# Which way to face my sub?



## akk51 (Aug 21, 2002)

sorry if this question's been asked before, but nothing really came up when i searched...what i'm wondering is what the best direction to face a sub is to get the least rattles and loudest bass in and out of the car? i have one 12 with a huge box and have had it facing the backof the car, (amp and cap right behind back seat), and have fatmatted my whole upper trunk..the rattling is better but still pretty bad. any advice on this is appreciated


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## Russia (Jul 24, 2003)

Facing the sub towards the back of the car will give you better bass inside the car but there will be more rattle...soundproof more and put it facing the back for the best bass.


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## sr20dem0n (Mar 19, 2003)

I tried facing mine forward once, everything in the car shook more but it sounded quieter. I personally like having mine face the rear. It makes the trunk rattle more, but after I matted it that all stopped. Then again when it's really playing everything rattles and shakes, I can feel the windshield vibrating from the outside, my outer door skin on all 4 doors flexes atleast 1/8-1/4", and my windshield wipers bounce on and off of the windshield.

I say turn it and move it and keep adjusting, then leave it where you like it the most. Also I take it you are pretty young by your "loudest bass inside and outside" comment. You can listen to this advice or you can throw it out the window for all I care. You don't want your bass to be loud outside the car at all. When you get somewhere that you normally leave your car (your house, school, etc) turn it down. The fewer people that know you have a system the better. Spend some time on any real car audio forum and you'll see what I mean. Atleast one system gets stolen a day, and that's just out of active members on a single forum online. Many people have had their systems stolen multiple times, and many of those people have alarms. Here I am talking like I know everything, lol. I'm only 19 and I've avoided theives by doing this, but it seems everywhere I look people are getting systems stolen out of their car. Just last year someone stole some $100 cd player out of my friend's truck, and his truck was parked right in front of the main cafeteria on campus. It's sad that we live in a world that you have to be scared of some low-life stealing the things you worked hard for. All we can do is try to protect ourselves, and the easiest way to do this is to avoid their attention in the first place.


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## xt_out (Jun 23, 2003)

:thumbup: well said. imo sub facing backwards is going to be the best. in the very back of the car (front of the trunk) about 10 inches from the taillight would be good. (cone facing taillight, magnet facing rear seats) duh :crazy:


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## jayrok (May 25, 2002)

What kind of box is your 12 in? Sometimes with having a vented or ported box it matters more where the vents/ports are than the subwoofer itself. With a sealed box, the most common is the rear facing sub. That usually gives you the clearest and loudest bass.


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## akk51 (Aug 21, 2002)

jayrok said:


> What kind of box is your 12 in? Sometimes with having a vented or ported box it matters more where the vents/ports are than the subwoofer itself. With a sealed box, the most common is the rear facing sub. That usually gives you the clearest and loudest bass.


my 12 is in a massive 2 holed, so vented, box...thanks everyone for the tips


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## jayrok (May 25, 2002)

If it has two holes (circular tubes) thats a port. A vented box is a (usually) a large square like opening. The air (usually) travels thru a "s" type of pathway before coming out of your box. Hope this helps some.


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## xt_out (Jun 23, 2003)

^^^in order to make the forums a better place im going to pretend im a mod for a second. please take a moment to read the signature lenth rule in my sig. sorry for the :topic: but it's getting old. please mods. start doing what you say you are going to do about it. all this talk and no consequences?


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## poweredbySR20 (Mar 31, 2003)

I have about the same setup that you do. a single 12" in a ported box, but mine is a bandpass. the best way i've found is to put the box on the left or right side and point the ports across the trunk so the air can travel. thats how I do it. secure it down though. i drive like a maniac and my cerwin vega stroker slides all over the place. hope this helps. or just forget everything i said and put the box in every direction you can think of and test it out.


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## nismosentra (Dec 14, 2002)

sr20dem0n said:


> You don't want your bass to be loud outside the car at all. When you get somewhere that you normally leave your car (your house, school, etc) turn it down. The fewer people that know you have a system the better.


Would putting dynamat quiet the bass on the outside?
Rattle basically affects the clarity of the sound since it is mixed with the audio from the speakers during alot of bass? Therefore, using dynamat you would hear less of the rattle and more of the audio? I'm assuming that is the function of dynamat.
Does bass normally sound louder on the outside or inside of the car? 
What can you get pulled over for (in terms of audio)?


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## sr20dem0n (Mar 19, 2003)

nismosentra said:


> Would putting dynamat quiet the bass on the outside?
> Rattle basically affects the clarity of the sound since it is mixed with the audio from the speakers during alot of bass? Therefore, using dynamat you would hear less of the rattle and more of the audio? I'm assuming that is the function of dynamat.
> Does bass normally sound louder on the outside or inside of the car?
> What can you get pulled over for (in terms of audio)?


Yeah matting your car will make it quieter outside and will also help eliminate rattles
Rattles don't really affect the clarity of the sound, actually inside the car you can't even hear 75% of the rattles that are going on. Using a lot of matting will help keep your panels from vibrating, which will keep the bass louder inside the car and make it quieter outside. This is the main function of deadening, to kill vibrations.

And uh, your bass is normally louder inside your car, or atleast I would hope it is, lol. I don't know what the limit is for getting pulled over for having your music too loud, but I think they have to be able to hear your system from 50 or 100 feet away or something in order to be able to ticket you for it.


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## poweredbySR20 (Mar 31, 2003)

I've guess in my town there is a limit on how many watts you have. I hear its 600. I don't know if thats peak watts or RMS. I think thats :bs: Isn't there cars out there with stock stereos with 600 watts or more? If the law is 600 peak i break the law almost 5 times over


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## go4broke44 (Jan 14, 2003)

i think the best way is to have the sub facing the trunk, or the back of the car. i've never tried it, but maybe mounting it on the left side of the trunk so it fires across the trunk might be a good idea? that way you dont have it hitting on the trunk, which is hard to deaden, with all the small crevices between the support members and the outter sheetmetal. also, it would take advantage of all the space in the trunk. of course, you could really only do this with a single sub.


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## TMWTMP100 (Jan 5, 2004)

Ive faced it that way and it doesnt sound as loud like that. I did it that way because i was thinkin i could save space but youll notice a difference if you have once faced it towards the back. Towards the back is the best way to face it


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## new94 (Jan 9, 2004)

I recently installed 2-Alpine 12s in my trunk one permanently in a box mounted down the driver's side fender, and the other is in a box i made removable so if i needed the space i'd have it! Of course the fender one faces the passenger side of the trunk and the other i faced toward's the tail light's, both are sealed enclosure's and it pound's with just an Alpine MRV f400 amp. (400watt)


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## Punkrocka436 (Jul 8, 2003)

the limit for getting pulled over is if it is able to be heard outside the car 100 feet away. I should know, i have been harrassed by the po-po's about my audio


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## new94 (Jan 9, 2004)

100 feet away? Man that's crazy, i don't alway's have mine cranked but when it is you can hear that thing 3 block's down(lol). Around here it's the kinda the same though $115.00cdn for unecessary noise, i understand it though you need to hear emergency vehicle's etc. I just mute it at intersection's etc. so i don't piss off the car beside me. Oh well what can you do it's there so your gonna use it right!


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## sr20dem0n (Mar 19, 2003)

Punkrocka436 said:


> the limit for getting pulled over is if it is able to be heard outside the car 100 feet away. I should know, i have been harrassed by the po-po's about my audio



damn, even stock systems can be heard from 100 feet away if you have the windows down and it's a quiet area.


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## new94 (Jan 9, 2004)

The police aren't too sticky here, i mean you can have it cranked here and there but you just have to think of the time and place where your cranking it up. Lot's of guy's around here are alway's pounding around town and rarely do they get ticket's but there's alway's that one cop!


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## mr_sarge (Apr 7, 2004)

try to put your sub, face down!, sound crazy but, with my old audio (2 10") it was better, because they were not realy loud. I has 2 1 feet 2x4 in my trunk, and my box was on them (so the sub can move without reaching the trunk floor) this make an impressive difference!

with my new system, I have try that, but don't seam to make a big difference because they are a lot louder


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## N13 Freak (May 17, 2004)

mr_sarge said:


> try to put your sub, face down!, sound crazy but, with my old audio (2 10") it was better, because they were not realy loud. I has 2 1 feet 2x4 in my trunk, and my box was on them (so the sub can move without reaching the trunk floor) this make an impressive difference!
> 
> with my new system, I have try that, but don't seam to make a big difference because they are a lot louder


Doesn't sound crazy at all... 






















My first system used a slot loaded configuration with (2) 12" Infinity Perfects. Seemed to eliminate a lot of the normal rattles and the cone noise, but I just couldn't feel the bass as well and it didn't hit as low as normal...

-Travis


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## sfhellwig (Feb 4, 2003)

mr_sarge said:


> try to put your sub, face down!, sound crazy but, with my old audio (2 10") it was better, because they were not realy loud. I has 2 1 feet 2x4 in my trunk, and my box was on them (so the sub can move without reaching the trunk floor) this make an impressive difference!
> 
> with my new system, I have try that, but don't seam to make a big difference because they are a lot louder


I have seen alot of extended cab truck boxes built like this and it works. However the common consensis for home use is that a downfiring woofer should have no less than 4 inches clearance to the floor. You can't always do this in a vehicle but it would get rid of that cone noise without loosing any of the output.


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## sfhellwig (Feb 4, 2003)

As everyone else has said, facing backwards as close to the trunk as possible will sound "best". Its all dictated by physics and laws of cancellation. Facing the trunk lid directly shouldn't make it rattle more because in a car the bass is all equal pressurization, not directional. You should still move it around to see what sounds best to YOU. With mine forward it is not very loud but goes way deep. I keep it facing backward however because its a fuller spectrum and I gained 5db over forward facing. Thats right, 5db.


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