# Those of you with pickups, best subwoofer location?



## birdie2000 (Jan 27, 2007)

What do you prefer? I've had sealed down-firing under rear seat, ported front-firing and up-firing both with the port facing the passenger's ext. cab door. Each configuration was with a different driver though, so it's kinda hard to compare them. I'm also considering doing a center-console setup as well. What seems to sound/work best in extended cab pickups? (Mine's an '04 Chevy Silverado).


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## Hillbilly SQ (Jan 26, 2007)

i'd def do a single 12" in the center console. it will fit...barely. or if you don't wanna violate the console you can always use the space behind it. fitting 3 grownups on that back seat is a joke anyway.


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## birdie2000 (Jan 27, 2007)

Oh, and I should add: why do you prefer it?


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## Hillbilly SQ (Jan 26, 2007)

downfired in general in a truck will yield deeper bass and filter out those upper harmonics that have no business coming out of a sub. while you may be crossed at 50hz, the harmonics could be much higher. and also you have a solid surface for the sub to "load" off of


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## squatchie16 (Jan 29, 2007)

Mine is in the center of the front seat, fits nicely:

http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b331/squatchie44/CenterConsule1.jpg

It is one 13.5" down-firing sealed sub, good response with the deep rumble where appropriate. Used to thump the chest fairly good, now the midbass take that over.


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## birdie2000 (Jan 27, 2007)

I will admit that I like the down-firing for how deep it went. Has anyone done a ported downfiring?

What are the pros/cons of downfiring in the center console position vs. downfiring under the rear seat.


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## RMAT (Feb 13, 2007)

birdie2000 said:


> I will admit that I like the down-firing for how deep it went. Has anyone done a ported downfiring?
> 
> What are the pros/cons of downfiring in the center console position vs. downfiring under the rear seat.


I have a ported downfiring 10w6v2 in my '05 ext cab Sierra. Bought a sealed box from sound off audio and ported it myself with some 2" pvc. Sounds great!


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## 6APPEAL (Apr 5, 2007)

I also have a down firing JL 12W6 V1 (sealed 1.1 cu ft) in a custom center console.








I would like to do ported, but don't have the room for the larger box. I'm waiting on the JL 12TW5, thin mount, might attempt to do one of them ported.
John


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## birdie2000 (Jan 27, 2007)

Are the decisions to go in the center console purely for space reasons, or are there sonic benefits to it as well?


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## Hillbilly SQ (Jan 26, 2007)

you'll lose output going in the console but the sound will be cleaner. the more times you double the space the muddier it will get. i have my sub in 1/8 space right now and while it may have good output above 40hz for a sealed 10" it is a little muddy. still sounds good for a memphis sub tho.


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## birdie2000 (Jan 27, 2007)

Sorry, don't follow what you mean by 1/8 space


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## Kuztimrodder (Jan 10, 2007)

This guy wanted a console from dash to rear wall in his ex-cab Chevy. I'm waiting for him to bring it back so i can finish up the loose ends and get some finished pics. It's hard to tell from this pic but i built too consoles in one. He's putting custom seats on either side of the sub. The sealed enclosure is a little over 1 cu ft and extends under the floor of the rear compartment. I used an Infinity Kappa 10" with about 300W feeding it and it sounds pretty good. Tight and accurate. More than he wanted actually


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## minitruck_freq (Mar 27, 2005)

ill be sinking a 10 into the passenger side footwell. thats about the only easy spot in my truck.


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## 6APPEAL (Apr 5, 2007)

In my extra cab truck, it was for space considerations since the amp rack was under the rear seat. Now with the crew cab, I'm looking to add some more low end. So it's going to be more woofers and more power ! When? I can't say for sure.

I will say that I do enjoy having the sub up front. The staging is different than the cars with the subs in the trunk.
John


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## solacedagony (May 18, 2006)

The only room I have in my truck is behind the passenger seat. I preferred the front firing into the seat over anything so far.


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## chad (Jun 30, 2005)

solacedagony said:


> The only room I have in my truck is behind the passenger seat. I preferred the front firing into the seat over anything so far.


Same here, I fire into the drivers seat with a single 10. Me likey the tactile sensation 

Rear seats... sheesh... I did not know real trucks had rear seats  Unless it's a sleeper


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## B&K (Sep 20, 2005)

I picked mine based on the way it would fit the easiest (without sloping the baffle out impeding on foot space). Fired my 8 down and my 12 up. The response of the 12 is more natural, but not really a fair comparison.


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## smgreen20 (Oct 13, 2006)

Look at my install page from the link below. My truck is a 2000 GMC Sierra ext cab Z71 titled "No Limits!" I have done multiple configureation as well. The best I have come up w/is sub up on pass side and port back on drivers side. Look in the install section as well for "Sierra-ously". It's my friend truck I did a center console box for. His is a 06 GMC Sierra crew cab Z71. Oh, BTW, I raised my rear seat up 2".


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## Genxx (Mar 18, 2007)

I have fired the driver behind the driver seat and port on passenger side. I was suprised at how well it worked. That only worked using one sub to get enough air space to run a ported enclosure. I have used 2 sub's and fired both into seat. I plan on firing my new set-up into seat also. For me it's the easiest way to get them in there.

Chad-Yes Crew Cabs have a true rear seat and I would consider an F250 a real truck. My extened cab truck had something like a rear seat if your short or hauling young kids.LOL Got more rear passenger leg room in my F250 Crew than I do in my Expo. LOL


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## tard (Jul 13, 2006)

front center console in an ex cab and the bass will load best in the back seat.

it might get the job done for you, but i prefer the sweet spot in my seat.

under the rear seat when ported, subs up, port/s sideways or forward yield good results. really, a lot of the other configurations do to. it just depends which is your preference.


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## AzGrower (May 30, 2005)

I have used both down firing and up firing, since I was looking to save some space. For the SQ I liked the upfiring, however the subs were exposed. If you downfire, then you need to make sure you allow for enough space between the cab floor and subwoofer so you dont slap your cone on the floor. 

btw, this was in a xcab, so I had more available space to consider using over a regular cab. If its a reg cab, then I think a center console would be cool.

OR a blow thru from the bed to the cab with 8 15" monsters


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## chad (Jun 30, 2005)

Genxx said:


> Chad-Yes Crew Cabs have a true rear seat and I would consider an F250 a real truck. My extened cab truck had something like a rear seat if your short or hauling young kids.LOL Got more rear passenger leg room in my F250 Crew than I do in my Expo. LOL


I was just joking around  We had a crew cab 4DR chevy as a pipefitters truck where i did my internship, we put a flatbed on it (steel) it hauled the welder and was a pipefitter's dream. we put a window A/C unit in one back window... it was named "the War Wagon" I LOVED that truck.

I have been in the back of a newer F250, and yes, it's roomy! My 5'7" ass could nearly square dance back there 

Chad


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## Kuztimrodder (Jan 10, 2007)

chad said:


> My 5'7" ass could nearly square dance back there


Thanks for the visual


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## Genxx (Mar 18, 2007)

CHAD-I new you where kidding around. Thats why I put LOL on there. I do like the window a/c. I have this funky plywood window unit thing I put on my trailer door to make it liveable when we go out to ride 4 wheelers. My wife says it looks like a ******* trailer. I tell her well you could sleep in there and sweet you ass off and I will sleep in the truck and that seems to shut her up.LOL

I have not tried square dancing back there yet. If you can do it I think with my only 2 inch height advantage I might be able to make it work.

WHAT a visual.LOL

We are way off topic. Sorry everyone.


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## smgreen20 (Oct 13, 2006)

I'm going to hijack a bit as well, but Kuztimrodder , how do like the PG Ryval amp? I'm a PG fanatic and all of us at the PG forum page have yet to try one. Thanks.

www.phoenixphorum.com


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## Sleepy122CID (Aug 26, 2007)

I have an old Nissan regular cab that I plan on beginning work on fairly soon. I have an Exile slim 10" I'm going to port. I think I have a couple of options, but I don't really want to build two+ boxes to figure out which I like best (although I may end up doing it anyway). Really my port(s) will be able to fire any way but up (side walls, down, forward, rear), but my main concern is which way to fire the sub. I don't have the room to fire it down, but I think I could squeeze in enough room to fire it at the rear wall (or forward right into the back of the seat). In my mind rear firing my yield more cabin gain, but I don't really know. If I fire the sub back, I would probably fire the port(s) either backward or at the side walls...

Any thoughts on firing forward or backward?


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## crux131 (Feb 27, 2007)

Standard cab 90 mazda. 
I had single 10" Cerwin Vega, vega series firing into drivers back with port firing low into passenger side cab corner. This set up had very good output, and I personally liked the sound...can't say it was pure sonic reproduction, but wasn't too peaky but easily overpowered my kick panel mounted components.

Extended cab Mazda, 86 model.
I had same sub firing up, with dual ports firing forward into the lower back of each front seat. I would say it produced the lower notes with more clarity, and much more authority. I had larger components, but my install still lacked midbass. So I can't really say how well it blended with my fronts...it was also crossed over at about 80 hz. If the fronts could keep up, I would have dropped it to around 60-65 though.

Both the above systems were tuned to 33-35 hz( I can't remember exactly ).

I have not tried downfiring in a standard or extended cab yet. Maybe my next set up will go this route


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## crux131 (Feb 27, 2007)

Sleepy122CID, for simplicity, I would try forward firing with the port in the passenger cab corner. I had plenty of output with a single 10" in a similarly sized mazda....see above post.....

It would be hard to keep the cone from being too close in relation to the rear cab wall( I would think ), even with a shallow mount sub. I could be wrong though.


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## Oliver (Jun 25, 2007)

Mark put 8W3's under his seat downfiring and aaron just raised his back seat to downfire his Audio avalanche 12"...puppy is turned down and phase reversed, hits hard , powered with an Orion 9002 AB class, 8 ohms in series wiring configuration, polyfil used to make up for lost space.


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## Sleepy122CID (Aug 26, 2007)

crux131 said:


> Sleepy122CID, for simplicity, I would try forward firing with the port in the passenger cab corner. I had plenty of output with a single 10" in a similarly sized mazda....see above post.....
> 
> It would be hard to keep the cone from being too close in relation to the rear cab wall( I would think ), even with a shallow mount sub. I could be wrong though.


I know it would be hard, but I wouldn't mind losing a couple clicks of bench seat position if I could make it work. I know forward firing would obviously be easiest, but if it would be worth it to rear fire I would definitely like to try and at least see if I can work out the dimensions first...


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## ///Audience (Jan 31, 2007)

I always found theat rear middle seat pointless (i use the bed if the "need" be). So instead of getting two buckets, my box just wraps around. Down firing into reat middle, port facing windshield.

http://img297.imageshack.us/img297/7717/hpim0126ka7.jpg


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## st2007 (Feb 17, 2009)

hello everyone, i am new to this site. i have a chevy '06 crew cab. any thoughts on placing my amprack below the back seat and placing 1 (for now) FI Q 10 in a ported enclosure behind the seat. i am picking the FI up from a neighbor that has it in a 1.3 ported enclosure tuned to 28 hz. i am purchasing the same amp he has. different vehicle but trying to get the power and airspace as close as possible. his stuff hit very nicely. any thoughts?????????/


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## Fish Chris (Dec 14, 2008)

Hey birdie, rear seats in a truck ? What the hell are those for ?  Your not one of the 100 guys I see every single day, driving a truck with "empty" rear seats, are you ? 

Heck, I had my arm twisting into buying a Supercab truck, with rear seats I knew I'd NEVER need. So, before I even came up with the crazy idea of a big ass aftermarket stereo system, I was already planning on ripping out those worthless seats, and building a nice false floor, and rear wall, to give me all kinds of wide open, flat, in-cab storage space.

Only 'after that' did I start thinking > Well ya' know, I could fit a pretty decent little sub enclosure back there and still have lots of open storage space......

So anyway, here's the best place for subs in a truck ;-)









Hey one other option......

If you MUST have rear seats, to prevent a divorce or something, how much do you use the bed of your truck ? All you need is a hard top bedcover, and blow-through sub setup. I did that with great success, in a Chevy S10 reg cab.

Otherwise, if your experience is anything like mine, you will try 5 different things, none with enough air space, you will never be satified, then one day, you will break down and finally do a blowthrough, for a sub or two with plenty of air space, probably ported, and then wonder why in the hell you didn't just do this to start with.

Then again, maybe your not a bass-head. I know there are guys on this forum with super high end setups, who don't even run subs. To each their own.

Peace,
Fish


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## aztec1 (Jun 13, 2008)

^^ Chris, that setup is clean as hell, great work! 

Right now I have my sub firing forward into the passenger seat in my extended cab. I tried up, back, left and right and this sounded the best to me at the time. I've also done a downfiring setup but ended up having Sagging Cone Syndrome...so that options out from now on.

I like forward firing, the bass has more attack and tactile feel to me. Enough to get another sub for the driver side


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## subwoofery (Nov 9, 2008)

6APPEAL said:


> I also have a down firing JL 12W6 V1 (sealed 1.1 cu ft) in a custom center console.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Won't work ported. Just to let you know (the TW5 that is)


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## st2007 (Feb 17, 2009)

Fish,

thanks for your help. i guess i forgot to mention that i own my own business. i use my truck for work everyday. i normally have 1-2 of my guys with me along with my dog. the only place i can afford space is under the seat or behind the seat. right now i have 3 jl10w0 in a sealed box behind the seat. i would love to remove the back seats or cover the bed. that is just not possible. 

thanks
keith


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## birdie2000 (Jan 27, 2007)

Holy back from the dead thread. :loser1:

Truck is since long gone.


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## 2007 Ford F150 SuperCab (Feb 17, 2009)

I have an 2007 Ford F150 Supercab. I built a center console with cupholders and storage and placed a JL Audio 10W7 in there with just over 1.2 cu ft. I have a JL Audio Mono block 500.1 amp pushing the 10 and is plenty loud enough to vibrate your eye sight. I am getting tired of the center console I built though and want to build something for either under the rear seat or in the middle. Not too sure what I want to do yet.


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## mSaLL150 (Aug 14, 2008)

I wouldn't want the center console to spill my coffee when it vibrates/shakes. 

Unlike Fish, I need my backseats. Plenty of road trips to Tahoe and for hunting...i almost ALWAYS have people back there. So my subwoofers are under the seat. Just 2 JL W1 10s for now until the SI BMs are finally released.


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## Ziggy (Nov 29, 2007)

I whent teh Hillbilly route... 12" sealed center console downfiring... My 01 silverado xtra cab had the psuedo bench style front seats (there was just a center plush seat where you ride ***** instead of the factory center console)... Amp on the back wall and rear seat put back in place...


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## st2007 (Feb 17, 2009)

when i had my ext cab i was able to put 2 12's under the seat. with the crew cab i have no room for subs under the seat. there are 4 brackets. my amp rack is going very nicely. i have removed all the extra plastic and crap from behind the seat. i feel i can get at most 2.5 cu ft back there. and that would allow the subs to set about 3/4" back from the seat and be able to port the box. this would also enable me to add a second 10 later on.


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## mattldm (Apr 27, 2006)

I have my JL12W6 sitting on the back seats (if you can actually call them seats) facing forward between the front seats in my tacoma xtra cab. 

I like how this sounds for the most part, but on some music it seems to have way to much upper end boom. I have it crossed over very low 50-55 and it still seems to be boomy. 

Would turning the sub around facing the rear wall of the truck get rid of some of the upper boom?

Would having it face the rear allow me to cross it over higher without having it be all boomy and overpowering?

any thoughts?


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## krnnerdboy (Apr 21, 2009)

In my titan CC I have it facing backwards and the upper end boominess is all gone...I was able to cross it over at 80hz...but unfortunately this isn't too practical so I'm going to have to build a under seat up firing side ported enclosure...this setup seems to be able to hit the lowest on the titan forums


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## reno.sa (Mar 11, 2012)

Hi Guys 

Sorry to bring this thread back from the dead, I would like some advice. I have purchased a Ford Ranger Extended Cab. I would like to know which way should I fire the sub to get the best SQ possible. Sub being used is a morel ultimo if it makes a difference. 

There is a link below of a pic of the vehicle I have with the doors open to make it easier for you to see what I am talking about.

http://i1.ytimg.com/vi/HSufKEN7zmE/maxresdefault.jpg

I thought about making a fiberglass enclosure just behind the seat on the floor "just before the back of the cab that is a little higher than the floor", with the sub firing upwards, could even angle the sub at a 30 degree angle if it will improve the sound and if it does which way would you angle it?

Secondly would the sub sound better behind the drivers seat or behind the the passenger seat?

Thirdly I would like half the back area free to fit a single bench seat to fit one extra person in the pick up.


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## reno.sa (Mar 11, 2012)

No one out there with a similar problem that can give me some advice?


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## smgreen20 (Oct 13, 2006)

The small setup I did for my step dad in his ranger was for two 8's, did both sealed front firing. He's picky and he loved it.


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## reno.sa (Mar 11, 2012)

smgreen20 said:


> The small setup I did for my step dad in his ranger was for two 8's, did both sealed front firing. He's picky and he loved it.


Was his system tuned for SQ?


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## [email protected] (Feb 3, 2012)

I have a 2012 toyota tacoma extended cab. I have ran two 10s, a single 12, and a single 15 set up. I have tried firing the sub forwards, backwards and upwards. I have NOT tried downfiring. 

Overall, the two 10's sounded awesome. The 12" hit the hardest. The 15" sounded the loudest, but rattled my whole truck to the point where it hurt the worst.

Ive ran multiple set ups.

Audiopipe 12" (better than what you might expect..definitely not SQ)

American Bass TNT 10"s

Diamond D6 15"

Currently - Idmax 10"s.

The set up ive stuck to was to mount the sub box on the passenger side extended cab jump seat in the rear. The subs face up firing into the roof. When I had them ported, the ports fired up aswell.

If you're crunched for space, you can always make a custom rear middle console. 










Although for a tacoma, this can be built similar for your ranger.

As for sound quality - its much more than just where your subwoofer will fire.
It depends on how you mount your components and what speakers you are running. Orientating your components and tweets to find that sweet spot in a pickup can be tricky. As for the substage, I have had best results with firing the subwoofer up. Facing down is supposed to have good results as well. I cannot speak for it because I haven't tried it. However, it does look very clean and provides a way to hide that you have any substage whatsoever. 

Hopefully this helps. PM me if you have any more questions and I will be sure to give you all the knowledge I have. I'm far from a pro, but I definitely have experience with access and extended cab pickup set ups, whether SQ, SQL, or SPL.


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## YukonXL (Mar 7, 2014)

The one I liked the most aside from my spl days was rear fire 2 12s and lifted the seat a few inches. You still got to load the sub off the back wall, the seat cleaned up the upper range. It is a great setup. 05 silverado ext cab.


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