Subwoofer locations without losing the spare tire
 

I've seen some pics on the web of subwoofers on the 350Z behind the passenger seat in the location of the glove box. Judging by the pictures i've seen of the 370Z with the interior stripped, it looks like there may be a lot of usable space behind the panels for fiberglass sub enclosures. Has anyone attempted this yet?

Z enclosures makes a custom box, you can put a truck box with a shallow sub behind the seat, or a small regular box right on top of where your spare goes facing up and have it able to be disconnected to get to the spare. I like the z closure the best.
Custom Sub Enclosure | Affordable Sub Box

As far as aftermarket boxes, the Z enclosures are nice. I'm looking for ideas for something more stealth. Ultimately, i'd like the rear hatch area to be untouched. I think a JL 13TW5 and two amps could be hidden behind the seats. The trim panels would have to be recreated in fiberglass.

Zenclosures ftw ;) if u have any audio questions, BIGAUDIOFANAT is the go to guy! friendly & extremely knowledgeable about wirings and all that good stuff.

he basically worked with me & gave me recommendations to my whole AUDIO system set-up.

i will be getting my sound system installed by him when the time comes ;)

Thanks Danie, yes if you have any questions comments concerns just ask. I help anyone I can with there audio setups or other stuff. Thanks again Danie :tup:

PS looking forward to doing an install in a beautiful red z :tup:

There is not enough room behind the seats unless you are 4 feet tall and have the seat all the way forward. you have 2 options: The prefab box that zenclosure makes that fit behind the rear brace or something like the Bose sub that sits inside the spare tire.

Zenclosures makes a nice box! I had one in my 350Z and they well made, fit well, carpet is very close match.

BTW, the JL Audio 13TW5 is AWESOME!!!! Properly installed it will knock your head off your shoulders! I am about to post my install pics as soon as I get all of them from my installer. I have never heard a single sub hit as hard as this sub does in my 370. I cant crank it for long, it blurs my vision and makes my nose and scalp tingle.

I have to disagree you have the options I said about and maybe not behind the seats even with a truck slim box, but you can still have a few other places. The z enclosures are still taking my vote though, and JL subs are NICE but I think a tad expensive for what you get. What you describe can be achieved my a lot of subs in such a small car. Image Dynamics Q, Rockford Fosgate Punch stage 2, and a few others have my vote, the ID Q for a SQ setup and the RF for a just some bass added.

If you look at the pictures of the Forged race car, http://www.the370z.com/engine-drivet...tml#post136156 , you'll see that there is a lot of space under the panels between the rear of the seats and the rear shock towers. With some creativity and a lot of fiberglass, you could put a nice sub and the amps there. That panel would have to be recreated in fiberglass (unless your willing to cut it up), but it would be almost completely hidden, and you wouldn't loose any usable space in the car.

Time to start shopping for new amps.

Subs in the middle of your car is not an optimal location. The very best location is subs firing towards the back of your car and the closer your subs face the rear of your car, the better. This gives you the best time alignment and optimizes the transfer function of your vehicle.

It makes a huge difference! A properly located 8" sub will outperfom a 10" sub in a less than optimal location. Imagine a 13" sub with proper TF. Its like having a 15" sub in the car.

Yes you could fiberglass the hell out of your car, but you may or may not be happy with the end result and that kind of work is extreamly costly.

The best location hands down in the Z is where the spare tire is. The only compromise is the lack of a spare tire. Get AAA and I am sure you have cell phone.

Sub placement is all preference some like it facing back some up some forward some down. It is all preference also fiberglass has no absorbing capabilities so it would bounce sound all around.

I'm definitely not a newbie when it comes to car audio. I've worked on everything from simple head+2 systems to $20k+. But yes, you are right about one thing. Fiberglass can be costly, and risky. My vision for my Z revolves around a 3 way MB+M+T up front and a sub tuned REAL low. I'm not interested so much in SPL anymore. Been there, done that. I'm more into accurate staging, for the driver AND passenger. Challenging? Yes. Achievable? Absolutely!

I am 100% a SQ guy love the quality of audio and how it can sound with the right tuning and all. Yes the sub tunnel in the back is very low and shallow. It is almost like a port for air to come to the front. A small sub can get loud very easily in the z.

Do you know of anyone that has had any experience with the JL 13TW5? From what i've read, it's either REALLY good or REALLY bad.

I have heard the same, personally SQ stops at 12 inches. I would pass on the JL.

I agree on the SQ stopping at a 12. You just lose all control. The best sounding system i've had was a VERY simple 6.5 mid and tweet comp set with two RF 8's. The key? 2000w. Endless headroom. The 8's were nice and tight. Of course, it was a king-cab Tacoma, so you didn't have to fill a lot of space.

Yes, you should honestly give a Image Dynamics Q sub a try I think you will be pleased.

They are awesome but they are very specific application and they do not behave in a way a typical subwoofer does. They work best when boundary loaded and you need a minimum of .8 cu ft, no less! They are very very tight and they need a lot a power.

here is my boundary loaded subwoofer enclosure. Notice from the pic's that the sub vents ato the very back of the cabin of the car. the subwoofer is also angled slightly so it will focus bass energy like horn loaded enclosure.

Inside the enclosure and amp rack its back lit with some small blue led lights to showcase the driver and the 900/5 JL amp.

This sub hit unbeliviebly hard and tight!! I wouldnt trade this sub for anything else! My ears are still hurting from this morning when I was fine tuning it.

Plus its totally stealth!! The only visable car audio upgrade inside my car is my head unit.

That will still lose his spare tire which he wants to keep. Still looks good.

Your right, but this reply was more for answering "huff442"'s question about the 13TW5 and what it can do.

I disagree about the statement SQ stops at 12 inches. My experience has been that 13.5" subs sound every bit as good as 12's if not better.

Anything larger is a compromise. I havent heard very many 15" subs that sounded tight. I can think of only one instance. I listend to a Rockford Fosgate Demo vehicle with (4) 15" subs and it was sonic perfection but they must had over 50K in the vehicle.

I know a lot of people think JL Audio is overpriced and overrated but they have more engineering, innovation, and patents than anyone else out there. I have never owned a JL audio subwoofer that I wasnt impressed with and I have had many!! They make a damn good subs and amps. yes they are expensive but I know I will be happy with the equipment which is more than I can say for some others I have tried.

Well I have to disagree with your disagreement. Anything over a 12 inch sub becomes sloppy and it not able to reproduce tight acurate bass such as a 8 a 10 or 12.

Anyone tried the Z Enclosure Upfire boxes?

Nissan 370Z UPFIRE Subwoofer Enclosure

I prefer the look of this one over the rear facing. This is my first car without an enclosed trunk, and I'm not too knowledgeable regarding car audio, so I have no point of reference for how/if an upfire would effect sound quality in a hatch. Previous cars have all been single or dual ported 10 or 12"s.

For the Z I just want to add some nice depth with good tight sound reproduction. Not needing to win any competitions, but would like my Z to sound at least as good as my MazdaSpeed (Kenwood Excelons all around and ported 10" in the trunk) Leaning toward the Upfire with dual 8"s.

A up firing box is alright but the sound will be fired right back down towards the sub. You would get better sound with the sub facing the rear.

Without further argument on that subject, I have said this before and I will say it again. Sound quality is very subjective.

Here is a perfect example, some people swear by 10" subs, personally I have never been happy with a 10" sub and always find myself upgrading to a 12 and recently I have been playing with 13's and I think they are the shiznick!

This is off topic big time, but I will say it anyway to reinforce my point.

I have a home theater sub with an 18" driver in it and it hits tighter than any 8, 10, or 12 I have ever heard. In fact its the Home Theater sub that all others are measured by, at least at the time I bought it. Granted it has a 3000watt amp and cost a few grand, but its an example that very large sub drivers can have the SQ that rivals smaller ones.

Be careful when you generalize as there are always exceptions to the rule.

I agree with Matt on this! Rear firing for sure. It gives you much better TF. Dual 8"s would sound great too.

Agree to disagree.

No problem Matt, i am not trying to put down your opinion in anyway. I just dont like it when people generalize. People who generalize are usually ignorant. You are not ignorant and are clearly an intelligent person who knows a lot about this subject.

Thank you you seem to know a bit yourself as well.

Question for 2fast4thelaw. Your subwoofer enclosure design intrigues me. I'm not familiar with the boundary loaded concept in a car sub. Is this similar in design to the super high output PA systems? Regardless, how did you determine the volume of the chamber in front of the speaker? What about the size off the slot opening?

The design is heavily influenced by High Output PA speaker design. The driver is angled slightly to horn load it to disperse bass energy. I will give a little tutorial on Boundary loading and Transfer Function and how they relate.

First off everyone knows that a subwoofer placed in a corner increases its output. This is because it has more boundaries to bounce off from. The more boundaries you can create, the more bass energy can be generated. In my enclosure the sub fires directly into the floor of the vehicle and bass is forces through a small chamber with a large vent at the very rear of the car. In a since this is a bandpass enclosure but the front chamber is not calculated to produce a specific frequency.

Transfer Function is maximizing the length of your bass wave from the subwoofer to you. In my enclosure the bass wave hits the very back of the car and bounces off of the rear window which then reflects it to the windshield which then reflects back to you.

Also Matt (BigAudioFanat) pointed out something I didn’t even think of. The downfireing driver transmits energy through the floor of the car so you get a lot of tactile feel. I feel this sub more than I can hear it. It feels like its right under my seat.

Here is a good link to illustrate what I am talking about.

Measuring Transfer Function, Boundary Loading & Soundwaves

Very interesting. Do the smaller boxes on either side of the speaker chamber add a significant amount of volume to the total enclosure volume?

How long till we see these enclosures (or at least plans) for sale? This could tempt me to lose the spare and buy run-flats.

Hey! thats my car on the Zenclosures site! Mike from Zenclosures is awesome, and all of his boxes are top quality. the upfire box is really cool because it saves a bit of space. i took the other box (2 10's) just on personal preference. I am really no expert on SQ and all that stuff, but my system bumps!

Here are a few more. I have to get the rest from my Installer. I should have them tommarrow.

The other chambers add support to the enclosure and probably account for 1/2 the air space.

I obtained permission to give these out:

Dimensions: 32-5/8" Wide X 23" (Note this is the top measurement, the bottom is slightly different as it contours the rear of the car. I would have to pull the box out and that would be an act of God to remove it.

The Box is 8" deep

The Vent is 21" X 5"

That is all I can measure.

There are no plans, Kelly cut and fit each piece. It took him 3 days to build that box! I hope your carpentry skills are up to the challenge.

Did you bolt it to the floor to keep it from rattling on the floor pan? Did you have to EQ the box a lot? What did you set your Xover to?

Very, very nice box. I'm truly impressed...

Where did this come from??

Am I the only one confused? Please elaborate?

Sorry, but I find a lot of humor in those two statements :)

:tiphat:

I have to agree with the statement. But remember, ignorance doesn't mean stupid. It's a lack of information.

sorry about that. Mike from Zenclosures lives about 30 minutes from me and had asked to use my car for the mock ups for the boxes he has available for the 370z. basically, he used my car to make the boxes.
i was just excited because his website showing his different box configurations show my car.

He made the enclosure himself I can not speak directly about him but I am not sure that he will be mass producing them.

Better as in night and day difference to an average user or better as in only noticeable in a competition?

I like the upfire box cause it's smaller, lighter and looks like a better visual fit to me since it doesn't extend higher than the side panels. Overall goals for the car are much more performance oriented so I'm more concerned with having something that sounds better than stock, but it doesn't need to win any awards for SPL or SQ. Hence the desire for a pre-made box vs a custom built system.

Ideally I'd find one that was half this size and held only one 8" sub and an amp :p If I go with just one sub I'll use a JL Audio 8W7, if two I'll go with something comparable but not quite so pricey so feel pretty comfortable with 8s over bigger subs.

Thanks for the tips guys

Yes sort of a night and day thing. The rear firing box will fire the sound back and than towards you. As where the up firing box will fire up than back down going rely no where.