Spec me some ICE

[86JR]

I would still consider getting a sub for the boot. It is sealed, but that won't make much of a difference.

IIRC there is a firewall between the back seats and the boot in a 5 series saloon ? Therefore that wont work. IB could be an option but he might not like the sound, then again Fi are making a driver called an Fi iB in 22" form

Unless he has a ski hatch that he can use to vent to the car ? then a 6th order bandpass box would suit.

 

[Thomas. PLease.]

I would still consider getting a sub for the boot. It is sealed, but that won't make much of a difference.

You'll probably then have to soundproof it as well if you use a sub. Otherwise the boot lid vibrates like mad. Speaking from experience. A firend of mine had a very good sub setup in his 5. He's now removed it.

 

[NickXX]

IIRC there is a firewall between the back seats and the boot in a 5 series saloon ? Therefore that wont work. IB could be an option but he might not like the sound, then again Fi are making a driver called an Fi iB in 22" form

Unless he has a ski hatch that he can use to vent to the car ? then a 6th order bandpass box would suit.

I ran a sealed 10" Infinity Basslink in the boot of my e46. Didn't have any problems with getting the sound to travel through the back seats (my seats didn't fold either).

 

[86JR]

Did you have a load of metal in the way though ?

 

[Lopéz]

You can sit still with your engine off and get a bit of bass from most things. As soon as you start driving, the road noise and general vibrations from driving around be it from your engine, tyres etc will cancel out any bass you'll hear from your speakers so a sub/amp is the only real solution for most people.

Very true. This is the budget setup in my Manta :

Loads of bass when you are parked up. As soon as you start driving it really reduces the level of bass.

I have nowhere to mount front speakers (footwells too shallow, nowhere on the door card either) so I have to rely on the 2 subs and the 8" JBL rears for everything which means volume was the issue for me. Volume is not such an issue if you can fit decent front speakers.

As most people have said you are going to get plenty of "sound" from 6x9s but not a huge amount of extra bass unless you can use a low pass filter to get rid of the excess treble they'll produce.

 

[NickXX]

Did you have a load of metal in the way though ?

Yup, and a back seat rest. The sound still travelled fine with nothing rattling.

 

[Rilot]

He'll have to build an enclosure, drill, screw, run new wiring from the amplifier to the boot...whereas with 6x9s subs (which is the course of action I'd take) it's a 5 minute job to unscrew and re-fit some 6x9s. Not normally one for 6x9s but for someone that just wants to improve the sound with a bit more bass, they are perfect for this application. They'll also need less power to drive properly than a subwoofer, even if it is only 8".

It's not much of a hassle in the E39 as the battery and power distribution board is in the boot so you can just mount the sub amp in the side panel next to the battery.

 

[Janesy B]

It's not much of a hassle in the E39 as the battery and power distribution board is in the boot so you can just mount the sub amp in the side panel next to the battery.

All the more reason to fit a sub.

 

[Howard]

Yup, and a back seat rest. The sound still travelled fine with nothing rattling.

Same, in my Honda. Sound is quite isolated when standing outside the vehicle too - I wound it up and got out and shut the doors and it wasn't obnoxiously chav-loud

 

[Matt82]

firewalls... do you really think a sheet of steel will stop bass frequencies?

if a sub is not positioned correctly you will get cancellation within the car. my advice is to place it as to the rear of the car as possible and you wont have any problems with bulkheads, trust me

 

[MikeHiow]

For the record, I think I've just picked up one of these second hand, I'll let you know how I get on.

 

[mjt]

IIRC there is a firewall between the back seats and the boot in a 5 series saloon ? Therefore that wont work. IB could be an option but he might not like the sound, then again Fi are making a driver called an Fi iB in 22" form

Unless he has a ski hatch that he can use to vent to the car ? then a 6th order bandpass box would suit.

like i said, E39s saloons equipped with DSP had a subwoofer in the boot, under the equivalent of the parcel shelf

 

[Vigoro]

Same, in my Honda. Sound is quite isolated when standing outside the vehicle too - I wound it up and got out and shut the doors and it wasn't obnoxiously chav-loud

Mine is chav loud on 20 from outside the car, never mind 50

 

[Howard]

That's because it's made from Heinz bean cans

 

[Vigoro]

That's because it's made from Heinz bean cans

Dont be stupid, it is made from Asda Basic bean cans, heinz are too expensive

 

[james.miller]

A half decent set of 6x9's will drop more than low enough. some people haven't got the faintest.....

First of all, frequency responses are quoted in free in. car's and small spaces in general have a huge room gain at the bottom end, typically around 6db/octave. i fitted some cheapy 6.5" fli comps in my front doors and they drop low - because of the cabin, not the speakers. they aren't as loud as a subwoofer but i have a sub to fit in over the weekend, but these 50hz-20khz quoted fli comp 6's drop to below 30hz EASILY. however as i drive a french tin can road noise is too high at speed and they cant keep up.....

...6x9's get a bad rep and rightly so - you rarely see a set of 6x9's aimed at SQ but for adding a bit of deep bass ive no problem with that., and it would work quite well i believe. you could always replace the parcel shelf and use a 10/12" infinite baffle sub designed to sit in the shelf if you find the 6x9's arent adiquate enough - no box required and with the boot being well sealed up, should work rather well indeed.

Very true. This is the budget setup in my Manta :

sorry to quote an image but looking at that, is the bass much louder / better without the shelf? if it is, cut a hole in the shelf!

Hmm, if I was going to use 6x9's, I'd use them just for bass and use a DSP to delay the fronts so it's all in phase, make the bass mono also. Car DSP's are more than £300 tho...

This is probably the best speaker in 6x9 size for bass, the Tang Band W69-1042J:

Xmax of 7.3mm and Fs 35Hz, if anyone can find a 6x9 which offers more displacement, I'll be interested to know what it is!

my kenwood bt8044u has some suprisingly sophisticated time delay functions built in. It's a shame it doesnt have an auto-setup though Those are the 6x9's id choose, listen to this man

 

[Witor]

Slight sidestep. Am I right in thinking one can replace the standard tape player in some E39's with a aftermarket one, and the little flap still hides it?

 

[[TW]Fox]

Slight sidestep. Am I right in thinking one can replace the standard tape player in some E39's with a aftermarket one, and the little flap still hides it?

No, the flap only hides the CD drive.

 

[Lopéz]

sorry to quote an image but looking at that, is the bass much louder / better without the shelf? if it is, cut a hole in the shelf!

In essence using the shelf hole as a "port"? Never thought about that really, the shelf is a bit of an ballache to remove but I might just do that and see how it sounds.

 

[james.miller]

In essence using the shelf hole as a "port"? Never thought about that really, the shelf is a bit of an ballache to remove but I might just do that and see how it sounds.

if the hole was big enough it wouldnt be a port as such, it would just remove the wall between the boot and the cabin and so the boot would naturally become an extention of the cabin. give it a go as see how it sounds - if the shelf is a bit weak with a hole in it you can always brace it up underneith. i reckon that whole middle section between the speakers could come out.