is the foam worth it? opinions please

[xclusiv3 10+ year member]

i have about a 1inch gap from the top of my box to the bottom of the rear deck...do you think its worth foaming it off...? will the foam in make it that much louder with the consequences of a hefty mess from the process of foaming

in the rear there is a panel behind the box with little gaps around the corners that let air into the trunk and caused little rattle so i stuck a towel in there and no more rattle

heres the panel

box with little gap on top...i can fit my hand in there up to my knuckles

*black thing hanging on subs is a string to let seats down, doesnt harm subs*

and the right side has a gap about this size all the way and on the corners it gets a little bigger

APPRECIATE IT!

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[crow 10+ year member]

You could try picking up some bagged non-adhesive foam weatherstripping from a hardware store. I've used the 1" square stuff to seal gaps and secure wiring runs under my dash. It's not messy and makes a very good seal.

 

[helotaxi 5,000+ posts]

I don't think that the gap would be high on my priority list of things to deal with. I'd venture that if you did seal it off in fact with the subs firing into the back of the seat like they are you'd lose a great deal of output because the subs can't vent into the interior. How much space do you have between the seatbacks and the front of the sub enclosure? How much better does it sound with the seats folded down?

 

[jonesfromindia 10+ year member]

I don't think that the gap would be high on my priority list of things to deal with. I'd venture that if you did seal it off in fact with the subs firing into the back of the seat like they are you'd lose a great deal of output because the subs can't vent into the interior. How much space do you have between the seatbacks and the front of the sub enclosure? How much better does it sound with the seats folded down?

that is a great point. the subs should be facing the trunk and fold down your smaller seat, atleast thats how it was in my civic and some friends cars at school.

 

[Sleeklsc 5,000+ posts]

certaintly not worth the trouble but make a mess...

i had 2 jl w0's set up like that and it was by far the best position in a cavalier w/ fold down seats

 

[xclusiv3 10+ year member]

that is a great point. the subs should be facing the trunk and fold down your smaller seat, atleast thats how it was in my civic and some friends cars at school.

i disagree, subs can face inside as well they dont have to face only the rear. i bet your trunk rattled off the chain, when mine has hardly any rattle, only license plate.

a lot of people on here actually have a setup similar to this and some actually gain db's. it may be louder facing the rear, but on a luxury car like mine the rattle would take away from the car.

How much space do you have between the seatbacks and the front of the sub enclosure? How much better does it sound with the seats folded down?

i dont know how much space is between because i didnt build it.

with seats up and down its night and day difference, its loud still just nowhere near as loud. the subs still hit every note and is good SQ, just not as loud

seat up, tolerable.

seats down, pain, but good pain

 

[Chevyaudio 5,000+ posts]

You better make sure that there is adequate space for the subs to move...and a little extra for breathing room.

 

[xclusiv3 10+ year member]

how much do i need and ill check

 

[dantheman8328 10+ year member]

definitly shoud seal up that space somehow. also take off the panel on top of your rear deck and seal up the holes and such.

too many people here are speaking from inexperience, if your worried about the meter youll definitly gain from sealing that up, ive gained a few tenths by sealing up small holes the size of quarters. you may not notice it too much, but itll definitly help on the meter

 

[xclusiv3 10+ year member]

^^^i myself dont have much experience but i can agree when you say that they dont either. i did my research before i got this install.

well im not competing this is a daily for a high school kid, its plenty loud and im wondering if sealing those holes will make that big of difference to the EAR.

and i just folded up a seat and since the seats slant, at the bottom its like 1.5" and at the top its like 2-3" from very top of excursion to seat back. enough? hope so because i didnt do this install, and most of the time seats are down

 

[dantheman8328 10+ year member]

you should be fine, that should be enough space.

i say sealing up that hole will still be worth it, it wont hurt anthing. but if your worried about how it will look take a strip of mdf and use it to cover the hole and then you can carpet that small piece.

 

[xclusiv3 10+ year member]

on the right side there is the chord to pull down the seat and i cant get to it from the rear.

if itll be that much louder i might have it done, shouldnt be much, and if it makes it even louder then it is to the ear, should be worth it

 

[helotaxi 5,000+ posts]

It definitely won't be louder to the ear. You have no idea what the relative experiences on this board are because you haven't been around very long. There are a lot of experienced competitors on here and there are a lot of very experienced non competitors too. A lot of us know what makes a difference in a daily system and what is a waste of time. Going to the trouble of sealing off all the little holes in a daily system that isn't using an infinite baffle sub configuration falls into the waste of time category in a daily driver. If it is an appearance concern, a trim panel is the way to go.

Did part of your research involve trying the enclosure facing both ways? You can't just out of hand assume that the trunk will rattle. Mine certainly didn't with the sub facing to the rear. Addressing cancellation will yield better results than just trying to seal things off. Trying different ways of aiming the subs is an important step to addressing cancellation.

 

[Hintzyboy 5,000+ posts]

If you have the subs pointing into the cabin(which I am assuming you do), then you should seal it up. You'll gain some output, and I believe it will eliminate some wave cancellation, but don't quote me on that .

 

[mazdakid 5,000+ posts]

i just used to seal around mine with blankets and pillows, got louder and less rattles