The subwoofer is an 8" Kicker KS80 Substation that I bought in 1993 for my C4, that's been tucked away in my garage since 2004. I had forgotten all about it, and when I stumbled upon it just sitting on the floor of my garage under some shelves, buried under some drop cloths, I decided to pull it out and check it out.

The grill was rusty, so I sanded and painted it. When I had the grill off I noticed the woofer is literally sewn to the surround. Wow, I've never seen a speaker constructed that way before. I decided right there to give it a try in my C5.

I bought a Kicker CX300.1 amp and installed it last night. Not sure where to place the Substation, I tested the fit in the center compartment, and whaddya know, it actually fits, so I'm testing out the viability of it living there. I centered it in the compartment, which gives me 3" in front of the speaker and 3" in front of the port of the Substation. I'm not sure if I need to or not, but thinking it might need some venting, instead of latching the compartment cover down, I slid it forward about 4". Does anyone know if that's necessary, or not? I did notice that when I latch the compartment lid, my license plate vibrates with the bass, but it doesn't vibrate with the lid slid forward a bit.

Overall, the setup sounds great, and I haven't really tuned anything on the amp yet. I have the lo-pass set around 90hz, gain at 50%, and bass boost off. In fact, it sounds so good, I can't imagine needing a 10", let alone a 12" in this size car interior. In case you're doubtful, for reference, I'm a semi-pro drummer with a fully-mic'd drum kit, driving an 18" sub with 1700 watts of a 3400 watt amp.

That said, I can see how the remote bass **** will come in handy, too, for different types of recorded mixes.

 

I've got 2 10 inch kicker comp r's in mine with a kicker competition 1600 watt amp, with the amp turned down about halfway it's sounds awesome but still vibrates the trunk, roof and everything else .. Turned all the way up its just ridiculous

 

Surely, that's not a C5. What year is that? If it's a Vette, do you even hear anything else but the bass? Even at 50%, a comp series amp must still be putting out so much bass it's not funny.

My band runs an 18" subwoofer, through which my kick drum and the bass guitar are fed. We typically run it at around 50% of the 1700 watt channel, and it pounds. I can't even begin to imagine what your car sounds like!

Do you think my rear compartment needs to be open a bit to allow the air to escape with my 8" sub enclosure in there? I do notice that with it open, I seem to hear the attack of a kick drum a bit clearer. When it's closed, the bass seems to have less articulation, but definitely "envelops" the whole car, if that makes sense. I also noticed that with the cover of the center compartment off, regardless of whether the sub is in the tub or simply sitting in the back area at normal cargo height, the open compartment creates even more bass, sort of like an amphitheater. I'm good with pro audio, but not at the same level when it comes to small enclosed spaces like a car. I can't help but wonder if subs do better with a bit more open air around them.

If subs do indeed perform best with more air movement, I could easily make a new center compartment cover either slatted or maybe with a waffle pattern like a speaker grill, and cover it with a very thin, non-backed carpet. That way, the compartment would be very open for "breathability", yet still be capable of hiding stuff in it, as well as still be strong for storage above.

Thoughts?

 

Cover, no cover...shouldn't make much difference...

 

Geez, you guys are insane! In a good way. :-) But, see your subs are facing into a big open space. Mine is already in a ported enclosure, and the down in the tub. Being covered with the stock cover, wouldn't that be harder on the sub because of the pressure created by the compartment being closed/sealed?

 

Take a picture of your setup and post it. I can't picture a sub box in the center hole facing down.

 

It's not simply a speaker facing down. It's an enclosure. Pics attached.

 

Ok, yea, that will need to breathe a little. Some have slotted the cover and re-covered it.

 

Ok, thanks for that info. My cover actually has some wrinkles in the carpet, so maybe now is a good excuse to peel the carpet back, slot it and recover it. On the other hand, I could make a new one, and keep the original cover the way it is. Decisions, decisions... I'll just keep the cover slid forward a bit for now, until I decide. It just so happens that the enclosure comes up flush with the top of the tub, so even if I leave it like that for awhile, I can still lay items in the back like normal.

One other question: the Kicker manual for that sub offered different placement options for backs of vehicles, all of which indicated 4" clearance for the speaker and port, such as when pointing toward a corner or wall. Where it is in the tub, I have 3" clearance on both ends. Do you think that will cause sonic problems (such as if the sound waves bounce off the tub wall directly back at the speaker and port), and/or physical issues with air pressure doing the same?

 

It will definitely affect it. And in a negative way. But if it's what you have to work with then it is what it is.

 

OK, so even if it sounds decent in there, I should probably move it out of the tub, and place it more conventionally.

 

No. Not saying that at all. It won't hurt the sub. I meant negative effects on the sound. If the sound is good to you then go for it.

 

Yeah it's a 2002 Corvette Z06, my mids and highs are loud too, it sounds good, very clear

 

After some placement testing this morning, I discovered that when outside of the compartment, the sound is tighter and puncher than when in the tub, likely because when in the tub the soundwaves indeed do bounce directly back at the speaker and port causing some sort of phase cancellation. I placed it along the back wall and strapped it to the board I put on the back wall for pseudo-safety reasons. I spent some time dialing in the settings, too. Sounds even better now. Thanks a lot for chiming in here.

 

I suspect you're not, but are you running the stock head unit, speakers, and/or Bose amps?

The stock Bose system actually sounds pretty darned good, now that I have the sub installed. And, I like the soundstage that Bose systems generate, so I'm sticking with it. Wait, just the fact that I'm on this forum means I should add, "... for now".

 

I always prefer 8 inch Subwoofer because the 8-inch diameter subwoofer is common compact sized subs on the market. It is not the smallest dimension available but it is recommended the size for users with lack of space.

The 8-inch subwoofer has decent sound and since it is small speaker can produce clear tones. It is perfect for cars with limited space and for people that listen to music which isn’t requiring a lot of basses.

 

One can never have too much bass
But seriously, my sound system is set up for sound quality, not SPL

 

I'm loving the 8". I am a semi-pro drummer, so I definitely listen to music with bass, but I like clean bass, and not just a bunch of reverberating low signals vibrating the back of the car like so many people have these days. This Kicker 8" provides good punch, too. I would do it again.

 

Gee many Xmas! I take it you don't use your vette for going out of town? No room for a bag!

 

There is a lot to be said for accurate low end, not just a bunch of boom like you said. That being said I went with two 10's and prefer to not go bigger than 10's if possible.