any suggestions on where to install my sub? i have a cerwin vega DVC-10" sub (not too big or powerful) that i want to install without a box. i am thinking of placing it on the rear panel (the partion piece that lifts up with the hatch and separates the rear compartment from the trunk area) or the rear floorboard (the folding board that covers the spare tire well area).
any suggestions as to which location may be better? or has anyone ever done this??
i know most may wonder why not put in a box, but i can't sacrifice what little space there is. i know i might lose out on sound quality, but i really prefer to install this way (free air?) besides i want to mount in an un-used area/space. so rear deck mount or trunk floorboard works best for me.
any suggestions/responses are greatly appreciated
kahlil
'90 eclipse GSDOHC 16V non-turbo
Replies (12)
ttocs on 06/20/2004 20:04:09
you will need a speaker that is made to be put in a free air environment if that is what you need. Honestly you are making a huge sound sacrifice by doing so and I would even wonder if it is going to be more harm then good. A 10" speaker can often times get away with a box as small as .5 cubic feet, that is only 12" x 12" by 6"?
swez on 06/20/2004 20:46:40
Agreed... there are free air subs out there. But if they are left exposed and unprotected by an enclosure of some kind, you will sacrifice sound quality, a small amount of space and possible damage to the sub as well.
Some have taken a cleaver approach and mounted the sub in the spare tire well. This takes a little homework to get the air space right in the well for a sub, but with a little planning and some careful layout, you can adopt this application too.
Yes, going w/o a spare may seem a little nutty to some. But, when was the last time you needed to used the donut spare? If you take a long trip, stow the donut as part of your cargo. For daily use, a can of "Fix A Flat" will get you home until a permanent repair is done. As with most things in life... we give one thing up, to get something else.
Hope that helps,
Swez
cplkittle on 06/20/2004 23:00:50
The biggest issue with free air installation of a sub is that you can barely hear it. you can easily triple the volume by using a small box over free air.
kj on 06/22/2004 12:57:40
gotcha guys....appreciate the advice. i installed my amp last nite & connected the sub to it & i think you're absolutely right about sound sacrifice. it sounded almost dead!
anyway, i have never constructed a box but am willing if there are kits available or similar. would u suggest to build my own or is it fairly inexpensive to get a local stereo shop to build/mount??
Munchiesyumm on 06/22/2004 14:25:19
You may beable to make a custom box make that will fit both you're subs. like a truck box that is thin and tall.
I have not seen this done before I wounder if this will work better in your sitation.
Keep us updated! Im interested in how this project will turn out
ttocs on 06/22/2004 16:39:33
the kit for building a box is little more then a 8' - 4' sheet of mdf, a saw, glue, silicone, ect. If you know the size of the box you can figure out what size the sides will be, home depot charges .50 per cut. Otherwise a single 10" box should not be too pricey. Check ebay or local shops.
kj on 06/22/2004 17:34:12
thanks again folks..i'll let u know how things turn out or what remaining questions i have..OH! there is one other question:
this is a dual voice coil sub (& only ONE sub). last nite i only connected 1 coil to the amp. would i have greater (louder) sound if both voice coils were connected or would it be somewhat undetectable??
ttocs on 06/22/2004 22:50:16
you do not want to run one coil of the speaker for anything more then you have to, which should be never. the DVC gives you more options for impedence wiring by putting them in series or parallel. Driving it with only one coil would be similar to disconnecting half your engine on your car... It will run, but its life expectancy is shortened.......
I one time wired a DVC home sub up for a party with only one VC. The next morning while sorting through things(parents were comming home) I discovered it was blown.
swez on 06/24/2004 13:21:41
What amp brand and model number is this you have installed now?
Also, what is the model # of the Vega you have now?
It is not wise to install a DVC using only 1 coil. There is too much magnetic/electrical energy going into 1 coil and a "bucking current" will develop in the 2nd (unused) coil. That leads to poor sub performance and possibble damage to sub as well.
Note: If you absolutely had to run only one coil, would need to add a variable resistor to the unused coil to block reverse EMF currents. This is not a subject or project for a newbie.
Swez
kj on 06/24/2004 17:54:48
swez, i finally got that mono amp! lmao! my stuff is kinda low end stuff: an alpine mrv-100m (150W RMS x 1 @ 2ohms) driving a Cerwin Vega HED-10 DVC sub (150W RMS). (also have a kenwood 529S amp driving rear 6x9's)...anyway do not fret folks. i was not intending to run my sub with only one coil permanently - i was just curious. i have already soldered the both voice coils for a 2ohm load.
swez on 06/24/2004 19:58:22
That should get you going for a while. If you don't have the space, budget and interest in a big Bass Engine, this amp and sub will be fine for well balanced lows.
That 2 channel is running your rear 6x9's now? What are you using for speakers and amping in the front stage presently?
Swez
PS That HED 10" DVC... cannot seem to get a handle on the enclosure specs for this sub. My guess, 0.75 - 1.0 cf sealed will do the job. Did you get enclosure details with this sub? Nothing useful on CV website for this model.
kj on 06/26/2004 01:22:20
lol! yes, THAT low powered kenwood is powering my rears. my mistake my rears are actually 2-way 6.5" not 6x9's...musta had flashbacks to my previous car! :>)....i only got that amp because i wanted it to fit under the front passenger seat. more powerful amps would not have.
not using anything but HU power for front 4 speakers (2 in the front doors, 2 more in front dash). currently have a high powered HU (clarion ARX6470), but have another high powered one to replace it (sony xrca600x).
u are correct about enclosure volume for sub...i have CV literature which suggests exactly that size...u don't see info for it on their site because it was recently replaced. the new model is a DVC-1002 ?? only difference i see is the newer sub has a higher power rating.
thanks much for your help!
any suggestions as to which location may be better? or has anyone ever done this??
i know most may wonder why not put in a box, but i can't sacrifice what little space there is. i know i might lose out on sound quality, but i really prefer to install this way (free air?) besides i want to mount in an un-used area/space. so rear deck mount or trunk floorboard works best for me.
any suggestions/responses are greatly appreciated
kahlil
'90 eclipse GSDOHC 16V non-turbo
Replies (12)
ttocs on 06/20/2004 20:04:09
you will need a speaker that is made to be put in a free air environment if that is what you need. Honestly you are making a huge sound sacrifice by doing so and I would even wonder if it is going to be more harm then good. A 10" speaker can often times get away with a box as small as .5 cubic feet, that is only 12" x 12" by 6"?
swez on 06/20/2004 20:46:40
Agreed... there are free air subs out there. But if they are left exposed and unprotected by an enclosure of some kind, you will sacrifice sound quality, a small amount of space and possible damage to the sub as well.
Some have taken a cleaver approach and mounted the sub in the spare tire well. This takes a little homework to get the air space right in the well for a sub, but with a little planning and some careful layout, you can adopt this application too.
Yes, going w/o a spare may seem a little nutty to some. But, when was the last time you needed to used the donut spare? If you take a long trip, stow the donut as part of your cargo. For daily use, a can of "Fix A Flat" will get you home until a permanent repair is done. As with most things in life... we give one thing up, to get something else.
Hope that helps,
Swez
cplkittle on 06/20/2004 23:00:50
The biggest issue with free air installation of a sub is that you can barely hear it. you can easily triple the volume by using a small box over free air.
kj on 06/22/2004 12:57:40
gotcha guys....appreciate the advice. i installed my amp last nite & connected the sub to it & i think you're absolutely right about sound sacrifice. it sounded almost dead!
anyway, i have never constructed a box but am willing if there are kits available or similar. would u suggest to build my own or is it fairly inexpensive to get a local stereo shop to build/mount??
Munchiesyumm on 06/22/2004 14:25:19
You may beable to make a custom box make that will fit both you're subs. like a truck box that is thin and tall.
I have not seen this done before I wounder if this will work better in your sitation.
Keep us updated! Im interested in how this project will turn out
ttocs on 06/22/2004 16:39:33
the kit for building a box is little more then a 8' - 4' sheet of mdf, a saw, glue, silicone, ect. If you know the size of the box you can figure out what size the sides will be, home depot charges .50 per cut. Otherwise a single 10" box should not be too pricey. Check ebay or local shops.
kj on 06/22/2004 17:34:12
thanks again folks..i'll let u know how things turn out or what remaining questions i have..OH! there is one other question:
this is a dual voice coil sub (& only ONE sub). last nite i only connected 1 coil to the amp. would i have greater (louder) sound if both voice coils were connected or would it be somewhat undetectable??
ttocs on 06/22/2004 22:50:16
you do not want to run one coil of the speaker for anything more then you have to, which should be never. the DVC gives you more options for impedence wiring by putting them in series or parallel. Driving it with only one coil would be similar to disconnecting half your engine on your car... It will run, but its life expectancy is shortened.......
I one time wired a DVC home sub up for a party with only one VC. The next morning while sorting through things(parents were comming home) I discovered it was blown.
swez on 06/24/2004 13:21:41
What amp brand and model number is this you have installed now?
Also, what is the model # of the Vega you have now?
It is not wise to install a DVC using only 1 coil. There is too much magnetic/electrical energy going into 1 coil and a "bucking current" will develop in the 2nd (unused) coil. That leads to poor sub performance and possibble damage to sub as well.
Note: If you absolutely had to run only one coil, would need to add a variable resistor to the unused coil to block reverse EMF currents. This is not a subject or project for a newbie.
Swez
kj on 06/24/2004 17:54:48
swez, i finally got that mono amp! lmao! my stuff is kinda low end stuff: an alpine mrv-100m (150W RMS x 1 @ 2ohms) driving a Cerwin Vega HED-10 DVC sub (150W RMS). (also have a kenwood 529S amp driving rear 6x9's)...anyway do not fret folks. i was not intending to run my sub with only one coil permanently - i was just curious. i have already soldered the both voice coils for a 2ohm load.
swez on 06/24/2004 19:58:22
That should get you going for a while. If you don't have the space, budget and interest in a big Bass Engine, this amp and sub will be fine for well balanced lows.
That 2 channel is running your rear 6x9's now? What are you using for speakers and amping in the front stage presently?
Swez
PS That HED 10" DVC... cannot seem to get a handle on the enclosure specs for this sub. My guess, 0.75 - 1.0 cf sealed will do the job. Did you get enclosure details with this sub? Nothing useful on CV website for this model.
kj on 06/26/2004 01:22:20
lol! yes, THAT low powered kenwood is powering my rears. my mistake my rears are actually 2-way 6.5" not 6x9's...musta had flashbacks to my previous car! :>)....i only got that amp because i wanted it to fit under the front passenger seat. more powerful amps would not have.
not using anything but HU power for front 4 speakers (2 in the front doors, 2 more in front dash). currently have a high powered HU (clarion ARX6470), but have another high powered one to replace it (sony xrca600x).
u are correct about enclosure volume for sub...i have CV literature which suggests exactly that size...u don't see info for it on their site because it was recently replaced. the new model is a DVC-1002 ?? only difference i see is the newer sub has a higher power rating.
thanks much for your help!
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