Subgestions for new Envoy

dogtor j

I just traded rides. I had a '95Trooper with Polk dB stuff throughout. Also, Phoenix Gold, Audiocontrol, Kenwood eXcelon.
My 2 Polk 10's were slot-loaded and driven by a Phoenix Gold PG2500, bench tested at about 650 Watts. My daughter is going to get the Trooper at college (she's happy).

But, I am considering splitting up the Polk 10's and putting one in each car. I am thinking about using the PG 2500 to drive the single Polk dB 10 in the new Envoy. It has the new Bose system in it ,which sounds amazingly good for a stock system.

What kind of enclosure would you recommend for good SQ. I am into accuracy of bass. I am thinking about slot-loading or down-firing the sub for sound quality AND to protect the sub in my SUV. Gotta have those golfclubs in there.

Thanks

PoweredByDodge

well... for medium sized air spaces (x-cab trucks and small suv's like a ranger / envoy etc) i really have come to prefer downfiring. it deadens a little of the crapy sound that you get from having a woofer fire in the same air space as the listener... whether speaker companies like to admit it or not, you do hear a little "something" when a 400 / 500 / 600 watt woofer is pumping at full power.

honestly, i'd see if you could keep both subs together... 650 on the two is a perfect amount of power and that PG amp is a helluva nice piece of equipment.

I'd downfire them in SEALED enclosures (0.66 cubic with no polyfill -- be sure to use 3/4 inch mdf and make sure u're joints are screwed together with no more htan 3 inches between screws). if you do the box right (tight) these subs should pound the living daylights out of you --- i had two dx 10's in a standard cab 88 dodge truck off an mtx 500d (700 watts bench test) and it pounded like nothing i had heard up to that time.

for asthetics sake you may want to place your subs one on each side of the vehicle in the cargoarea (behind all the seats)... however you might also want to try placing them right next to each other in the center (still in the back but centered as far as left / right goes)... depending on your vehicle one of those two placements will be noticeably better. In rangers i know they're better apart... but thats also a very squaure cabin ....the envoy is a much more countoured vehicle... so who knows, u gotta give it a whirl.

g'luck

PoweredByDodge

note --- if you standard mount the sub to the box, then when you downfire it, make sure the "legs"of you box allow for 3 - 5 inches of "clearance" between the rubber surround of the speaker and the floor of the vehicle.... this is "optimal" distance... you can get away with less (minimum's are usually 2 or so), but the best sound is usually 3- 5 (more toward the five)... i've got two subs downfiring in my xcab ram right now and its the nicest sounding setup i've done.

dogtor j

Thanks PDB,

I found the same thing with the slot-loading. I think I settled on 4"s and could really tell the difference in my Trooper between 3 and 6""s. It seemed to help jump the bass right up front and from the windshield more. That combined with the right crossover frequencies and I was cooking in the Trooper...ear-bending bass from out of the windshield. So, I may keep the two together like you suggest, at least for a while.

My biggest question now is whether I am going to screw up the basic system by tapping into the wires of this Bose system. Others have assured me that it is no big deal, but I'm a bit nervous since this is by far the most expensive ar I've ever owned and I don't know the factory Bose system well at all. I really don't want to do anything stupid here.

Do you know anyone who has done this by any chance?

Thom

It shouldn't be a problem. You can get a line- level converter from somewhere such as www.davidnavone.com , they've even got Bose- specific units.