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I currently have a 10inch sub in my 05 lsv. I installed it where the battery is located on the pass side in the cubby. I am not satisfied with the sound though. Sounds great when the door is open but when is shut can hardly even tell it's there. Any ideas as to where i could put it other than where it is would be great.
I just had a conversation with a guy at a local shop who installs stereos and has done several boats. He was saying that boats are a whole different animal when it comes to subs. I tend to believe what he was telling me since he was actually trying to steer me towards a much cheaper sub than what I was planning on purchasing. I originally was planning on buying a JL Audio 10w7 which runs around $400. He told me I'd be much happier with a 12 or 13 inch w1 or w3 which would cost less than 200.
The reason he gave was that the because of the accoustics in a boat, you will not get as good of an effect with a sub that produces a lot of very low frequency sound. Instead, he suggested a larger sub that will move a lot of air in order to get good base without having to worry a lot about enclosure size or placement. If you want to keep the sub you have, the best place I can think of is the kick panel below the dash board. You could pull it out, cut a whole in it for the sub and build a box on the back side of it.
The kickplate under the dash is where mine is at also. The panel is easy to remove and I installed the sub woofer amp on the panel also up high and out of view of wandering eyes and protected from moisture. Kinda heavy when you put it back in but it works well. When you on the beach with the nose out, the bass shoots out real well. You have to adjust the bass volume when your in the driver's seat since the sound is shooting right at you. Usually it's just turning the loudness control on and off.
Your salesman was actually pretty good giving you those reccomendations. Boats (and any open air location) are much different than an enclosed place like a car for inducing bass. Since bas is omnidirectional, it is much less important where it is coming FROM and more importat what it is going to be resonated by. In a boat, that is not much, so we need to move as much air as possible. Larger cones, or longer throw cones can do that well, with the aid of a good amp.
I actually thought that if I were to put subs in, I would either replace the silly built-in cooler, or put 2 smaller ones on either side of my v-drive under the back seats and then rebuild the back seat with internal grills. I'm not a fan of it right under the drivers feet. I also thought if someone built a fiberglass box and put it right in front of the cup holders on the floor of the walkthrough facing rearward, that might work.
I'm doing a sound abatement project this weekend to try and lower the noise from the transmision and v-drive whine. I'll post pics and recordings before and after.
-Joe
thanks for all of your thoughts i think i am going to move it under the drivers console (kick plate). Will let you all know how it comes out thanks again.