Under seat subs.... Any good?

[sprite1275]

Looking for a better sound in my VW T4. It has terrible 4" speakers in the dash with 6x9s in the rear which sound good if your in the rear but can hardly hear them in the front.

Even though it's a van the way I have it there is no room to put a big sub but I do have a nice big space under the front seat.

So was wondering whether to get one of these under seat subs. Never heard one before, not sure how good they are. I'm not looking to rattle the bolts out the van, just a nice bit of base for better listening.

 

[Maccapacca]

I've got one in my ranger behind the rear seats, there's no where to put anything else.

Pretty good, not going to wake the neighbours but good enough for radio 2

 

[sideways14a]

They are ok when fitted right, ok its not going to be a beast but for some low end fill in on a stock HU and speakers in more cars or vans they are fine.

Dont expect miracles though.

 

[Spleen Sauce]

I've got the Harmon Kardon subs under the seats in my Mini Clubman. They're pretty decent and give a nice, crisp bass sound. If you want them to 'rock your body' though that's not going to happen.

 

[sprite1275]

Which would be better, buy an under seat sub and upgrade 4" speakers in the dash or replace the 4” speakers with a pair of 6x9s?

 

[phil675]

New head unit, component front speakers with amp, disconnect rear speakers. Sub under seat might be ok, how big is the space? If you can make your own box you'd have a better choice of subbers.

 

[Scania]

Which would be better, buy an under seat sub and upgrade 4" speakers in the dash or replace the 4” speakers with a pair of 6x9s?

Personally I’d opt for a quality set of 6x9’s driven by a decent amplifier with an under seat sub driven by the amp.

Well out of the loop these days as to what’s best on the market but back in the day I followed this route with both my car and truck.

 

[Tinders]

Personally I’d opt for a quality set of 6x9’s driven by a decent amplifier with an under seat sub driven by the amp.

Well out of the loop these days as to what’s best on the market but back in the day I followed this route with both my car and truck.

Dont do you also need a set of TSW Venoms and a garish fibreglass body kit to go with that combo

 

[Scania]

Dont do you also need a set of TSW Venoms and a garish fibreglass body kit to go with that combo

Well you could, but I always preferred the standard look, I’ve never yet owned a car with anything on its exterior that it didn’t leave the factory with.

 

[sprite1275]

Cheers folks. Think I'll get a sub then go from there. I would like the Rockford Fosgate P300-8P Single 8" 300 but its just a tad too big to fit under my front seat. So I'm going to give the Kenwood KSC-PSW8 250W a go. Annoying as I reckon the Rockford would be a lot better.

 

[jpaul]

Do you need to cut the carpet etc. to mechanically attach these to the car, (3m double sided tape)
so that the sound becomes omnidirectional as as opposed to obviously originating under the seat ?

 

[Liquidfox]

Cheers folks. Think I'll get a sub then go from there. I would like the Rockford Fosgate P300-8P Single 8" 300 but its just a tad too big to fit under my front seat. So I'm going to give the Kenwood KSC-PSW8 250W a go. Annoying as I reckon the Rockford would be a lot better.

If you don't mind fannying about with enclosures, the slimline Power or Punch range of subs would do the trick I'd imagine? They don't need a lot of space, but will need a separate amplifier.

 

[new boy]

Do you need to cut the carpet etc. to mechanically attach these to the car, (3m double sided tape)
so that the sound becomes omnidirectional as as opposed to obviously originating under the seat ?

You can't tell where low frequencies are coming from, only high, so a sub is fine anywhere.

 

[jpaul]

I know the theory,
but it doubt it becomes omnidirectional if you put a sub in the middle of your living room on a pillow, as opposed to on a flat floor.
oem fits afaik are beneath the carpet in custom held cradles ... and removing the carpet, even to run a cable back to front is a right faff,
removing seats, cutting at the bulkhead, internal fittings .....

 

[Rroff]

I've got a Bose one (factory upgrade) under the rear seat on my Navara - bit of a pain really as it takes up space that would be handy for storage but it works well enough - certainly as far as anything that is reasonable goes.

 

[sprite1275]

The sub should be arriving tomorrow ( eBay discount code come in handy ) and I've ordered some 4" alpines to replace the stock dash speakers.

No carpet under drivers seat, just a rubber lining.

 

[Drumroll]

Considering the size of the subwoofers included in most "premium" packages, an under seat should be fine, of properly installed.
You won't get a dual 15" ported effect, sure, but for sure will be an improvement.