Another question about a sub in the trunk - Page 2 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

jsmith · #16 05-31-2002, 09:25 AM

i want the same thing for my car, a little bottom end, definitely not a thumper. i have the door woofers that don't do that much - i think the crossover is too low on those. there are a couple of low profile subs out there - one from kenwood and the other from clarion. here's a review.

http://www.carsound.com/reviews/subs/wOOx.html

i'm wondering if it would fit in the first aid kit enclosure. i can't think of anywhere else where there might be enough clearand inside the cabin. could it fit under the dash somewhere maybe?

ck42 · #17 05-31-2002, 12:17 PM

Joe:

It sounds like we might be looking for the same thing....bass frequencies NOT covered by the LITTLE speakers in their stock locations. Oh, and I also have NO interest in mega bass.

I'd be totally happy finding a location to fit some 6.5" drivers giving me bass only down to around 50-60Hz.

The little 4" drivers in the 4 stock locations prolly are only good for about 120Hz at their LOW end. This high of a top end roll off really makes the sound unpleasant.

The thing is, just having a subwoofer that's good for 30-85Hz isn't going to work here. I'll have a huge gap from 85-120Hz that will be very audible and may actually sound worse than the current situation. Plus, this would require putting a sub box in the trunk all the time which I'd rather not have to do.

This was originally the reason for the 8" sub. An 8" driver has the ability to fairly accurately deliver frequencies as high as 150Hz. But, once again,an 8" driver is would be in a cabinet...hence, my thoughts on using a free-air 8" sub in the rear deck compartment. This would take car of the cabinet issue.
But, from the feedback I've gotten, the sound I'd get would be totally unpredictable due to the free-air nature of the driver and trunk response issues.

Maybe I'll inquire about just building some really shallow cabinets that are ONLY just big enough to fit in the two rear deck compartemnts and then fit some shallow 6.5" drivers in them. If this were possible, I wouldn't have to do any cutting back there which would be a HUGE plus with me.

Only question is whether a box of adequate volume (roughly .5ft^3 I would guess) can be built that would fit flush into those rear deck compartments. I'll have to start taking some measurements and run the numbers.
Other advantage to this is that the 6.5" drivers would be fairly cheap and would fill the gap under the little 4" drivers perfectly while giving me totally adequate bass response DIRECTLY into the cabin of the car.

#18 05-31-2002, 01:34 PM

As of now, IM not running any kind a system. my car is completely stripped. I just got my interior done yesterday..IM working on some rims...then I'll worry about the system.

Albert

Mike400E · #19 05-31-2002, 06:06 PM

The Kenwood looks like THE perfect solution for you guys! Read the review and the unit is 15-3/16 inches x 4-5/8 inches x 8-1/4 inches. It will be a little tall to fit in the FA kit space, but the width and depth are almost perfect. It will be about the same height as the head rests in an E class. The review also mentions frequency cutoff is adjustable, although it doesn't say what the range is. The Kenwood web site DOES indicate frequency response to be 35HZ to 1.5KHZ, so I imagine the adjustment is pretty large. (Certainly higher than 85HZ.)

Small package, built in amp, good range, and reasonably priced sounds like a winner! Obviously you won't rattle the neighbors windows, but that's not what most of us are after. Run power and signal to it, and you'd be done. Kind of wish I'd heard about this before did all my cutting!

ck42 · #20 05-31-2002, 09:15 PM

Well...it looks like I was pretty close. Typical sealed box for a 6.5" driver is gonna need about .4ft^3 (I did find a Vifa driver that I could get away with about .18ft^3 though).
If I used the deck compartment and ONLY put some thin 3/8" thick wood as a cover and used the plastic tray insert as the rest of the box, this would only give me something like ~.1ft^3

Anyone have any idea of what is located underneath those plastic tray inserts? Could I get any more depth out of it by removing the inserts? I know the gas tank is below there, but how much farther down can we go?

jsmith · #21 06-01-2002, 09:28 PM

Mike400E,

I have a pretty lame excuse for not doing it - it's a royal PITA to pull out my headunit to get at the aux line outs (yeah, i know it's ready to go) and do the wiring. I have lower back problems and the mild contortions required for the job does a real number on it. I guess I'm just trying to talk myself into doing it. Now I'm starting to seriously think of putting it somewhere under the dash in the footwell maybe, it'll be much easier to hookup there. Anyone know if there is a suitable mounting spot thereabouts in a w124 (w/ SRS)?

Cheers

#22 06-04-2002, 11:57 AM

Ok I can help you out here. My 500 had 2 8"s on the rear deck They were from 1985 each had it's own 100 watt amp made by kenwood ass well as the subs. They had a metal mesh cover about 1 1/3 feet wide and 1 foot tall. Under the mesh covering was the 8 a 3" speaker and one horn tweeter.Sounded very good as long as the trunk was shut and they Looked good too (then agian I had a wood deck with vyinal covering and no first aid junk). Where are your other speakers. My 500 had the factory dash speakers 1 in each front door and those I just talked about in back. Front two were factory.
If I can help you holler.
ps
Hope i didnt confuse

ck42 · #23 06-04-2002, 02:17 PM

Dan,

Front speakers are on the extreme corners of the dash.
Rear speakers are also pretty much on the extreme corners of the rear deck.

#24 06-04-2002, 10:19 PM

Look into some good speakers for the front door you will be amazed in the diffrence it makes

ck42 · #25 06-04-2002, 11:23 PM

If I could put a set of front speakers in the doors w/o doing a custom job, I'd be set. Unfortunately, my door panels just have the pockets....so putting any speakers there would mean getting very creative.

Mike400E · #26 06-05-2002, 12:14 AM

CK42

My suggestion is to leave the stock speakers as is and do something for the bass before you do anything else. As I said before, I left the rest of my 300E system pretty stock, and it sounded really good with the bass enhanced. Perhaps I have low standards............The Kenwood unit looks like a great idea. I bet you could get a dealer who sells them to let you try one for a weekend and see if it's enough for you. I'm guessing that will do it. If not, you can then go back and try something more drastic with the bass solution and/or start upgrading other pieces.

#27 06-05-2002, 08:26 AM

not sure on your car but my 500 the door pocket stopped towards the edge (rear end) and that was a great place for it except sound was hitting the seat. You can get in speaker that will put out bass and you will be amazed.

ck42 · #28 06-05-2002, 09:05 AM

Thanks for the suggestions Dan but I'm not real keen on cutting up my door panels

Maybe I'll just hook up a set of headphones and be done with it

#29 06-05-2002, 09:07 AM

ok sounds good.
I've also heard of removig the first aid kit and building a box that will fit in there. I have heard good things about that style too.

ck42 · #30 06-05-2002, 09:17 AM

Ben...I discussed the possibility of building a box to go into the rear deck compartments but found that the max possible box volume after construction isn't quite adequate for even a 6.5" driver....unless, like I'd questioned, there's a couple more inches of depth hiding underneath those plastic trays. 2-4 inches more deph would provide enough volume to make this VERY doable.

Never got any responses as to what's under those things and I really don't feel like ripping up the rear deck only to find out it was all for nothing.