[pnj]

I'm getting my POS car fixed and would like to put a decent stereo in it. My car is a wagon and I need all the space it has for important things like my bikes...

I was thinking I could make a couple of small boxes that could fit behind the front seats. I never take passengers that sit in the back seat and on the very rare times that I might, they can lift their feet a bit, resting them on the speaker boxes.

I know Icould simply build a box the size I want and put a sub/speaker in it but any tips or pointers would be nice.

also, I don't know anything about car stereos. keep in mind, I don't really want to spend more then 300 or so, I don't need anything super awsome, just something to listen tunes on.

do I need an amp or will the radio part work for that? or does that depend on how large my speakers/subs are? I do have a friend who's very knowlegable with this stuff so hooking it up won't be a big issue, I'd just like to know a bit more then I currently do.. (which is nothing, really..)

 

[JoeRay]

For a lowish budget like yours, I dunno if the time spent making speaker boxes would be worth it. Plus, the acoustics that need to be considered in doing so. I've heard plent of home made boxes which sound cr@p because they were just a box knocked up for spekers with no allowance for acoustic energy.

Things to be considered also in box building is volume and whether or not is will be a sealed or ported box, what materials, baffles. And then the sound is reliant on the requirements of the speakers you then install. Lots of planning matching speakers to box follows.

Do you have a reasonable head unit? Start there. If you have an ok sort of head unit that is putting out about 40-50W into four channels then all you really need is four reasonable speakers, mounted correctly. If budget allows and you want a bit more grunt consider a four channel amp to run the speakers a bit harder.

Subbie? Well apart from being opposed to them in cars, I don't know if the budget is worth stretching to go that far, it would compromise the amount you could drop on the other bits.

Go get at least half inch fibreboard spend a bit of time cutting and trimming. Dispose of the factory door linings or cut them to go around you new beefy mounts.

Get a set of splits for the front so you can position the tweeter closer to ear level or aimed at anyway. Rears go for something with a bit more size with integral tweeter. No one will be back there listening.

All a behind seat speaker box will do is produce more 'mass' of sound but being low down the 'quality' could be muddy and unclear.

Like I said, good speakers positioned with some thought will make a bigger differrence, and hey they won't eat into passenger or bike room!

 

[pnj]

I work in a wood shop so making things from wood, and making them well isn't an issue for me. but it sounds like it's a non issue with decent speakers in the correct locations? I like that idea even better.

currently, I have nothing. no speakers, no radio, no nothing...

 

[JoeRay]

I've got a Pioneer head unit putting 40W into four channels, Pioneer splits in the front doors, with tweeters just mounted behind the mirrors on the doors. Pioneer 6x9's on the parcel shelf in the back. Difference in sound between the POS factory job? Words are....inadequate.

When put in, the parcel shelf was replaced with one inch fibreboard, heavy yes, but sounds good. Beefed up the door mounts with one inch too and shaped them so they angled the low ranges up a bit, just for looks.

Best part is with a bit of effort in covering them and all they look 100% factory. Sweet.

If there isn't adequate room in the back doors then you could put the speakers in the skins on the sides of the trunk as a thought. Might allow a slightly bigger speaker too if you want a bit more 'mass' to the sound

 

[pnj]

the largest speakers I can fit in the doors without custom mounting stuff is 6.5 inches.

something like these, I belive...

http://www.cardomain.com/shop/list.pl?type_plural=2-Way+Speakers&x=26&y=12&start=1&show=56

 

[JoeRay]

If all you're looking for is quality tunes then 6.5 should be fine. The bigger stuff usually needs amps to run them to get adequate current to move the cone/coils to make the tunes.

They way I see it though is if I've spent 1500 bucks on my exhuast and headers to get the engine note I want, why overpower it with my music?

 

[jimmydean]

The only thing that requires a box are subs. Most 6.5 and smaller are designed to be mounted "free air" (no box). All you need to do is make sure the front and the back are seperate (i.e. mounted in the rear deck, not sitting in the back window).

For sub boxes, I have just taken the given speakers box requirement and built to that. Different speakers have different needs. An Orion XTR 10" might need 2.5 sqft where my Polk Audio DB 10 only needs .75 sqft.

If space is limited, look at the air space requirement. Many newer subs can take very little space. The new Pioneer 12" needs something like .3, that's crazy small.

Just remember, whwn figuring air space, subtract the speaker displacement from inside the box. The spec sheet will tell you how much space is used by the speaker. Hope that helps.

Also, my last stereo was $400 and sounded perfect. You can do a lot with a little. I had a 100 watt pro class truck take IASCA nationals best of show back in the day.