Hi there. I tried posting this question last night but it didn't seem to work. I was wondering if anybody out there has experimented with facing their subs/ports in different directions in their trunks? If so, what kinds of effects on sound quality and SPL did you notice with the different configurations (if any)? The reason I'm asking is that I'm in the process of installing a system in my cavalier, and this is the first non-hatchback car I've bothered putting a serious stereo into. I'm not new to car audio, and know from experience that facing subs and ports toward the back (or straight up in the case of my explorer) got me considerable gains in SPL in my other vehicles; I was just wondering if doing the same in a trunk would help at all? FIY I'm installing a single 18D2 Cerwin Vega Stroker (ported), so I'm trying to gain SPL rather than SQ. I briefly had it installed in a 5.5cu.ft box last week with the sub/ports facing forward and was disappointed with the results (decent SQ (for an 18) but weak SPL). I realize that cabin gain favours hatchback installs - I've had the same sub in an identically spec'd box in another vehicle (hatch) and had great results. Voicecoil issues prevented me from turning the box around to see if that improved my SPL, and I won't get my sub back from reconing for at least a week. From what I could find on the internet, facing the sub and ports towards the back of the trunk seems to be the most common configuration, but there seems to be little talk on whether that improves SPL/SQ or is just done for aesthetics. If any of you have any real experience with this, please let me know what you found the best setup was for a trunk install to be. Trying to install an 18 in a cavalier takes some creativity, and I'd like to limit the amount of trial-and-error/fabrication if I can help it. Thanks in advance!

point ruffly 8-10 inches away from trunk release lever, facing rear, lowers some of the vibration without loss of sound quality.

Thanks Justin!
I just searched caraudio.com and most people said the same thing (facing the sub toward the rear "greatly improved SPL and low frequency extension"). However, none of the people in those forums owned a cavalier, so I thought I'd ask to see what works well in our cars.
If I spin the box around my sub will be angled up toward the trunk (roughly 60 degree angle); the ports will be facing directly back. Once my stroker gets back I'll try that out to see if that changes anything. I'm now wondering if it might have been better to have my ports extending up to the rear deck rather than keeping them in the same plane as my driver. If anyone has any experience with that setup, lemme know.

If the subs are going to be sealed from the trunk and faced forward, that is good. Otherwise, about 6-15 inches from the back of the trunk facing the trunk.

i lost 2 db when facing them towards the interior when facing toward the trunk 2 db higher



1989 Turbo Trans Am #82, 2007 Cobalt SS G85

How about aiming them toward each other in the trunk?

I only have one sub. It's an 18 and (trust me) there's not enough room in our tiny trunks to make 1 work properly.

listening to this cuz im about to start my enclosure and im just curious to hear whats better right now mine will be in the wheel well area of my trunk facing the corner diagonal to it in the trunk if that makes sense

I know corner loading can work quite well in a hatchback, but I have no idea how it would work in the trunk of a cavalier. That's not really an option with my 18, but I'd be very curious to hear if anyone out there has tried that setup.

From the tests i've seen...facing the back yielded higher output then any other direction. (not counting a wall or sealing off the trunk from the cabin) this was basic box in the trunk setup


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ive found that facing straight up or tward the rear are the best options . you get more boom for your buck


slide or die

toward trunk door cause vocal doesnt sound good through a sub....lol....but seriously towards the trunk

Amanda Duke wrote:toward trunk door cause vocal doesnt sound good through a sub....lol....but seriously towards the trunk

if you have voices coming out your sub..you have bigger problems


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I just got my stroker back from the shop last night. Certainly not cheap to recone, but when you go SPL you gotta pay to play. Once I finish my box (I still need to paint the ports and carpet it), I'll try it out facing the rear. I'm also thinking of tinkering with interchangeable ports that I can swap out if/when I compete. In the future I may even try changing the ports so they fire up (flush with the rear deck) to see if that makes any difference. I'll give everyone an update once I put it all together and get it scoped.

wysiwyg wrote:

Amanda Duke wrote:toward trunk door cause vocal doesnt sound good through a sub....lol....but seriously towards the trunk

if you have voices coming out your sub..you have bigger problems

I suppose it's better than having voices coming from the back of your head...

Quote:

listening to this cuz im about to start my enclosure and im just curious to hear whats better right now mine will be in the wheel well area of my trunk facing the corner diagonal to it in the trunk if that makes sense

If you're putting them in the corners, don't have them face each other. You'll have cancellation.


Beat it like it owes you money

sorry Im late on this one but 1 go smaller and 2 unport that box trust me ive tinkered with every possible way the best result was 3 10s and inclosed box and a 250w amp and I hit around 142dbs no lie ask rodumis prime he was impressed at the bash. the trunk is small unless you take out the back seat then you will have the room for that big bastad if any more ? reply or you can ask (sndsgood) for advice.lata and good luck.

A J-body owner since 1998
91 cavy, 99 sunfire, 00 cavy
06 cobalt SS/SC YELLOW
09 cobalt SS/TC sedan WHITE 1 of 41

Jason SpyderJ wrote:sorry Im late on this one but 1 go smaller and 2 unport that box trust me ive tinkered with every possible way the best result was 3 10s and inclosed box and a 250w amp and I hit around 142dbs no lie

if he's going for spl..why would you suggest a sealed box?




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out reduces the farting noise

only that AIR movement is the key . As you can tell that he has moved the ports all around and that 18 needs a lot of air to move. Hey Derek if you can afford it get 2 10" JL w7 and a 1000w monoblock amp I am sure that you will be impressed. Ive been playing around with this type of stuff sense my first install back in 1995 and have done quite a few sense then also if you want to stay with that 18 check and see what the specks are for a ported and an enclosed box that is the best way to go you MIGHT have to lose your back seat. Yes XXX are good but they are good just for comp. and wont last as long as the w7 will, I am not dissing xxx. as a fellow car club in indiana has posted on there website ITS NOT ABOUT QUANITY IT IS ABOUT QUALITY, you get what you pay for, also I like that reduces the farting noise. Face them towards the trunk for the best sound.

A J-body owner since 1998
91 cavy, 99 sunfire, 00 cavy
06 cobalt SS/SC YELLOW
09 cobalt SS/TC sedan WHITE 1 of 41

Jason SpyderJ wrote:. Yes XXX are good but they are good just for comp. and wont last as long as the w7 will, I am not dissing xxx.

neither of those subs are made for spl...

and to say one won't last as long is totally dependant on the idiot using them.


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http://www.teamrocs.com/technical/pages/aiming.htm


you snooze you lose!
keep working, millions on welfare depend on you!

revvvin87 wrote:http://www.teamrocs.com/technical/pages/aiming.htm

of course in that testing they didnt test the subs against the trunk opening into the interior with the trunk sealed off from the interior, this would have gave just as good of results as the last test in their article but now you are pressurising 1/3 less space then you previously were.


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Finally finished carpeting the box and installing my Stroker. Haven't had much time to tinker, but this is what I've discovered:
Pointing box toward interior (not sealed off from rest of trunk) resulted in absolutely no low end bass and crappy SPL. Like Sndsgood mentioned, sealing the front of the enclosure off from the rest of the trunk would definitely change things for the better.
Flipping the box around (sub approximately 8-10 inches from trunk lid, angled up slightly, with both ports pointed directly back) resulted in amazing low-bass extension, and wicked SPL. I'm going to leave it pointed backwards, but will likely tinker with interchangeable ports at some point.
As for switching to a sealed box, you'll be hard-pressed to find many out there competing and winning in SPL with them (especially those of us only using 1-2 subs). Strokers are designed to perform best in large ported enclosures, and from personal experience they like huge enclosures - the bigger the better (much louder and lower). I've only seen 1 person compete with a stroker in a sealed box and it wasn't competitive with the rest of us (with ported strokers).
The only reason I have for possibly going with 1-2 RE XXXs would be for SQ, and maybe regain some lost trunk space. A pair of W7s would be great as well, but I don't have a couple thousand $$ laying around for that.
I'll just have to be satisfied running stroker...(did I just say that??)

sndsgood wrote:

revvvin87 wrote:http://www.teamrocs.com/technical/pages/aiming.htm

of course in that testing they didnt test the subs against the trunk opening into the interior with the trunk sealed off from the interior, this would have gave just as good of results as the last test in their article but now you are pressurising 1/3 less space then you previously were.

no, they didn't. but it's a perfect answer to the question asked i think.


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