Free air sub ?

ben62670

My buddy has a 98 Dodge Intrepid with a sealed kicker box. The bass is very ghetto... Boom Boom Boom. He has it wired for 1/2 with 2 12's. He would like to tighten up the bass, and hates having subs in the trunk. He wants punchier bass, and was thinking of using free airs on the rear shelf. The trunk is pretty well seal from the rest of the car. I don't like 12's much, and I don't like how hard the surrounds are on the kickers. Any suggestions would be great.
Thanks Ben

Installer4life

Doing a free air installation is much more complicated than it sound or looks. You also have to have the right subwoofers. Your friend can tighten up his bass by installing the subwoofers he has into a smaller sealed enclosure. Kicker designs their woofers to be used in a variety of different sealed and ported enclosures. Having a new sealed box built would be much easier than doing a properly constructed infinate baffle. What subwoofers does your friend have? Be exact. Kicker offers different voice coils on many of their woofers.

exalted512

Agreed, you really cant just drop a sub in on the back deck and call it free air. Youd have to remove any other speakers back there, make an extremely sturdy baffle, and make absolutely sure the front wave and back wave would be completely separated.

Sub that comes to mind for IB is the id max.
-Cody

Installer4life

There is a guy in Atlanta GA that swears by the IB. I forget where he works but he has had a couple of cars in CAR AUDIO AND ELECTRONICS done this way recently. Might be worth you taking a look at to get an idea of what it might take. As far as woofers go he uses the same brand you recommend Cody but goes with the IDQ.

ben62670

I know that the kickers are not good for free air. The thing I don't like about boxes in trunks that it is a box in a box. SUVs the woofer is in the same compartment as you. I would not a sub in the next room for SQ at home. That is an argument for subs on a rear deck.

MacLeod

Installer4life wrote: »

There is a guy in Atlanta GA that swears by the IB. I forget where he works but he has had a couple of cars in CAR AUDIO AND ELECTRONICS done this way recently. Might be worth you taking a look at to get an idea of what it might take. As far as woofers go he uses the same brand you recommend Cody but goes with the IDQ.

That would be Jeff Smith. One of the most gifted and telented installers Ive ever met. He's done several of the installs for Team Zapco cars and did one for my buddies Altima that went on to win an IASCA world championship!! This install is unreal! He's got mids in the kicks, midbasses in the doors and 4 tweeters in the A pillars and the only thing you can see is the stock grills in the doors and he gave up NO leg room.

He did 4 ID's free aired from the back deck and they sound excellent. But as mentioned, this was quite an eleborate install and the rear deck was Sawzalled out and rebuilt.

audiobliss

Dang, that sounds like a REALLY in depth install. Would love to see and HEAR it!

exalted512

IB, theoretically, will yield better SQ than sealed and/or ported.
-Cody

ben62670

My buddy was asking about RE speakers, but it does not say anywhere IB. The only nice IDQ's are $450 each. What we are looking for is something with good efficiency. The problem with IB is not many people do it.

exalted512

The IDQs are only $150, the ID Maxs are $450. If youre wanting to do a single sub in IB, id go with the max, if youre thinking about multiple, the Q would do just fine.
-Cody

MacLeod

I dont like IB because its harder on the sub for one and it drastically reduces the subs power handling. I prefer a sealed enclosure that is built to the proper specs so the sub is better controlled.

As for pictures of the Altima, there is nothing to see! LOL! Thats the beauty of it. Other than the stock grill in the door, you cant see any hint of speakers.

I do have this picture of the trunk that houses about 4000 watts in Genesis amp power!!

ben62670

Thanks guys. I have no sub in my car, and I have kids so... You guys got me thinking. I was also thinking of a sealed box that drops into the rear shelf (I have to make a cut out). We shall investigate. We both know it is not an easy task. I am thinking a single 10. The best sounding bass I ever heard was a pair of Polk ten's in a sealed box about ten years ago driven by a Nacamichi amp at 220 watts. It did not break any SPL records, but it sure hit a lot better than this ghetto **** I am hearing all over the place here.

eloplayspolo

boytits.orgy nice site... ha

PoweredByDodge

i go away for a few months and this is what happens to you people? jesus...

MacLeod

You should hang around more often dude! With you and John going on sabbaticals all the time, it leaves me and Cody as the smartest people here. No good can come from that.

boytits.orgy nice site... ha

Yeah, its become a tradition messing with that guys car. Last year at MECA finals he had a F150 with a "Hooker Audio" sticker on the back. Keith Turner put "Im a" over it.