Ok, so I've now received my pair of Pioneer 8" shallow mount subs and the accompanying amp and I'm having a moment of indecision on the actual mounting of the speakers. Mounting the amp will be easy. If the subs go under the seats, the amps can go on the back wall, and if the subs go anywhere else, the amps can go under the seats.

These speakers can be free air mounted, so my original plan was to mount them under the seats. My plan was to build some kind of simple spacer and either set them up upward or downward firing under the seats.

But I've done a little bit more looking and I think I'm going to have better sound if I put these puppies in a sealed box(es). So now I'm trying to decide between three options:

1. Attempt to build and fit a sealed box for each sub under the seats. I know the space under the seats isn't exactly vast, but these speakers do have a sealed box minimum volume of something like .17 cu ft. Advantage here is that the sound remains inside the passenger compartment. The problem is that I don't know how much space and what dimensions are available under the seats without having to pull the seats out twice (once to measure and once to build), something I'd prefer to avoid if anyone here knows what kind of space I'm working with.

2. Build and fit a sealed box under the soft top partition in the trunk. Because of the shallow mounting depth of these subs it's possible to build a box that will fit in that space and still give the subs plenty of room to move. Advantage here is that I'll be able to build a bigger box, and the actual fitment/removal of stuff will be easier. The disadvantage, of course, is that this moves the sound out of the passenger area and I'm not sure I'll get quite the punch out of the subs I want with them closed in the trunk.

3. Mount the subs free air under the seats. This is by far the simplest, and cheapest option and it does get the sound inside the passenger area. If I go this route I just have to decide whether it makes more sense for them to be upward or downward firing.

I'm 99% sure the basket on these babies is a little bit too big around to try to widen out the stock opening, but if I'm wrong I'd definitely be up for considering that as an option.

So if anyone has any advice, I'd greatly appreciate it. Here's a link to Pioneer's page on the subs: Pioneer USA - TS-SW841D - 8" Shallow-Mount Subwoofer with 500 Watts Max. Power

I'd also be interested to know if anyone has any step-by-step info on removing the back wall carpet. I can certainly try myself, but I feel safer about not breaking stuff if I get a little tutorial. I searched and couldn't find anything.

Thanks!

 

I am in the process of mounting to 10 in the rear floor and I think it will turn out good the sound of subs carrys a lot so I don't think them being back there will matter much. As for the carpet the sides come off real easy all u need to do is take out those pop rivets and they pull right off. The carpet on the trunk u just need the to unscrew the two little plastic pieces that look like hangers and it comes right down also.

 

I think that facing up in the rear area will be the best. I have had two different subs in the same sealed box (went with the one in the second picture as the first needed too big of a ported box and it would not fit). The quality of sound that it produces is to my liking and I have had a few systems in my cars. There is so little area under the seats that I would worry about several factors when installing them in that location.

 

I actually wound up going with mounting in the rear wall. I'm in a roadster, so putting the speakers in the trunk would have cut out a LOT of the already limited trunk space I had.

I used my handy dandy jigsaw to fashion a mounting bracket out of MDF, which I then securely mounted to the wall behind the seats. I had to widen out the factory opening slightly to make room for the speaker basket, but that was fairly easy to do with a hacksaw and there was just enough room to do so without having to worry about hitting the gas tank. I'm still thinking about completely replacing the factory carpet back there, because it didn't all fit back together quite right, but it's not totally horrible. In fact, a friend of mine looked at it and didn't even notice the differences in the carpet until I pointed them out.

These little 8" subs absolutely do not provide the deep rumble you get out of a 12" sub mounted in a sealed box, but I knew they wouldn't. What they do accomplish is putting that little bit of extra punch in the low range and taking enough of the bass load off of the component woofers up front that I can now turn the volume up quite a bit higher without getting low end distortion. Overall it really sounds great.

I'll try to post some pictures sometime soon, but for now I'm exhausted from all the work (it wasn't easy pulling the seats out to give me room to work!) and I'm just enjoying the ability to hit the freeway and crank up the volume! And yes, I can now get it loud enough that even with the top down I can't hear the wind over the music!

 

Sorry, I did not pay attention enough to realize that you had a roadster. I would like to see pictures whenever you could get any. That was probably your best option and the 15" I have basically takes up the whole rear area. I am also worried that it will somehow mess up the rear spoiler system due to the output. I think that it has shaken the antenna box wires loose so my radio gets bad reception as of the last couple of weeks.

 

Jeez... yeah, a 15 would be way more than I want. A buddy of mine put a 12 in his 300C and it's almost too much for my taste. My only concern from a vibration perspective at this point is that I may need to put some dynamat in the doors and the space behind the subs. There's a little bit of vibration in there that I think may need to be dealt with.

 

Got a Pioneer 10" shallow mount in my Ram 1500 and it pounds for a small box. I also have a base Roadster, I would love to see pics of your sub install.

 

you guys bring up some good points concerning vibrations. I was planning on 2 10" mtx subs but am starting to think one would get me closer to the bullseye. Im wanting some thump but moreso just something extra for shows.