Amps that Fit Under Front Seats

[mrwilli]

The amp can go further under the seat if needed. I find it very easy to adjust it this way....The amp has a built in fan for extreme heat. I have yet to hear it...I have Kicker components up front and Polk full range coaxials in the rear with a 10 inch Pioneer sub in a custom box and Alpine mono amp. Yhe sub amp is mounted under the drivers rear seat. Fits perfectly! Everything sounds great. Plenty of tweaking room.

[CuTeBoi]

the location looks good.


The place in the glove box is UP from the globe box, right under the air bags, against that wall, there is a metal frame that goes across the whole car, I keep seeing it as a viable place. Also another place is above the ECU which is to the right of the glove box, but I think heating there would be bad.

The under the seat location has AC there for the foot well heating, it's the 2 black hoses coming from one of the pics where the seats are.

Just my 2Cents

[raton]

Yeah, I was wondering about the AC ducts under the seats too. The good thing is...here in HI, I hardly use the heater; but definately something to think about....

[F'it_ImFromTx]

Originally Posted by mrwilli1

...sub amp is mounted under the drivers rear seat. Fits perfectly! Everything sounds great. Plenty of tweaking room.

i ad though to my self that if i got any sort of sub(s) that i would mount the amp under the rear seats. the question i have is can you still fold the seats down?

[abcsr2ez4me]

Is there no room to place an amp in the spare tire?

[raton]

There's not much space w/ the tire & jack in the well...

There's tons of space if u loose the tire & jack in there...but not an option for me.

[abcsr2ez4me]

I was personally thinking of putting an alpine PDX in there, but I took a look at it today and I don't think I can...

[ad lib]

seems like if you loose the tire and jack and whatnot you could fit two small amps in there.

[raton]

Well...decided to increase my loan balance (ouch) and went w/ the JL Audio HD600/4, JL CS110RG sub-woofer, and professional install. They installed the amp under the drivers seat. The installer said the screws were just barely in the floor to avoid messing w/ the gas tank.

They wired 2 channels for the front BA components, 2 channels to power the sub, and the rear BA coaxals are powered by the Kenwood HU amp.

Holy cow! It was like a science class when the installer explained how to set the various frequencies (treb/mid/bass) from the HU. I finally got it setup how I like it.

Still haven't cut the all-season mats....just using a cheap mat for now.

Here's some pics:

(...w/ seat in normal driving position...)








(...w/ seat pushed forward...seat could've gone forward more too...)


(...the sub...)


I normally close the cargo cover while driving so the sub will be out of sight when I leave the car. It sounds good w/ the cargo cover closed.

[abcsr2ez4me]

Why'd you go with the JL HD vs say the Alpine PDX?

[raton]

Originally Posted by abcsr2ez4me

Why'd you go with the JL HD vs say the Alpine PDX?

I gotta be honest....I'm pretty much a newbie when it comes to car audio components and deferred to a lot of people to help me choose an amp.

My main goals were to find an amp that could (1) fit safely under the seat, (2) provide sufficient power for my current setup & listening needs, (3) provide comparable features/specs to other similarly spec'd amps, and hopefully, (4) not break the bank.

I think...I met the 1st three goals w/ the JL...the last one kinda hurt. Looking @ the PDXs....the 4.100 or 4.150 could've been a possibility. Oh well...the bullets left the gun....I'm satisfied with the results.

[percy]

You made good choices. I saw that amp at the shop yesterday and was amazed how small it is. Nice looking install, too.

[raton]

Originally Posted by percy

You made good choices. I saw that amp at the shop yesterday and was amazed how small it is. Nice looking install, too.

Thanks Percy. So far so good. Just gotta get better @ tweaking the settings for the best sound.

[percy]

Assuming you (or your installer) set the gains according to JL's instructions (very simple with a digital multimeter and test tones that you can download from realmofexcursion--just make sure you use 0db tones and have everything on the HU set to flat), all you should need to do is set the crossovers. I have a JL 300/4 with a similar setup as yours (front components and a sub). I've played with it quite a bit but I keep coming back to setting the high pass and low pass filters at around 80hz. I find I prefer the 12db slope instead of the 24db slope but that's a matter of preference.

With a new system, I found it takes a little while to "get used to" how it sounds, since its so, so different from stock. I think most of us are used to hearing music with lots of distortion and a really clean sound seems a little weird at first. Once you get used to it you'll find you hear elements in the music you never knew were there. You'll hear it like the artist intended, which is what high quality sound is all about.

[syzygy]

Nice amp install - I'll have to look into that one.

As for the box, I'm surprised that such a small box works for that sub. Any idea on the volume you ended up with? It looks tiny, and I'd love to be able to minimize lost space in the trunk.

[percy]

I'm running one of these:

JL Audio: Products

It doesn't thump like a bigger driver but does a great job and blends in really well. And it's the perfect size, in my view. Plus, it's more than happy with 150 rms watts.

[raton]

Originally Posted by percy

Assuming you (or your installer) set the gains according to JL's instructions (very simple with a digital multimeter and test tones that you can download from realmofexcursion--just make sure you use 0db tones and have everything on the HU set to flat), all you should need to do is set the crossovers. I have a JL 300/4 with a similar setup as yours (front components and a sub). I've played with it quite a bit but I keep coming back to setting the high pass and low pass filters at around 80hz. I find I prefer the 12db slope instead of the 24db slope but that's a matter of preference.

Thanks again Percy! Cool. I didn't do any of the setup. I'm sure the installer did it. It's science again. haha. I kinda worked w/ the installer to setup the amp, but I wasn't 100% clear on everything he was explaining to me so it probably could be tweeked even more. I'm learning as I go. Here's how I'm set up now: (EDIT: Settings as of 8/05/08)

Amp...Rear Channel (to sub):
- Filter Mode = LP
- Filter Slope = 12 db
- Filter Freq. = ~90 Hz
- Input Voltage = Low
Amp...Front Channel (to fronts):
- Filter Mode = HP
- Filter Slope = 12 db
- Filter Freq. = ~90 Hz
- Input Voltage = Low
Amp...General Setup:
- Input Mode = 4 channel
- Remote Level Control = rear channel
- Pre-outs From = F+R

Kenwood HU:
- Sub-W-Level = +1 db
- Bass Level = +2 db (Freq. = 100; Q Factor = 1.25)
- Middle Level = +2 db (Freq. = 1.0 kHz; Q Factore = 1.00)
- Treble Level = +2 db (Freq. = 15.0 kHz)
- HighPassFilter Front = Through
- HighPassFilter Rear = 100 Hz
- LowPassFilterSW = Through
- Loudness = On
- HU Amp = On

I'm gonna try and fiddle w/ the settings like you mentioned & see how things sound and change.

Originally Posted by percy

With a new system, I found it takes a little while to "get used to" how it sounds, since its so, so different from stock. I think most of us are used to hearing music with lots of distortion and a really clean sound seems a little weird at first. Once you get used to it you'll find you hear elements in the music you never knew were there. You'll hear it like the artist intended, which is what high quality sound is all about.

Yeah, I'm definately not an experience audiophile and am learning a little bit @ a time. I was kinda partial to using the "Loudness"...but was advised I should set things up w/o 'Loudness' turned on. Gonna keep reading up & fusing w/ stuff.

Originally Posted by percy

I'm running one of these:

JL Audio: Products

It doesn't thump like a bigger driver but does a great job and blends in really well. And it's the perfect size, in my view. Plus, it's more than happy with 150 rms watts.

Wow! That looks great! Shoots, if they had that @ the local shop it would been great. On the wish list it goes.

Originally Posted by syzygy

Nice amp install - I'll have to look into that one.

As for the box, I'm surprised that such a small box works for that sub. Any idea on the volume you ended up with? It looks tiny, and I'd love to be able to minimize lost space in the trunk.

Thanks syzygy. It's a 10" woofer. To my un-trained ear it sounds good. The local shop said the higher version JL subs sound/were much better than the one I got. The woofer percy mentioned probably sounds way better, is around the same size, and doesn't cost too much more...seen it here [CP108LGW3V3*::*Loaded*Enclosures*::*Car...] for $239. If that sub was @ the shop I'd have got that one. Shucks.

[percy]

While it's a completely personal choice, you might try just listening to the system for awhile with all your eq's set to flat. The value of having such a clean system is that you can listen to what the artist wanted you to hear. But like Duke Ellington said, 'if it sounds good, it is good.'

[radareclipse]

Originally Posted by abcsr2ez4me

Why'd you go with the JL HD vs say the Alpine PDX?

Sound quality is amazing different between these two amplifiers. That's why the JL Audio HD's cost so much more. Their patented technology in filtering and such turns D class "turd" sound into beautiful fidelity. To a trained ear on really good speakers, you can ear the metallic/grainy sound in the PDX.

For enclosure choice, you did really well. The small ported 8W3v3 is a killer box but that 10 inch sealed is great too. Change your front channels to 12db HP at about 85-90 HZ.

As noted, you might want to run with less boost on your frequencies from the Kenwood, ESPECIALLY at 15k. That only adds in ringing and hiss from those Boston's. Maybe try 8k +/-. Either way, ENJOY.

[raton]

Originally Posted by radareclipse

Sound quality is amazing different between these two amplifiers. That's why the JL Audio HD's cost so much more. Their patented technology in filtering and such turns D class "turd" sound into beautiful fidelity. To a trained ear on really good speakers, you can ear the metallic/grainy sound in the PDX.

For enclosure choice, you did really well. The small ported 8W3v3 is a killer box but that 10 inch sealed is great too. Change your front channels to 12db HP at about 85-90 HZ.

As noted, you might want to run with less boost on your frequencies from the Kenwood, ESPECIALLY at 15k. That only adds in ringing and hiss from those Boston's. Maybe try 8k +/-. Either way, ENJOY.

Thanks for the info radareclipse! I'll give those settinga a try.

I ended up turning "Loudness" back on. I kinda like the "fullness" of the highs/mids/bass with it turned on. I also turned the HU amp off--Kenwood says turning it off enhances the quality of the pre-amp outputs...so I turned it off. It sounds good w/ the HU amp off...but still find myself turning it on and off. I'm leaning towards leaving it off.

So far...really enjoying the new sounds.