under seat subwoofers

[allenying]

hi,
has anyone had experience with under the seat subwoofers?
i'm looking for the smallest one which will be decent to fill out the range of sound, not for crazy amounts of bass. the w123 speaker sizes are just too small, sometimes i even think those portable bluetooth speakers like the bose soundlink color i have have more bass than the car speakers...

anyway, i'm currently looking at:

kenwood KSC-SW11
which seems to be the smallest at 11” x 7.5” x 2.75",
with 8-1/4" x 5-1/8" speaker,
KSC-SW11 | Speakers | CAR ENTERTAINMENT | KENWOOD USA
$125 manufacturer refurbished


rockville RW8CA 8"
12.4” x 11” x 2.7”
Rockville RW8CA 8" 600 Watt Low Profile Under-Seat Active Powered Car Subwoofer - Rockville Audio
$86 used

what do you guys think?

[allenying]

i took some measurements of my '85 w123, and due to the black mounting bar of the seat, and the space that is available under the seat, it seems like anything bigger than 11" x 8" wont' even really fit under the seat...

has anyone else fit anything else there or other places?
thanks,

[JHZR2]

Besides the need for an amp, is there any good reason why one couldn't just make an enclosure and put a decent size speaker in there, and cross it over? Doesn't have to be a huge speaker and doesn't have to be all frequencies.

[Demothen]

Have you given any thought to how to mount these? One day I'll probably get the Kenwood you posted for my w123, but I haven't really thought of a great way to mount it easily. Normally I'd stick some velcro hooks on the back, but velcro doesn't stick to the carpet in my car since it's a cut pile carpet apparently.

[Rogviler]

Just happened across this thread and thought I would post for posterity. I got the Kenwood one last year and it just barely fits under the front passenger seat in my wagon. It basically makes the seat non-adjustable though. I don't care, but some might. Also, it would not fit with the carpet, so I ended up using VHB tape to secure it directly to the floor and then you can deal with the carpet however you want (cut it to fit in my case).

Otherwise it was very easy to do. It definitely helps the sound, but even with the nicest speakers I could find for the back I just couldn't take it, so now it has 6x9s in the ceiling (Concours be damned). The Kenwood "sub" definitely has some punch, but there are two songs I always use to test a sub (Ludacris - Blueberry Yum Yum and Gorillaz - Clint Eastwood) and they don't even register on it. So now I'm trying to figure out something that will fit in the floor where the vomit seats used to be. You sedan guys have it easy!

-Rog

[party]

Originally Posted by Rogviler

The Kenwood "sub" definitely has some punch, but there are two songs I always use to test a sub (Ludacris - Blueberry Yum Yum and Gorillaz - Clint Eastwood) and they don't even register on it. So now I'm trying to figure out something that will fit in the floor where the vomit seats used to be. You sedan guys have it easy!

-Rog

You could get a custom fiberglass enclosure built in the rear facing seat area. I've looked at the space in a few wagons, but never very closely with the seats removed. This is commonly done in spare tire wells if you want to get an idea of the work required. Whatever you go with, it will be a lot easier to get the low frequency extension you want than with sub/amp combo boxes, which IMO are a complete waste of time.

Originally Posted by JHZR2

Besides the need for an amp, is there any good reason why one couldn't just make an enclosure and put a decent size speaker in there, and cross it over? Doesn't have to be a huge speaker and doesn't have to be all frequencies.

The answer IMHO is no. Typically, the most difficult part of installing a stereo is running the wires through the car. Subs, amps, and prefab enclosures are cheap.

[Stretch]

Why no just fit later model massage seats instead of sending bass up ya chuff?

[Demothen]

I ordered Infinity BassLink SM 8" compact powered under-seat subwoofer enclosure at Crutchfield.com and have test fit it in my w123 sedan. On the passenger side it fits under the seat, but due to a small hump (i'm guessing clearance for the muffler?) it doesn't want to slide in to be completely with the seat in it's rear-most and lowest position, it's still slightly visible, but leaves room for me to sit comfortably. The driver's side doesn't fit as well, though I think that may be because of some excess wiring under my carpet for my aftermarket heated seat kit. I need to make sure that both seats are at their lowest setting and still slide, I think if I pull the wiring out from under the carpet it might fit better. I will take a bit more time to try to fit it better, or I may return it to exchange for a smaller unit. I also considered trying to fit it above the fuel tank, but under the cargo shelf. Possibly bolted on upside down to the cargo shelf. Not sure how much clearance there is there though, I know there's already a vacuum reservoir on one side, and the first aid kit on the other, so there might not be space left.

[party]

Originally Posted by Demothen

I ordered Infinity BassLink SM 8" compact powered under-seat subwoofer enclosure at Crutchfield.com and have test fit it in my w123 sedan. On the passenger side it fits under the seat, but due to a small hump (i'm guessing clearance for the muffler?) it doesn't want to slide in to be completely with the seat in it's rear-most and lowest position, it's still slightly visible, but leaves room for me to sit comfortably. The driver's side doesn't fit as well, though I think that may be because of some excess wiring under my carpet for my aftermarket heated seat kit. I need to make sure that both seats are at their lowest setting and still slide, I think if I pull the wiring out from under the carpet it might fit better. I will take a bit more time to try to fit it better, or I may return it to exchange for a smaller unit. I also considered trying to fit it above the fuel tank, but under the cargo shelf. Possibly bolted on upside down to the cargo shelf. Not sure how much clearance there is there though, I know there's already a vacuum reservoir on one side, and the first aid kit on the other, so there might not be space left.

Here someone installed one of these things in the location of the first aid kit in a W201. Maybe you could do something similar.

Rear deck upgrade on '89

edit: Here's an install using that location in a w123.



W123 audio

[cornemuse]

I had a '67 VW bug once, I put speakers under the back seats, aiming foward, sound going under the front seats. (had an 'eight-track' & a Panasonic hi power amp). Worked really good.

How much room is under the back seats of a 123??

My old 64 Porsche has (round) boxes below dash on the sides (behind where the hood opening lever is on 123's) that works really good.

[Demothen]

I really like the concealed installation in that w201. I might try to do something similar in my w123 if there's enough space above the fuel tank & sender. It would need to be reasonably easy to remove in order to gain access to the fuel sender.

There's not much room under the back seat in a 123, if memory serves.

[Rogviler]

Originally Posted by party

You could get a custom fiberglass enclosure built in the rear facing seat area. I've looked at the space in a few wagons, but never very closely with the seats removed. This is commonly done in spare tire wells if you want to get an idea of the work required. Whatever you go with, it will be a lot easier to get the low frequency extension you want than with sub/amp combo boxes, which IMO are a complete waste of time.

I'm happy to have the slim Kenwood setup in the front actually, it really fills in where the tiny front speakers failed. And I'd probably leave it even if I got a more "real" sub in the back. It doesn't go low, but it makes up for no midrange or mid-low in the front.

Unfortunately the shallowest shallow mount sub I could find would still be about a inch too tall to sit flush in the back floor, which is a bummer. They really made the vomit seats surprisingly thin to fit in there. Obviously if I didn't care about cargo space I could fill that whole back area with subs and blow the windows out...

Kind of toying with something that would be slim and fit against the back seats and also be easy to remove if I wanted to lay them flat. Maybe just a truck box with a couple of cup dispenser brackets to let it slide in and out easily.

-Rog

[Demothen]

I did some more testing, there's no way I can install the Infinity unit I bought under the seat without adding spacers or making sure the seat is never in it's lowest position. Of course I scratched it up so it can't be returned (easily). I did some quick eyeball measurements, and it looks like I can mount it in place of the first aid kit with some modifications. I'll probably wait until this winter to mess with it since I'll have the diesel tank out for cleaning, but I think I can build some brackets to hang amp underneath the luggage shelf. I'll have to remove the first aid kit, separate the lid from the box, and mount the lid back in place (velcro probably). I'll also need to figure out a way to remove the amp if necessary since the fuel sender may need to be accessed at some point.

[catfell]

I have a '82 300D sedan, and improved the audio by replacing the head unit with an Alpine, and Helix Esprit speakers (4" front, 5.25" rear). I was able to fit the front speakers under the original grilles but not the rears.

The sound was great, but no bass whatsoever.

My goal was for sound quality, not mirror shaking bass to annoy the neighbors.

I could not find a powered sub that would fit easily under either front seat.

Instead I got a JL Audio CS110LG-TW3 (Thin 10" sealed subwoofer enclosure.) and a 300w amp.

The amp was installed under the rear bench seat, and the subwoofer went into the trunk.

Initially I could not hear the sub, until I took out the first aid kit and tray. Once the tray was out, I had plenty of bass.

I'm still messing around with the subwoofer position, but I'm leaning towards firing the sub upwards towards the first aid kit.

Also, my installer is going to alter the first aid kit tray so that the rear deck looks stock-ish. I'll post photos when it's done.

[Demothen]

I realize this is an older post, but do you have any pictures of installing the amp under the rear seat by chance? Roughly how much room did you have available? I've had my seat out once before but I remember it being a huge pain to reinstall, so I'd hate to pull it to find that there's insufficient room.

Originally Posted by catfell

I have a '82 300D sedan, and improved the audio by replacing the head unit with an Alpine, and Helix Esprit speakers (4" front, 5.25" rear). I was able to fit the front speakers under the original grilles but not the rears.

The sound was great, but no bass whatsoever.

My goal was for sound quality, not mirror shaking bass to annoy the neighbors.

I could not find a powered sub that would fit easily under either front seat.

Instead I got a JL Audio CS110LG-TW3 (Thin 10" sealed subwoofer enclosure.) and a 300w amp.

The amp was installed under the rear bench seat, and the subwoofer went into the trunk.

Initially I could not hear the sub, until I took out the first aid kit and tray. Once the tray was out, I had plenty of bass.

I'm still messing around with the subwoofer position, but I'm leaning towards firing the sub upwards towards the first aid kit.

Also, my installer is going to alter the first aid kit tray so that the rear deck looks stock-ish. I'll post photos when it's done.