Places to put speakers without sacrificing any space?

tundrawolf

Hello,

I am not looking for a system that will shake my rearview mirror down.

But I do want to have a theater quality system for enjoying music.

I want to feel some bass, but I don't want to make my ears ring.

I want all this without sacrificing any storage or passenger space.

I know about the speaker holes in the doors. Any recommendations on a good speaker for the doors that will have decent low frequency definition? I have a good Alpine deck, but I am willing to go with a small amp.

What about the panels on each side of the passenger seat?
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jamesmanxbuggy:

Mudpump · Samba Member Joined: May 11, 2007 Posts: 348

Kick panels and a sub woofer. The sub can go anywhere-under rear seat or behind it is simple.

Cusser · Posted: Sat Sep 24, 2011 8:12 pm Post subject:

Mine. Installed decades before panels became available.

1970 VW
Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

1971 Super Beetle Convertible
Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

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1970 VW (owned since 1972) and 1971 VW Convertible (owned since 1976), second owner of each. The '71 now has the 1835 engine, swapped from the '70. Second owner of each. 1988 Mazda B2200 truck, 1998 Frontier, 2004 Yukon, 2004 Frontier King Cab. All manual transmission except for the Yukon. http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=335294 http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=335297

kme9418 · Posted: Mon Sep 26, 2011 4:52 am Post subject:

http://images.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/747718.jpg

http://images.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/747719.jpg

All Alpine with Alpine 350W amp under the back seat for the 10" sub.
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KME9418
1969 VW Beetle

Antonio Trejo · Posted: Mon Sep 26, 2011 8:45 am Post subject:

Factory installed in my Sedan: speakers in the door panels and in the rear parcel shelf.
Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.

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Parts VW
"From Volkswagen of Mexico factory..."
Genuine VW Sedan parts
Genuine VW Ultima Edition parts
Genuine VW Type 2 watercooled parts

Revelen · Posted: Mon Sep 26, 2011 9:20 am Post subject:

I have one in the standard dash speaker-spot, one in the passenger side door underneath where the window rolls down to (about two inches short of where it would without the speaker) and then one in the back of each seat. The bass will tickle your spine, even when it's quiet!
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I probably have no idea what I'm talking about. That's honesty, not shrouded modesty. No, really.

Vinnems · Posted: Mon Sep 26, 2011 10:12 am Post subject:

I bought the kick panels and rear shelf from Glass Action. They are SOLID. Incredibly well made, and look great painted.

wizcleland · Posted: Thu Oct 06, 2011 6:18 pm Post subject: kick panel

Just put these kick panels in, easy to install and only $40 custom made in a crazy little shop I found that had the molds Smile

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Life in Mexico, surrounded by Beetles daily....and able to stop at the parts store on the way home for anything, any day ahhhhhh

tundrawolf · Posted: Thu Oct 06, 2011 7:18 pm Post subject:

I can't find the kick panels you guys are talking about. In an old Hot VWs magazine I was given, I saw a VW that had 3 6.5's in each door. What sort of sound can I expect from 6 good 6.5s?
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jamesmanxbuggy:

doc1976 · Posted: Thu Oct 06, 2011 7:56 pm Post subject:

I am no expert but IMO if you get good component sets with probably a 10in sub or maybe 2 different subs to cover a wider low frequency range I imagine that could sound real nice. be sure to put some effort and attention into sound deadening materials ALL throughout the interior. you would be amazed at what a difference that can make. I am not a expert and it has been a while since I have done a system, but I was always impressed with polk audio and boston acoustics for their component speakers. as far as subs go, stick with the name brands, fosgate or whatever. I did however run a 12in kenwood in a vented box once in a malibu and that was the hardest hitting sub I've heard.

tundrawolf · Posted: Thu Oct 06, 2011 8:19 pm Post subject:

No subs, no room. I need all of my storage space...
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jamesmanxbuggy:

doc1976 · Posted: Fri Oct 07, 2011 5:07 pm Post subject:

unfortunately you really cant get that "theater sound" or "feel some bass" without a sub. but if you incorporate a pair of 6X9's into the system it may help. another possibility is a little custom work on some rear door panels and install a pair of small subs. Say 6 inch? that would be tough though due to limited space. you could also consider a free air sub.........no enclosure needed.[/code]

torsionbar

tundrawolf · Posted: Fri Oct 07, 2011 7:05 pm Post subject:

AJ 502 · Posted: Fri Oct 07, 2011 7:18 pm Post subject:

Under Seat SUB.

tundrawolf · Posted: Fri Oct 07, 2011 7:25 pm Post subject:

Can someone give me the depth of the lower portion of the Beetles door? I like the JL 6W3V3 sub.
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jamesmanxbuggy:

andk5591 · Posted: Sat Oct 08, 2011 7:35 am Post subject:

This is a compilation of our 61 and 65s. I dont have any pics of my subs, but a JBL GT0804 is a VERY efficient (meaning you dont need a ton of power) 8" sub that likes a small box. Mine are about 9 3/4" cubes and one fits nicely under the driver side rear seat. (only 1 sub needed) Power amp is under passenger front seat (get one that is physically small - I have a Profile Baja 1000 in my 65 and a Rockford Fosgate - I forget the model) in my VW woodie.

I just drive the 65 and woodie power amps with an MP3 player. We put a Retrosound head unit in the 61 with no power amp or sub and it sounds OK, but its night and day with the extra power and the sub in the other cars.
_________________
D-Dubya Manx clone - 63 Short pan,1776.
Rosie 65 bug - My mostly stock daily driver.
Woodie 69 VW woodie (Hot VWs 7/12).
Maxine 61 Cal-look bug - Cindy's daily driver.
Max - 73 standard project at wife's request and your gonna die when you see this one.

its gunna b bad · Posted: Sat Oct 08, 2011 3:25 pm Post subject:

From what you have said I thought of 3 options of what I think you should get and its budget minded too.
1st option: get (2) 6.5" subs
Then get (2) 6x9 coaxials(has the midwoofer,then a tweeter,possibly a supertweeter too)
That option will get you some good bass and decent sound quality with those tweeters, you should probably be covering a frequency range of 180 hz to 20khz(cant hear past that).
2nd option: componenet system(midwoofer,tweeter,crossover(all seperate)
And then for the bass you could again do the 6" subs.
This will have excellent sound quality
3rd and my favorite option: components and coaxial 6x9's
This should again have excellent sound quality but not quite as much bass as using the small woofs.

Something to keep in mind is that 6x9's can produce ALOT of bass when given power from an amp. I almost gurantee you it is more than enough for you. Especially being in a bug(which by the way makes a great sound system car because of its shape).

Little anecdote for you is that I took out my subs in my car and just had (2) 6x9's at that moment and ran into town real quick playing my music and I got pulled over because the cop could hear my music. My windows were down, I was playing a song with alot of bass, and I had my bass turned up. The cop had his earpeice in and was at least 75 feet away from me when I drove past him. When I just use my 6x9's(i have my subs on toggle switch) I can trick people into thinking I have a 10" sub in my trunk. My rear view mirror shakes with just my speakers, even stock systems nowadays can shake a mirror though so that isnt saying much.
_________________
Welder and Car Audio installer.
Still looking for that good project bug to transform into a baja.

andk5591 · Posted: Sat Oct 08, 2011 5:13 pm Post subject:

I dont know if I would suggest doing subs in the doors. Speakers like a proper sized enclosure - bass in particular. There are huge differences in the sound of a sub with a mismatched enclosure compared to a correct enclosure. But then we are talking about a car and its not even close to being an optimum listening environment.

The one thing that I have noticed though. My small box (spec'd for the speaker) for my JBL sub has a much tighter and cleaner bass than the 10" Kicker sub (in a Kicker ported enclosure) in my daughters car. Mine give a nice thump and is very tunable using the crossover frequency, level and tone controls. Hers is much harder to dial in and farts a lot more. Plus it sucks up 1/3 of the trunk of the car.
_________________
D-Dubya Manx clone - 63 Short pan,1776.
Rosie 65 bug - My mostly stock daily driver.
Woodie 69 VW woodie (Hot VWs 7/12).
Maxine 61 Cal-look bug - Cindy's daily driver.
Max - 73 standard project at wife's request and your gonna die when you see this one.

its gunna b bad · Posted: Sat Oct 08, 2011 5:32 pm Post subject:

Andk5591 is right. I probably should have clarified that its not the best idea to put the subs in the doors, even a midwoofer. You would want the door sound deadened, and like he stated, enclosure size/design is everything. For basic rule of thumb ported boxes are louder(SPL) and sealed boxes are cleaner sound quality(SQ). When building/buying a box for a sub the ported one will always have the bigger recomended enclosure size. Since you are worried about space, something you could do is build a sealed box and put polyfill in it, it tricks the sub into thinking its in a bigger box. I use it quite a bit when wanting to take up the least amount of room.

And actually Andk5591, you are the man that told me about the samba. Thanks again.
_________________
Welder and Car Audio installer.
Still looking for that good project bug to transform into a baja.

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