[HafNHaf]

i am going to try my hand at a variant of the shoebox sub. cost has to be kept to a minimum, so i bought an 8" MTX sub designed for a .5 cuft sealed box. i have bent a piece of aluminum plate to replace the navigation unit cover on the right side of the trunk, which will also serve as the left side of the enclosure. the bottom of the trunk, rear bulkhead, right inner fender, and rear of the battery compartment will complete the "box". if this works, and sounds decent, pics will follow. if it doesnt work, or sounds like crap, i will banish myself. at least until the embarrasment wears off. most likely a day or two. :wink:

wish me luck!

andy g.

 

[b1shmu63]

Don't forget plenty of good quality sound packing in there, and perhaps a duct. The "box" will have to be sealed to work efficiently. Not sure how well the aluminum enclosure will be for vibration. You might have to use some cross bracing to prevent the deadly KAZZOO effect. If it works it will be an extremely light weight addition to the car and in the Insight spirit!

 

[HafNHaf]

IT WORKS!!! not quite as much impact as the 10" jensen tube it replaced, but its not visible either. still need to seal it up properly, and retune the sub amp. gotta hide the sub amp also.

actually, its quite impressive, considering the size. i am now thinking of getting 2 6.5" subs to go in the rear speaker cutouts. or two more 8s, if i can open up the existing holes. that should add some displacement to the system.

as far as details: the cavity is loosley stuffed (that sounds odd...) with some thin foam rubber, which i let hang out around the plate. when the plate is slipped into place the foam seals the edges. i will be changing out the edge sealing method soon, but for now its fine. as far as bracing, none is needed. the aluminum is about 3/32" thick, and resonates well above the subwoofer and amp's passband (-3db @ 80hz, 24db/octave). i didnt hear any odd (or even) harmonics coming out of the back, no rattles or out-of-place sounds.

pics in a day or so. sorry, quite busy.

andy g.

 

[HafNHaf]

ok, here are the pics:

so.... watcha think?

 

[b1shmu63]

That's a fine job on the metalwork. That certainly is a simplified approach. I'd try it but I have other ideas for that space. :wink:

 

[HafNHaf]

oh yeah? whatcha got cookin'? (i wont tell. honest!)

andy g.

 

[b1shmu63]

I've got a 115 amp hour deep discharge boat battery that more or less fits the space. I plan to solar charge it. It will be part of a system for reducing hidden charging. To do it right is not a simple matter. The floor has to be leveled, protection built in for acid spills, hold down clamps, wiring, regulation, and interfacing with the regular battery. by itself it will achieve little but it is part of a larger project.

I have described my ideas before but the problem is a shortage of free time at the moment. If the ideas work I will brobably put a couple of Valence lithium batteries in there. The lead acid is just to test the concept.

I'm using a couple of speakers behind the seats as woofers. PVC spacers for them allow larger magnets in there. :shock:

 

[HafNHaf]

cool! keep us in the loop.

gotta run. time for work.

andy g.

 

[HafNHaf]

well, since the stealth sub idea workd so well, i decided to keep upgrading the audio system. i just installed a pair of blaupunkt 6.5" co-ax speakers in the doors. sound much better than the oem units. i have 2 pairs of super tweeters (5khz - 20khz) that i am going to mount on the top of the dash up by the windshield like this:

L--------R-L--------R

the tweeters will be angled in to face the driver and passenger.

so far so good!

andy g.

 

[miecz]

well, since the stealth sub idea workd so well, i decided to keep upgrading the audio system. i just installed a pair of blaupunkt 6.5" co-ax speakers in the doors. sound much better than the oem units. i have 2 pairs of super tweeters (5khz - 20khz) that i am going to mount on the top of the dash up by the windshield like this:

L--------R-L--------R

the tweeters will be angled in to face the driver and passenger.

so far so good!

andy g.

How easy were the Blaupunkts to install? Were they drop-ins? How much did you pay? This is of interest to me since you said they sound much better than the oem. I had built my own shoebox and added amp but wasn't sure about front speakers.
Thanks,
Joe

 

[HafNHaf]

they dropped right in. no problems at all. and i came up with a used amp just like the one i am using for the subs to drive them. when the weather warms up....