i plan on building a sub box for my 96 4runner...because i need to utilize the cargo area all the time i am thinking about"raising" floor up back there and making the subs in the floor. my question is what would sound better upfiring or downfiring?? i want to make everything stealth so nothing will be visible..has anyone done this before?

 

In a runner, I would almost def say get them far back near the hatch, and upfire, anything hatchback will always amplify sound if you fire up into the glass.

 

yea thats what i was figuring..the farther away the better

 

If you down fire the subs then you will less likely be able to tell the direction that they are coming from. A good sound system has a front "stage". That means that the music sounds like it is all coming from in front of you(where the band would be playing if it was live). Most systems with sub woofers seperate the highs and mids in front of you and the low bass behind you. If you down fire the woofers than it gives your ears more of the illusion that the low frequencies are coming from the same direction as the other music.

Plus you can hide the woofers.

I'm prolly gonna do the same thing. Raise the floor in the back of the runner. Make a sub box and make a storage box on the remaining space.

 

This is a great idea, I want to install a sub but want to keep my cargo space .
Let's see some pics and plans when done.

 

what about a basslink ?

 

a box from qlogic. i have some rattles, but nothing a screw wouldnt fix. sounds great, some complain that it fires towards the sides and thus ruins the sound. i think it sounds great, as does my audiophile friend.

 

Thanks for the space saving ideas, but there's this budget that I have to contend with.
With that said, how inexpensive can a basslink be bought for? Heard they sound awesome.

The qlogic is kinda spendy and have read reviews that it has a rattle problem, is there a good fix for that? Can you still use the rear cover to keep things out of sight?

 

still use the cover all the time!

i found one on the forums here, im sure someone bought it, didnt like it and is willing to sell. check ebay.

mine rattles a tiny bit, but im sure if i spent more time installing it, it wouldnt.

 

If you are asking if you should have the woofer cone facing up or with the magnet up and above the floor then you should have the cone facing up. With the magnet up, the basket, lead wires, and terminals will just be in the way. You?ll actually get better performance if the cone is facing up too.

04 Rocko Taco is right about trying to get the sub to the rear of the 4runner. You can get as much as 6bd gain (twice the volume) over a sub that is mounted in the center of a vehicle. When the sub is in the very back or front of a space it ?loads?off the interior volume of the vehicle.

With a great deal of respect to Tron I do disagree about the directionality. I defnitely agree that good sound systems have good staging. The reason subs are most often in the rear is just a matter of no space to fit a sub in the front of a car. When you start getting into frequencies that are below 100Hz ears can?t tell what direction the sound is coming from. The wave length of the bass frequencies is just too large and unless you have a really, really big head (like elephant big lol) you don?t have enough distance between your ears to differentiate direction of the low and long wavelengths. If you can tell the direction of some of the sound coming from your sub then you likely have it crossed over at too high a frequency or with too soft a slope; 12db slopes or 18db slopes will prevent that.

SeanOrz, The people that say side-firing degrades the sound of a sub don?t know what they are talking about. This from a MECP Master certified installer. If it sounds worse it?s not because of the direction the cone is facing. I like that qlogic enclosure in your 4runner it?s nice and clean.

toyotaoffroad91, If you do a prefab like the Qlogic it is critical to choose a sub that wants the predetermined space of the Qlogic enclosure. Most 10inch subs need about a 1.25 cubic foot enclosure, 12inch subs normally want a full 2 cubic feet. Check out the solobarics if you have not already. They are designed to want a really small enclosure. The 10? solbaric sub only needs a 0.75 cu foot enclosure. That?s just a little bit bigger than the back of the speaker. More expensive yes but they do sound good and they don?t hog space or add extra weight from the particle board. A 12? sub normally takes about a full sheet of MDF and that weighs about 70 lbs.

I used to work as one of the principal designers at a loudspeaker company. That was by far the most fun I?ve ever had at a job. I loved pouring over the raw drivers specs, looking at the waterfall plots and ordering in dozens of drivers at a time to evaluate them. Fun fun fun!