# Custom Subwoofer install 8" sub in stock enclosure non bose



## mattA3 (Feb 24, 2010)

Here is the project I just started. Mounting a 8" sub into the stock non bose enclosure. Going to use the stock amp for now. Amp install will be phase two of the project.
Here is the stock non bose enclosure. It has a horrible ring to it. When I'm done with it it will be stiff and sound dead.









Here is the stock amp that powers the sub and rear speakers. It's so cute! It is mounted inside the sub enclosure. I am debating if I should try to mount it externally. Need to get all the volume I can out of the sub enclosure.








Cut, trimmed and shaped a piece of MDF so that the woofer would not bottom out in the box. Test fit woofer and test fit in car. The carpet will be cut out and I will have a grill over the sub.








Attached MDF to box with epoxy filler to get rid of any gaps. The face is irregular and I shaped the MDF as best I could but there were still gaps that needed to be filled.








First layer of fiberglass.









More to come in the next few days.


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## NYCameron (Nov 17, 2010)

not gonna lie, that's pretty legit

I still feel that you'll be underpowering whatever setup you have with the stock amp (which is bad for your sub) but if if you wire it up the right way, and it in fact can power it properly, then it'll be nice

can't wait to see the finished product! :thumbup: opcorn:


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## dman4486 (Jun 22, 2011)

NYCameron said:


> I still feel that you'll be underpowering whatever setup you have with the stock amp (which is bad for your sub)


Myth... 

Any time you turn the volume down you are under powering a sub. There is absolutely nothing wrong with running lower power. People get in trouble when they have an amp with gain control and they turn the gain up to compensate for a low power amp thus causing clipping on the output signal.

What you need to pay attention too is the stock resistance on the amp. If the stock driver showed 2 ohm to the amp then you need to stick with 2 ohm. If the stock speaker was 4 ohm then you will cause clipping issues if you attach a 2 ohm driver.


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## BostonKremeMK3 (Sep 2, 2009)

:thumbup::thumbup:


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## NYCameron (Nov 17, 2010)

dman4486 said:


> Myth...
> 
> Any time you turn the volume down you are under powering a sub. There is absolutely nothing wrong with running lower power. People get in trouble when they have an amp with gain control and they turn the gain up to compensate for a low power amp thus causing clipping on the output signal.


Ahh cool. Learn something new everyday.



dman4486 said:


> What you need to pay attention too is the stock resistance on the amp. If the stock driver showed 2 ohm to the amp then you need to stick with 2 ohm. If the stock speaker was 4 ohm then you will cause clipping issues if you attach a 2 ohm driver.


look at his old post about wiring it up
there are 2 sets of wires which would lead me to believe that they are essentially using a 2 channel amp to power the 2 voice coils
i'm not entirely sure how he can wire it up for just 1 voice coil

he would probably have to bridge his amp or something right? (although it can be potentially dangerous if the amp wasn't made for it in the first place)


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## Probo (Feb 14, 2006)

Looks really nice! I'll be waiting for the final product! 

Just wandering... Is there any way to integrate the sub flushed into the enclosure wall instead of growing the size?


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## TBomb (Sep 23, 2009)

Probo said:


> Looks really nice! I'll be waiting for the final product!
> 
> Just wandering... Is there any way to integrate the sub flushed into the enclosure wall instead of growing the size?


That depends on the mounting depth of the sub you choose to use. There are subs out there with fairly shallow mounting depths. Typically you only need about .5-1" clearance between the magnet and the enclosure wall to allow for adequate cooling of the voice coils. Using a MDF ring like that allows for a better surface to mount the sub to, as well as increasing the effective mounting depth of the enclosure.


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## mattA3 (Feb 24, 2010)

Probo said:


> Looks really nice! I'll be waiting for the final product!
> 
> Just wandering... Is there any way to integrate the sub flushed into the enclosure wall instead of growing the size?


You could use a dremel to cut out the cris cross pattern on the back wall to increase the depth but that would make the back wall less stiff. I did see another post that someone put in a very shallow 10" sub. In that post they also had to do some plastic welding after increasing the size of the opening.

Given the size of the enclosure, even ported I think its volume is better suited for an 8" sub. (and I had one laying around). Also adding the MDF ring will help increase the volume of the box.

Also since I did not cut into any plastic I could cut the MDF off and install the stock woofer if I had to go back to stock. But once I cut a hole in the carpet I doubt I will ever go back.


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## mattA3 (Feb 24, 2010)

NYCameron said:


> look at his old post about wiring it up
> there are 2 sets of wires which would lead me to believe that they are essentially using a 2 channel amp to power the 2 voice coils
> i'm not entirely sure how he can wire it up for just 1 voice coil
> 
> ...


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## LWNY (Jul 30, 2008)

dman4486 said:


> Myth...
> 
> Any time you turn the volume down you are under powering a sub. There is absolutely nothing wrong with running lower power. People get in trouble when they have an amp with gain control and they turn the gain up to compensate for a low power amp thus causing clipping on the output signal.
> 
> What you need to pay attention too is the stock resistance on the amp. If the stock driver showed 2 ohm to the amp then you need to stick with 2 ohm. If the stock speaker was 4 ohm then you will cause clipping issues if you attach a 2 ohm driver.


What was originally said was 'underpowering' the sub, not under driving the sub (as in decreasing the volume). One would only turn up the gain if the default gain of the amp is lower than the stock amp.

Anyway, even with overdriving the sub with a low power amp into the sub where it starts clipping, it should not be much of an issue because the sub's drivers could usually soak up tons of mid and upper bass power, which is what a clipping signal will introduce, and at worse case, 100% increase in additional power output. It is usually in single amped system with passive crossovered multi way system that clipping becomes an issue due to the additional power being leaked into the higher freq drivers, which has nowhere the power handling capability of the lower range drivers.


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## zcspec (May 11, 2010)

Very nice work so far...somehow, I never did learn how to lay FG.


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## mattA3 (Feb 24, 2010)

Two layers of glass on the top side. Filled and sanded. Painted black. In the process of putting on Dynamat all over and may spray the whole thing with truck bed liner.


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## mattA3 (Feb 24, 2010)

Behold..... FRANKENWOOFER!










Dynamat and then sprayed with 3m Under-body spray.

One set back. The woofer would not fit with the amp installed. I didn't realize the heat sink came out past the sub opening. So now I have to find a spot to safely mount it externally.


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## greyjetta (May 3, 2006)

Can't wait to hear the reviews on how this sounds :thumbup:


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## krazyboi (May 19, 2004)

mattA3 said:


> Behold..... FRANKENWOOFER!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Cool! :thumbup:

Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk


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## mattA3 (Feb 24, 2010)

Almost done with phase one.
Mounted the stock amp under the SAT tuner. Need to monitor the heat it puts off before I deem this a safe location. Replaced the foam insulation on the wheel well with Dynamat. Tomorrow I will cut the carpet, mount the grill and button everything up. Also, going to install some more Dynamat around the wheel wells while I have everything open.


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## mattA3 (Feb 24, 2010)

Phase One is done and I am very happy with the results. Much improvement over the little stock woofer.

Dynamatted the wheel well and behind sub.









Mounted sub box without woofer to cut out the carpet. Really need a sharp blade for this.








Did the final assembly of sub box and woofer. Marked possible locations to affix for grill mounts. Made some small adjustments to the carpet cut out.









Installed grill. checked for rattles and vibrations. DONE!









Bass is much better. With the seats folded down you can feel it in your chest. A 10 or 12" sub would be better for this size car depending on the type of music you listen to but I wasn't willing to loose any trunk space. 

Next up is to get an amp. Any suggestions on where to mount?


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## cldub (Jul 2, 2010)

mattA3 said:


> Phase One is done and I am very happy with the results. Much improvement over the little stock woofer.
> 
> Dynamatted the wheel well and behind sub.
> 
> ...


Is it possible to hide it underneath the parcel shelf?


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## LWNY (Jul 30, 2008)

mattA3 said:


> Bass is much better. With the seats folded down you can feel it in your chest. A 10 or 12" sub would be better for this size car depending on the type of music you listen to but I wasn't willing to loose any trunk space.


That feeling it hit you in your chest is not subwoofer bass, but midbass. you need bass that you feel it in your digestive tracks.


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## Uber-A3 (Feb 23, 2002)

mattA3 said:


> Installed grill. checked for rattles and vibrations. DONE!



Everything looked great up until this point. That grill is hideous!!


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## neu318 (Feb 18, 2003)

Uber-A3 said:


> Everything looked great up until this point. That grill is hideous!!


I agree. Is there a way for you to maybe mount the grill under the carpet so you don't see the four mounting points maybe? or use another grill. Other than that great work.:thumbup:


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## LWNY (Jul 30, 2008)

such a shame the rug got cut to fit this DJ speaker grill.

Not sure if this sub is optimized for such a little enclosure, but maybe you can dab a few ounce of shoe goo onto the cap of the woofer so as to drop down the resonance freq and thus give you more gut wrenching bass.


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## drew138 (Dec 3, 2006)

Uber-A3 said:


> Everything looked great up until this point. That grill is hideous!!


I didn't have the heart to post this comment after so much awesome went into the project.


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## Uber-A3 (Feb 23, 2002)

Found a solution!!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/TRUNK-WALL-...Parts_Accessories&vxp=mtr&hash=item1c221837f0


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## mattA3 (Feb 24, 2010)

I will probably be buying a new sub with a grill in the future. The grill has to hold the carpet to the woofer which is the only problem and why the generic one I used seemed like the best choice. I might be able to mount it without the plastic clips but will require drilling additional holes through the woofer.


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## Deezy (Jan 3, 2009)

Wall mart grill fail on an almost perfect install. Is the speaker torn?? Looks like the foam is ripped at the top.

Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk


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## mattA3 (Feb 24, 2010)

Deezy said:


> Wall mart grill fail on an almost perfect install. Is the speaker torn?? Looks like the foam is ripped at the top.
> 
> Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk


No not torn its piece of carpet fiber. 

Open to options if anyone can find a grill that will work. It would need to be just slightly larger then 8" diam to screw into the MDF ring and hold the carpet flush. Other option is to mount the carpet under the woofer and then use no grill.


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## Uber-A3 (Feb 23, 2002)

mattA3 said:


> No not torn its piece of carpet fiber.
> 
> Open to options if anyone can find a grill that will work. It would need to be just slightly larger then 8" diam to screw into the MDF ring and hold the carpet flush. Other option is to mount the carpet under the woofer and then use no grill.











http://www.speakerworks.com/8_inch_black_steel_speaker_grills_p/sgm8.htm


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## krazyboi (May 19, 2004)

mattA3 said:


> I will probably be buying a new sub with a grill in the future. The grill has to hold the carpet to the woofer which is the only problem and why the generic one I used seemed like the best choice. I might be able to mount it without the plastic clips but will require drilling additional holes through the woofer.


I went to best buy and the audio shop gave me a sony one for free...they prob have plenty they toss out.

Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk


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## mattA3 (Feb 24, 2010)

Uber-A3 said:


> http://www.speakerworks.com/8_inch_black_steel_speaker_grills_p/sgm8.htm


Thanks. Not sure if those dimensions will work but I will try that one. For 7 bucks its worth a try.


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## krazyboi (May 19, 2004)

krazyboi said:


> I went to best buy and the audio shop gave me a sony one for free...they prob have plenty they toss out.
> 
> Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk


This is what I was talking about


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