Ryan betts
Active Member
hello, i am looking into gettin a 10'' sub box for under the rear seat of my trac. i am wondering what are the advantages/ drawbacks of upfiring subs and downfiring subs. which do you guys prefer?? thanks for the help!
upfiring or down firing sub enclosure!?!?!
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Jacob Dryer
Well-Known Member
accusticly (sp?) it shouldn't matter.
Downfiring you have to worry about stuff rolling under the box and possibly damaging the woofer.
Upfiring if someone "large" sits on the seat you have to worry about them damaging the woofer.
Downfiring you have to worry about stuff rolling under the box and possibly damaging the woofer.
Upfiring if someone "large" sits on the seat you have to worry about them damaging the woofer.
Ryan betts
Active Member
thanks! also, which sub would be the best to run with a mtx 6500 class D amp? im trying to keep the price under 200 for the sub.
Jacob Dryer
Well-Known Member
What is the max mounting depth on the box your looking at getting? And how much power does the amp put out? I can't find the specs.
James FreemanJr
Well-Known Member
most down/up firing boxes have a mounting depth of under 6.
Jacob Dryer
Well-Known Member
Cheap and better than any name brand sub within $100 of it that I have ever heard. I have a single 10 in my truck with 500 watts to it and it sounds great.
Small company but they were great to deal with and I only have good things to say about their quality. 5.75" mounting depth.
Small company but they were great to deal with and I only have good things to say about their quality. 5.75" mounting depth.
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James FreemanJr
Well-Known Member
most down firing boxes I've seen have about 5.25" while most up firing boxes I've found have close to 6". Best to get upfiriing for the mounting depth I guess. On that note the rockford fostgate thunderform box has the deepest mounting depth and most cubic ft of any underseat box for the ST I believe its close to 7" but is also about $200 without amp.
Ryan betts
Active Member
i've been told that the amp is a true 800 watt amp. here are two of the boxes that i was lookiing at...
http://cgi.ebay.com/01-06-FORD-EXPLORER-SPORT-TRAC-1-10-SUBWOOFER-SUB-BOX_W0QQitemZ300060665262QQihZ020QQcategoryZ50565QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
http://cgi.ebay.com/01-06-FORD-EXPLORER-SPORT-TRAC-1-10-SUBWOOFER-SUB-BOX_W0QQitemZ300060665262QQihZ020QQcategoryZ50565QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
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Adam Smith 2
Active Member
It's rated at 340 watts RMS into a 4-ohm speaker. If you want one wattage figure for an amplifier to compare apples to apples, continuous RMS wattage is it. Be very suspicious of wattage figures that include the words "peak" or "max" as they are tricks used by manufacturers to inflate specs. "Peak" wattage gives you a clue to the amp's supply rail voltage, but it does not tell you how long the output transistors would survive at the unit's maximum output current, so it's not a particularly useful number if you are listening to music with continuous loud bass.
So, it's a 340W amp.
WXMotorSports DecalsPartsAccs
Well-Known Member
Ryan - purchase JDBoxes. He is a site sponsor which helps make this site free to all of us. Plus it's a better box IMHO.
Jacob Dryer
Well-Known Member
I greatly appreciate the plug, but I don't do anything underseat. So if that is the option you want (which allows a greater mounting depth) then look else where. If you want behind the seats in the storage area then we can talk 
Ryan betts
Active Member
thanks Adam! yeah i bought the amp open box, the guy told me that it was "true" 800 watts. i had it running two sony explode 12's in my tiburon and it was plenty power! i am concerned that it will be too much for the sub too handle. SST, if JDboxes wanted to do the under seat i would, im on a budget though and it seems cheaper to do it under the seats!
"acoustically it shouldn't matter."
It does. A speaker creates sound my vibrating the air around it (I know, "No, Duh."). The more air a sub can "push" against and move, the louder and cleaner sounding it will be. You'll find on most car audio websites and news groups that when you put a sub in the trunk of a car, it should face to the rear or whatever direction there is more space in front of it. I'm not an Audiophile by any means, but I can actually tell the difference based on which way a sub box is facing. (NOTE: This is for sealed and ported boxes. A bandpass box is probably different since the subs are totally enclosed.)
Of course with our STs, options are limited and there are other considerations. My box is the 10" sub upfiring under the seat from eBay (Rodney is a good seller) and sounds pretty good (again, I'm not an Audiophile and I'm easily satisfied with the sound of my setups).
http://cgi.ebay.com/Ford-Explorer-Sport-Trac-Box-Sony-Sub-Amp-Box_W0QQitemZ270049412715QQihZ017QQcategoryZ50565QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItem
It does. A speaker creates sound my vibrating the air around it (I know, "No, Duh."). The more air a sub can "push" against and move, the louder and cleaner sounding it will be. You'll find on most car audio websites and news groups that when you put a sub in the trunk of a car, it should face to the rear or whatever direction there is more space in front of it. I'm not an Audiophile by any means, but I can actually tell the difference based on which way a sub box is facing. (NOTE: This is for sealed and ported boxes. A bandpass box is probably different since the subs are totally enclosed.)
Of course with our STs, options are limited and there are other considerations. My box is the 10" sub upfiring under the seat from eBay (Rodney is a good seller) and sounds pretty good (again, I'm not an Audiophile and I'm easily satisfied with the sound of my setups).
http://cgi.ebay.com/Ford-Explorer-Sport-Trac-Box-Sony-Sub-Amp-Box_W0QQitemZ270049412715QQihZ017QQcategoryZ50565QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItem
Richard Toms
Well-Known Member
i feel the matter on this sub enclosure ordeal. im in the process of brewing something up. not quite sure exactly. but i know i wanna keep the factory seating, but want a sub box underneath the seat. reason being for me, im not sure what speaker to go with, but i know its gotta be a good one or two, for the fact of what amp i have to run. the amp is a PPI PCX 2400, its rated at 2x400 at 4 ohm, 2x800 at 2 ohm or 1x1600. im thinkin JL Audio, but uncertain what to run, since the under seat option really doesnt leave much room for a good box, but ill have something soon. but back to the post, personally, i think id go with a down firing sub enclosure, just for fact that if some1 is heavy enough to mash the speaker, and for down firing u wouldnt have to worry bout stuff near it, just grill it.
Ryan betts
Active Member
yeah i may get the upfiring sub. i dont see any of my friends beimg large enough to mess up the sub. i just want something. i miss my system so much!
Fudged Undies
Well-Known Member
I've used downfiring (Probox) and upfiring (cwells). From my experience I would go with the upfiring box.
The Probox always sounded muffled in my opinion, just not enough room between the sub and the floor. I noticed that if I pulled the box out from under the seat and lifted it a bit it sounded better. Also, the ST "carpeting" is rubber which I don't think reflects bass very well (my opinion).
The Cwells sounded much better and if I had to do it again, I would go this route.
The Probox always sounded muffled in my opinion, just not enough room between the sub and the floor. I noticed that if I pulled the box out from under the seat and lifted it a bit it sounded better. Also, the ST "carpeting" is rubber which I don't think reflects bass very well (my opinion).
The Cwells sounded much better and if I had to do it again, I would go this route.
Mark Tomkiel
Member
I've tried numerous subs and love the quality of JL Audio & Boston Acoustics. The latter is a bit more expensive.
Jacob Dryer
Well-Known Member
Since air is a gas much like a liquid it will push around corners. It is only pushing with the surface of the speaker so the only way that it will push more is to have a large diameter or larger excursion.
Does putting hard objects in front of it make a difference? Yes I won't argue that but if there is enough clearance for the sub to work to it's full x-max the difference of up or down firing is totally vehicle and frequency dependant.
By upfiring you are sending the wavelength through the foam in the seat, I don't know all the specifics but I do know that foam is used as a sound deadener. So that could have a negative effect.
By downfiring you are potentually limiting the travel of the speaker and also changing direction of the wavelength.
(up and down is similar to forward and backward facing in trunk cars, but not the same. By facing back in trunk cars you are lengthing the amount of room you are giving the wavelength to move. Up or down it's quite enough of a difference)
****Cliff Notes version: There are too many variables to say that either is a better solution.
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Adam Smith 2
Active Member
Ideally, you don't want the sub pushed right up against anything. It's not just a matter of the speaker cone physically hitting something (which is obviously a no-no), or about the "volume" of air, so much as the freedom of the air to move. If your sub is just an inch from the back of a seat, the air in front of the speaker has it's flow restricted. In this case, you're actually losing energy through coupling to the seatback. In other words, you're using some amplifier power to vibrate the seat instead of make bass sound waves in the air. And yes, the seat foam is absorbing energy also, lowering overall efficiency. You will never see a well-designed system with any objects near the cones of the woofers, you want them firing in as close to free air space as possible.
That said, wedging your woofer under the rear seat is never going to be ideal, and I don't think it's going to particularly matter which way it faces, up or down. Down-firing with a generous clearance under the speaker is probably the best of these two options, if there is a sub with shallow enough mounting depth to allow it. I saw someone here did a custom fiberglass box with a forward-firing woofer between the two back seats (like a center console). That is going to beat any under-the-seat solution, but of course it's not for everyone.
I have the lazy man's SQ subwoofer system right now: a 12" Infinity Kappa Perfect in a sealed box strapped into the rear passenger side seat. It looks totally ghetto, but for sound quality it is as good as it gets. Next summer I plan to do a custom box for the rear footwell which takes up all the underseat space and the normall passenger foot wells. It will be years before my oldest child's feet will touch the ground (4-yr-old in a booster), so there is plenty of time to use that space for subs, probably two 10".
That said, wedging your woofer under the rear seat is never going to be ideal, and I don't think it's going to particularly matter which way it faces, up or down. Down-firing with a generous clearance under the speaker is probably the best of these two options, if there is a sub with shallow enough mounting depth to allow it. I saw someone here did a custom fiberglass box with a forward-firing woofer between the two back seats (like a center console). That is going to beat any under-the-seat solution, but of course it's not for everyone.
I have the lazy man's SQ subwoofer system right now: a 12" Infinity Kappa Perfect in a sealed box strapped into the rear passenger side seat. It looks totally ghetto, but for sound quality it is as good as it gets. Next summer I plan to do a custom box for the rear footwell which takes up all the underseat space and the normall passenger foot wells. It will be years before my oldest child's feet will touch the ground (4-yr-old in a booster), so there is plenty of time to use that space for subs, probably two 10".
Joe Kowtko
Member
I have the ProBox as well because at the time, it was the only down-firing 10" enclosure with a mounting depth of >=5.75". I wanted to use a JL Audio 10W3v2-D4 which is definately using all of the mounting depth available. I agree with the general observation that the subwoofer has very little room to breathe when downfiring (I can barely get my fingers between the speaker mount and the floor).
But, on a sound note... someone mentioned that it could sound muffled. I believe that is only if you are running your subs at too high of a freq. I invested in Focal 165K2Ps for the front and they more than pick up the mid-bass so I can concentrate that sub on the lower frequencies. Just my 2c.
Joe
But, on a sound note... someone mentioned that it could sound muffled. I believe that is only if you are running your subs at too high of a freq. I invested in Focal 165K2Ps for the front and they more than pick up the mid-bass so I can concentrate that sub on the lower frequencies. Just my 2c.
Joe
