Need sound advice for my vert - long....
11-14-2007, 09:19 PM
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Need sound advice for my vert - long.... I have a '97 Z which has the '98+ interior, so I figured I may get better help here. I'm looking to add a little umph to my stock system. I listen primarily to alternative rock and very rarely rap/hip-hop. I'm killing myself over this and am going back and forth, but I really need help b/c I only want to do this once.
So, stock system is 6.5" in door and 6.5" in the rear seat area with a VERY shallow mounting depth - stock speaker is 1.25" b/c of top mechanism. My original plan was for 8" subs there until I discovered the mechanism and then I also realized it's not a sealed area. I don't want to sacrifice trunk space and from what I've read, a sub in the trunk is useless once the top is down.
I currently have a Rockford Fosgate 2ch amp that puts out 100W RMS x 2 @ 4ohm OR 200W RMS x 2 @ 2ohm OR 400W RMS x 1 @ 4ohm bridged.
Option 1 - I was considering a 10" sub in spare tire well and then getting 6.5" coaxials for the factory locations and powering them off of my aftermarket head unit - 21W RMS. This just brings the hassle of building box and whether it'd be worth it w/ the top down.
Option 2 - Mount 2 8" free-air woofers to the partition separating interior from the trunk (would use MDF as partition - not the plastic factory piece). I'm considering these - Kicker SSMB8. I could run 100W RMS into them and I'm sure it'd work great, but once top is down, they're completely blocked. Do you think I'd still hear them? Replacement coaxials in factory locations @ 21W RMS. I may even be able to squeeze 4 SSMB8's there and run series-parellel and get 400W outta my amp. It'd at least be twice the surface area.
Option 3 - Mount Kicker SSMB6 (6.5" midbass) into door location. This is the most feasible and I'd have sound top up/down for sure. 100W RMS again. I could then put replacement coaxials in the rear seat area off the head unit. The only issue I can think of is I wouldn't have any front soundstage. I guess I could buy separate tweeters, but then I'd have to deal w/ crossovers, etc. Would this even cover the whole sound range? I guess it'd be like components, but not 100% sure b/c these are midbass speakers. I'm also wondering if there is room next to the factory 6.5" door location to mount some 5.25"?? This would solve the full spectrum issue (and I already have some 5.25" 3-ways). I know I could always buy kick panel pods, but would rather put the $200 towards something else....anything else.
Ideally I'd like to put the 6.5" SSMB6 in the rear seat area, but since it's not sealed, I'm not sure how well they'd work. They are free air though, but I know you're still suppose to separate the front from the rear. Thoughts?!?
On a side note, if I did decide on 4 SSMB6 speakers (factory locations) or 4 SSMB8 (partition) and wired them in series-parellel so that they're only a 4ohm load and put that to my bridged amp which would push 400W RMS, would that be okay? The speakers handle 125W RMS each (175 for the 8's), so I think they'd only be getting 100W each, but I'm not exactly sure that it works that way. Does the load split evenly between the speakers?
Any other suggestions???
So, stock system is 6.5" in door and 6.5" in the rear seat area with a VERY shallow mounting depth - stock speaker is 1.25" b/c of top mechanism. My original plan was for 8" subs there until I discovered the mechanism and then I also realized it's not a sealed area. I don't want to sacrifice trunk space and from what I've read, a sub in the trunk is useless once the top is down.
I currently have a Rockford Fosgate 2ch amp that puts out 100W RMS x 2 @ 4ohm OR 200W RMS x 2 @ 2ohm OR 400W RMS x 1 @ 4ohm bridged.
Option 1 - I was considering a 10" sub in spare tire well and then getting 6.5" coaxials for the factory locations and powering them off of my aftermarket head unit - 21W RMS. This just brings the hassle of building box and whether it'd be worth it w/ the top down.
Option 2 - Mount 2 8" free-air woofers to the partition separating interior from the trunk (would use MDF as partition - not the plastic factory piece). I'm considering these - Kicker SSMB8. I could run 100W RMS into them and I'm sure it'd work great, but once top is down, they're completely blocked. Do you think I'd still hear them? Replacement coaxials in factory locations @ 21W RMS. I may even be able to squeeze 4 SSMB8's there and run series-parellel and get 400W outta my amp. It'd at least be twice the surface area.
Option 3 - Mount Kicker SSMB6 (6.5" midbass) into door location. This is the most feasible and I'd have sound top up/down for sure. 100W RMS again. I could then put replacement coaxials in the rear seat area off the head unit. The only issue I can think of is I wouldn't have any front soundstage. I guess I could buy separate tweeters, but then I'd have to deal w/ crossovers, etc. Would this even cover the whole sound range? I guess it'd be like components, but not 100% sure b/c these are midbass speakers. I'm also wondering if there is room next to the factory 6.5" door location to mount some 5.25"?? This would solve the full spectrum issue (and I already have some 5.25" 3-ways). I know I could always buy kick panel pods, but would rather put the $200 towards something else....anything else.
Ideally I'd like to put the 6.5" SSMB6 in the rear seat area, but since it's not sealed, I'm not sure how well they'd work. They are free air though, but I know you're still suppose to separate the front from the rear. Thoughts?!?
On a side note, if I did decide on 4 SSMB6 speakers (factory locations) or 4 SSMB8 (partition) and wired them in series-parellel so that they're only a 4ohm load and put that to my bridged amp which would push 400W RMS, would that be okay? The speakers handle 125W RMS each (175 for the 8's), so I think they'd only be getting 100W each, but I'm not exactly sure that it works that way. Does the load split evenly between the speakers?
Any other suggestions???
