OEM Plug in sub location without sub

[Tonyv__]

@hcvone @GM_fan97 prior to the stealth box. Do you guys have experience with subwoofers in the trunk maybe in older vehicles? I ask because of course my old Tahoe had a box in the trunk.. my wife’s car has a box in her trunk. Her old car had a box in the trunk. I’m really in the market for this stealth box or another company I found that makes the boxes..... however she swears the box will “rattle her brain” because it’s right up front vs being in the trunk. She’s pushing for a box in the cargo area but I really don’t want to sacrifice the room

Any opinions on this?

 

[hcvone]

I used to have boxes in my SUV's, of course I also use them as trucks once in a while, I was tired of having to leave the box several times to bring things home, so I said no more boxes everything has to be invisible, my installer said I can work with that, I said but I want bass because stock they have NONE, he said he had good luck in GM trucks using JL in the stock center console area, I laughed at him, then got in a Tahoe he had put the JL unit into, 5 minutes later I said when can you do my truck, also had radar and laser jamming built in, with all new speakers and amps, could not be more pleased, so happy both porsche's are getting speakers, amps and subs. What part of phila are you in?

 

[Tonyv__]

I used to have boxes in my SUV's, of course I also use them as trucks once in a while, I was tired of having to leave the box several times to bring things home, so I said no more boxes everything has to be invisible, my installer said I can work with that, I said but I want bass because stock they have NONE, he said he had good luck in GM trucks using JL in the stock center console area, I laughed at him, then got in a Tahoe he had put the JL unit into, 5 minutes later I said when can you do my truck, also had radar and laser jamming built in, with all new speakers and amps, could not be more pleased, so happy both porsche's are getting speakers, amps and subs. What part of phila are you in?

Used to live in Mayfair/tacony. I’m in Bensalem now. Right over the bridge haven’t updated my profile lol

 

[GM_fan97]

@hcvone @GM_fan97 prior to the stealth box. Do you guys have experience with subwoofers in the trunk maybe in older vehicles? I ask because of course my old Tahoe had a box in the trunk.. my wife’s car has a box in her trunk. Her old car had a box in the trunk. I’m really in the market for this stealth box or another company I found that makes the boxes..... however she swears the box will “rattle her brain” because it’s right up front vs being in the trunk. She’s pushing for a box in the cargo area but I really don’t want to sacrifice the room

Any opinions on this?

I've had a JL 10w3v3 in a sealed box in the trunk of my 97 Deville and could see how you'd think it would rattle your brain if it was closer to the driver. The bass notes are omnidirectional and the wavelengths are very long = the whole cabin/car will fill with bass. My brother had a 2001 Suburban and he had a 10w3 in a ported box behind the 3rd row (other upgrades were new head unit, component speakers, and a 4ch Alpine "power-pack" with an optimistic 45watts/ch.) I liked how the ported box sounded in his and was considering just getting a ported box and reusing my 10w3 for the Denali but didn't want the box in the trunk, and definitely not the larger ported box.

Still on my to-do list is to disconnect the Stealthbox and wire up the 10w3 in the sealed box and see how that sounds w/it behind the 3rd row. The amp for the Stealthbox is in the little storage area under the pop-up panel/cover in the cargo area so I just need to disconnect the +/- speaker wire that leads to the Stealthbox and connect new speaker wire to the sealed sub. I've been waiting until it's warmer + light out, so maybe I can get that that this week.

I'm curious to see how the Stealthbox performance compares w/the "regular box" sealed sub. You definitely pay a premium for the custom fiberglass/hidden install with the Stealthbox whereas you could get more performance per $ if you spent the same amount but put a box in the trunk.

With any sub install, I HIGHLY recommend getting the bass-control knob for the sub amp. JL Audio offers it and I believe other amp brands have a similar option. It's essentially a volume knob for just the sub amp - I have mine mounted in-front of where the driver's right knee would be - but low enough that it is just under the lower-most trim piece of the dash - I wanted it to be somewhere I could reach while driving but didn't want it visible and didn't want to drill holes through any panels if it could be avoided. I'm very happy with the placement and couldn't imagine having a sub without that knob (had it in the Deville too).


One more thing to note - I have tried to adjust the settings so the bass sounds even throughout the car but in the 3rd row, the bass does sound lower/less than the driver seat. Kinda going against my comment about the bass "fills the whole cabin/car" idea but I haven't ruled out the settings/user error just yet. Part of it is the design of the OEM system - the front door speakers are essentially mid-bass/mini subwoofers as the highs come out of the tweeters up on the dash. The 2nd door speakers are coaxial and they play highs and lows but doesn't sound like complete full-range as the bass from the 2nd door speakers is not as pronounced as the front door speakers. In the 3rd row - all you get is the little 3-ish inch speakers on the rear pillars. If I adjust the bass so it sounds impactful sitting in the 3rd row, the driver's seat does not sound good, the bass drowns out the music.
Still trying to tweak it because some songs the bass sounds great, others I want a little more, and w/some songs the bass sounds a tad too much. Hard to find the right combo of crossover frequency (around 63hz for me), the crossover slope (mine is set to 24db), "sensitivity" adjustment on the amp (I left it at what World Wide Stereo had it at, looks like maybe 65-ish percent), the "bass" level and the "listening mode" in the stock system (I have it +3 for the bass) and "centerpoint" for the listening mode/eq)...and then the remote level control of the sub is at about 65% I think.

 

[Tonyv__]

I've had a JL 10w3v3 in a sealed box in the trunk of my 97 Deville and could see how you'd think it would rattle your brain if it was closer to the driver. The bass notes are omnidirectional and the wavelengths are very long = the whole cabin/car will fill with bass. My brother had a 2001 Suburban and he had a 10w3 in a ported box behind the 3rd row (other upgrades were new head unit, component speakers, and a 4ch Alpine "power-pack" with an optimistic 45watts/ch.) I liked how the ported box sounded in his and was considering just getting a ported box and reusing my 10w3 for the Denali but didn't want the box in the trunk, and definitely not the larger ported box.

Still on my to-do list is to disconnect the Stealthbox and wire up the 10w3 in the sealed box and see how that sounds w/it behind the 3rd row. The amp for the Stealthbox is in the little storage area under the pop-up panel/cover in the cargo area so I just need to disconnect the +/- speaker wire that leads to the Stealthbox and connect new speaker wire to the sealed sub. I've been waiting until it's warmer + light out, so maybe I can get that that this week.

I'm curious to see how the Stealthbox performance compares w/the "regular box" sealed sub. You definitely pay a premium for the custom fiberglass/hidden install with the Stealthbox whereas you could get more performance per $ if you spent the same amount but put a box in the trunk.

With any sub install, I HIGHLY recommend getting the bass-control knob for the sub amp. JL Audio offers it and I believe other amp brands have a similar option. It's essentially a volume knob for just the sub amp - I have mine mounted in-front of where the driver's right knee would be - but low enough that it is just under the lower-most trim piece of the dash - I wanted it to be somewhere I could reach while driving but didn't want it visible and didn't want to drill holes through any panels if it could be avoided. I'm very happy with the placement and couldn't imagine having a sub without that knob (had it in the Deville too).


One more thing to note - I have tried to adjust the settings so the bass sounds even throughout the car but in the 3rd row, the bass does sound lower/less than the driver seat. Kinda going against my comment about the bass "fills the whole cabin/car" idea but I haven't ruled out the settings/user error just yet. Part of it is the design of the OEM system - the front door speakers are essentially mid-bass/mini subwoofers as the highs come out of the tweeters up on the dash. The 2nd door speakers are coaxial and they play highs and lows but doesn't sound like complete full-range as the bass from the 2nd door speakers is not as pronounced as the front door speakers. In the 3rd row - all you get is the little 3-ish inch speakers on the rear pillars. If I adjust the bass so it sounds impactful sitting in the 3rd row, the driver's seat does not sound good, the bass drowns out the music.
Still trying to tweak it because some songs the bass sounds great, others I want a little more, and w/some songs the bass sounds a tad too much. Hard to find the right combo of crossover frequency (around 63hz for me), the crossover slope (mine is set to 24db), "sensitivity" adjustment on the amp (I left it at what World Wide Stereo had it at, looks like maybe 65-ish percent), the "bass" level and the "listening mode" in the stock system (I have it +3 for the bass) and "centerpoint" for the listening mode/eq)...and then the remote level control of the sub is at about 65% I think.

Good info Thanks for taking the time to fill me in with your experience. Wife’s pushing for a box in the trunk. Maybe she secretly wants more bass LOL. “Just Disconnect the box when we don’t need it”. Easy for her to say. She just has to sit pretty in the passenger seat while I do all the fixing lol

 

[GM_fan97]

Good info Thanks for taking the time to fill me in with your experience. Wife’s pushing for a box in the trunk. Maybe she secretly wants more bass LOL. “Just Disconnect the box when we don’t need it”. Easy for her to say. She just has to sit pretty in the passenger seat while I do all the fixing lol

No problem - with regards to "too much bass" w/the Stealthbox, I'd bet a JL 10w6 that comes in the H.O. ported box would have much higher output than the Stealthbox under the center console, despite it being in the trunk area. The Steathbox is limited on box volume and requires JL's shallow-mount drivers.

I am happy overall with the Stealthbox - less performance per $ than a box in the trunk but I was ok with that since I wanted the stealth look. I also didn't want to go too crazy w/the sub since I am not planning on swapping out any of the speakers nor adding any additional amplification - didn't want the sub to overpower everything. If I turn it up, the Stealthbox can definitely overpower the speakers to the point where the bass is too loud relative to the rest of the music/vocals and it sounds terrible but I would definitely not call it brain rattling. I bet the Stealthbox sounds better in the Tahoe/Yukon size or any of the trucks - less overall cabin airspace to fill - but even then, not as much bass as a larger driver in a larger enclosure would produce.

Plus in your Denali, get the remote level control knob installed so you can easily/quickly adjust the bass level and lower it when needed just in case she finds it brain rattling.

 

[Tonyv__]

No problem - with regards to "too much bass" w/the Stealthbox, I'd bet a JL 10w6 that comes in the H.O. ported box would have much higher output than the Stealthbox under the center console, despite it being in the trunk area. The Steathbox is limited on box volume and requires JL's shallow-mount drivers.

I am happy overall with the Stealthbox - less performance per $ than a box in the trunk but I was ok with that since I wanted the stealth look. I also didn't want to go too crazy w/the sub since I am not planning on swapping out any of the speakers nor adding any additional amplification - didn't want the sub to overpower everything. If I turn it up, the Stealthbox can definitely overpower the speakers to the point where the bass is too loud relative to the rest of the music/vocals and it sounds terrible but I would definitely not call it brain rattling. I bet the Stealthbox sounds better in the Tahoe/Yukon size or any of the trucks - less overall cabin airspace to fill - but even then, not as much bass as a larger driver in a larger enclosure would produce.

Plus in your Denali, get the remote level control knob installed so you can easily/quickly adjust the bass level and lower it when needed just in case she finds it brain rattling.

So if I go with the stealth look. My plan was to go with a box I found on eBay and had many good reviews throughout Reddit. Paired with an 8” kicker L7T. It’s a square shallow mount sub but also is highly reviewed.. then I have an alpine amp in the garage to power the sub but I’ll have to see if it has a port for the knob because that’s a good idea. I’m really pushing for the stealth look because another good point is that I don’t wanna drown out my speakers with no intentions of upgrading them.



Edit: my alpine doesn’t have a bass knob plug I have another amp but it’s absolutely over powered for a single sub set up (old school kole audio 5500)

 

[hcvone]

I'm in Huntingdon Valley for half the year if you want to hear it, I am about 5 minutes from the Willow Grove Mall

 

[Tonyv__]

I

I'm in Huntingdon Valley for half the year if you want to hear it, I am about 5 minutes from the Willow Grove Mall

Ill have to convince my wife to hit up the buybuybaby out that way LOL. I’d love to take you up on that offer. The only free time I get is pretty much during work. Since wife’s at home with the baby I try to take over baby shift anytime I’m home

 

[hcvone]

I work from home so I am usually around, we are just about finished our new home so I have been back and forth to florida once or twice a week, but that is just about over, I will contact you in the next week or two if you are interested