8s?

[Ceezer 10+ year member]

I have a Subaru Ouback Sport and need to move the box of 10s to make room in the cargo area for, well, cargo. I was going to try fabricating some corner boxes but worry about my puppy chewing on it or putting a claw through a sub, so I was trying to think of alternatives. I would need them out of the cargo area, and there's no way to put them under the rear seat, so it would have to be forward of the rear seat.

I have to see what kind of clearance there is when the rear-bottom cushion is flipped up for the rear seats to fold down, but one location I'm considering is the center console between the front seats. I'm wondering if I could remove it and fabricate an enclosure in it's place. It's hard to explain, but it's all in my head.

My questions are:

1) Someone told me not to mix sub sizes because it created some sort of interference. How steadfast is this theory? Are 8s too close in size to the 6.5s in my front doors that might not go well together?

2) How feasible are 8s as an option? I'm going to do some figuring on paper to see if I can squeeze 2 of them in there, but if not, how well could a good single 8" sub perform?

I love my music, but hate losing/giving up the very essence of what motivates me to drive a Subaru wagon.

Click to read more...

 

[Ceezer 10+ year member]

Ok, here's a quick idea of what I was thinking. The red lines are where I would cut the existing console (ensuring clearance is left for the e-brake) and add on in fiberglass. I have it protruding into the rear seat area just because I'm not sure of air space requirements or if there is 8+ inches of space between the front seat backs. In the following two pictures, though, you can see with the rear bottom cushion folded forward that there's not that much room.

So now it's back to the drawing board. I'm still interested in thoughts on the two questions in my first post but now I have a few more:

3) What if I, instead, faced an 8 forward and built the enclosure upward, somewhat following the contour of the front seats? Would it be functional? Would it look stupid?

4) I opted against a spare well enclosure (although, if I run out of alternatives then I'll have to reconsider) because I worried the floor would muffle/distort the sound. What if I went with under-seat boxes, would I have the same problem? Is there a way to block of the heater ports closer to the front of the car so that if I removed the channeling to the rear seats it wouldn't sit there blowing hot air under the carpet?

5) Has anyone settled for 6.5s as a space-saving method? Would there be enough bottom end? If I filled all 4 doors with 6.5" drivers (I'd have to modify the rears as they only accommodate shallow 4s right now), would it sound ok with them not being sealed?

Ok, that should be all for now. I know I'm probably not making much sense as I'm all over the place, and I apologize for that (if you think any of this is weird, you should see the ideas I had for filling in the rear quarter windows with enclosures, and one that wrapped up around to the roof so that the subs were firing downward, leaving the floor free for cargo). I'm just trying to find a balance between utility and audio delight.

 

[Louisiana_CRX 5,000+ posts]

You'd be better off with a down firing sub...so the sub can load...I have a set of awesome 6.5 subs....

 

[SQChevy 10+ year member]

When people talk about mixing sub sizes, you have to be careful as to whether or not it is going to work. If you have them trying to play the same frequencies you going to get some strange sounds as they will react slightly differently. Now, if you use crossovers to split up the frequencies then you should be alright. I have a 6.5" drivers, 8" sub and 2 15" subs and they sound fantastic, but you have to make sure to get the tuning right. You would be surprised what you can often fit inside of consoles for vehicles. I've had a 1 cuft box in the front console of my truck (before it was replaced) We had to remove the rear a/c, but at that point there was no rear seating so it was ok. There is always some room to put the sub, you just have to get creative sometimes. I have a sealed 8" facing the driver and passenger (in the front console facing back of truck) You don't get quite the loading but it still sounds really good. Try playing around with a few ideas. Make sure you give them enough room, if you can only get 1 in then it would still work fairly well.

 

[Ceezer 10+ year member]

Do you have any pictures of your console? I don't see any in your gallery and I'd be interested in seeing them.

 

[SQChevy 10+ year member]

Try looking now. I should have my pics in my gallery now.

 

[James Bang 5,000+ posts]

grill

 

[Ceezer 10+ year member]

grill

Was this to me? Could you elaborate some, please? I think I know what you mean by 'grill', but it's unclear as to which location you're referring to.

 

[James Bang 5,000+ posts]

your pup can't chew or claw the sub if it had a 'grill' on it... depending on the grill you use.

 

[01 S 10 10+ year member]

build a custom center console and extend it to meet your rear seat, then you will have room to down fire 2 8"s sealed probably

 

[James Bang 5,000+ posts]

or he could get a grill and not worry about building a custom center console.

Just press the easy button.

 

[HawaiianBassHed 10+ year member]

I just had an idea. not sure if anyone has ever done it. but built the traditional in floor tire well sub box. then have a raised 2" or so 3/4" false floor above it held up by dowels so all sides are open and extend it almost the entire span of the stock 1/4" carpeted masonite and carpet it as well //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

I'm sure the design could be expanded upon and figure on vehicle specific transfer function coupling to get the desired volume/sound per install //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[Ceezer 10+ year member]

build a custom center console and extend it to meet your rear seat, then you will have room to down fire 2 8"s sealed probably

The thing about that is when I flip the bottom cushion up to lay the seats down then I won't have the clearance for a console in the back. I can lay the seats down without flipping the bottom cushion up but they don't lay flat, more like at a 30 degree angle. It's not that much of an issue, though, so I guess a console isn't completely out of the question.

or he could get a grill and not worry about building a custom center console.
Just press the easy button.

I'm not keeping the existing box, so something has to be fabricated anyway. If I went with a spare well enclosure then I was going to go with a single 12. If I do a corner box (which is where a grill would come in handy) then I'd most likely use a single 10. I was looking at 8s forward of the cargo area because I don't think there's anywhere to stuff a 10 or 12.

 

[tcguy85 10+ year member]

You'd be better off with a down firing sub...so the sub can load...I have a set of awesome 6.5 subs....

i like the down firing idea.