other one backwards. If you had a hatchback though, then I would suggest firing the subs rearward.

If you think the box is not the right size, then contact JBL and they should be able to tell you what size to run and whether it needs to be a sealed or ported enclosure.

 

[ilikeike]

If you've ever had a subwoofer in your home, You know the direction the sub is pointing and where you are seated has a lot to do with the space it’s in. The sub can be pointed right at you and sound flat, then you could point it away towards a corner on the opposite side of the room and it could sound huge!

If you’re trying to get the most from your sub in the Camaro, you may want to experiment a bit with placement. I’ll bet the best sound won’t be firing directly into the cab.

 

[Duneit]

I have my sub facing upward into the cab area. When sitting without engine running bass is incredible. when driving the exhaust tones cancel the bass and I have to adjust the bass accordingly

 

[Mr. Fixit]

Thank you all for your comments and suggestions thus far. I neglected to make clear that the subs in the enclosure box had been mounted in the trunk facing rearward some timeago prior to recent strip down for paint.

I did experience what Duneit referenced and hated the fact that the base was drowned out by the exhaust tones while driving.
I have gone to great lengths in hopes of preventing this when the car is all back together. I have Dynamat and Dynaliner on the entire floor, underside of the roof, and inner panels of the rear fenders. Also, have dynamat on the interior faces of the doors and have the material to do the entire trunk including the underside of the lid in the same manner. It is very noticeable already just working the various projects in the cab.

I was thinking of having the subs facing the back of the rear seat in an enclosure of the appropriate size on the upper portion of the trunk like SOA-Nova suggested and then making up or using something like the panels offered by Alien Enclosures to create a finished trunk and hide everything other than the amp which could be mounted on the trunk side for easy access.

I like the suggestion of contacting JBL for proper sizing of the enclosure too. If I recall, I had simply purchased the enclosure years ago from Crutchfeld so I am not sure if was ever correct.

Thanks again,

Steve

 

[tp_smith]

On a convertible, there are huge wasted spaces that are on the sides of the top's pump. I was able to install two 8" woofers in this area. I was able to build a sealed enclosure with 3/4" MDF. I wonder of a coupe has the same area that can be utilized.

The speakers are JBL that are very shallow.

 

[The Camaro Guy]

I had a stereo guy come to the my shop and hook up and place my system. First of all I have no sound deadener except on the floor inside the car under the jute. The box with 2 10" Pioneer fits perfect under the inside shelf all the way back in the trunk up against the seat divider.to the rear of trunk with the speakers facing towards the rear of the car. Along side the box I have 2 amps. One for the 4 inside speakers and 1 for the subs. 2200 watts. Trunk is carpeted. He said guys over do the sound deadener when the box takes care of the majority of it. No rattles, the sound is fantastic and have had folks repeat the system to their satisfaction. The car sports a BB/450 HP and flowmaster exhaust and the stereo can, if I was so moved, overpower the engine.

 

[Shannon4570]

Probably not the high end you guys are looking for but I'm pretty happy with it and it sounds good. Back seat driver from Custom Autosound.

 

[ilikeike]

Of course it’s different in every car but why you see most subs facing towards the back or the side of a trunk on a custom install is because it almost always gets a bigger sound as opposed to firing right up against the seat back.
here is just one of many examples or test you can find if interested. subwoifer trunk placment - Google Search

Same on boats, it always sounds better firing into an enclosed bow or compartment as opposed to the cabin

 

[SOA-Nova]

This is what I would prefer with the woofers putting the sound into the interior of the car where you sit driving down the road:

If you do something like the below, the subs are firing into a sealed area once the trunk lid is closed and how would the sound get into the interior where you would be listening to things ?. Yep it might sneak through the U shaped splots for the trunk hinge and "maybe" from the opening by the amps. This is under the assumption the enclosure is sealed. If it's ported through the rear deck, things can be different. Granted bass will go through a lot of barriers, but the less amount of barrier's the louder things will be. Not too many people put a sub in another room and close the door and expect it to sound the best it could if it was in the room you want to listed to it.

Yep, there is no easy one answer to which way they should fire and we will all have an opinion.

Not to be "silly" but sometimes it's not always a simple answer.

Jim

 

[tp_smith]

In my convertible, the woofers are pointing backwards toward the trunk. With the convertible top up, they are pointing to the back window. They are not sealed up like a coupe with the speakers in the trunk. I learned something new about the hardtop models.

 

[DOUG G]

Seen one post here a ways back (years) where there was a speaker grille/hole in the middle of the package tray, might have even had the sub mounted there ? <brain cramp>


Found it...Subwoofer install | Team Camaro Tech (camaros.net)

 

[ilikeike]

Bass sound doesn’t react like and is not directional like a mid or tweet for the best sound from the speaker to your ear. Thats all I’m saying.

 

[Vega$69]

Probably not the high end you guys are looking for but I'm pretty happy with it and it sounds good. Back seat driver from Custom Autosound.

View attachment 270877

Used the same on many builds. Does a great job for the $ and super easy installation