When I got my system installed, the guys who did it said it would sound better with the subs facing away from my back seat (they're in the trunk) other people have told me though that it sounds better if the subs are facing the backseat. Any suggestions? Which way does everbody else have their subs facing?
Go to: members.fortunecity.com/chifwebpage/mercedes4.jpg to see a pic of them (don't put in www because it won't work if you do.)

The further the bass has to travel the louder it sounds thats the idea of facing them away from you. You can stand right up against a heavy hitting 12" and not feel much, the moment you step away a few feet WHAM! Depending on the power of your set up and the freedom the sound has to reach you your techs may be right. If this is a benz facing the subs against the backseat would muffle the sound because of the gas tank. I would face it away to have the bass build enough 'momentum' to get through the parcel shelf especially if my system isn't that strong. Just my humble opinion I am sure you'll get some other responses from some very capable people here as well......
There are other variables to consider like is this a bandpass, free air,sealed...etc

I couldn't see the image of your install (URL turned up nothing), but the response from your installer was incomplete.

You cannot improve the sound of your subs simply by orienting them in a different direction...there are more complex factors at stake here.

The easiest and most common is the free-air enclosure (subs facing the seat, cones facing the trunk). The trunk serves as the enclosure, and maximum efficiency is achieved by sealing off as much air as possible from the trunk area. Fortunately, MBs are well sealed, but additional sealing is required for the rear deck area.

You can achieve more efficient (notice I didn't say better) sound by having the subs facing the opposite direction. There are several designs that work, including isobaric (subs face each other), bandpass (sub in a box enclosed in another ported box), or aperiodic (sub in a box with a acoustically transparent membrane).

These enclosures yield more bass than a free-air setup, but the frequency range is limited, and it requires more skill to accomplish, as the enclosure parameters must be matched to the subs you are using. It can actually mask distortion in some cases, so you could be doing damage to your subs without actually even knowing it. These types of enclosures require more volume to accomplish the task, so more trunk space would be required.

I have personally used free air and isobaric enclosures, long before the kits were widely available, but now I tend to favor the manufactured boxes. They have already gone through the trouble of researching what works, so I can just drop in a sub and plug it in. I have also used Bazooka tubes in a car that I could not afford to lose trunk space in, and they performed marvelously.

__________________
2009 ML350 (106K) - Family vehicle
2001 CLK430 Cabriolet (80K) - Wife's car
2005 BMW 645CI (138K) - My daily driver
2016 Mustang (32K) - Daughter's car

...the best thing you can do is experiment a little before (semi-) permanently mounting the sub box.

1. box located nearest cabin, rear of box facing cabin, subs firing towards back of car
2. box located nearest cabin, subs firing towards cabin
3. box located farthers from cabin, rear of box facing cabin, subs firing towards back of car
4. box located farthers from cabin, subs firing towards cabin

Ultimately, the location of your sub box and the orientation of the drivers would be dictated by the size and shape of your trunk (among others). The need/lack of need for trunk space would as well influence this decision.

The reason why this makes a difference in some cars is that the location and orientation of your box determines the propagation and cancellation of the sound waves emanating from your box. Although you could theoretically compute for the theoretical optimal location, experimentation would be much easier.

Hope that helps...

__________________
Rainmaker
93 500E, 43k mi, Pics of upgrade parts
Evo II Wheels on Dunlop FM901 235/45x17s
94 Facelift
RennTech CF Airbox
RennTech ASR Defeat
RennTech Chip
1st Gear Start
97 Range Rover 4.6 HSE Vitesse, Yellow, "Tonka" (sold)

Wow, I always wondered why they installed my sub with the woofer facing the rear of the car! I "did them right" and turned it around... actually turning it into a masterpeice!!! (See pic below).
So for my 95 C280 with 250 watt amp and 10 inch sub (in a box), do you think it would work best to have the sub facing the rear? If so... my 'masterpeice' will be no more!



Smoothride,
That website doesn't seem to be working? Thanks for bringing this up... good point!

Why won't the address show it as an image? I am using the 'img' Vb codes correctly! Just click on the link to see my setup.

__________________
2006 E350 w/ 155k miles (Daily Driver)

Previous:
1993 300E 3.2L Sedan w/ close to about 300k miles
2003 E500 Brilliant Silver (Had 217k miles when totalled!)
1989 300E with 289,000 miles (had for <1 yr while in HI)
03 CLK 500 cabrio (Mom's)
2006 C230k (Dad's)
1999 S420 (Mom's/Dad's)
2000 C230k Sport sedans
2001 CLK320 Cabrio (Mom's)
1995 C280 My First Mercedes-Benz... (155k miles. EXCEPTIONAL AUTOMOBILE. Was Very hard to let go of!)

here's the pic of the subs incase the link doens't work.

Attached Thumbnails

 

The picture DOES clear up a few things...I didn't know your subs were ALREADY in an enclosure.

In which case, I would agree with firing them towards the rear. There is a lot of sheet metal to penetrate if they are fired forward (i.e. gas tank). The added wavelength travel to the rear of the car then back to the front will reinforce the sound coming out of the subs. This in essense, makes your trunk a "bandpass" enclosure.

Still, you need some way to get the sound into the passenger compartment, or your setup will be as audible as listening to your next door neighbor's music from the wall of your apartment. Adding a port to your rear deck is a good way.

Particularly popular in that respect is doing away with the first aid kit (useless anyway) and making a slot there...less material to remove (especially sheetmetal)...

__________________
2009 ML350 (106K) - Family vehicle
2001 CLK430 Cabriolet (80K) - Wife's car
2005 BMW 645CI (138K) - My daily driver
2016 Mustang (32K) - Daughter's car

Firing rearward is typically going to yeild the best bass performance. It may not always be the most correct sonically, but it will be louder. Best bet is to play with the position of the box. Fire them up, toward the rear, toward the front with a varying bit of space between the woofers and the front side of the trunk.

To add to this.......for a quick check on how your subs are doing you can remove the rear speakers, the holes will act as ports. You can do this before you go ahead and mod the first aid kit just to see how better it will sound.

I guess I'll just keep them facing the way they are then, since that seems to be the best way. I just ordered a dynatmat trunk kit which will hopefully make it so the trunk lid and panals doen't rattle anymore. I'll see how it sounds after the dynamat and then maybe think about porting the saftey kit box.

If your trunk lid rattles, check your license plate and/or frame too...a cheaper fix, if it turns out to be the source.

Dynamat reduces unwanted road noise, but won't cure rattles!

__________________
2009 ML350 (106K) - Family vehicle
2001 CLK430 Cabriolet (80K) - Wife's car
2005 BMW 645CI (138K) - My daily driver
2016 Mustang (32K) - Daughter's car