Spyder subwoofer setup

[neil12011]

All the pics I run into have been deleted by photobucket. I'm trying to decide on how to do my trunk. The 4gauge and rca's have already been run. Is it better to do a box under where the top recesses into or the setup where the woofers fire towards the trunk lid. Anyone that is selling a sypder sub box, PLEASE im me. Thanks.

[soundman98]

better depends on your needs.

i just run a old box firing upwards.
soundman98's 01 spyder

[neil12011]

how is the bass with the top down? What kind of wattage? Thanks

[soundman98]

the bass is as crummy as can be expected.. not bad, but not great. i really don't know what the wattage is.. going off the manufacturer ratings, it's a 600w rms amp pushing a single 4ohm 300w rms sub in a active/passive configuration with the second sub(btw, no matter how it's calculated, my box is waaayyy too small for my subs), on a 80A fuse for a system that really should need a fuse and wire double the current size because i haven't gotten around to updating the current 4ga with 0ga.. but i don't have dimming issues, so i really don't think about it all that much.

[jaloosk]

I have a 10" SSA icon on a 1200w sundown amp. Its in a 1 cuft sealed box (not ideal for this sub) firing toward the rear. It gets loud. You do lose quite a bit of bass with the top down, but it still bangs. I want to rebuild the box with fiberglass and a port, because the current box takes up too much room. I wish I had the car here cuz I would take a video of the dancing trunk lid for you.

[neil12011]

Well right now, I have a bass tube. Don't laugh, when I had my GT coupe, it was plenty loud, suprisingly actually. For the spyder, I've got an Alpine PDX running the components, and I'm thinking about a single typeR sub and PDX monoblock 1000. With the top down, I at least want to feel the bass, which right now I cannot. What do you guys think?

[neil12011]

Originally Posted by soundman98

the bass is as crummy as can be expected.. not bad, but not great. i really don't know what the wattage is.. going off the manufacturer ratings, it's a 600w rms amp pushing a single 4ohm 300w rms sub in a active/passive configuration with the second sub(btw, no matter how it's calculated, my box is waaayyy too small for my subs), on a 80A fuse for a system that really should need a fuse and wire double the current size because i haven't gotten around to updating the current 4ga with 0ga.. but i don't have dimming issues, so i really don't think about it all that much.

So, am I missing something by running 4guage? I've got 4g coming from the battery to a soundstream block, which splits into more 4g outputs. Should I really go to 0gauge?

[Drewski0523]

Originally Posted by neil12011

So, am I missing something by running 4guage? I've got 4g coming from the battery to a soundstream block, which splits into more 4g outputs. Should I really go to 0gauge?

It depends on the wattage needs of your setup, but you really can't go wrong with increasing the size of the wire.

[jaloosk]

Originally Posted by neil12011

Well right now, I have a bass tube. Don't laugh, when I had my GT coupe, it was plenty loud, suprisingly actually. For the spyder, I've got an Alpine PDX running the components, and I'm thinking about a single typeR sub and PDX monoblock 1000. With the top down, I at least want to feel the bass, which right now I cannot. What do you guys think?

It's gonna be tough to "feel" the bass from the trunk with the top down. If you're willing to give up your rear seat for a sub box it'll be achievable though, but you'll likely need more than 1kw if you want to rattle fillings.

[neil12011]

what about facing the subs in the trunk towards the front of the car? Do you think that will help at all? Or should I leave them firing towards the (dynmated) trunk lid? Thanks again.

[jaloosk]

They sound louder when loaded off of (pointed at) the back wall. Second choice would be the trunk lid (pointed up), but that will rattle the living piss out of your trunk lid if you have more than say 500w of power.

The problem is, when the roof is down, sound is inhibited from travelling between the trunk and cabin. If you want to tickle your spleen with bass, you're going to need a) lotsa powah (and the electrical to back it) b) big speakers (12" or higher) which means you'll need c) space. It's tough to do a loud build in a spyder without using the back seat.

Things I'm going to TRY:

1. Using a bigger sub (12") fiberglassed into the corner of the trunk, and vented under the rear roof well (I don't know how well this will work, but I'm going to try when I scrape up the funds)
2. Using TWO bigger subs, and another sub amp
3. Power modifications: Bigger cable (I use 4AWG and ground to the chassis) so replace the 4AWG with 0AWG, and float a ground from the battery directly to the amp(s).
4. More Quiet: I'm planning on adding jute under the carpet to aid in blocking road noise (can't do much about wind noise ). I've already used copious amounts of Damplifier on the panels in the car, which has helped significantly, but jute will help kill road noise. Damplifier just works on chassis noise.
5. Replacing the battery with an AGM battery
6. Adding a second AGM battery to support the amplifiers

Feel free to try/copy any/all of these suggestions in your quest for audible liver massage.

[neil12011]

Awesome, hey Jaloosk, how did you end up fixing your alternator whine issue? I ran my wires maticulously and did not have even a hint of noise unitll about 2 days ago. The only thing I did was adjust my gain a little more?

[soundman98]

Originally Posted by neil12011

So, am I missing something by running 4guage? I've got 4g coming from the battery to a soundstream block, which splits into more 4g outputs. Should I really go to 0gauge?

it depends on the setup. you typically base the wire gauge size required by adding up the fuse ratings of the amps.

i run matching pdx amps-- a F4 100w rms 4ch, and a m6 600w rms amp.

the f4 has 4-20A fuses, and the m6 has 2-30A fuses, for a total max of 120A.
4ga won't really support a load this large, so the upgrade is necessary. so i de-rated the fuse to account for my current state of laziness..

Originally Posted by neil12011

what about facing the subs in the trunk towards the front of the car? Do you think that will help at all? Or should I leave them firing towards the (dynmated) trunk lid? Thanks again.

Originally Posted by jaloosk

They sound louder when loaded off of (pointed at) the back wall. Second choice would be the trunk lid (pointed up), but that will rattle the living piss out of your trunk lid if you have more than say 500w of power.

+1

the whole idea is to separate the sound wave coming directly off the sub from the overall sound wave. because otherwise it makes it too easy for you to hear the subs 'tonality' and it sounds like it maxes out faster..

Originally Posted by jaloosk

The problem is, when the roof is down, sound is inhibited from travelling between the trunk and cabin. If you want to tickle your spleen with bass, you're going to need a) lotsa powah (and the electrical to back it) b) big speakers (12" or higher) which means you'll need c) space. It's tough to do a loud build in a spyder without using the back seat.

another good point. overall, the the bass in a convertible tends to travel in almost like a backwards teardrop. much of the bass is directed forward, but because it's moving all of the air in and around the car with no control, the bass will lack 'impact'.

my current sub does have a visceral impact with the top up and the windows cracked-- that is because the top is directing the airflow past me and then out of the car.

basically, if you really want that effect with the top up or down, work on directing the bass to where you want it. you could also try some aura bass shakers mounted to the seatbacks to supplement the bass without disturbing the neighbors more..

and btw, there is tons of room where the rear 6x9's are-- if you were inclined to build some fiberglass boxes, i believe there should be enough airspace there for a pair of 10's...

Originally Posted by jaloosk

Things I'm going to TRY:

1. Using a bigger sub (12") fiberglassed into the corner of the trunk, and vented under the rear roof well (I don't know how well this will work, but I'm going to try when I scrape up the funds)
2. Using TWO bigger subs, and another sub amp
3. Power modifications: Bigger cable (I use 4AWG and ground to the chassis) so replace the 4AWG with 0AWG, and float a ground from the battery directly to the amp(s).
4. More Quiet: I'm planning on adding jute under the carpet to aid in blocking road noise (can't do much about wind noise ). I've already used copious amounts of Damplifier on the panels in the car, which has helped significantly, but jute will help kill road noise. Damplifier just works on chassis noise.
5. Replacing the battery with an AGM battery
6. Adding a second AGM battery to support the amplifiers

Feel free to try/copy any/all of these suggestions in your quest for audible liver massage.

it should also be noted that if your upgrading your main power wire to 0ga, you also need to upgrade your battery-ground connection to 0ga.

Originally Posted by neil12011

Awesome, hey Jaloosk, how did you end up fixing your alternator whine issue? I ran my wires maticulously and did not have even a hint of noise unitll about 2 days ago. The only thing I did was adjust my gain a little more?

then turn your gain down.