those with subs & amps.....

[mike reeh]

where do you mount your subs and amps? I have two amps that are mounted behind the seat but there is no room. I barely squeezed in a small box with two 8" mtx's today. Its only temporary as I borrowed the subs that were given to my brother. But I want to run 2 10" subs in the future. I can and will make a custom box that mounts to the back of the cab but is there going to be enough room? Anyone got pics? ideas? just trying to gather some ideas for the future.....

heres another thing: Why use MDF and not real plywood for making speaker boxes? anyone have a technical explanation?

mike

[Prerunner1982]

you can mount one amp to the rear of the cab, and one under the seat or do like dave and put it under a custom console...

[79BIG10]

Can't help on the system info but on the MDF I can. Plywood is good but it's porous which doesn't hold as much air/sound in for more thump. It will leak more than MDF would. Also MDF is much much denser than plywood and particle board. MDF is the only thing people use around here when I was selling the stuff. Also MDF easier to drill and screw into than plywood and particle board. Just make sure to pre-drill to be safe.

[PHOENIX]

I have 2 ampsunder my seat and two subs behind the seat in boxes. The speakers and boxes are the length of the seat and the seat is pushed up a notch or two from all the way back. I like the bumps so I deal with the lack of room. Im used to it now and drive everything close to the wheel Im waiting on some stuff from "The Zeb" (who Im not happy with). But when I get the rest of my order Ill be pulling out the seat and putting in these boxes and some new seat belts (I think). Ill post some pictures of how they are laid out under the seat (the amps that is).

[bigblock73]

Originally posted by PHOENIX
I have 2 ampsunder my seat

what the hell is an ampsunder?? ha ha

[PHOENIX]

its a technical term, you wouldn't understand

[LOHRTBT]

MDF doesent flex either.
My amp is part of my box and the other one is under my console made up front

[mike reeh]

mmkay I was originally going to mount the amps under my seat but there is NO room for them. I think its different for 4WD trucks because my friend with a '73 C20 mounted them under the seat fine. That where I got the idea. I had the seat out and everything and then found out it was a NO-GO. Kind of irritated me but them I used some self tapping sheet metal screws and screwed them to the back panel of the cab. worked out really well and looks good and is real secure, and easy to ground. Plus I can fiddle with the amp controls too.

To fit the sub box behind my seat I had to scoot it forward a few inches and its really annoying. I will have to build a sub box that fits with the seat all the way back.

youre saying MDF is more sturdy than CDX plywood? Like half inch CDX is pretty strong stuff. Plus I can get all I want free. But it seems that ALL speaker boxes are MDF. I dont see how it would be better. I think that the sturdier/harder the material, the better it would be for the box. maybe it is better, i dunno. just seems a little wierd.

Ill take some pics and show yall what I got tonite, if I have time..

mike

[c10scotty]

the amps should fit in there under the seat fine...how big are they? i think the middle hump is bigger for a manual trans instead of an auto...i dont know that 4wd has anything to do with it. but couldnt you put your amps on the sides of the hump? my seat is all the way up too...not because it wont fit all the way back but because it sounds better that way. you will find that your subs will rattle the material on the back ofyour seats if the boxes are right up against the seat, just some warning. you'll get used to the seat being forward. im 6 foot and its fine with me.

[swervin ervin]

Mike,

MDF or Multiple Density Fiberboard, is just that, fiberboard, no wood. Reason behind this is plywood has hollow voids inside the plys. These voids will cause rattles and vibrations, if not careful. I am from the old school too, being a Carpenter like you, and love wood. Can't even stand the thought of using particle board. I built my speaker box out of BC grade plywood.

Never having any real subs before, or real hard hitting subs in my truck, I thought (this was the first thing I did wrong, think), plywood would be fine. I wish now I would have went with MDF, but my box is fine, so far. The MDF will only let you hear the music, not the plywood trying to make music.

Hey, I know where you can put your amps. Build a center console and stick them under it. I remember someone around here doing just that.

I am like Eddie, well not really like him because who would want to be like him, , but anyway, I like to drive up close to the wheel. I have times when my old back acts up. Sitting up close sure does take the stress off the back muscles.

With these trucks, if you have anything at all behind the seat, you are under the wheel. It sure would have helped if they would have made them a couple inches longer.

[mike reeh]

Well I like my seat pretty much all the way back and its REAL comfortable to me. Having it about 3" forward for the box was noticeably uncomfortable. I think maybe the seat back was leaning forward too or something, cuz I couldnt stand it in fact it hurt my back. Im going to go take some pics of what I got for room under my seat. be back in a few.......

mike

PS mike, Dont think the thought of a console hasnt crossed my mine many many times. But alas I have a bench seat and a 4WD shifter to contend with

Ill end up using MDF but I promise the whole time Ill be wondering how and why its better

[chevy68388]

i put a amp in my box befor but that was a 12 icnh box

[mike reeh]

here is a couple pics. I can barely fit my hand under the seat and there is no way I could slide either of these amps thru that hole, from the front anyways. on the right hand side where the carpet bumps up, thats resting on a big sheetmetal bump. Its not like I can move it



and here is a pic of the rest of the junk.



let me know what yall think. someone take a pic of under their seats. sorry for the poor quality of mine but I cant get real close with the digital camera. it doesnt zoom out very well

mike

[swervin ervin]

Here's my answer to your troubles. Build the box like mine with the places where the subs mount leaned back. Then in the middle, where I have my console butting the box, sink it in and mount the amps there. There should be enough room for the amps to stack pretty nicely.

[swervin ervin]

Well maybe not, after looking at the pics together.

[PHOENIX]

The way my larger amp is installed its kinda floating under the seat. When the seat is out of the truck. There is a drop in the floor, pretty much right under the driver, and right under the passenger. The amps you have should be able to have 3 corners on the higher part of the drop and the center of the amp will be high enough from the bottom of the drop that you can slide your hand under it. The forth corner will probly float. But with 3 screws in the amp, its not going anywhere. Seems to be great for cooling too. It gets hot here in the summer and some of my friends with amps under the seat have heat problems. I havent had any. To mount the amps the way I describe you will have to remove the seat. You should be able to figure out what Im talking about and see if it works. It doesnt take very long to take out the seat.

If you have some good size speakers and they are slapping around alot behind your seat they can make a noise on the back of the seat. Putting grilles on the boxes helps. I had a couple towels over the speakers for awhile and it helped alot. The new Q-Logic boxes I have (not yet installed), have a little guard that works pretty well too.

[swervin ervin]

Eddie,

I seen you say you're not happy with The Zeb. Why?

[Ric83]

When I had my system in my truck, I had a single twelve behind the seat and an amp on either side of it screwed into the back wall. My seat was also set all the way back and had no problems.

[87gmc]

OK well since i have gone thourgh three different systems in matter of 6 months (one stolen). I am now an expert. my first system consisted of two 10's in prefabricated boxes behind my seat with an amp between them.

I then went with 6X9's in boxes and two 12's in prefab boxes but had to move my amp under my seat, seeings how it was a directed 1100D in was a fairly good sized amp. and it fit fine. i also have four wheel drive and it wasnt a problem. This was all stolen though.

So anyways, NEXT. What i have now is 3 10's in a custom box with a equalizer/crossover munted back there. My amp is again mounted under my seat. AND IS ONE OF THE BIGGEST available so if i cane get it under my seat you shouldnt have any problems. It is a JBL BP1200.1

you just have to mees around with it just take your seat out clean it up uner there and mount your amps lossely then set the seat in and see what needs to happen.

[79Silv4x4]

I have amps under both sides of the seat in my '79 K10 and two 12s behind the seat. On my '83 I used 10s and put the amps in between the two boxes--but your amps look too big for that.

[chevy68388]

try puting them under the seat but lift the seat up like a ich with some kinda spacer were it bolts

[PHOENIX]

Mike:
Its stupid really. I bought the (2) boxes off of them and they shipped at a reasonable time and arrived at a reasonable time. But one of the boxes was missing some stuff. Like the screws, seal tape (stuff), cotton, and wires from the connector to the speaker. The problem is they havent done anything about it for over a week now. They said they are not able to get a hold of the Q-Logic representative. They even gave me his number to call. I emailed them pretty much saying I bought it from you, Im dealing with you. Send me the stuff by this date or Ill ship the stuff back at your cost. I threatened them with getting my credit card company involved if they dont fix the problem. I think what their (TheZeb) problem is, is that they dont stock these boxes and had them shipped from a different location. So they dont have the stuff in hand that they could send me. They seem to be a good place other then this. I think I would buy from them again, even though I told them I probly wouldnt. We will see how they handle this now that they know Im very unhappy about this. I contacted them a week ago today and they still do not have an answer for me. We'll see what happens.

You shouldnt have any problems mounting those amps under your seat.

[swervin ervin]

Hmmm....sorry to hear that. So far, 3 orders, they were great. Of course them being a 1-1/2 hours away may help the speed some. I started to drive up one time, but didn't feel like messing with it.

I hope you get it worked out. I hate when companys try to make you deal with the product company. I'm like you, I tell them real quick, hey, I bought it from you, and I expect you to fix it.

It sucks I know. Believe me, I know how it is to want something real bad and then crap like this happens.

[slammedLT1]

MDF for stereo systems is like beer for superbowls. You can't have a system with out it. The truth about MDF is that as dense and hard as it is , it is actually very pourous. A test was once done using an industrial vacuum and 6 circular pices of MDF stacked up together and the vacuum picked all of them up as one. Go figure.
The best thing to do is get your box together and caulk all the crack, around cut outs and everywhere else you may think it might leak and coat the inside of the box with fiberglass resin. If you want to spend the extra time use matt fibreglass on all of the enclosed joints in the box. When it comes to stereos I find that alot of cases it comes down to the solidity of the enclosure and not always the price or type of sub.

Just some Xtra advice... hope I helped

[mike reeh]

slammed: yes, good to know, thanks for the tips I will definately keep it in mind when and if I build a box.....

mike