[zadar]

Here is my situation, my Vanagon camper is in need of a sub. But space is very limited, A friend of mine has an sub-enclosure in the rear seat cabinet, but this eats up a lot of storage. So I came up with this scheme of building an enclosure on one side of the cabinet that is not much use, incorporating the very walls of the cabinet as part of the enclosure. The the only problem is I have no idea on how to do this or even be possible. Can any of the sub-woofer experts help? Or are there any links that can explain construction techniques? Here is a pic of my situation:

The area where the speaker would be mounted, 8” most likely.

This is what the inside of the cabinet looks like, the space I want to use is 8” wide, 12” long at the floor and about 18” long at the top. It is about 20” deep. There is some dead space between the side and seat cabinet that could be used to channel airflow.
I am not much of an audio expert and don’t need anything earth shattering, just some bottom end. If this seems non-workable I figured my other options are:
A 6” bazooka, anything bigger won’t fit. Should I go amp or passive? Are these any good? Has the bonus of minimal work.
A free-air sub? These seem to be new tech, but do they actually work? Kicker seems to have some of these.
So what can you guys recommend?
Thanks much…………………….

 

[FrankiEBoneZ]

Re: Sub-woofer experts, need your opinion for my Vanagon (zadar)

I don't think you'd be able to fit an enclosure on one side of that cabinet. Just build a box that would slide in.
Figure out how big a box and how much volume that box would contain that would fit in the hole. Using the existing wood would probably be bad. You can more than likely fit a 10" in there according to your measurements you mentioned. If not, defienatly an 8". Then just build the box, slide her in, and wire her up!. Go with about 200 watts and you'll get a nice amount of low end. Not pounding, but noticeable!
EDIT: Forgot, some companies make these new 6" subs. They might work somehow! Never heard them or even seen them, but they might work out for you! Looking into that might help ya!


[Modified by FrankiEBoneZ, 5:46 AM 8-5-2002]

 

[Lexi]

Re: Sub-woofer experts, need your opinion for my Vanagon (zadar)

This is what the inside of the cabinet looks like, the space I want to use is 8” wide, 12” long at the floor and about 18” long at the top. It is about 20” deep. There is some dead space between the side and seat cabinet that could be used to channel airflow.

So this where you want to install it ? I'm guessing from the pick that its 8 inches wide from left to right.
What I'd do :
Build a sealed or ported box with the subwoofer pointing downwards. Have the box raised off the bottom by about 2 or 3 inches and you'll have a setup simular to home systems. Bass is uni-directional which basically means you don't have to point the sub at your ears to get the best sound unlike tweeters. I myself have my subs in the trunk pointed away from the passenger compartment. One sub, with one 50 x 2 watt amp bridged for 200 watts rms mono will give you plenty of thump for your application. You could mount it directly on top of on the backside of the box and slide it in. Out of the way but still easily acessable.

Building a sub box is pretty easy and dare I say "fun". If its your 1st time I'd start with sealed , its the smallest & simplest design and also produces the cleanest sound. Ported isn't all the hard, you just need to get the port lenght right. If you did it that way I'd suggest pointing the port so it faces the open side of that cubby hole.
Here's some places for you :
1] Calculates the size of the box you want for all types.
http://www.the12volt.com/caraudio/boxcalcs.asp
2] Lots of info on car audio in general
http://www.caraudioanswers.com
A Bazooka will work well but I find a [ well made ] sub box will still sound better and cost much less.

 

[TBerk]

Re: Sub-woofer experts, need your opinion for my Vanagon (zadar)

http://www.bulley-hewlett.com/VWindex/
No Vanagon Owner should be without this info.
Enjoy,
TBerk