Rear Seats folded down for Subs in trunk?
 

This might seem like a silly question, but for subs in the trunk (Custom, Stealthbox or OEM audio, etc) do the rear seats need to be laid flat? If they are up does it compromise the output of the subwoofer?

My sub sounds better with the seat up. It is slightly louder with the seat down. It is your preference really. There is no right or wrong way. There is just more optimal or less optimal sound. Opening your windows changes the sound of the sub too a little. Where the sub is placed in the trunk and which direction it's facing will also change how it sounds.

It has an effect. I generally ride around with my seats down.

I've always thought sub's sounded better with the rear seat up.

Silly question indeed. But it's your ears, your car.
Personally I think if you need to fold down the seats your sub and amp suck major donkey you know what.

If you ride with the seats down, make sure the sub and everything else back there is tied down. In an accident that can be dangerous.

LOL!

Very true. I don't have a sub, but I have the Schrader performance rear seat delete. The back of the delete is just a light panel snapped in place, basically like having the seat down. One time my wife and I had a case of sparkling wine in the trunk coming home on Skyline and a jerk coming the other way cut right in front of me going into a driveway. I slammed on the brakes and the case of wine tore right through the delete and hit the back of my seat. Luckily nothing was damaged. If you have the seats down (or a delete kit) make sure anything in the trunk is tied down.

With the seats up the trunk itself becomes part of the sound chamber for the subwoofer and making it sound louder in some cases.

I keep mine down most of the time, I mounted my sub amp on the opposing side of the stock door amp, and cut a vent where the channel between the rear seat and the trunk is. I'm not really sure its necessary, the amp usually doesn't get hot unless it was already hot from sitting in the summer heat, but it's there. I think when the seats are up that location basically doesn't have any air flow availability.

You get a lot more road noise in the cabin with the seats down which might contribute to muddling the sound of the sub.



Damn, that is good to know. I have considered getting one down the road but knowing this and how much I haul around in my car might not be such a good idea (or at least needs to be modified.

Seat based Db meter
 

Start with the seats up and when then fly back down, you know your bass is hitting some serious Db levels.

finch1750's response :thumbsup:

Truth be told it's not worth the effort to think about. Trying to find the sweet spot in a tiny car with long bass frequencies that are being reflected, mixed, rarefracted, etc is near impossible because these positions change with the bass note being played. Do whatever is most comfortable for you.

http://realtraps.com/art_waves.htm

I've changed boxes and subs three times. And tried different combos of each. It's important to have the right box for your sub. What is not as important: if your seat is up, down, or deleted.