Best way to get bass to pass into cabin from the trunk besides folding the rear seat backs down?

[mikes2017gt]

I will try removing my rear deck speakers also this weekend. I have my LC2i tapped into the right rear speaker wires but I assume removing the actual speaker will have no affect on my amp input unless I "Fade" the headunit away from the rear.

You are correct on the fader. I'm tapped into the right, rear speaker with a LOC too. I'm just going to zip tie them under the deck somewhere temporarily while I test. I'm 90% sure they'll be coming out.

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[jmeiers]

Something else I thought of, will removing the rear speakers prevent hearing the rear parking sensors and/or BLIS alerts???

 

[mikes2017gt]

AFA I've read, all voice and chime alerts come through the front speakers only. That is one of the reasons it is recommended to tap the front L/R channels if using the preamp-level signals to feed an external amp. This is what I'll be doing. Taking the F/R signals via RCA cables to a DSP, then to amps. In fact, I will test this out tonight. I'll fade all the way to the front and use some voice commands. I'm 99.9% sure that the voice/chimes are front speakers only as I'm currently faded about 75% to the front and hear everything perfectly.

 

[TheHydro]

I mentioned it in another thread on here. I cut 12 inch holes in the seat back plastic. It sounds as good as if my seats are folded down and still supports someone sitting in the seat. If you didn’t want two large holes as I did to have my sub fire directly into them you could take a hole saw and drill several holes. Once you put the seat foam and cover back on you can never tell.

 

[jmeiers]

That'll be me this weekend...unless someone beats me to it.

Any updates on removing the rear deck speakers? I didn't get a chance to remove mine. In-laws in town.

 

[mikes2017gt]

Any updates on removing the rear deck speakers? I didn't get a chance to remove mine. In-laws in town.

Unfortunately not. I got swamped with working on the house this weekend...was up in the attic for a few hours on Sat and it was 130 degrees in there. Brutal. I had no energy left. Hopefully this week/this weekend I'll get it done.

 

[NotMarc]

I believe what you’re experiencing are the effects of cabin gain. Have you considered trying to use a DSP to perfect the frequencies you’re experiencing in the drivers seat?

Your experiences are consistent with mine, but I feel like adjusting the sound that you’re outputting would help a lot.

Even the most musical sub probably won’t be able to be appreciated if the frequencies that it performs the best at are being dampened

 

[DavisCustoms]

just a thought...
what if you removed the rear speakers, and then reinstalled them with a 1"-2" post spacer(kind of like the spacers you use when mounting a flat panel tv) on the bolts spacing the speakers down 1-2" below the rear parcel shelf
that way your rear speakers are still projecting up and off the rear glass so you sound stage would remain the same but now you have 2 ports for the bass to pass thru into the cabin as well.
and you wouldn't be changing the looks of the inside of the car (and not driving your OCD crazy...)
sorry for the bad paint picture, just trying to give a visual.

 

[jmeiers]

Nice idea on speaker spacers. I may try that after finding out if simply removing them altogether allows a similar bass response as leaving a rear seat folded down. Although, if I don't notice the rear speakers missing, it may not be worth making spacers. I currently run with the center speaker disconnected and I don't notice an undesirable difference either.

 

[Chef jpd]

Speaker spacer is a good idea, but one problem: The speakers are top mounted and raising them would probably hit the shelf cover.

 

[Emilbadal]

That's correct, the speaker spacer although would open some passage for air to move into cabin it will change the characteristic of the sound (because of the shape and volume) and on top of that the Shelf itself has damper material stuck underneath it. Low frequency sound is not as directional as mid and high frequency sound so it shouldn't really matter if the back seats are up or down. My experience is , at the end of the day, no matter how great quality you make the sound in your car, as soon as you start driving at speeds the sound gets screwed up by the wind and tire noise unless you crank up the volume so much that you'd damage your hearing.

 

[jmeiers]

It most certainly matters on my car if the seats are down or up. With the seats up, the bass was there but as soon as I started driving (with windows down) the bass went almost entirely away. Now with 1 seat down, even with my windows down while cruising, I still get plenty of bass. And when just idling, it bangs way more than seats up. Even my son commented on it. He thought I added more subs or something. I was like nope, just folded 1 seat down.

I still have yet to try removing the rear deck speakers. I will try it eventually but sound stuff has taken a back seat (no pun intended) to getting car ready for the drag strip this fall.

 

[DavisCustoms]

Speaker spacer is a good idea, but one problem: The speakers are top mounted and raising them would probably hit the shelf cover.

Your right, didn't think of that...
just have to do a little extra work from below to make it work, theoretically speaking anyway.

 

[Chef jpd]

Ok, I think I came up with a cheap simple solution to venting the trunk:

since no one ever sits behind my drivers seat, I did a little experiment.
i folded the seat down and studied the back latch.
my thought was to move the the loop portion of the latch forward to create a gap between the seat back and the parcel shelf.

too easy!! 2 T40 bolts hold the latch to the body. You need to cut a bit of the carpet to get access.
i then moved the latch to above the carpet and added a 3\4 inch spacer. I also needed longer bolts, which I had in my pile of bolts.
i now have a 3\4 inch gap all across the top of the seat and it goes right into the trunk.

So, now I have a ported trunk. Note, I have a JL stealthbox and 300w RF amp powering it. I get thump no matter what.
Nice increase in clean bass hits after this mod.lil

This is the stock latch, bolts are under the carpet.

20190919_180105 by chefjpd, on Flickr

This is the removed latch

20190919_174236 by chefjpd, on Flickr

Pic.of.the finished latch got screwed up. Just picture the removed latch installed over the carpet with spacers under it.

This is the position of the seat after the fix

20190919_180144 by chefjpd, on Flickr

I can slide my fingers behind the seat and into the trunk.
The seat is rock solid, no squeaks or noises.

 

[jmeiers]

Nice idea. Even quicker than pulling the speakers.

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