front firing or down firing????

jkfuller33 · Post by **jkfuller33** » Mon Feb 27, 2006 9:06 pm

i am planning on putting two 12 in subs under the back seat of my extended cab chevy 2500. what sounds better or louder front firing or down firing? also ive seen the normal speaker boxes for this application and also something called MTX thunderfoam or something like that, which is better?

sinister audio · Post by **sinister audio** » Mon Feb 27, 2006 9:19 pm

the best would probaly be a custom box and have it down firing. if you could id take out the back seat and have them there.

Post by **GlassWolf** » Tue Feb 28, 2006 4:44 am

not all subs work up/down firing ideally.
you want to check the sag for the subs first.. here:

Percentage of Sag = 24,849 / ( Xmax * Fs&#178

If Sag% < 5%, the driver may be mounted down (or up) firing. (Xmax is in mm.)

JeremyC · Post by **JeremyC** » Tue Feb 28, 2006 4:21 pm

Yeah i am a big fan of downfiring if your subs specs will work with it.

geolemon · Post by **geolemon** » Tue Feb 28, 2006 8:23 pm

Typically, until you get in the territory of some pretty high mms / high Vas 15" subs or larger, sag isn't much of an issue.

I prefer downfiring quite often - but that depends on several things.

On an old mini truck I had, I downfired one right behind the shifter on the floor - box that looked like a center console/armrest. Essentially, the sound ultimately came out from under the front edge of the seat, helping with that "bass up front". It was nice.

On an S-10 I did an old install on, I did a false-floor glass-loaded isobaric bandpass enclosure - and the port fired right at the floor, on the far driver side. Just due to the acoustics of the vehicle, and the fact that I had a very asymmetrical setup (just that one location, on the floor, to one side of the truck) as a sound source, I had horrible cancellations. It was a disaster.

ProBox makes some very cool boxes for your truck I believe...
http://www.proboxrocks.com has an index, I think.
We carry those at a local shop I help manage - they are cool because they have a very tough coating, and they are all CNC machined - several of the ones for trucks (like the Colorado) with real tight locations are even CNC routered, and stacked - technically there aren't walls, it's like a stack of 5 or 6 sheets cut just right - pretty cool.

Post by **GlassWolf** » Wed Mar 01, 2006 6:54 pm

true it's not like downfiring a sub even outside the specs I mentioned will make it "not work."
The reality of it is I just feel it'll help with the lifespan of the driver if the motor doesn't look favorable to that positioning, but most people don't keep speakers for ten+ years like I do either.. so I guess it depends on how much you really care, too lol
I have a lot of fairly expensive gear so I baby it.. but most people here know me well enough to know I er on the side of caution given the choice, and believe strongly in the KISS approach to system design.

broosky333 · Post by **broosky333** » Wed Mar 01, 2006 7:11 pm

glasswolf.....how long have you been into car audio for? i'm new here and from what i have been reading you seem to know what you're talking about....where'd you learn EVERYTHING there is to know?

audiofreak12 · Post by **audiofreak12** » Wed Mar 01, 2006 7:22 pm

To the best of my knowledge...Glass is one of the founding fathers of car audio. He once walked with the "Pioneers"...lol no pun intended. Arent you a MECP certified installer Glass?

sinister audio · Post by **sinister audio** » Wed Mar 01, 2006 7:49 pm

im pretty sure hes a gold mecp installer to put it simpily 90% of the FAQs posted on this site are written by him. He can answer just about any question you would ever have in full detail. and I think its a honor that we have him hear along with everone else that contributes their info to this site. if you stick around here long enough and read everything these guys say youll know about anything youll ever need to know and your brain will hurt for a while too.

geolemon · Post by **geolemon** » Wed Mar 01, 2006 7:52 pm

GlassWolf wrote:true it's not like downfiring a sub even outside the specs I mentioned will make it "not work."
The reality of it is I just feel it'll help with the lifespan of the driver if the motor doesn't look favorable to that positioning, but most people don't keep speakers for ten+ years like I do either.. so I guess it depends on how much you really care, too lol
I have a lot of fairly expensive gear so I baby it.. but most people here know me well enough to know I er on the side of caution given the choice, and believe strongly in the KISS approach to system design.

hah... I know what you mean.
They weren't JL 10W6's, were they?

I had 10W6's through three installs in my Civic - that I purchased first year of release (1995), and actually just removed them from my Civic last year. Pretty impressive run, I thought.

what's interesting is watching the industry change, in such a short span of time...
...when I bought those 10W6's, they were the "Holy shit!" sub of the day - JL's flagship.

And today, if you look at the specs and design goals of the original W6 series, they are basically just "everyone else's basic design for their midgrade sub".

Where will we be in 2016? :happy055: