"invisible" sub ?

[CarNoob]

Hey everyone, new to the forums. I have a velodyne 10" active/12" passive down firing sub in my home theather, and I have always been impressed on how it fills out music, rocks movies, and yet manages to be acoustically invisible in the room. The bass seems to originate from nowhere.

I want something like that for my car, but every sub i've heard in other people's cars always booms and sounds very "directional"

I have a set of Polk MM6501s and was hoping to complement that with what i call "an invisible sub" Any ideas ?

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[bones22 5,000+ posts]

what kind of car you have

 

[Louisiana_CRX 5,000+ posts]

mount your sub in the front of the vehicle

 

[SSS 18734 5,000+ posts]

It's not so much about the sub as it is about the environment. Most people also have their LPF set at 80 or above. Bass is still quite directional past ~60 hz. A decent home theatre setup should be crossed over much lower.

Also, home theaters are in a much quieter environment and typically have less rattles. Even the deepest bass will sound directional with a rattling trunk.

 

[CarNoob]

what kind of car you have

VW new beetle

 

[Fiercetimbo17 10+ year member]

Bugs are actually pretty good about rattles. As far as a sub getting to blend well its not easy. This is not home theater where you buy equipment and place it on the floor.

Bass frequencys for the most part are omni directional and unable to locate, however and like was said above alot of the times you will locate the bass from a rattle or something else resonating.

It also helps to have a decent front stage to pick up where subs leave off so you dont have a gap.

 

[pjhabit 10+ year member]

I been told "invisible is an understatement" in reference to a DIYMA

 

[bball09124 10+ year member]

I been told "invisible is an understatement" in reference to a DIYMA

x2 I've read positive things about the DIYMA if you want some low-end, but not enough to stand out.

 

[Willkas 10+ year member]

yezzir

 

[squeak9798 5,000+ posts]

Hey everyone, new to the forums. I have a velodyne 10" active/12" passive down firing sub in my home theather, and I have always been impressed on how it fills out music, rocks movies, and yet manages to be acoustically invisible in the room. The bass seems to originate from nowhere.
I want something like that for my car, but every sub i've heard in other people's cars always booms and sounds very "directional"

I have a set of Polk MM6501s and was hoping to complement that with what i call "an invisible sub" Any ideas ?

It's all in the setup and tuning of the system. Most of the systems you've listened to apparently weren't setup for "invisible" bass.

In my system I have the "normal" subbass level up a few notches since I like a little more bass presence for normal listening at highway speeds. But all I need to do is drop the sub level from -3 to -8 and the sub dissappears. Crossover points/slopes, etc are also involved......but setup properly it is entirely possible to obtain what you are looking for.

 

[jdc753 10+ year member]

Most all of it will come from the install, but I have to recommend the SI Mag V4. I have a single in my truck (had a pair for a while) and it absolutely disappears. Most of my friends were disappointed cause they though I was getting subs, but the bass is there, just sounds like it is coming from the door speakers. This is all with pretty much zero tuning as well. Little low when it comes to output in my opinion but sounds amazing and absolutely disappears accoustically.

 

[CarNoob]

Thanks everyone for the replies

Soo.. Sub choice is less important, and tuning would be more important ?

Any pointers to where I can learn about blending my bass in with regular audio ?

 

[budahbuddy803 10+ year member]

Look into active tuning i would say. If you want to do it, do it right from the beginning. I would start with a good HU for EQ, T/A, and 3-way active crossovers. Then go ahead and deaden the doors and trunk and really everything if you can afford it. After some dampening i would move to good midbass's and tweeters along with a nice 4 or 5 ch. amplifier. I like 5 channel because it really makes a lot of things easier and neater to me. After a good amp and front stage find a nice SQ sub and start tuning.

 

[teen 10+ year member]

im not saying its impossible, but its hard to get similar sound out of a subwoofer in a car as you get in your home.