The Nissan Club banner
Cancel
Create thread New Garage Forums

Subwoofer Enclosure and Amp Rack

Jump to Latest
31K views 36 replies 13 participants last post by  The Inspiration  
#1 ·
I've been promising a thread documenting my rear corner trunk sub enclosure. Well...Here I go. Remember this was my first build so some of the fiberglass work is a little bad. I'm planning another build to go to a 8" or 10" JL Audio W3. I'm sure this will be sent to the audio section but I figured you guys could benefit in the mean time.

Here is the set up. I have the Bose stock system, and I tapped into the factory amp harness for the remote power and signal off the rear door speakers. 10" Alpine Type R sup with an Alpine M450 amp.

My attempt at cutting rings.
This was with the jigsaw
Image


This was with a dremel s/ circle cutter
Image


Started with the taping.
Image


An idea of the where how deep the sub would fit.
Image


Now for fun part. I now understand why you use the aluminum foil. I was lazy and decided not to use it on the top half. Man, was it a b*tch to get out afterwards. The resin dried to the tape that was stuck to the carpet. The aluminum foil keeps the resin from drying to the tape.
Image


Finally got all the layers done. I lost count of how many layers it was, but I know I had about 10 Coronas. I think it was around 6 or 7 layers.
Image


I cut it to the size I wanted and time for a test fit.
Image


I need .65 cf of airspace for the optimum sealed volume, which is about 4.9 gallon. I didn't feel like driving out to get some packing peanuts so I just filled it up with water as far as I could and got 3.75 gallons. I estimated that with the wrapping I should be close to the 5 gallons. So I proceeded. I was anxious.

I tried using a hot glue stick for placing the dowel rods. So I tried this approach. I positioned the ring in the box and measured back to the mold at 4 positions (top, back, bottom, front). Then cut the rods to those lengths and drilled some holes in the ring, placed the rods and put some resin and glass on it to hold.
Image

Image


I forgot to take a picture of the wrapped prior to glassing. But I used an old wool/fleece blanket with some 3M spray adhesive. Then stapled around the side of the ring close to the edge so I would get too much of a lip.

At this point I have about 3 layers the top side this will be the fourth. There is about 2 on the bottom side.
Image
 
#2 ·
Image

Image

Image


I don't like the amp on the back of the seat so I am going to make a rack in the spare tire. I only have the amp turned up 1/4 of the way and that is enough power. It heats up minimally. I've had it in the spare tire for the last 2 years with no problems.

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image

Image
 
#4 ·
Well i think your work is VERY good! I love how it all turned out. the amp rack is pretty unique. Very good work!
 
Save
Reply Quote Like Like
#7 · (Edited)
Thanks all.

Johnnir3v, I'm actuall looking to downsize to a JL 8W3, so I will be making another one or go another route. The Type R is starting to pop a little. A shop around here said it was the cone starting to separate. I bought it about 6 years ago for $90 on ebay brand new while in college. I'd say I got my money's worth out of it.

Nismos, do you still have the DBS free air subs in the rear deck. How do those sound? Do they give you enough bass. I was thinking about getting rid of an enclosure all together and doing something like you have. Also how low do the the speakers hang into the trunk? Do you have any problems when trying to pack suitcases or something kind of tall in there? Was there not enough clearance to top mount them?

I forgot to mention that with materials, I spent about $100. I bought the speaker on ebay 6 years ago for $90. Isn't JL charging $575 for their sub and enclosure for a W3 and the bassform enclosures are $350 and only for the 3rd gen, plus you have to buy your own sub. I spent under $200 and about two weekends on this build. I believe with better planning and now that I have some experience with FG, I can make my next enclosure in half the time adn a little less money in materials.

I have to give a shout out to Fiberglass Forums - Powered by vBulletin for knowledge learned and the help from there members during the build.
 
#8 ·
The 8w3 would probably lose you a lot of bass in the cabin, 8's don't do well in our trunks.

I still have IB subs, but I'm running two 20 year old subs. Pioneer TS-W253F's, pioneer diamond plate free-air subs that round out my bottom end very well, they are 10's too. I no longer run 8's back there. These 10's are absolutely perfect for what I wanted to accomplish.

I actually cut out my rear deck to allow fitment of the 10's and top mounted them. I had to shave off a bunch of the rear deck cover itself as well to get them in. I don't have problems getting anything in the trunk, since I top mounted and used an mdf ring back there I pretty much didn't lose any space to speaker depth, maybe 2" versus the oem 6x9s'.
 
#10 ·
Penguin, like I said, this was my first time. I just followed the instructions on the bags, bottles, and cans and by the second mix of resin and hardner, it was pretty easy. You just can't mix too much of the resin and hardner together at once.

If you look at one of the pics when I was matting the front of the enclosure you can see it looks rough. If you mix too much resin at once it will start to harden too quick for you to use. I tried to use it and smooth it out but with no success. I used bondo over it to smooth it out.
 
#11 ·
Nismos14. You don't think the 8" will produce enough bass to overpower the Bose. I have the amp turned 1/4 to 1/3 of the way up with the 10" and it still sometimes overpowers the factory system. Do you think it is a matter of the woofer not handling as much power as the 10". I have a 400W amp and the JL 8W3 can handle 250W peak and around 125-150W RMS (looking at the chart). The JL 10W3 is around 300W RMS.

The only 8" subwoofers I've hear are the JBL GTO804 and they made some noise. I'm sure the JL will outpower those.

I'm trying to go small as possible but with good clean sound that compliments the Bose.

Your advice is much appreciated.
 
#12 ·
Why are you sure? What is the Volume Displacement of both subs?
SD/Xmax= VD. Just curious as to why you "feel/think" the JL will "outpower" the JBL sub
jdublup said:
Nismos14. You don't think the 8" will produce enough bass to overpower the Bose. I have the amp turned 1/4 to 1/3 of the way up with the 10" and it still sometimes overpowers the factory system. Do you think it is a matter of the woofer not handling as much power as the 10". I have a 400W amp and the JL 8W3 can handle 250W peak and around 125-150W RMS (looking at the chart). The JL 10W3 is around 300W RMS.

The only 8" subwoofers I've hear are the JBL GTO804 and they made some noise. I'm sure the JL will outpower those.
I'm trying to go small as possible but with good clean sound that compliments the Bose.

Your advice is much appreciated.
Click to expand...
 
Save
Reply Quote Like Like
#14 ·
Maybe I used the wrong word there. Not necessarily outpower the JBL, but I "feel" they will provide better frequency response and sound quality which is the reason I'm going with the W3 vs a W0 for JL, or went with the Type R over a E or S for Alpine.

I'm not very familiar with JBL and there product line so I'm just going by speculation. The only comparison I have is listening to the JBL in the store that one day for a few minutes. I really like the price for the JBL but will I be satisfied. Pretty much what you're saying is that if the enclosure is built correctly the power output/quality will be comparable? Do you have experience with the JBLs?

Like I said before, I'm looking for advice. Do you think the 8 will give me enough bang?
My preference is JL W3 but what else it out there that compares for around the same price.

I also noticed the Infinity REF860W 8" Reference Series subwoofer too. Have you guy had experience with this speaker.

Thanks for the input 4DRZ.
 
#20 ·
I used to have a 10" Infinity Reference sub in my Altima when I first got my car, but after 9 yrs it finally just stopped working. Decided to go with a 10" JL W1 and it's far better than my Infinity was. Personally I wouldn't go with an 8" sub because I don't think that'll be enough bang. My 10" is just loud enough to satisfy me, but I've been thinking of adding a 2nd one.

Oh and I always thought JBL = Junk But Loud :)
 
#16 ·
The ONLY reason is to have a smaller enclosure to fit more snug in that corner. If I can't get the same deep bass with the 8" then I'm staying with a 10". I don't care too much for it being really loud, I just want it loud enough. That's why I figured going to the 8" wouldn't matter too much, but I guess it does. That's also why I was asking you about the DBS subs you had.
 
#22 ·
Agreed! JL well nvm...lol but AGREED.
 
Save
Reply Quote Like Like
#27 ·
#30 ·
Yeah, the first research I did, N4L's and Nismos' (Bassforms) designs came up. N4L's was ported though. I believe Nismos car came up when I did a google search for corner sub enclosures, over 2 years ago. If you look at the first pics of the molding process, it had the piece going up the side of trunk for the amp like N4L's but I decided to relocate the amp to the spare tire instead.
 
#33 · (Edited)
Cars equipped with the VDC have a full size spare. I have the 17" 5 spoke rim as my spare.

I'll take some pictures tonight and have them on here ASAP.
 
The Nissan Club
posts
4.4M
members
217K
Since
2001
Welcome to Nissan Club, one of the largest Nissan forum communities. Discussion, reviews, maintenance and more.
Full Forum Listing
Explore Our Forums
2002-2006 Nissan Altima Discussion (2.5 & 3.5) 2007-2012 Nissan Altima Discussion (2.5 & 3.5) 2013-2018 Nissan Altima Discussion (2.5 & 3.5) Parts For Sale - FS Engine Performance (1993-2001)