"freeair" SUBs....???

[tsunamiHB]

Ok guys, let me know if this is a stupid idea or this would work and if you guys have seen... give me all the info. I have never heard or seen anyone use freeair subwoofers. I'm interested because i have a 1999 Civic HB and i was thinking of customizing a NEW cargo cover to accomodate 2 12" subwoofers. and with the subs firing upwards towards the glass of the hatch i thought it might be a good idea. But because i have never seen or heard of anyone doing something like this i skepticle. What kind of output and volume and quality would i recieve in comparrison to a sealed enclosure or a ported box or a bandpass box...

sorry for the long post and the many questions and bad spelling...LOL.

thanks for your guys help.

[CXHatchback]

It's not gonna be that great unless the enclosure is sealed. Won't be as loud or clear. But as long as you're not going for a booming system, then it's okay.

[kicker1_solo]

it has to be completely sealed! A lot of people do them in coupes or sedans with their trunks and have the cabin completely sealed off from the trunk and it just uses the trunk for the box sort of speak. If you're going to do this in your hatch, you have to make sure the front of the subs is completely sealed off from the magnet of the subs so that they are not sharing the same air. I would just suggest building a sealed box back there for the subs....

[CXHatchback]

I'd suggest not wasting your time and money on free air subs and just doing it the common way.

[PaulD's_revenge]

there is no such thing as "free air" .......... it refers to using so large a box as to be infinite in size (as far as the calculations go). You must still prevent the backwave from interfering with the front wave - in a car, that means putting it in a "sealed" box.

[oakiefan]

A friend of mine put one 12" free air sub in his GTI hatch and it never sounded that great, especially at higher sound levels. If you can afford them I would get Kicker's Solobaric woofers. I had two solobaric twelves in my Eclipse (before I switched to a 98 Teg) and they could really pound. The best thing about them though was that no matter what the volume the bass was always tight. Imho sealed is way better than free air, even with the extra effort of building an enclosure.

[Bustamon]

yeah free air isn't the best way to go! But do what you think is good for your car.

[MJ23FE]

Originally posted by tsunamiHB
Ok guys, let me know if this is a stupid idea or this would work and if you guys have seen... give me all the info. I have never heard or seen anyone use freeair subwoofers. I'm interested because i have a 1999 Civic HB and i was thinking of customizing a NEW cargo cover to accomodate 2 12" subwoofers. and with the subs firing upwards towards the glass of the hatch i thought it might be a good idea. But because i have never seen or heard of anyone doing something like this i skepticle. What kind of output and volume and quality would i recieve in comparrison to a sealed enclosure or a ported box or a bandpass box...

sorry for the long post and the many questions and bad spelling...LOL.

thanks for your guys help.

Free air subs dont work that well unless the deck you are mounting them on is sturdy as hell and is able to resist the vibration the sub would cause. Now i do not see the reason to do this in a hatchback. I would just build a nice sealed enclosure like some of the other guys have already suggested, you can get better response and much better SPL. I have three 10" subs in a sealed box and they sound very sweet. Sealed is the way to go.

[MJ23FE]

Originally posted by tsunamiHB
Ok guys, let me know if this is a stupid idea or this would work and if you guys have seen... give me all the info. I have never heard or seen anyone use freeair subwoofers. I'm interested because i have a 1999 Civic HB and i was thinking of customizing a NEW cargo cover to accomodate 2 12" subwoofers. and with the subs firing upwards towards the glass of the hatch i thought it might be a good idea. But because i have never seen or heard of anyone doing something like this i skepticle. What kind of output and volume and quality would i recieve in comparrison to a sealed enclosure or a ported box or a bandpass box...

sorry for the long post and the many questions and bad spelling...LOL.

thanks for your guys help.

Free air subs dont work that well unless the deck you are mounting them on is sturdy as hell and is able to resist the vibration the sub would cause. Now i do not see the reason to do this in a hatchback. I would just build a nice sealed enclosure like some of the other guys have already suggested, you can get better response and much better SPL. I have three 10" subs in a sealed box and they sound very sweet. Sealed is the way to go.