zbrewha863

Quick question -- do the base model Mustangs (those w/o the Shaker audio systems) still have the same amount of space in the doors for subwoofers?

I ask b/c I'm about to install a full sound system, including 2 10" subs in the trunk. I would much rather cut the door panels (or swap out for some Shaker door panels), install some nice 8" subwoofers in the doors, and save my trunk space. Before I start ripping and cutting up my brand new car, it would be nice to know if there is space there for the subs

youngstang90

I would search salvage yards for some shaker door panels. It'll be a lot easier with the already reinforced doors. You gotta be careful about how big you put in the doors though...you'll get a lot of rattle if you aren't careful or don't have the right insulation and such.

zbrewha863

Good advice, thank you!

I'll be building some sealed boxes/door pods for the 8" subs, and I have a Dynamat door kit to cut down on the rattles.

I'm definitely looking for door panels, I just want to make sure that there is room in the doors before I order door panels I can't use.

youngstang90

Well, it's not hard to remove the door panels and see....the door panels are just a cover, so there is a lot of open space regardless of what model.

zbrewha863

So there is definitely room behind the panels. The issue is that you would have to make custom fiberglass boxes for the, and that gets expensive. I don't feel like dropping $500-600 on custom door pods for the subs, so I'll probably go another route.

If anybody is interested though, you can use the Shaker door panels, cut out the bakc end, and you have enough room to put basically any 8" sub. You would just have to make custom boxes for the subs, or run them free air with less power.

JScottGT

The factory shaker system uses a custom sealed enclosure that fits into the opening at the bottom of the sheet metal. If u msde your own youd have to make sure it cleared the glass when down.

laserred38

That space is much better utilized by 8" mid bass drivers. Subs don't belong in doors, even IF they are in sealed pods. I don't know why I bother replying to your threads because you don't take advice anyways.

zbrewha863

Ok, yes I've seen how the door panels have some sort of built-in waveguide-style enclosures. Thanks for the advice, I'll check the glass to make sure.

Hahaha well didn't know you were so sensitive. I'll try to pay more attention to your advice in the future

I would agree that mids are a better choice here. My real motivation is keeping all my trunk space by putting subs in the doors instead of in the trunk, and I thought this might be a win-win if I could shoehorn in some bigger, nicer 8" subs. Sounds like that's just going to be more of a pain though, I'm going to forego putting subs in the doors (might still do mids later though).

See, I listened to your advice

laserred38

I'm not sensitive. I try to help people on these boards with as much audio knowledge as I can impart. I wouldn't consider myself a professional, but I'm somewhere around expert level. It's just disheartening when people ask for advice, good advice is given, and they go the opposite direction, then ask similar questions again. I'm trying to save you from wasting money and time...

You don't need two woofers. Grab a JL stealthbox, get one of your 12" Kappas, sell the 13w3v3 that comes with the box to recoup some of the initial cost, make a ring out of MDF to mount the 12 in the 13" hole (I'd reinforce it with some resin and kitty hair) and call it a day. You have the sound you want, keep 90% of your trunk space and can even access your spare tire well amp rack that you had in mind. Grab some of the Shaker door panels and 8" pods off mpsautosalvage, throw your choice of 8" mids in, 5.25 midrange in the factory 5x7 location...you will have a kickin system that will blow the Shaker out of the water.

If you install, you gotta get your hands dirty with fiberglass or be prepared to pay $$$ to have it done right.

zbrewha863

The reason I say sensitive is because I think you're taking it wrong somehow, or confusing me with someone else. I agree with pretty much everything you say on here, short of the brands you prefer. I even said that directly to you in a post. So I definitely wouldn't say I don't follow your advice, I just throw ideas out to see what people think, but I definitely value your opinion.

I agree that that seems like the way to go, and is where I'm going to end up going. I hadn't thought of using the spare tire well for an amp rack, but I do kinda like that idea, assuming they can get enough air in there.

I have the install scheduled for a couple weeks from now, I'm going out of town so I'm handing it to a very competent, professional audio shop in town to do the bulk of the install. The only things I'm doing myself will be the "Big 3" upgrade under the hood and probably the Dynamat (have the trunk kit, door kit, and license plate frame, I'll probably have a little left over for problem areas too). I might go ahead and build a box for the area where the Stealthbox goes, I have some free time this weekend. Fiberglass is not my friend though

laserred38

Sounds good. It just seems like you repeat a lot of your questions though, and get (bad) advice from other people. Honestly, the Kappa subs are great bang for the buck, but I absolutely hate Infinity speakers. You can't lump everything into categories though - just because a tweeter is a silk dome, doesn't necessarily mean it will be smooth, and just because a tweeter is metal, doesn't mean it will be harsh. I stopped generalizing those kinds of things after seeing hundreds of installs in everything from my own cars to Bentleys, VW Vanagons, Mazda Protégés, etc. Install and tuning are 80-90% of the sound. Of course, there are general rules but anything is possible.

Btw, I have my amp mounted under the factory false floor in my Escape and it does go into protect sometimes if I'm on long drives and cranking it. It is SO easy to wire up some fans though - they can take power, switch on, and ground from your amp terminals, without adding too much more drain - daisy chaining basically. I just haven't gotten around to it yet. It's best to have an intake and exhaust fan for the enclosure to keep the fans from burning out though. I haven't done my Big 3 either, because it's a b*tch in the Escape, but that would help with my issue. I just don't crank on it as much as I could.

zbrewha863

I would agree that not all metal domes are bright/harsh, and not all silk domes are natural, I was just trying to give someone a ballpark to start with. It takes years and years to understand what the differences are and to develop your own tastes. I totally agree that the install and tuning makes all the difference though. I had 2 Xtant 12"s in a down-firing box that sounded like complete @ss just because the box & configuration weren't right. Took them out and put them in a small sealed box with a nice crossover/EQ, they pounded.

I will start collecting everything for the build then, sounds like all I need to pick up (in addition to what I have) is door panels, some 8" midbass/midranges, and an amp for the Infinity 10" sub (since I'll use the amp I was going to use for the 2 10"s to power the 2 8"s in the doors). I already have an active crossover I was going to use for the front components, so I can just use that to split the midbass to the 8"s. Box is built for the 10", and I even had enough time left over to install my brake ducts onto my bumper today. Very productive

zbrewha863

Ok, door panels, 8" subs, and amp purchased. Can you tell I'm ready to get this install started?

I started thinking about the flex in those stock 8" sub locations though, they're only plastic so I'm sure they're not really used to having 200w running through them. I don't think there is enough room on the inside to put Dynamat and still fit speakers, but I thought it might be easier to reinforce them from behind with Dynamat. Thoughts?

laserred38

Dynamat doesn't do much for strengthening. It just quells the vibrations of the panels. Fiberglass is the way to do it. If you want to spend a little more money and save a little weight, get sheets of carbon fiber weave (boat supply will have this), cut it up and mix with resin - your own home made carbon fiber kitty hair! My buddy and I came up with this at the shop a couple years ago, doing a build on a Cayman in which we used 0 wood - all aluminum, carbon or ABS plastic.

If you line the entire internal wall of the enclosure with Dynamat, it will help a little and not add too much thickness to the enclosure, but you'd get better results (and probably add less weight) using the FG or CF method.

zbrewha863

That's a nifty idea, I will have to wait for the door panels to get here to see if I can actually get in there to lay the carbon fiber. Should be a good opportunity to finally learn how to do it though, I saw these guys a couple years ago and have wanted to try out their kits:

http://www.carbonmods.co.uk/products...cmcflk300.aspx