Best mounting position for self powered and enclosed sub in trunk?

[JHZR2]

Hi,

I decided to buy a kenwood KSC-WA62RC WooX subwoofer for my 83 300D. Its a really small unit that is self-amplified, self enclosed, and has gotten a lot of good reviews.

I have heard of two possibilities: on the parcel shelf near the rear windshield or in the trunk.

-If I put in on the shelf by the rear windhsield, won't summer sun ruin it? I have to imagine its not good for this sort of stuff to be in direct sunlight (thus the relatively thick speaker grilles on the cars).

-If I put it in the trunk, what is the best way to point it? I have read that sometimes this sort of sub is best located as far forward in the trunk, with speakers pointing away from the pasenger comaprtment. I assume this is so it can vibrate the maximum volume of air in the trunk the easiest. I think this would also be the easiest for me to mount. Any comments/suggestions on how to mount it?

-Finally, wiring. I got this sub because I can attach it into the wiring for my rear speakers. However, I worry about the power wires. Apparently it needs a constant and a 'turn on' wire. I figure I can get constant somewhere in the trunk, or else run it straight from the battery, no biggie. However, how do I signal it to turn on? My original becker europa doesnt have an amp that I know of, nor an output to signal an amp to turn on. Will I have to set up some sort of a switch to give a momentary power spike to the unit to tell it to turn on? Or does the power antenna get this spike to tell it to extend/return when the radio goes on?

Any help would be great.

Thanks,

JMH

[Zoonhollis]

JMH,

I faced a similar dilemma after I purchased a Clarion powered sub, roughly the same size as the WooX. It would not fit under the seat of my '84 300D, so I decided to take drastic measures. I will try to post some pics, but here's what I did:

I cut a hole in the hat shelf (not for the faint of heart) the size of the sub, and a matching hole in the fabric shelf cover. I then sunk the unit about halfway down and mounted it with some custom-made hardware. The sound is pretty good, but the flimsy steel of the rear deck needed some reinforcement in order to improve bass response. I sprayed some noise killer on the surface underneath and also placed (read: crammed) lots of foam between the fuel tank and the shelf. This greatly improved the sound.

Of course, the downside to all this is that I have modified the body of my car irreversibly...but I plan to keep her awhile.

I made a simialr modification to the front doors, where I installed 6.25" MB Quarts, powered by a PPI amp in the trunk (mounted on MDF). There are 2 more amps powering more speakers, so my system sounds fairly impressive. Pictures to follow...hopefully.

Hi JMH.


When living in Europe I had a 82 VW jetta
and I mounted a simular sub to the bottom
of the parcel shelf(in the trunk).

I would power the unit directly from the battery.

I don't know if that sub comes with any wires.
If it does then make sure the inline fuse on the
power wire is as close as possible to the battery.
If you have to wire it yourself then buy an inline
fuse to protect your car,and the fuse should be
of a lower value than the one on the sub,this way
the inline one will blow first and prevent a possible
fire.

Experiment with placement until you are
satisfied with the sound,then mount it in
this position.
It will sound better in the passenger area
then in the trunk but the trunk is bigger and
offers more options.

Yes speaker don't take to well to sunlight.

To turn the unit on,you can patch in to the antenna
energizing wire,this way when you turn the radio
on(assuming that the antenna still goes up when you
turn the radio on)the amp will come on to.

Hope this helps.

Louis.

[JHZR2]

Thanks!

One more questiuon about the antenna turn-on wire... If I have the antenna switch in the full down position, does the antenna not get the energizing signal? Often when using my CD chganger, I leave the antenna down all the way. Id hate to have my sub turn off because I put the antenna down...

Would I have to wire the turn-on wire in before the antenna switch?

Thanks,

JMH

JMH.

What you could do is just get one of
those automotive relays and wire it into
the ignition so that the amp is on whenever
you start the car.

Louis.

[Alan Hamm]

JHZR2,

First, be prepared for the fact that if you put it in the trunk, you will not hear a thing. I installed a powered Bazooka into an '85 300D and was all thrilled until I turned it on. Nothing, nada. I walked around to the trunk and could hear a slight rattle and put my hand on the top of the trunk and felt tremendous vibration. Opened the trunk and the neighborhood could hear the bass. Those 300D trunks are practically air tight. I ended up drilling holes into the metal shelf to let sound thru. It worked to some degree.

That being said, I am in the final stage of installing an Infinity Basslink powered sub in my SDL. I agree with the comment to wait to mound the sub until after you experiment a bit. I have checked and the trunk of the SDL is no where near as tight as the 300D (at least visually) but I will soon find out as I connect wires tonight.

What I am thinking is that I will rig this with quick connectors so I can mount on the floor in the rear seat during the 90% of the time there are less than 4 people in the car. With quick disconnects, I can quickly remove and relocate the unit to the trunk for trips with a full car.

Of course, if I hook it up tonight and it works and sounds great in the trunk, it will stay.

As for the remote turn-on, I do not think the antenna lead will work unless you keep the antenna up. I am sure this is why the newer units have a seperate lead. However, the Infinity unit I have says that if you use the direct speaker connections instead of the pre-amp RCA feed to the sub, this is enough voltage and you do not need a remote lead.

I am also fairly certain you will need to run a large positive lead direcly to you battery (fused of course). Depending on the power of your amp, this wire might need to be quite substantial.



Curious about the Kenwood unit.

[Zoonhollis]

As promised, pics of my system:

[Zoonhollis]

And another:

[Zoonhollis]

Last one:

Hi Matt.

Very nice system.

One thing to remember is that some people
don't like cutting into trim and metal panels,
me included.

For the front speakers custom kickpanel can
be made from the original kickpanels and
keep the OE's,for when you sell the car.

For the subwoofer you can use the first
aid kit space as a vent or even as a mount
for a subwoofer and hang the enclosure
from the parcel shelf.


If you need to cut up or into a panel,a fiberglass
copy can be made and wrapped in a fabric of your
choice/to match.
Thus preserving the original panel.

Enjoy your system.

Louis.

[Alan Hamm]

Originally posted by Alan Hamm
JHZR2,

First, be prepared for the fact that if you put it in the trunk, you will not hear a thing.

That being said, I am in the final stage of installing an Infinity Basslink powered sub in my SDL. I agree with the comment to wait to mound the sub until after you experiment a bit. I have checked and the trunk of the SDL is no where near as tight as the 300D (at least visually) but I will soon find out as I connect wires tonight.

What I am thinking is that I will rig this with quick connectors so I can mount on the floor in the rear seat during the 90% of the time there are less than 4 people in the car. With quick disconnects, I can quickly remove and relocate the unit to the trunk for trips with a full car.

Of course, if I hook it up tonight and it works and sounds great in the trunk, it will stay.

Well, the experiment is somewhat a failure. It appears that the Infinity has far less "uumph" than the Bazooka in my 300D. I can barely hear a thing with this in my trunk. I have tried several positions and it makes not much difference.

I am back to the idea of quick disconnects so I can mount this in floor at the rear sear but quickly move to the trunk when I have guests.

Damn Mercedes are too well built!

[JHZR2]

Very interesting... This fellow had great success with hix kenwood woox (same subwoofer I got, 5 1/2 powered, 6 1/2 passive radiator, self amplified and enclosed) in the trunk of his 85 380SE, mounted sideways:

Mounting idea for a Kenwood powered sub woofer in 380SE

JMH

[JHZR2]

But personally, Im liking the idea of sticking my sub, which has a really small footprint in the cutout for the armrest (kind of into the seatback when the armrest is down). Sure the armrest would be down all the time, but so long as the sub facing forward in the cabin won't be too overpowering for front or backseat passengers, all is well. AND, I can take 4 passengers anytime.

JMH

[Alan Hamm]

I don't get it. I have a remote gain switch on mine and when I adjust I cannot tell any difference.

HOWEVER, I just realized that I had not told the head unit that I now have a sub. I just this am found an online users manual to figure out how. This might make a huge difference. I will let you know.

[Alan Hamm]

Well guess what, turning on the subwoofer in the head unit makes quite a difference ! Duh, SMACK!

It is not thumping bass like many people like, but it is there. Now I need to tune it properly and enjoy. I will still play with positions before a final mounting, but the option to move into the cabin is on hold for now.