I am looking to build a sub woofer box for my car. Im tryimg to use as little space as possible. I drive an 1973 volvo 1800ES if any one is familiar. Space is a bit of a luxury I dont have. I am looking at using either a pair of 10 inch cerwin vega's or a 12 inch pair of marantz. Both sets need to be refoamed. I am already leaning towards the cv's as they are smaller. Im also working with a shoe string budget, so effectivley I am going to wind up reusing the old cabniets aswell. I have one broken down already entertainingly they were glued together rather poorly. any thoughts or ideas would be usefull.
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Building a woofer box for my car any thoughts?
- Thread starter nklinkers
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stillspin'n
Well-Known Member
We would need more info, what if the model of the drivers or what was the model they came from, also what was the volume of the box they were in and was it ported, ect. I would say that the drivers were in a air space as close to optimal in there factory boxes, so you will have to build your new box to about the same size as far as volume goes.
The drivers have come from cv D2's. They have a three inch port. From my understanding they are not there best speaker. For my purposes I think they will do just fine. I have uploaded some pics of what i am working with. Also space is very limited in there. So far what I have designed is an open baffle which is going to awkwardly fit where i whant them. I am not sure how this will sound in the car after I button everything back up. My biggest goal is to make something that is not going to sacrifice storage space.
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soundmotor
super modified
Wrong woofers for the application. For the effort and cost you will expend refoaming those woofers and building a relatively huge enclosure you could buy something much smaller. A single car audio specific 10" or 12" should do it with decent power should easily meet your requirements -
2nd this!
soundmotor
super modified
I appreciate the affirmation guys. Been awhile since I've fooled with it but recall a little transfer function goes a long way. Been thinking about my next sub install and it may be a single 8"slot-ported or maybe even a 6.5" TL. I've got a wagon with a nice big cabin for propagation so smaller may be much better than bigger.
Right on, thanks for the input. In pics one and three, that space is effectivley my trunk. There is deck lid that goes in the back there. I had to remove to do a bunch of body work, I got re-ended and found at fault. Yay fixing cars that arent made any more. In pic four, that is what I drew up to fit in the corner of the wheel well utilizing that dead space there and not getting in the way of a full size spare. which why I was thinking an open baffle type design. Once I get the trunk lid back my thoughts are that would act as an enclosure. Im going to get some pics of what it all is going to look like so you guys see the madness before I have come with a method.
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soundmotor
super modified
Are the woofers in the rear corners back where the taillights are? If so, consider a small sealed enclosure on the passenger side and add a second on the driver's side if you don't have enough bass. The P1800 is tiny inside,you would likely meet your goals with a single 10", perhaps even an 8".
Below is a typical install in a Porsche 944. This type of install used a single 10" mounted over the rear storage well for the enclosure. The front baffle sealed this space up which was ~.90cF. These systems hammered and retained all the interior volume except for the loss of the storage well.
As far as infinite baffle car systems, I think I've heard exactly one that sounded good and it used 2x 15" subwoofers. I would not consider them at all for any vehicle I've owned or own. Embrace the box, the box is good!
If you think the tens are not good enough for an infinite baffle. I also have a set of 12" marantz those came of a set sp-1250 cabniets,which were in bad shape, so they were what I was looking to use in the first place. I already have the mids installed for two of my main speakers in the car. The other two main speakers are 6.5" pioneer something. Niether of which have any sort of enclosure. Speakers in back are mounted to the upholstry with plastic grills over them.Turns out the sweds didn't know any thing music sounding good. The pioneer speakers are not even mounted to anything they are kind of free floating under the dash, I think the magnets are the only thing holding them to anything. The car originally had a bluapunkt tape deck running two 4.5" lowfi speakers. Worked alright until they went out. Replaced those with the pioneers turns that was a bad idea, it ruined the tape deck.
67dylan
Active Member
IB's are best suited for cars with trunks. Seal off the trunk from the car and they can perform magnificently. I run IB with a pair of JBL 12gti's and they are plenty loud and accurate, of course it's more the speaker than the design. If you're willing to lose the spare tire it becomes a no brainer; single 12" in that space. It will require some fiberglass work to help seal it up; I say fiberglass because it's fairly simple to use and is very light weight. If you're not willing to give it up, then you have the option of the space to the right and left of that area for a pair of 6 1/2", 8", or maybe 10" subs. I don't know what those cables are, running from the side into the spare tire area, but they might need a re-route. Give us an idea of how much room (LxWxH) you have to play with.
Lot's of options are available, just remember Hoffman's Iron Law: There are three primary goals in reproducing bass. efficiency, bass extension and enclosure size. Physics states we can only have 2 of these, the third is sacrificed. Cabinet size is one you can manipulate to fit your needs, what other do you want to sacrifice and what other do you want to keep?
Lot's of options are available, just remember Hoffman's Iron Law: There are three primary goals in reproducing bass. efficiency, bass extension and enclosure size. Physics states we can only have 2 of these, the third is sacrificed. Cabinet size is one you can manipulate to fit your needs, what other do you want to sacrifice and what other do you want to keep?
67dylan
Active Member
So, are you willing to give up the spare tire? And are you sure you want to use those Marantz subs in the car?
Someone already asked the enclosure size of the original Marantz box, along with any ports. Do you still have the original speaker box?
What amp are you planning on using?
Someone already asked the enclosure size of the original Marantz box, along with any ports. Do you still have the original speaker box?
What amp are you planning on using?
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Havent decided on an amp yet. Yes i can get rid of the spare. And as far the the cabniets go i got rid of them along time ago, they had been driven into. I remember that they were very tall about 33" if i recall and very narrow probibly 14 or 15" for width. They did have a port it was 2 or 3" if i had to geuss.
67dylan
Active Member
If you pre-run the power wires, switched lead from the deck, and speaker wires handy you can purchase an amp on CL. Since money is tight it is a good option and you can test it before you buy it. Stick to name brands.
For a single Marantz sub the box needs to be ~2.7 cubic feet. That is a lot of internal area for a single 12", then the ports need to be fairly accurate. I'd also suggest CL for a new sub. A single 12" would provide lots of bass. Search around and see what you find. Report back on the brands & model #'s you find...along with prices. We can steer you in a correct direction.
For a single Marantz sub the box needs to be ~2.7 cubic feet. That is a lot of internal area for a single 12", then the ports need to be fairly accurate. I'd also suggest CL for a new sub. A single 12" would provide lots of bass. Search around and see what you find. Report back on the brands & model #'s you find...along with prices. We can steer you in a correct direction.