My Subwoofer Enclosure Build Log

[Emu1342]

Been working on this build for a few weeks now. Just wanted to share. Hopefully helping someone who wants to do something similar.

Equipment:

• WavTech ThinPro 12-4
• WavTech LinkDQ Line out converter
• Taramps Bass 1200 4 Ohm

I've never been a fan of boxes taking up trunk space. Im a pretty active person and sometimes push down the rear seats to fit my equipment. Paddle boards, beach chairs, coolers, ect. Having trunk space is really important to me.

With that being said, I wanted to fit an enclosure in the wheel well area. Started with cutting out that cubby to get a larger opening to the crevice underneath. Got a big roll of painters tape and started covering the area i'll be laying fiberglass over. Had to be careful to give enough space to the amp behind it. Removing an enclosure this shape can be tricky. So I laid some cardboard as a backing plate.

Then did some test fitting with the woofer to get an idea on how it would sit in the space. Im thinking it looks pretty decent at this point. Make sure to close the trunk and get an idea how the enclosure will have to be shaped.

 

[Emu1342]

Next we start fiberglassing. This is pretty straightforward if you've done it before. At this point, i just wanted to get a thin shell to harden so i can continue working away from this tiny trunk, lol.

Its important to glass past the area you'll actually be using to ensure you get a good consistent layer.

I also made a custom ring, since the diameter of this sub is a bit larger than your run of the mill. Had to continue with test fitting the ring since it was a bit larger than i expected. Its on the verge of being too large imo, but i was pretty invested into my equipment at this point.

 

[Emu1342]

Now we've gotta start cutting to shape. This was pretty fun though very dirty. So many possibilities with what can be done. I'll continue with this log when i gather more photos and have time. Hope you guys enjoy. Feel free to ask questions

 

[BlackwingSwanny23]

Looks great! Just did something similar with my Blackwing. Absolutely love it!!

 

[Emu1342]

Looks great! Just did something similar with my Blackwing. Absolutely love it!!

Please share! I'd love to see how anyone else approached this.

 

[BlackwingSwanny23]

I had mine professionally done by Model Electronics in NJ. Highly recommend and it completely transformed the audio experience in the car.

 

[Emu1342]

I had mine professionally done by Model Electronics in NJ. Highly recommend and it completely transformed the audio experience in the car.

Nice! Do you know the specs? What do your equalizer settings look like?

 

[TruckeeTaurus]

I had mine professionally done by Model Electronics in NJ. Highly recommend and it completely transformed the audio experience in the car.

Brother…. That is absolutely beautiful. What a great use of the otherwise unusable space! Is that a 12”? You say it’s larger than the average, but it can’t be a 15”… right? I absolutely have to do this! You good with me saving the photos to show an audio shop?

 

[BlackwingSwanny23]

Absolutely. its a 10inch sub and honestly, its exactly to a T what I wanted. Extremely happy with it. I am looking for a cover for the sub but not in a rush as its my third car and I don't really use the trunk.

 

[TruckeeTaurus]

Absolutely. its a 10inch sub and honestly, its exactly to a T what I wanted. Extremely happy with it. I am looking for a cover for the sub but not in a rush as its my third car and I don't really use the trunk.

Fosho. I meant to suggest a grill to protect it when you got stuff in the trunk.

Did you talk to them about a 12”, or that size wouldn’t fit?

Personally I dig the deeper bass that a 12” can put out comparatively. Though the best system I ever had was two tens and two twelves. It was stupid loud but hit every bass tone so cleanly.

 

[Emu1342]

Fosho. I meant to suggest a grill to protect it when you got stuff in the trunk.

Did you talk to them about a 12”, or that size wouldn’t fit?

Personally I dig the deeper bass that a 12” can put out comparatively. Though the best system I ever had was two tens and two twelves. It was stupid loud but hit every bass tone so cleanly.

My build is with a 12” shallow sub. It’s also a bit oversized diameter wise but fits. I like how it sounds even before tuning. Can’t wait til it’s 100% done.

Previously I had 2 12s at about 500 watts and that was the best sounding system with aftermarket components all around. This one sub blows it out the water SQ-wise. It remains to be seen if it’ll get as loud, though that’s not a priority anymore

 

[TruckeeTaurus]

My build is with a 12” shallow sub. It’s also a bit oversized diameter wise but fits. I like how it sounds even before tuning. Can’t wait til it’s 100% done.

Previously I had 2 12s at about 500 watts and that was the best sounding system with aftermarket components all around. This one sub blows it out the water SQ-wise. It remains to be seen if it’ll get as loud, though that’s not a priority anymore

Awesome. I might actually see about putting a ten on one side and a twelve on the other. I’ve never heard of wavtech. I’ve always gone Alpine, Pioneer, or MTX.

This is the first car I’ve owned where getting subs wasn’t the first thing I did.

 

[Emu1342]

Awesome. I might actually see about putting a ten on one side and a twelve on the other. I’ve never heard of wavtech. I’ve always gone Alpine, Pioneer, or MTX.

This is the first car I’ve owned where getting subs wasn’t the first thing I did.

It’s not recommended to get different sized subs if they’ll be playing the same frequency range. If you go that route, you’ll probably want to run them off two different amps. Have one for lows and crossover to the other for mids

Wavtech was created by one of the engineers from alpine. The sub in my build is one of the more beefy shallow mount subs I’ve seen. Specs similar to normal subs, even exceeding some. I didn’t hear of them till just a few months ago, But I figured I try something new

 

[TruckeeTaurus]

Oh most definitely running two amps man. No question.

I’ll have to check wavtech out. I have a shallow mount Alpine 12” in my Lexus right now and it slaps.

Gonna be a couple months before I can even consider it for real though. Not sure how I’ll justify it to my wife (who hates loud music) after the new rims/tires and our trip to Iceland.

 

[BlackwingSwanny23]

Oh most definitely running two amps man. No question.

I’ll have to check wavtech out. I have a shallow mount Alpine 12” in my Lexus right now and it slaps.

Gonna be a couple months before I can even consider it for real though. Not sure how I’ll justify it to my wife (who hates loud music) after the new rims/tires and our trip to Iceland.

Tell her you got it from someone selling their car and needing to part with it

 

[BlackwingSwanny23]

Fosho. I meant to suggest a grill to protect it when you got stuff in the trunk.

Did you talk to them about a 12”, or that size wouldn’t fit?

Personally I dig the deeper bass that a 12” can put out comparatively. Though the best system I ever had was two tens and two twelves. It was stupid loud but hit every bass tone so cleanly.

I only wanted a 10inch, it slaps when I want it but will also offload the stress of the bass off the speakers when I blast the music. Weight was also on my mind, I didn't intend on adding another 50- 100 pounds to the rear of an already heavy car.

 

[1Evil55]

Oh most definitely running two amps man. No question.

I’ll have to check wavtech out. I have a shallow mount Alpine 12” in my Lexus right now and it slaps.

Gonna be a couple months before I can even consider it for real though. Not sure how I’ll justify it to my wife (who hates loud music) after the new rims/tires and our trip to Iceland.

It was on sale

 

[Emu1342]

After cutting the glass, i started layering in more fiberglass on the back of the enclosure. I forget how many layers i did, but made sure to make it about 3/4" thick.

After cutting excess and shaping the enclosure some more, i finally got started with the front and top. This was a bit tricky. Typically I'll take some fleece/felt, put it over top and glass that, but I cut the enclosure to the edge of where i wanted the enclosure to end. doing it this way would cause the enclosure to bulge out more than i wanted.

So i measured 3/4" and glued the fleece within there. At that point, i began glassing again. Once i got the glass to the edge, I did some test fitting to ensure the enclosure didnt warp. Looking messy, but promising so far.

 

[Emu1342]

After a metric ton of sanding, the surface was smooth enough to begin adhering the carpet. I think i should have used some bondo to make life easier, but i didnt want to buy more tools. I dont have a link to the carpet (cuz im lazy) but I got it from Amazon. "Halero 78"x30" Black Underfelt Carpet" along with some Gorilla Glue Spray Adhesive. That little arm on the right side of the enclosure was tricky.

These pictures dont show the edges of the fabric being tucked, so its a little messy, but i ended up supergluing those to give a neat edge.

I also put in some threaded inserts at this point. Screws will eventually tear MDF apart, and i wanted to do some testing putting polyfill within. This means taking the sub in and out a few times over. I would suggest buying in bulk. Home Depot sells these threaded inserts for like $5.30 for two! I needed 8.