Car sub ideas

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Jstarr1
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Car sub ideas

#1 Post by Jstarr1 »

I’m not sure if this is the correct forum to post this, but here it goes.

I have a 4 ohm LAB-12 that I can’t use anywhere else. My Boston Acoustics sub in the back of my 2007 Dodge Caliber needs to be replaced or repaired so I figured... why not use that amp channel to drive a custom box and since I absolutely love my (6) T39’s, I’d start here. The car designs I see are for smaller speakers if I’m not mistaken. Can someone point me in the direction on how I should head? I’m not looking for competition bass and don’t want to do major upgrades in a car with over 200k miles but I do drive a lot and love good definition and drive to my music.

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Bill Fitzmaurice
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Re: Car sub ideas

#2 Post by Bill Fitzmaurice »

The T30/T39/T45 are the smallest of our designs that the LAB-12 will work in. One alternative is to go to the Eminence site and look at the sealed box design there.

Jstarr1
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Re: Car sub ideas

#3 Post by Jstarr1 »

Thank you Bill. For some reason I never received a notification on your answer so I just browsed here to see your response.

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Bill Fitzmaurice
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Re: Car sub ideas

#4 Post by Bill Fitzmaurice »

You should look at all new posts when you come by, you never know when you'll see something interesting.

Jstarr1
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Re: Car sub ideas

#5 Post by Jstarr1 »

I have a new question to ask…
I just bought a brand new 2022 Hyundai Sonata that comes with a premium Bose system that has absolutely no punch at all!!! I’m a little gun shy on altering this stereo though as everything is integrated. Does anyone have recommendations on how I can add a little definition to the low end and not completely destroy the car system?

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Re: Car sub ideas

#6 Post by jimbo7 »

Jstarr1 wrote: Fri Oct 14, 2022 3:29 pm I have a new question to ask…
I just bought a brand new 2022 Hyundai Sonata that comes with a premium Bose system that has absolutely no punch at all!!! I’m a little gun shy on altering this stereo though as everything is integrated. Does anyone have recommendations on how I can add a little definition to the low end and not completely destroy the car system?
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J_Dunavin
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Re: Car sub ideas

#7 Post by J_Dunavin »

New car integration can be a nightmare.
For example our 2019 Enclave runs the blinker sound over the speakers, as well as wireless hands free calling.
I found out it even has noise canceling built in.
I can not simply add an amp and subwoofer.
I would recommend finding a good local car audio shop (rare these days) and ask them for options. Need to know what your working with before you throw parts at it.
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Seth
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Re: Car sub ideas

#8 Post by Seth »

The easiest solution is usually to use an amplifier capable of accepting speaker level inputs. But, things aren't as easy as they used to be. Not just how deeply integrated the factory stereo's have become, but even speaker locations have become less accessible. For a quick and easy sub install, it used to be simple enough to tap into the rear speakers that were in the rear deck of a lot of cars back then, for a speaker level tap. Or sometimes they'd be found in a a car's C or D pillars behind a little trim that was usually easy to access.

Seems a lot of vehicles now-a-days put them in the front and rear doors (if equipped). And, many times there's a separate factory amplifier under a seat or hidden behind a trim panel. So, finding a location to tap into is a little more challenging. If your easiest tap point is the output of a factory amplifier, it could be straight forward, or take a little research. The last one I did took a lot of internet research, scrubbing through forum posts looking for someone who had already done it, or locating a reliable source of pin out and color code descriptions for the factory wiring. Was a PITA to find reliable info.

It shouldn't be all that difficult to physically do... run all the wires to where they need to be and such. Might take a little extra doing if you have to fish wires into a rear door location. Good thing is, you'd just need to tap one to get the signal you want, whether it be at the amp, at a speaker location, or behind a head unit.

Also, it's worth mentioning that a lot of the modern car systems seem to be heavily (and effectively) tuned with integrated and factory set DSP. It would be worth verifying the speaker lead you intend to tap doesn't have a high pass filter applied that would keep it from supplying the frequencies you intend to enhance to your ad-on sub's amplifier.

If your factory system has a factory sub installed, I'd disconnect it altogether and use those wires as the signal tap point.
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Bill Fitzmaurice
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Re: Car sub ideas

#9 Post by Bill Fitzmaurice »

The Sonata has a single 9" woofer (I doubt that it's a real sub) in the rear deck. I'd remove it, using the wiring to it to feed a line level sub amp, and an AutoTuba, if you can spare the trunk room, a sealed 10" sub if you can't. The hole in the deck would allow pass through of the lows to the cabin.

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