Subwoofer in Driver Kickpanel?

[rushin]

Interesting??? Who makes the enclosure? Is it made out of MDF? Good idea though!!!!!

[dliguori]

First of all forget about putting it in the cubby under the glovebox - sounds like **** - that's were mine was mounted when I got the boat - extremely muffled. I changed it to the kick panel with a box mounted behind it - sounds great but it's a total bitch to get the box mounted well and it can be tough to get a good seal. Also, you can't fit a very big box in the cubby on the back side of the kickwall. I'm considering making a fiberglassed box with a flat back that sits agains the kick pannel. It would be the easiest box to make out of fiberglass. 2'x2' mdf, mdf ring, mount the ring above the mdf square, stretch cloth across and glass the piss out of it. It would free up the tinny cubby and you wouldn't have to drill a big hole in the kickwall. You could also fit 2 12' subs where you could only fit one if you go the other route. As far as free air subs, don't know.

[dliguori]

First of all forget about putting it in the cubby under the glovebox - sounds like **** - that's were mine was mounted when I got the boat - extremely muffled. I changed it to the kick panel with a box mounted behind it - sounds great but it's a total bitch to get the box mounted well and it can be tough to get a good seal. Also, you can't fit a very big box in the cubby on the back side of the kickwall. I'm considering making fiberglassed box with a flat back that sits agains the kick pannel. It would be the easiest box to make out of fiberglass. 2'x2' mdf, mdf ring, mount the ring above the mdf square, stretch cloth across and glass the piss out of it. It would free up the tinny cubby. You could also fit 2 12' subs where you could only fit one if you go the other route. As far as free air subs, don't know.

[dogbert]

I installed a Kenwood Sub and Amp over the weekend and it really rocks. It's a free air sub and I installed it in the driver kick panel. For the money, it was definitely worth it. It matches up well with my Kenwood head unit and other amp.

So, if you don't want to mess with building your own box, this may be an option worth considering.

[yllw20]

I put a free air 12mtx in the driver panel...it sounds fine to me. Then again it was a $40 sub and I am not trying to win any audio comps w/it...My thought was its going inthe boat and if I can get a good year or 2 out of it then so be it...going on year three now and still thumping.

[chpthril]

My 06 22ve has a single 12in KICKER mounted in the driver k/p. sounded good but sometimes it would over extend and hit the grill. I built a 12x12x6 box and it made a huge differance.

[do420jc]

The key to getting good base from the storage under the glove compartment is your amp. I run 2 10" Soundstreams in a ported box and the base is enough to make your teeth chatter. Its all in the subs and amp. (its ridiculously loud with the the storage open, too much). When purchasing an amp it doesn't matter what the watts on the box say, all that matters is the RMS wattage. Good luck.

[Ruune]

1. Free-air subs suck
2. Same answer as above
3. Youre better off cutting a hole and inserting a box.
4. This is the way to go- in front of the drivers seat.

Heres what I did:
In front of my driver's seat, I have a square hole cut. In this hole, a custom sealed bandpass box is inserted with two downfiring Alpine 1041D Type-R subs (Alpine 10"). The box has one port- which basically is right in front of my feet (I like to stick my toes in there when the bass hits... but dont tell anybody!). Now, whatever box you use will need to be waterproofed- mine is coated in fiberglass resin. That way, the MDF material doesnt absorb water and fall apart. Another option (and probably better) is to coat it in spray on bedliner (inside and out). Pro Box (http://www.proboxrocks.com) makes boxes that are already coated in bedliner.

As for the storage compartment that is located under the glove box:
I've got 3 amps mounted to the wall towards the center, plus one for my tower mounted to the (forward angled) wall- just in front of where the ice chest is. Additionally, there are two 1-way 4AWG to four 4-way 8AWG distribution blocks... and I still need to wire up my capacitor.


Now, what I suggest you do is this:
http://www.proboxrocks.com/hatchback/112HB.shtml

its only about 50 bucks, and is exactly what you need. Mount it so that the sub is facing your shins, cutting a hole in the panel in front of the drivers seat, inserting the box so that the top is flush (its angled, so the bottom wont sit flush), bolting it to the floor, then stuffing in the biggest, PHATTEST 12" sub you can find!

I believe its available with a port. If you go that route, use a hole saw to cut a 2" to 3" hole into the storage compartment (this can be behind the dash, out of sight) so that you can move air properly.

[my86stanggt]

I agree with having a box. My local audio shop wants to do my install and they said they will build an enclosure for my sub and it will be shallow enough that it won't get in my way. It's a Kicker S10L5 square sub. I got the idea for my system looking at Monster Tower's old boat.

[dogbert]

Originally posted by Ruune
1. Free-air subs suck
2. Same answer as above

Ok, so we all can't be as cool as you

That wasn't really an option for me because all of my components are on the driver's side and space was an issue. My boat's a little older and the freeboard isn't has high as yours.

[Ruune]

Actually, if you remember my buddy that was in the knee brace at the Tige reunion (blown out ACL and MCL, snowboarding last april). He's got a Pre 2100 w/ a 12" kicker under the dash, and a very low freeboard.

...and I've had trouble with free air subs.

[my86stanggt]

Here is the pic of the one from monstertower's Tige. It's pretty much exactly what I'm going to do. I believe this was an '04 22Ve. Those square kicker subs don't need any space at all really.

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/my86st...e2.jpg&.src=ph

[dogbert]

Originally posted by Ruune
...and I've had trouble with free air subs.

I'd be interested in knowing more about the problems you've had. I haven't ruled out a box, but I'm gonna stick with what I got now.

[Ruune]

first off.. subs with an enclosure will always give you a better sound. Secondly, when you leave the back side of the speaker exposed, all sorts of debris can get trapped in there- and subs have a lot of movement. I used to have a 1969 mustang coupe- with 2 free air pioneer 10s mounted behind the back seat. What ended up happening is that somehow a screw or two rattled loose from somewhere and fell between the basket and the cone... causing the screw to rip through the paper cone. Also, the wiring to sub is protected by a sub box, and if something gets caught on the speaker wire, it wont rip the terminals off your sub.

This is also why I didnt go with the Tige/Clarion sub from the factory- it was a free air sub at the time. Looks like they're putting in Kicker Solo-barics with tuned enclosures now. Good going, Tige!

That just about sums it up.

[5946740]

Box definately!

Free air sub, I wouldn't. If you want tight clean lows you need a sealed box. I just put a single JL 12w3 4ohm wired it 2ohm in a sealed box with JL specs for airspace and it sounds great. If I was you, I would talk to JL, they should know