# Amps Under Front Seat?



## BigMike66 (Oct 8, 2009)

Are there any significant advantages or dis-advantages to placing a front stage amp under a front seat?

Is it bad practice for some reason that I cannot think of?


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## Mooble (Oct 21, 2007)

As long as they don't get too hot there's no reason not to. One advantage would be shorter RCA cables and also it's generally electronically quieter under the seat (no fuel pump nearby). Space constraints would be the only disadvantage.


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## sqshoestring (Jun 19, 2007)

It can be more difficult to mount (removing seat/checking clearances/etc), if you have sub amp in trunk you have to run those wires to a different place (under seat) and not with everything else. Could have more air for cooling in trunk than under seat, but a trunk might get hotter in summer. I usually don't bother unless I have a good reason to mount the amp there, such as hiding it, don't want to mount in trunk, etc. I also find they tend to get damaged under seat and I don't like that. I have done single amp systems that way, less wiring for them.


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## Lanson (Jan 9, 2007)

I got only one answer for you...

You live in Denver. Got snow on your shoes? Snow turns into water and sometimes salt, and if any of that gets in or around your amp, you can kill it pretty quick.

If you lived in Vegas with me, this would be much less of an issue.

Solution: Consider a marine-grade amp.


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## gijoe (Mar 25, 2008)

fourthmeal said:


> I got only one answer for you...
> 
> You live in Denver. Got snow on your shoes? Snow turns into water and sometimes salt, and if any of that gets in or around your amp, you can kill it pretty quick.
> 
> ...


Good suggestion. In Colorado you're going to see a lot of sloppy weather. You'll end up with a lot of moisture on your floor, then crank the heat to warm up. If you have vents under your seats you'll probably heat the amp up pretty good, if you don't have vents, you'll still have to be really careful about the weather that works it's way into your car.


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## ehkewley (Jul 19, 2008)

gijoe said:


> Good suggestion. In Colorado you're going to see a lot of sloppy weather. You'll end up with a lot of moisture on your floor, then crank the heat to warm up. If you have vents under your seats you'll probably heat the amp up pretty good, if you don't have vents, you'll still have to be really careful about the weather that works it's way into your car.


I'm not convinced. I live in the NE. We get our fair share of snow and water. I have a factory amp under the passenger seat, and I've never seen it get wet. Not that I look at it a lot, but it poses no problems. Also most vehicles that I've taken the seat out of, I've noticed that there's a front "bump" that supports the mounting bolts, which would protect it even further. The vents run under the carpet, and the carpet is a fine insulator. 

Lastly if you're that worried about that much water, then get a decent set of rubber mats, that contain the snow / slush.

*Edit* not to mention newer cars have a ton of electronics under the seats. Airbag, Motorized seat modules, heater plugs.. All of these are pretty well exposed under the seat, and I have not had any problems in my couple vehicles with water issues. The underside of the seat stays pretty well dry.


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## gijoe (Mar 25, 2008)

ehkewley said:


> I'm not convinced. I live in the NE. We get our fair share of snow and water. I have a factory amp under the passenger seat, and I've never seen it get wet. Not that I look at it a lot, but it poses no problems. Also most vehicles that I've taken the seat out of, I've noticed that there's a front "bump" that supports the mounting bolts, which would protect it even further. The vents run under the carpet, and the carpet is a fine insulator.
> 
> Lastly if you're that worried about that much water, then get a decent set of rubber mats, that contain the snow / slush.
> 
> *Edit* not to mention newer cars have a ton of electronics under the seats. Airbag, Motorized seat modules, heater plugs.. All of these are pretty well exposed under the seat, and I have not had any problems in my couple vehicles with water issues. The underside of the seat stays pretty well dry.


I personally wouldn't risk it. The floor of my car has a tendency to get pretty nasty, that little hump you refer to seems like a perfect way to trap water under the seat.

I'll agree that it probably isn't a big concern, but knowing the weather here it's not a risk that I would take.


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## Lanson (Jan 9, 2007)

ehkewley said:


> I'm not convinced. I live in the NE. We get our fair share of snow and water. I have a factory amp under the passenger seat, and I've never seen it get wet. Not that I look at it a lot, but it poses no problems. Also most vehicles that I've taken the seat out of, I've noticed that there's a front "bump" that supports the mounting bolts, which would protect it even further. The vents run under the carpet, and the carpet is a fine insulator.
> 
> Lastly if you're that worried about that much water, then get a decent set of rubber mats, that contain the snow / slush.
> 
> *Edit* not to mention newer cars have a ton of electronics under the seats. Airbag, Motorized seat modules, heater plugs.. All of these are pretty well exposed under the seat, and I have not had any problems in my couple vehicles with water issues. The underside of the seat stays pretty well dry.


I have in my garage the remnants of a heavily corroded amp I replaced for a friend. It was sitting under his passenger seat, and even had a carpeted MDF board in front of it to avoid kicking feet of passengers. I pulled the amp apart and found so much rust, corrosion, and actual salt in the unit I declared it DEAD right away and slapped in another. Also, corrosion got to the ground connection made under the amp in much the same way and had to be fixed as well. Oh yes, he moved here from Minnesota. All this happened there.


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## SoundChaser (Apr 3, 2009)

I installed an amp under the passengers seat at one time. Thought about possible water issues so I picked up a plastic cutting board from Walmart, I believe it was ¼”. 2 years later when I removed it, no problems.

It should also stay cooler in the car versus in the trunk, especially when it matters the most, summer time. Unless you don’t have air conditioning or drive a hatchback.


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## ogg (Oct 13, 2007)

I've got the amps mounted that way in my wife's Subaru wagon but she's a nut about keeping her car clean. In my truck I don't think I'd risk it.


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## PaulD (Nov 16, 2006)

fourthmeal said:


> I got only one answer for you...
> 
> You live in Denver. Got snow on your shoes? Snow turns into water and sometimes salt, and if any of that gets in or around your amp, you can kill it pretty quick.
> 
> ...



I live in the deep south, we typically get LOTS of rain. I had an amp underneath each front seat for like 10 years in a daily driver. Not even one bit of rust on either.


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## Hillbilly SQ (Jan 26, 2007)

PaulD said:


> I live in the deep south, we typically get LOTS of rain. I had an amp underneath each front seat for like 10 years in a daily driver. Not even one bit of rust on either.


We're 26" above where we need to be as far as rain goes here in Central Arkansas and both of my amps are just fine. I find it's the people who worry too much that have problems. I honestly can't think of a better place than under the seats to keep an amp out of the way. Both of my amps are pigs as well.


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## PABowhunter4life (Jan 3, 2009)

We get rain, snow, sleet and everything in between here in PA and I can probably think of at least 20 people I knew in high school that had their amps mounted under their front seats; but I can't think of a single one that had an issue of any sorts from moisture. FWIW, they put so much salt on the roads here in the winter that your tires rarely hit the actual road lol.

Just my 2 cents


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## sqshoestring (Jun 19, 2007)

LOL, back when I was a kid we drove beater cars in winter and kept our nice cars for summer (usually muscle cars of some kind that didn't go in snow anyway). Some of those beaters had rust holes in the floors, or so much dirt and trash in them  you didn't want any amp in there. Some I never put an amp in, but others had 4cf boxes in the hatch. One car a friend had the passenger had to put their heel in a hole in the floor or slush/snow would hit you in the face if he drove through some deep stuff. We cried laughing about it at the time, he would always try to get someone to ride with him someplace so he could spray them down. The carpet flopped over the hole, it was pretty effective at hiding it, then the stuff would come out of there like a geyser when snow/slush hit the floor. Man did we have fun with those beaters.


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## 94VG30DE (Nov 28, 2007)

I had a small Alpine running a sub in my Celica for about a year. The amp was under the drivers seat, not even bolted to anything. Never had any problems with it, took it out and ran it in my Z for like 3 years, no problems, eventually sold it when I bought the USA6300. I didn't really have rear passengers often in the Celica though, so I think it would be different with a 4-door.


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## BigMike66 (Oct 8, 2009)

sqshoestring said:


> LOL, back when I was a kid we drove beater cars in winter and kept our nice cars for summer (usually muscle cars of some kind that didn't go in snow anyway). Some of those beaters had rust holes in the floors, or so much dirt and trash in them  you didn't want any amp in there. Some I never put an amp in, but others had 4cf boxes in the hatch. One car a friend had the passenger had to put their heel in a hole in the floor or slush/snow would hit you in the face if he drove through some deep stuff. We cried laughing about it at the time, he would always try to get someone to ride with him someplace so he could spray them down. The carpet flopped over the hole, it was pretty effective at hiding it, then the stuff would come out of there like a geyser when snow/slush hit the floor. Man did we have fun with those beaters.


My OP was worth it, just for this reply alone!!!

Yeah sqshoestring, I'm laughing!


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## Lanson (Jan 9, 2007)

PABowhunter4life said:


> We get rain, snow, sleet and everything in between here in PA and I can probably think of at least 20 people I knew in high school that had their amps mounted under their front seats; but I can't think of a single one that had an issue of any sorts from moisture. FWIW, they put so much salt on the roads here in the winter that your tires rarely hit the actual road lol.
> 
> Just my 2 cents


Let's ask the same people that were in HS to check their amps out after a few years of doing this, and see what they end up with.

It doesn't happen immediately, but they will corrode over time and my big issue is...why subject good equipment to that kind of life?


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## gijoe (Mar 25, 2008)

fourthmeal said:


> Let's ask the same people that were in HS to check their amps out after a few years of doing this, and see what they end up with.
> 
> It doesn't happen immediately, but they will corrode over time and my big issue is...why subject good equipment to that kind of life?


I'm with Fourthmeal on this. Our weather here can be nasty. We don't get as much snow as the northern states but we get plenty and we have snow then melting sun in the same 4 hour period. There is going to be a lot of moisture salt and mag chloride in your car during the winter. When that snow melts in your car it may not slosh onto the amp but your car will be a big humid box until you get all of the moisture out. That water vapor will get trapped in the amps.

Having grown up here, I personally wouldn't risk it at all. Sure you can probably go a few years without any trouble, but if you want your equipment to last, your best bet is to put them in the trunk.


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## basshead (Sep 12, 2008)

fourthmeal said:


> why subject good equipment to that kind of life?


Yeah! don't install equipment in our cars, you have humidity, heat, vibration, UV...

If done properly your equipment will be just fine.


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## Lanson (Jan 9, 2007)

As I said before, if you are going to mount an amp in a non-ideal location, consider a marine-grade amp since everything is epoxy-coated, and made of typically corrosion resistant materials. and there are some damn good Marine amps out there.


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## 94VG30DE (Nov 28, 2007)

or get an amp that has only passive cooling (no fan) and seal every crack and crevice. Or build a little plastic enclosure for it that has drip tubes and a fan. Look at a plastic headlight enclosure and model your design off that. But enclosure means more space, which means probably won't fit under seat anymore...


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## sqshoestring (Jun 19, 2007)

BigMike66 said:


> My OP was worth it, just for this reply alone!!!
> 
> Yeah sqshoestring, I'm laughing!


Something made me think of that heck we used to jump those cars on a motocross track we had there (in the summer), plowed into snowbanks just to pull them back out, sideways all the way up the snowy road with rwd ones, they were great. Not many people around there back then, just too much fun. The trunks would get full of snow too, but not near the seat if you had an amp in there just behind the tires where the rust hole was. I mean, you didn't want a good car in the winter. Now cars don't rust like that, then again they don't fall apart like that either. I remember cutting ply and using plastic bags to keep the snow under the floor on some of them. We only paid $50-250 for them, sometimes used a couple per year. Some had V8s and would go through tires like crazy....:surprised: Who is the guy on youtube, Dave's Farm? Some good memories, except we never really smashed them we either fixed and sold them or sold the parts left.

Actually I often ran power boosters in those nasty cars under the dash, in fact sometimes two. They were some old junk I didn't care about and the amps stayed in my good cars.

If you have a normal fairly nice car and the amp has room and is not on the foot part of the floor...you are likely to be ok. If the carpet is ratted out under there you kind of know it will get abused. Some cars you can fit amps behind the glovebox but a lot you can't. If you get snow in there the heater melts it and makes moisture, but with the cars I have now I don't let that happen. In high school things were different, lol.


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## Sharpie (Oct 23, 2009)

As long as they get some room to breath to prevent overheating, it is fine to place them there.


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## 8675309 (Jan 8, 2007)

We are 27" above were we need to be in south Arkansas and I now have engine noise!! LOL:laugh: Chris you got to make it stop raining!



Hillbilly SQ said:


> We're 26" above where we need to be as far as rain goes here in Central Arkansas and both of my amps are just fine. I find it's the people who worry too much that have problems. I honestly can't think of a better place than under the seats to keep an amp out of the way. Both of my amps are pigs as well.


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## bobduch (Jul 22, 2005)

I'm in Denver and drive back and forth to Vail every week, or close to it. Have Tru under each front seat of the van and they still are mint. If your just a little careful (I sit sideways and bang my feet together outside to rid them of excess snow/slush) you won't have a problem.
That rusted floor syndrome was common in HS back East because of the salt they put down on the roads back there at the time.


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