FR-S / BRZ / GT 86 - Fiberglass Subwoofer Enclosure Prototyping by Integrity Concepts

[6-Shift]

In for updates, looks great.

[wrohdejr]

[QUOTE= In the decision of how big we wanted to go with our enclosures, we felt that a couple of 10W6 woofers (Driver and Passenger Side), or of similar size in another brand (say two 10" Alpine Type R's), in such a small cabin would offer more than enough bass for the average FR-S / BRZ owner.[/QUOTE]


I have 1 jl 10w3v3-4 and it is more then enough in the trunk with a 500w amp.

[gdrider77]

Looks good man. I was just getting ready to fab up some boxes myself, if these were done i would have probably just saved myself the time and trouble, but since i have a few days off and nothing to do, gonna just do my own, these are looking great though!

[stea1thbear]

Originally Posted by mashal

If you release this before JL releases their stealth box , you have a buyer .

+1

[console_cowboy]

Is there any chance of getting a box to fit a sundown audio sa-8? The mounting depth in your 8" box is a bit shallow for this sub. I'd be very interested in purchasing one.

[Skippman]

When you're designing the enclosure how are you determining which way to load the driver? Have you done some experimenting to determine what gives the best gain, or are you simply mounting them in the most "convienent" direction?

Looking at your initial photo's I'm very excited about your product and would love to put a set of sealed 8" drivers in my BRZ.

[2forme]

Looks exactly like my fiberglassed enclosures, so obviously I like it haha.

[Integrity Concepts]

Originally Posted by console_cowboy

Is there any chance of getting a box to fit a sundown audio sa-8? The mounting depth in your 8" box is a bit shallow for this sub. I'd be very interested in purchasing one.

I looked into the dimensions of this woofer and although the depth is close, the Sundown Audio website does not appear to specify a magnet diameter so it is tough to say. Based on what I can estimate from the pics, I would have to say that it looks to have slightly too wide of a magnet at it's depth to fit in our 8" enclosure. What we could do for you is customize our 8" enclosure to have the mounting surface bumped out the necessary depth needed, but due to the woofers excursion this would prevent the use of our optional pressure fit pressed carbon steel grill and trim ring. Another option we could do so that our grill option would work is to customize one of our 10" enclosures to have the recommended volume and an 8" mounting ring. Your actually not the first to ask about options for really beefy 8's. Either way, we are in the business of making things work.

[Integrity Concepts]

Originally Posted by Skippman

When you're designing the enclosure how are you determining which way to load the driver? Have you done some experimenting to determine what gives the best gain, or are you simply mounting them in the most "convienent" direction?

Short Version: Yes, over the years we have studied the acoustical characteristics of subwoofer enclosures within a trunk and for this application we chose a location that has both acoustical advantages and dimensional advantages (using dead cargo space, out of the way). I will also tell you that we have been in the car audio industry building subwoofer enclosures and custom systems tailored for both SPL and sound quality for many years. We have also been MECP Advance and Master Certified in which both programs take the time to dive a bit into the acoustical engineering of where and why of speaker placement. So have peace in knowing that we are weighing all of this in determining the best location for the desired application in this vehicle platform.

Long Version: When deciding the best placement for a subwoofer within an automotive environment there are so many factors between the cabin size and style of the vehicle to the sub, enclosure, and amplification combo. Because of this, the best thing to do with each custom setup, would be to load the speaker in the planned enclosure and move it around the vehicle while listening and scoping it from the front seats to find the best location. While there has been many a debate over this exact subject (mostly because every setup is different), there are a few locations within a trunk that have proven over the years to be better for most applications than others. Most of these locations consist of a solid surface in which to be loaded against so the sound is projected forward like a horn.

Best: Installing the subwoofer in an enclosure facing the very rear of the vehicle. Optimally, within a foot. This allows for the rear wave to exit through into the cabin of the vehicle, as well as the front wave to reflect off of the rear of the vehicle, and be reinforced by the rear wave. This can be tricky to get the distance right as the waves can interfere with one another.

Next Best: Installing the subwoofer in the rear side panel in between the taillights and the strut tower is a form of corner loading which is used a lot in home audio setups. Since the subwoofer is as far back as possible in the vehicle, there will be no rear sound wave that can interfere. As well, you will have hard boundaries to the rear, and sides.

Third Best: Install the subwoofer in the very front of the trunk (against the rear seats). This is much better than facing the subwoofer forward into the cabin of the vehicle because it still has a hard surface to be loaded against, and the rear wave will not interfere with the reflected front wave.

Forth Best: Install the subwoofer facing towards the trunk lid. This method is still better than facing the subwoofer forward into the cabin of the vehicle, but not the best option. There is still the hard boundary (trunk lid), and lack of rear wave, but the problem is, the reflected wave from the trunk lid does not flow directly into the cabin. This can be partially alleviated by installing the subwoofer on a slight angle towards the rear of the vehicle.

After looking at these four options, the one that best suits the needs of the average vehicle owner yet still maintains a high level of acoustical integrity is the second option, corner loading. As for the angle in which we chose to position the mounting rings, slightly forward, this is due to a combination of reasons. Again using as many hard boundaries as possible (the back wall, and the side wall) we are making a horn per-say when we angle the sub forward verses straight across. This also helps to project the sound waves forward and curbs comments from any of those thinking that a pair of enclosures will cancel each other out (even though a bass note of 50 hertz is longer than a vehicle (22.5 ft to be exact) and the chances of that happening, if any, are slim). Any slight calculations to the ring positioning after the ladder was simply to allow for the largest magnet and depth of a subwoofer we felt was of reasonable size on the Passenger side (since this side is slightly more compact) without taking up too much space unnecessarily. The driver side was simply mirrored to match the passenger enclosure. Although the result of this specific enclosure has yet to be heard, we are confident that our years of experience in this field combined with the proper use of acoustical physics, will produce an enclosure with fantastic sound that maintains a certain level of functionality and versatility.

I hope this helps answer some questions about our methods.

[Skippman]

It does. As a long time car audio and home theater enthusast I felt it was a fair question. I was interested to know if phase canceling and modes were concerns of yours during the design phase and it sounds very much like you've accounted for all of them.

[ecko04]

MECP FTW!

[console_cowboy]

I have to admit, modifying the 10" subwoofer design seems like the best option. I have the subwoofer here, so I will measure it and see if it will fit in the dimensions you listed. I have a feeling it won't fit in your 8" design.

[Integrity Concepts]

Updated the original post with more pictures.

[rupert]

Dibs on first order

lol