I definitely couldn't handle the above

 

+1. NOT a fan of the blanket idea. def could be a LOT cleaner. i dont hate the idea of having subs up front though...or even just one.

 

I am aware of the boxs off ebay not being tuned to the sub,but they are close,all you have to do is stuff them with polyfill until it sounds right,You can get polyfill in the local wal mart craft section,it's the stuff you use as stuffing in pillows/quilts and such.It's like $3 a bag. Most of th boxs on ebay are a little smaller than what the sub needs so by adding polyfill it makes the box perform as if it were bigger than it is,this is an old installers trick and it works.Another trick for really tight bass is to coat the inside of your sub box with fiberglass resin but that is really going to the extreme(this prevents the wood from letting the sub "breathe" through the wood fibers. I have 2 tens in my Jeep that are in custom hand built tuned enclosures and they sound great but the single 12 in my truck sounds almost as good and its in a $40 ebay box with some polyfill in it.The key is having a good amp with more than enough ***** to push whatever sub you have.

 

Ohh boy. Here's the bark.
Most Ebay pre-fabbed boxes are waaaaaaayyyyy smaller than what should be ran. Not 1 box out on ebay that is $40 or even $100 has enough cu/ft for even shallow mount subs. I custom built my box and could barely achieve .90cu/ft i don't care what they say, they are lying. There's no way you can drop a box under the seats and have near the same cu/ft of what I have being custom molded right to the floor. there's a bit of room if you pull out the carpet. So dropping a box ontop is getting maybe, just maybe .30cu/ft per side which isn't near enough to go sticking polyfill to enhance the sound to what it should be. Granted it helps, but it's not miracle fill. Most 10's require minimum of .60cu/ft and 12's are generally closer to .8cu/ft
As far as tighter bass by coating the walls for the reason of breathing through the wood fibers. Crock! Nothing passes through the fibers. they are too dense. the reason the bass may be tighter is because the vibration is reduced which slows the sound waves that are hitting the back of the sub. i coat the inside of all my boxes with Dynamat. Works great and doesn't ake much time to do.
yes a 12 can sound better than 2-10's. but it depends on the set-up. crappy 10's? Maybe the 12 just hits the lower bass notes which you think it's louder?? Too many variables like cab volume, sub placement, amps...etc

I will say, you most definately need an amp that has 125% more power bare minimum than what the sub can handle. meaning your amp should be rated for more than 500watts rms if your sub is 400watts rms. The main reason for this is harmonic Distortion increases the higher that db **** is turned up. Just because an amp can push 400watts RMS(All The Time) doesn't mean that it's clean power. generally most amps sound good at or below 1/2 volume. It's the cheaper amps that drastically increase in distorion each click it's turned up compared to quality amps that have the same distortion at 1/8 level as 7/8 level. Quality would mean JL500.1/JL1000.1 I am running a JBL Crown BP1100.1 amp for my Infinity subs. This amp would make crappy subs sound pretty good. But you can't buy so-so subs and a so-so amp and expect the world.
I would prefer 1 quality sub vs 2 so-so subs. I would prefer a quality underpowered amplifier than a high power cheapo.


Speaking of which, I have an old school kicker solobaric round sub 10d4(i think)and a JBL300.1 monoblock amp. both are in great shape and work flawlessly. Sub is mint. No marks or anything. looking to get $150 shipped for both.

 

OK Dirty dog I think you read a little more into what I was saying than I implied, I was just trying to keep this guy from dropping waaaaaaay too much money on something that the average ear won't even hear. The advice you are giving him is good and accurate and I second the opinion that I also stated previous as to the amp being the most important piece of the puzzle but you still need quality components all around.

As far as the resin coating inside the boxs I was told that by a close friend who was a very skilled high paid audio installer for over ten years before going on to be an audio engineer. The idea is to seal the wood (specifically lower quality enclosures) to make it perform more like a quality thick MDF and also to seal the cracks in the wood joints. My custom boxs for the 10's in my jeep were built very well, every seam is sealed and screwed together and the subs are held tight to the box with T-nuts instead of wood screws. These obviously sound better than the one 12" in the ebay box in my truck,but for a fourth the money I spent on my Jeep system the cheaper truck system still sounds pretty damn good!



P.S. the 12" under seat box I got off ebay has .70 cu ft. of space with some poly fill the box is really close to what it should be for my sub.

 

Man, I put full size subs in my box and no polyfill or any of that stuff, I'm sure not enough airspace, but they sound great. I don't think its that big of a deal for the regular guy

 

Matt thanks for so simply making the point,thats what I mean unless your a real audiophile or in spl competition a decent box and a good amp and sub will satisfy most people and you can spend the extra money on some go parts instead of a sub box,it just depends how important it is to you to sound 5%-10% better than your buddys system.

 

Well, Dog is going to murder me for that comment. Haha

 

I have just started posting on the forums my JL Audio Stealthbox and JL Audio 500/1 amp for $375 shipped to US. I took it out of my '03 QC. Fits under rear passenger seat. I could sell just the stealthbox too. Send me a PM if interested.

 

^^^ yeah. What Mat99 said......lol


No, the guy asked what was the best scenerio and he was looking at the JL Stealthbox. IMHO that's the best premade enclosure out there. I just thought he was wanting a quality set-up.

I told you guys. I'm a freak! I'm **** and have to do everything a certain way. Just ignore me