18 replies to this topic

[SPL_Kidd]

Hey guys, a few of you may know im saving for my first car (vs wagon) and am wondering, what sort of a difference in terms of spl AND sound quality would there be in either walling 2 18" subs either behind the front seats, or behind the back seats? cheers!

Also by "spl" i mean like, how much you will FEEL the bass and loudness to the ear i guess. not too concerned about the numbers it pulls.

Edited by SPL_Kidd, 26 December 2011 - 09:55 PM.

[Dean the EX Grant]

G'day Champ

I'm pretty new to car audio but my understand is that SPL and loud to the ears are two very diffrent things.

In genral with SPL the smaller the cabin space the better(behind front seats)

If I just wanted "sounds loud" I would go behind the rear seat,

I would also take into consideration you say it's your first car so can I assume you will be on your P Plates? you can expect to be pulled over all the time on your Ps i na Commo wagon lol so maybe a wall is not the best thing to start out with?

Dean.

[SPL_Kidd]

Aha yeah, thats true. but i heard it's legal to wall it if it can be removed? and would walling 2 18"s in the same size box behind the rear seats have much benefit over a non-walled box with 2 18"s, same size etc, if at all?

Oh and yes, i will be on my P plates

Edited by SPL_Kidd, 26 December 2011 - 11:31 PM.

[Sam.Harvey]

Short story: Walled= louder, regular box= legal, looks neater 95% of the time.

If you aren't chasing numbers just do a regular ported box, make it fill the back of the wagon up to the bottom window line. Keeps it legal and way easier if you ever need it removed.

[SPL_Kidd]

oh so walling IS illegal? but yeah, the regular ported box was my original idea anyway, one more thing, is modifying back seats legal? e.g. make middle seat an amp rack?

that would extend to the glove box depending on size of amp*

Edited by SPL_Kidd, 26 December 2011 - 11:41 PM.

[Sam.Harvey]

SPL_Kidd, on 26 December 2011 - 11:41 PM, said:

oh so walling IS illegal? but yeah, the regular ported box was my original idea anyway, one more thing, is modifying back seats legal? e.g. make middle seat an amp rack?

that would extend to the glove box depending on size of amp*

I am not sure if walling is legal or not, may depend on your states laws but I think if it obstructs any vision it would not be legal. Also I am pretty sure if you remove the rear seats you have to remove the rear seat belts as well or it counts as a defect for not having rear seats. We took a van for a roadworthy that we usually have the middle row out and they refused it because the seat belts were still there but no seats for them. Strange I know but rules are rules I guess.

[SPL_Kidd]

yeah i'll check that out. cheers

[Lunchbox.inc]

honestly if your just after a loud daily, don't even contemplate a wall, especially being a 1st time P-plater... being out there on the roads is hard enough without removing all your vision, any car walled at the B-pillar is a nightmare to drive, and C-pillar isn't much better... as you you generally have to rely entirely on your mirrors, can't do headchecks, and your pretty much driving blind on the passenger side...


BUT that doesn't mean you can't get seriously loud with a traditional drop in enclosure...

now i hate using him as an example because of all the nut huggers, but look at Steve Meade, doing 156's in a drop in low tuned musical setup, sure it's taking ALOT of power, ALOT of cone area, and ALOT of electrical, but it's do-able...

i'm actually building a car with a mate with the exact same idea's as yours atm, he's currently an L-plater, about to go onto his P's and we decided top go with a big drop in box for visibility reasons, but we're still aiming for 150's in that setup... so you can still do VERY well going down that path...


as for legalities on a wall or removing the back seats, thats something you would really have to check over with regency (thats what you guys call it right?) i know over hear we have to remove the seatbelts as well as the seating, then we can just call up and change the seating capacity... without changing the seating capacity the car can be deemed unroadworthy without seat belts or a seat, so you really need to let vic roads know, this may be a similar case over in SA, so check it out...

modifying the seats is usually a much bigger deal, and certain things need to be adhered to, you simply can not cut any of the steel framework inside the seats, you can however modify the foams in anyway you like, so if your wishing to run an amp down the center you could go down that path, but remember that all the original workings of the shifter etc must remain unaffected,


hope this helps out somewhat....

[PULS8]

walled cars are the loudest in both worlds and sound better

[bobo333]

ive been pulled over with the wall in my VT and the van before and they didnt say anything about either not being legal, as far as i know in SA as long as you have vision out of at least 2 mirrors and everything's mounted securely i dont think they really mind... having said that i wouldnt go straight out and do a wall first go, build a few drop in boxes first and learn how your car reacts to different sounds/pressure etc and how different boxes/setups work before stepping it up... also try tilting your center mirror all the way up/down so you cant use it and see if you can drive safely without it, it gets tricky sometimes lol

[RAD]

@ Steve, can you elaborate on the seat modification? I wanna drop the back two seats in my Civic.

SPL KIdd, start out with a drop in box, learn how SPL works, and what setups work in which car, and so on.

I've put a rear firing 6th order bandass in a VS wagon, for two junk 12's on just over 1kw it was loud and low enough to hit 140's while flexing the window and moving the dash. So you can do a lot with a VS wagon without walling.

[Lunchbox.inc]

as far i've done, you simply remove the seats, and the seatbelts, then call up vicroads... when i was doing it on the corona the didn't even want an inspection of the car, just changed it over when i renewed the rego...

however this was my vicroads down here, i can't vouch for everyone... but it was super simple...

[White410]

Lunchbox.inc, on 02 January 2012 - 07:09 PM, said:

as far i've done, you simply remove the seats, and the seatbelts, then call up vicroads... when i was doing it on the corona the didn't even want an inspection of the car, just changed it over when i renewed the rego...

however this was my vicroads down here, i can't vouch for everyone... but it was super simple...

And rego got cheaper !!! LMAO well mine did !!!! ;-)

[Banana_Boat]

WHere do you find 18" subs these days ? i Can't find any decent ones unless i import

[bassbro]

Lunchbox.inc, on 27 December 2011 - 07:37 AM, said:

honestly if your just after a loud daily, don't even contemplate a wall, especially being a 1st time P-plater... being out there on the roads is hard enough without removing all your vision, any car walled at the B-pillar is a nightmare to drive, and C-pillar isn't much better... as you you generally have to rely entirely on your mirrors, can't do headchecks, and your pretty much driving blind on the passenger side...


BUT that doesn't mean you can't get seriously loud with a traditional drop in enclosure...

now i hate using him as an example because of all the nut huggers, but look at Steve Meade, doing 156's in a drop in low tuned musical setup, sure it's taking ALOT of power, ALOT of cone area, and ALOT of electrical, but it's do-able...

i'm actually building a car with a mate with the exact same idea's as yours atm, he's currently an L-plater, about to go onto his P's and we decided top go with a big drop in box for visibility reasons, but we're still aiming for 150's in that setup... so you can still do VERY well going down that path...


as for legalities on a wall or removing the back seats, thats something you would really have to check over with regency (thats what you guys call it right?) i know over hear we have to remove the seatbelts as well as the seating, then we can just call up and change the seating capacity... without changing the seating capacity the car can be deemed unroadworthy without seat belts or a seat, so you really need to let vic roads know, this may be a similar case over in SA, so check it out...

modifying the seats is usually a much bigger deal, and certain things need to be adhered to, you simply can not cut any of the steel framework inside the seats, you can however modify the foams in anyway you like, so if your wishing to run an amp down the center you could go down that path, but remember that all the original workings of the shifter etc must remain unaffected,


hope this helps out somewhat....

they have this little invention called rear view cameras bro lol