Sub for Reg. Cab Truck

phuz

I've got a 98 Ranger, reg. cab. I'm thinking of getting a single 8" or 10" sub to go behind the drivers side seat. I was thinking of getting a little Qlogic enclosure or something simmilar.

Question: What can some of the pro's out there recommend? This is a small space and I'm not sure what I should be looking for as far as power, sealed vs. ported, etc.

What does everyone think about the powered MTX custom enclosures?

Can I really do this (Box, amp, woofer, install) for $400 or even less?

Thanks!

TrappedUnder Ice

There are couple of recomendations...

If you want to go 8"s.... try to find some older solo 8's..I was lucky to find a pair new ...they only need .33 cubes to sound right sealed..wich is ideal for a small box in a truck...

for 10's... I like the IDQ subs... you can get a way with .5cubes for each sub...

I'd recomend doing your own box....to save on space...and down fire the subs...give @ 3-4 inches of space from the sub to the floor. can go sealed or ported...but ported will take more enclosure volume

The new Kicker solo 8's and 10's also need minimal air space sealed..more options to feed ya.

CDT makes some subs called microsubs..wich would also be ideal..can find those on-line for pretty good prices.

I'm sure others will come up with some ideas as well.. especialy vinnie... (surpised I posted before him ;0)

One other thing on determining your sub..is what amp are you going to use...

hope this helps..peace out


KEEP CAR AUDIO FUN

"Thomas the Grey"

RuSsMaN

My setup (S10 reg cab):

10" Polk Ex -$39 (new, closeout)
10" sealed sub box -$25 (loss leader, Cartoys)
Jensen 200w amp -$80 (used from a friend)
Fill -$0, had some around the house

I've got what, $150 in mine? You can certainly do it. I want to upgrade the quality of the amp, but even Alpine and Fosgate have 'afforadable' models.

I would recommend 1 10", sealed. I know your music tastes though, so ported might be a better option for you.

Keep us posted broham.

-Russ

Jstas

The MTX stuff tends to have a plasticky sound that I don't care for. It could be diffferent for you, I don;t know. They are a good solution though. If you are looking for that kind of a solution though, you may want to check out a JL Stealth box. I'm pretty sure you can buy them unloaded from JL now so you don't need to subject yourself to the horror that is a JL sub.

If you are going with 8's, go with 2 8's in seperate enclosures. One behind each seat (driver/passenger). It wil improve your sound stage. Use a high power stereo amp to drive them too.

If you go with a single box with 2 8's that share a common enclosure then go with a mono amp capable of 2 ohm performance so you can wire the two subs off the same mono channel. There will be a bit more power for them in that configuration and since they are using a common space, wiring them together will give you less variance in the performance of the two woofers.

I don't know how tall you are but if you can afford to lose some leg space, a 10 inch sub will work just fine. If you want to keep leg space, 2 8's is how I would go.

As far as type of box, I'd go with a sealed box. They take up less room and inside a pickup cab, there is not a whole lot of space. In addition, if the subs are going behind the seat, there is virtually no open space for unobstructed port openings. You will get port noise and turbulence. That will color the sound. A small sealed box will work just fine. Get yourself some good speakers for the doors and rear cab corners and you will have all the boom you want. A nice set of Pioneers will work just great. I don't know if Polk makes anything other than the EX series in a 6x8 size. If you want something other than the stock 6x8's, it requires fabrication work. You can most likely use kickpanel speaker pods up front but your rear speakers are basically limited to a stock thing if you don't do fabrication work.

Since the sub box will be in the cabin with you and the size of the cabin is quite small, a sealed box will give plenty of punch. A proted box will be larger and may not worth best in such a tight environment. If you go with a sealed box, get an amplifier with some punch. At least 100 watts RMS at the minimum. It may be cheaper and easier to go with a small power, stereo amplifier. Kenwood has a 35Wx2 stereo amplifier that when bricged to a mono channel puts out about 100 watts RMS. It will work perfectly for an add-on sub like you are planning. Other companies all have the same kind amp, small, stereo and bridgeable. You can get the same level of performance of a mono amp for about 2/3rds the price.

Like RuSsMaN said though, I don't think you need to spend a whole lot of money. You can probably find a decent set of enclosures for the subs online on eBay. You can probably pick up an amplifier there too.

A couple of sites to check out:

Car Stereo Time
Car Media 1

They have decent stuff, all brand new and current models, for pretty much a 30-50% discount. They have some nice equipment and you can get everything from your head unit to your speakers from those sites too.

One very important thing in a car stereo is wiring. Much more important than in home theater stuff. Make sure that you have a large enough power wire for the amplifier. The ground wire should be at the very least 75% the size of the power cable but equal sized power and ground cables are the best way to go. By size I mean guage thickness. The ground cable should be as short as possible. Also, spend some money on the patch cables. Insulated and sheilded patch cables make the biggest difference in sound quality. Cars are a very noisy environment electronically so the more protection you have from RFI and EMI the better.

Also, speaker wire is important too. Most people run with 16 or 14 guage wire. Personally I don't wire speakers with anything less than 12 guage wire anymore.Better to have too much wire than not enough. If you have too little wire, you open yourself up for intereference. DO NOT let anyone tell you that home wire is the same as automotive speaker wire. It's not. Automotive application wire has a much more pure copper content and is pretty much 100% oxygen free anymore. They also have different types of insulation that stand up to things like gasoline, motor oil and other road grime. You can also get brainded speaker wire and patch cables. The speaker wire will have two wires, insulated individually and twisted together in a 3 insulation layer. This elminates phased variance cause by EMI interefereing with the positive and negative leads of the speaker wire. The patch cables are the same but they have a 3rd ground wire braided in with them. They virtually eliminate noise. Worth every penny you will spend on that kind of wire.

If you are using the stock stereo, you will most likely have to patch into speaker leads for your signal to your subwoofer. Using high quality speaker wire in that case is a must because you are using your car stereo leads as your signal patch cable.

You can defintly do a sub woofer system for 400 or less. Check out those sites I listed above and you will find some excellent stuff for excellent prices. I've dealt with both companies before and have been satisfied each time. You don't need a really fancy amp. Especially if you are keeping the stock speakers and radio. A simple mono or stereo or stereo-bridged amplifier will suit your needs just fine.

PoweredByDodge

re-- mtx plastic thunderform....

i owned an mtx thunderform for my truck after i had just bought it... had two 10's under the rear seat --- i removed the 6000 series mtx 10's and put in two polk DX 10's... not only did it sound plasticy but the walls of the box were flexible.. they're made so thin / cheap that a sub over 150 RMS will probably cause a whole lot of flex in there...

after 6 months of usuing the box in one way or another (iin the trunk of another car for a while -- dont ask... long story) i ended up busting a seam on it... they're supposed to be "seamless" but they aactually do have a joint along the back skinny part on the model for my vehicle.... cracked it pretty good... repaired it and sold what i had paid 400+ bucks for on ebay for like 75 bucks to some chick in California...

in short --- don't waste you're coin on that --- small 8" subs in a tight proper box will out do crappy plastic boxes.

as far as the JL stealth boxes -- they're fiberglass are they not (or something else?) ? I looked at one when i was hunting for mine back in the day -- fiberglass is a WHOLE lot better... and would do the job for you. If JL makes a stealth box for u're vehicle and its cheap enough and you like how it goes and all that (and its not plastic)... go with it...

have fun.

PoweredByDodge

some manufacturer (anybody) needs to come out with a 6x9 subwoofer/ midbass driver.

8" subs with frequency ranges from like 40 to 250 hertz have been being used as "midbass" drivers... or "top end" subwoofers for like 'ever' now... in both doors and rear decks.

but who the heck has 8" door cut outs already, not to mention rear deck?

what would be nice to see is a 6x9 inch true midbass top end subwoofer. something built with the quality of the old DB and the style of the new momo. I think such a woofer would take off in applications where you've got guys with smaller pickups or standard cab pickups... you could then put "sufficient" subs in your door stock fit locations running free air and use kick panel pre fabbed or custom (depending on your level of end product desired / experience) to house your component set, coaxial, or whatever your front high is

** still wondering if i "gut" a dx9 whether or not i can make it function close to a 8" woofer **

TrappedUnder Ice

well...JL has a 6w0 sub...I know..I own 2 (hangs head in shame) they are nicely packed in thier boxes in the garage!

Focal makes a 5" sub..yes 5"....wich many have used for sq comps

hmmmm what else... :eek:

PoweredByDodge

ya fosgate has some 6" too...

but that's too small... see.. an 8 inch sub is about as small as is gonna do the job.... now a 6x9 oval has about the same surface area and possible power handling (physical room in the device to build as much of a power monster) as an 8... the 6 doesn't.

that's my quest --- find a current model 6x9 subwoofer.

phuz

Thanks for all of the advice guys.

This has been an adventure. I just wanted to fill out the low end a bit in my little truck. Now after two days I've got a new headunit, a pair of awesome sounding boston 5x7's in my doors, a kicker 120.2 amp bridged, sealed truck box (temp, custom box soon), and a Phoenix Gold 10" sub (temp, boston sub soon) rocking my little Ranger.

It's been exhausting and a pain in the **** but it's done and it sounds pretty good.

now to find something to fill out the mid bass a bit.

TrappedUnder Ice

NOthing wrong with your setup...nice job. Definatly ..anything PG is great..enjoy...and thanx for putting up with us..:D

phuz

I just saw the JL stealthbox and I'm impressed. Can anyone give me an idea of what these things cost? I've been looking all over the net and can't find a single retailer with a price listed. Thanks.

PoweredByDodge

phuz --- www.daryllscaraudio.com --- store based out of buffalo, will not post prices but they will sell you the item over the phone and ship in the USA... so u can get it there...

as far as price.... well each one is a difft price for each difft vehicle... but to give u a general idea -- one for my extended cab truck to fit under the rear seat and hold two downfiring 10" subwoofers would have been in the ballpark of $600.00 UNLOADED.

the reason they're so expensive is that they're fiberglass -- not plastic like the mtx thunderforms. fiberglass is actually a GOOD box material whereas plastic is nothing more than junk. a fiberglass box will sound the same if not slightly better depending on application, than an mdf box.

phuz

Thanks PBD. I've done some more research and for future reference, there is no stealthbox for a 98+ ranger reg. cab - but there is a JL vantage enclosure that looks a lot like the MTX thunderform. The difference is that the JL is cheaper, and it's built better. It's still made of plastic, but it's thicker and seems tougher than the MTX enclosure(s).

The one for my 98 reg. cab retails for $179 and can be had for $150. I'm picking one up this weekend. I'll let you all know how it goes if you'd like...



Now another question. I seem to be getting a lot of resonance coming from my door/rear speakers. I'm thinking that this has to do with the fact that they aren't enclosed and that there is metal behind them. I'm thinking that some dynamat (or simmilar materail, I'm not paying $100's for dynamat) in the doors and rear of the cab would get rid of this. Am I right?

Thanks everyone.