- Sun Jul 20, 2008 4:49 pm
#62695
For my hatch I'm going to make a fiberglass custom fit enclosure / amp rack to replace the spare tire using a 8 inch square kicker (pushes a bit more air than a round 10). Air space will be calculated for peak efficiency of the sub. Probably an Alpine amp because of their small size. Lightweight and easily removable so I can throw the spare in for long trips. I'm new to fiberglassing and custom enclosures but my shop manager has over 8 years experience and has worked for Alpine and Sony in the past making show cars. He also operates a side business that regular does five-digit custom jobs on exotic cars and boats. I am continuously blown away by the outcome when my shop manager designs and builds a custom enclosure spec'd to the sub. He can make a 10 inch in a small ported enclosure sound louder and cleaner than a 12 inch in a off-the-shelf box, sealed or ported, even in a much bigger box.
I've heard all manner of bass tubes and powered subs ie the Infinity Basslink as well as those 6 inch plastic sub / amp enclosures and have always been disappointed. Even the Alpine PLT-5 (has six 5 inch speakers inside) sounds mediocre to me. That's great if other people here like them because all that matters is if the customer is happy with their purchase. But I've seen customers really disappointed. Especially when they find out that they can get more and better bass from some high end amplified 6.5 inch coax speakers than with their bass tube. There's no worse feeling after an install than to have the customer disappointed when I know that I did everything I could with the install but the equipment just sucks.
I go to a lot of live shows so my standards are that the music sounds accurate to what the artist intended. I don't like loud boomy bass. I like it fast and tight and it's got to hit hard when it's supposed to. I hate it when bass is loud at 40Hz but just goes flat above and below that frequency. If you ever get a chance to listen to a high end home audio system you'll never again be satisfied with your car audio system.
So I guess my recommendation is to have a custom built, form fitting enclosure at a reputable shop that actually does the math and tunes the volume, port length and diameter for that particular subwoofer. Plan to spend around $500.