[Country Boy]

If you're into the lower cost of premade boxes, S u b t h u m p has the best boxes I've found. I've had a couple different ones and they are quality. You can check their 5th gen stuff and see.

[Snoman]

Pre-fab boxes are created one single purpose; to fill a niche in the market for those that want convince over price. These items are the highest cost per performance anywhere, even over hiring a custom installer. Pre-fab boxes are constructed of 1/2" plywood if you are lucky (most are 3/8") and occasionally you'll get a nice molded fiberglass but you will pay through the nose for it.

Most of the populous believes they'll pay $100-$150 for this mass marketed "sleeper box" then walk into Best Buy (Amazon) for a $50 sub off the shelf and some $100 amp and "omg it's phenomenal", never knowing they overpaid for piss poor sub-quality junk equipment throughout. Worse yet if instructions are even included, the fitment into the vehicle or the electrical can go very badly, quickly.

If you don't care about $300 vs. $600 and want it done right, don't have the tools or care to, stop reading here and go down to your local Car Toys / Magnolia Hi-Fi / Cartoons / custom stereo shop and pay them to do it right. If this is in itself too much trouble, let me know what area you are in - I have a dB with qualified shops and installers across the entire US.

With some basic carpentry skills, research and proper planning, you can add a sub-woofer system cheaper and better than absolutely anything available off the shelf, guaranteed. A single 10" is the smallest recommended and if you "just really are not into bumping", is all you really need. If you like fast tight drum and guitar bass, Metallica and the like - stick with the 10" however if you like Trap, Rap or Dubstep then you need a 12".

The panels in the trunk are "fake" with empty voids behind them. Regardless of a 10" or 12", plan on 1.25-1.5cu ft for the box design. If you are good with fiberglass, take all your precautions and start your build. There are more than enough DIY's for Fiber on youtube. I don't do fiber, don't ask.

If you haven't been to Home Depot or Lowe's wood section in awhile, they cut your wood now. MDF is outdated, Cherry and Birch work just as well and half the weight. There is a valid argument to use MDF, but you almost need special equipment to hear the difference. Just go slow and have patience using Cherry/Birch, it splinters.

"I can't measure that crap in my trunk wth?" - forget it, go buy / obtain some cardboard moving boxes, shipping tape and a razor. Cut up some cardboard panels and tape them together to rig some form of a box design. A perfect cube 1.25" is going to be something like 14" x 14" x 14". I do not want to scare anyone discussing the physics behind box design so I'll keep it simple (K.I.S.S.). A sub-woofer doesn't give a rats A what the box looks like behind it, of course square or rectangle designs are easier to build than angular.

Once you have your box design form fitted for the way YOU want it in YOUR car, pretend your working a jigsaw puzzle. Wood is available from Home Depot and Lowe's in full, 1/2 and even 1/4 sheets. A sheet is 96" x 48". See where I'm going with this ? 6 pieces of 14" x 14" will fit in a 1/2 sheet, but not a 1/4 sheet. Go buy a 1/2 sheet and while your there, have them cut your 6 pieces exactly what you need (they don't do round or angular cuts). Buy a box of 1 1/4" wood screws, some glue and silicone while your there and 1 lb of fiberfill from Walmonkey (or a pillow from HD/Lowe's). Your out less than $50 at this point.

When you get home, start piecing your box together with glue and screws, all sides. When your done, see if it fits in your car correctly. If you need more detail than this, youtube is your friend. If it fits where you want, take it back out of the car, take out the jigsaw and trace your speaker hole, cut it etc.

From here your pretty much done except for the wiring and perhaps carpet and/or acrylic painting. www.KnuKonceptz.com has the best wiring available anywhere for the price. Yes, it is better and cheaper than that crap the salesman wants you to buy from him. You can have raw wiring coming out of your box or you can buy a terminal thingy from Parts-Express.com for like $4. Don't forget a high quality amp ($200) and the ability to hack/splice an input signal off the stock amp in the trunk.

- Do not attempt if you have no experience with hand tools or a partner to work with
- Do not attempt if you anything I suggested above is confusing
- If you have more questions than light bulb moments reading above, stop and go seek a professional installer
- If you have specific questions about a particular sub, ask
- If you believe in "ported" over "sealed", seek out a local professional to build your box. Ported boxes are not recommended in installations as these, unless you truely want volume over any sound quality
- If you are in Houston and with our club, I'll build it and install it for you at cost for food (my labor is cheap)
- If your in Texas, we can talk

[Snoman]

Originally Posted by drivingagain

I would agree with this argument. As I have been there and done all JL too. Zapco also offers some clean amps. Amazon has become a big player for these unknown professional brands of audio equipment. By the way Look at Zapco's expensive top of the line will murder JL audio. The have a $10k mono amp that people have salivated over for years in the competition series.

I can say I did not enjoy my 300/4 and 500/1 amp with jbl GTI front speakers and rear 12w3. JL audio and Zapco are american made though. A Lot of debate over sundown being chinese made. I know about Zapco because it is made here in Florida.

I would recommend doing heavy research before touching a Zapco amplifier. Without getting into what I know of their history and marketing, I will say nearly all of their amplifiers are knock off designs (including their "10k mono"). We're getting deep into a discussion unrelated to the thread however, they do serve a niche market in competitions.

The best sub amps in the price range being discussed here for "plug-n-play" will be Phoenix Gold, Alpine, JL or Rockford Fosgate however, most installers will not lean towards an Alpine or JL as a mono sub amp. Alpine is king of the non-sub power arena and JL fills a respectful close second.

[mt3130]

The guy I use charged me $250 to build a birch box, hook up the sub, and tune the amp. I ran the wiring to the battery and head unit, but that will be much easier in the Camaro with the battery in the trunk.

I think I'm going to do a Zed amp this time. The people that own them absolutely love them and rave about the sound quality and efficiency, and the people that don't say they aren't worth the money. If I can get the latest gen Minotaur for $500 or less, I think its worth a shot.

[Snoman]

Originally Posted by mt3130

The guy I use charged me $250 to build a birch box, hook up the sub, and tune the amp. I ran the wiring to the battery and head unit, but that will be much easier in the Camaro with the battery in the trunk.

I think I'm going to do a Zed amp this time. The people that own them absolutely love them and rave about the sound quality and efficiency, and the people that don't say they aren't worth the money. If I can get the latest gen Minotaur for $500 or less, I think its worth a shot.

- $250 for that is pure gold
- Zed amps are amazeballs and I agree, not pushed / liked by the masses
- WoofersEtc has one for $550 at the moment, used, tested and guaranteed 'like new' with a 1 year warranty (2 if you use AMEX). $500 sealed might be a stretch for a while

[mt3130]

Originally Posted by Snoman

- $250 for that is pure gold
- Zed amps are amazeballs and I agree, not pushed / liked by the masses
- WoofersEtc has one for $550 at the moment, used, tested and guaranteed 'like new' with a 1 year warranty (2 if you use AMEX). $500 sealed might be a stretch for a while

Yea. A guy I know had two of them and was willing to let one go for $400 a few months ago (used, but in very good condition and fully functional), and I'm still kicking myself for not taking him up on it.

[irvinj10]

Has anyone installed the subwoofer? If so, what was the process like? Possibly some pics? Just curious

[brutusvk]

I go to the shop Monday to get measurements done for the box etc. The following Monday I will drop it off for a week. I will get a sound processor, components in the front and coax in the rear, two amps and subs.

[irvinj10]

Oh nice! Do you have an estimate on how much you will be spending for the whole process? (Work, equipment, etc)

What brand are you using?

[brutusvk]

I have no idea how much it will cost. I spend way too much on stereo stuff though. It is kind of my vice. hahaha

I am going Hybrid audio Clarus for the front and Hybrid Mirus for the rear speakers.

For a sound processor I am leaning towards the ARC audio PS8.

I have good luck with JL for subs and amps. So I will most likely stick with them. Just not sure if I am going shallow mounts or not.

[irvinj10]

Cool. I'm going to start looking at my options, but I have not idea where to start though haha.

Can't wait to see some pics! Good luck with the whole, I'll follow up with you later on to see how it turned out.

Thanks for the info

[ussj4brolli]

Hopefully sub thump gets in this game soon!

[dreamst8]

Does anyone know if the sub signal adaptor the plugs into the amp and give the sub a line level/RCA signal for the gen5 works on the gen6? Cause I'm gonna take mine with me if so!

[Glen e]

Originally Posted by ussj4brolli

Hopefully sub thump gets in this game soon!

Yup, steve says hes on it, took delivery of a c6 recently.