rx8 install started...want bass with no sacrifice in space? :)
 

brought my freinds rx8 to the shop yesterday and started building the system...his main requirements were good sound quality, retain as much trunk space as possible, and have a little bit of flash...

after thinking about it for a while, i decided instead of trying to build as small of a sub enclosure as possible in the trunk, why not have NO box in the trunk...? :) since my freind mainly listens to asian pop and techno, we dont need tons and tons of sub 20hz bass.

so this is what I came up with, i modified and fiberglass the back center cover and turned it into a sealed enclosure of about .3 cubfeet for two jl 6w0s. Hooked it up briefly with an amp from another car, and listened to some songs, and to be honest, it sounded very good, similar to a good 10 in the trunk :)

if you are not famaliar with the jl 6w0s, they are a true subwoofer, good response down to 20-30hz, and with two of them with in the confines of the small cabin of hte rx8, they really rock...

i think if you are into bass that shakes your neighborhood and or listens to lots of hiphop, this set up may not be good for you, but if you are like my freind who enjoys some good low end reinforcements, dont want to loose any more of that already tiny trunk, and dont want to add lots of weight, this would be a good solution for ya :)

probaly have to wait week before i can put up more pics since I got two more customers waiting :)

http://simplicity.elitecaraudio.org/images/rx81.jpg
http://simplicity.elitecaraudio.org/images/rx82.jpg
http://simplicity.elitecaraudio.org/images/rx83.jpg

I am doing something very similar to that except I refuse to cut into the factory plastic piece. I need something much more rigid.

I dont know if that will sound that great but it looks awesome

taht center peice is reinforced with 8 layers of fiberglass, and is more rigid than 3/4" mdf wood. :) and he enclosure behind it is 8 layer of fiberglass as well :)

its sounds fine, if you have ever heard a dodge viper or similar set up, you will know what i mean :)

b

can you take some pic from behind the sub
from the boot
thanks

I like it. You just described me exactly. What would something like that cost and what is an approximate of how much it all weighs when finished?

that is just too sweet! it wouldnt work for me since i like have more low end resonation, but damn that is an awesome install!


now you just need a cover with material on it (like a home stereo speaker) to go more stealth when you want it to not be seen, or leave it open when you want to show off

great work . and a pic from inside the trunk would be great

well, the trunk part is not done yet, i had some free time today between working on other cars so I decided to do the sub box...i will have more pics of the completed install next weekend or so, but basically,t he idea is i am going to have a flat amp racked with the amp trimed in red with some aluminum deocation, so basically the total loss of trunk space is less than 3" :)

as for weight, i acutally weighed it, the box, with the two subs, is about 28 lbs...thats 8 layers of fiberglass and another 3 layers of dampening.

as for covering, JL acutally makes little grilles that cover them, whcih i plan to get if my friend wants it, with his tint, you cant really see them, and that is a pretty unlikely place for htem to get damanged...and i used security screws, and the box is LOCKABLE, hehe

I like that setup a lot. Your idea of one sub instead of two sounds like that would fit me perfectly.

Just wondering where you're located at?

i am a small one person shop in Pittsburgh, PA, i focus primarily on custom installs that are clean yet cost effective...

***moderator edit***

i would suggest you guys to demo a 6w0 at your local JL dealer to see if the amount of bass is what you want, most good jl dealers should keep one or two in a small box ready to put in a car and hook up.

b

Apologies to the moderator about listing my website in the posting, everything is in my signature now...

:)

Now if you just would finish that work.... and I could buy one of those boxes already :p
This wait is killing me... your 8" sub box and OverLOAD's aux-in module. Aarrghh...
If this continues the way it is now, I'll probably have to look into going this route that 16psibrick just described... and resort to an FM modulator for the MP3 player. Ugh... :eek:

i thought about going with an 8 in there, but decided against it for a few reasons, it would look kind too big, it would require too big of a box behind it, and the whole hting would be much harder to fabricate and personally, i think two 6w0s will match the sound of a good 8" sub, unless of course, you are talking about a jl 82w7, crystal cmp8 or such, but I odnt see any chance of those subs fitting :)

b

Two questions: does the passthrough door rattle when the subs are active and did you consider using an infinite baffle sub instead to completely eliminate the need for a sub box?

If it was an infinite baffle I could see using quick disconnects so you could still use the passthrough for its intended purpose when needed. That would be neat.
________
Mary Jane

no rattling from the box itself, after hte fiberglass build up, three adiditonal layers of dampening was placed inside and on the baffle, the thing is DEAD...and the seats left and right whcih sandwiches the enclosure seem to help wiht the rattling as well.

as far as infinite baffle, the problem is that the 6w0s are not intended for IB applications...but I do thinkit is an option for a much easier install...perhaps with a single ib8... yet another option that could work well is a aperiodic enclosure behind the subs...whcih you can do with the 6w0s...

all in all i thinkt here are quite a few options with idea, this is jsut my solution this time :)

16psibrick, if you get a chance, please post pictures of the backside and if possible, something about the fiberglass reinforcement you made... thanks.

That looks great. :)

will do, i will get some pics hopefully in a week or so, right now, the car is sitting back at my house (myfreind is away in cali for a month), and I am working on other cars, but i wildefinetly post more pics...

That looks excellent. Pretty much what I was thinking of, when I get around to doing something about the sound.

I must agree, that really looks great man.

WOW.... definitely what i want also ..... looks sooo CLEAN .... what other speakers could i get if i listen to hip-hop and wanted the bass to sound like a good JL 10" sub?????

well, if you want it to look like that, the 6w0 is about your only bet, but if you want to enjoy hip hop or similar mucho bass material, a kicker solo 8 maybe the best bet, but it woudl require significantly more work than this, i would think its best not to use the stock piece...

as good as the 6w0s are, they jyust dont have that sub 30hz sound a real 10 can delier, aobve it, i think two of them will match the output of say a 10w0 or so...:)

b

So i have to either choose the sub box in the trunk with kickin bass.... or the not so kickin bass but nice looking 6s in the rear seat..... im so sad there is no in between....

I'm with you there. As much as I love the way that rear seat setup looks, I somehow can't shake the feeling like that's a break-in just waiting to happen. A little to tempting to some stupid kids :(

Yes can we have pics from the trunk ?