Been a long time out of the scene, so I'm trying to bring myself up to speed on stuff. I recently purchased a 1985 Cavalier convertible and the stereo has got to go! I'm not young anymore, married, kids, but won't settle for crap, so I'm looking mostly at SQ, but needs to be fairly loud since it's a convertible. The cavalier has an open area behind the center console, and I can fit an 8" behind there and tuck the enclosure under the dash on the passenger side. I think it'll be a fun/challenging project. Issue is, what 8" to go with?? It has to be sealed, small and handle up to 400w (Soundstream Continuum is 200w x 1 @ 4ohm). Was considering a Kicker Solobaric at first till I stumbled onto the Sundown SA-8 v2 sealed requirements; however, I have yet to read where someone actually built one with a sealed enclosure; I read where folks have "heard" they don't do well, but just hearsay.

Here's what I was thinking:

Mind you, it's rough photo-chop. I would recess the sub and build a cage with expanded metal over it so it's not slapping my pant leg, and the enclosure will be fiberglassed for a snug fit so I can make it as small as I can without sacrificing much of the passenger side (thinking of raising the enclosure so your feet can tuck underneath the enclosure even (may do the math on a tube). I pull this off, it would be an interesting concealment and should sound good since it'll be loading in the front cabin than worry bout different sounds with top up or down. Just need the perfect speaker.

Edited June 15, 201213 yr by bLiTzJoN

Side note, based on your image, I hope you know the SSA Store here has them in stock and sells them.

It wouldn't be optimal but it probably would work. I would look elsewhere to put the sub.

I'm gonna do some measurements to get a more accurate volume. I might be able to put a port on the side of the box closest to the firewall if necessary; however, if I got ported then I'm talking a larger box. I don't think I can go much over 1 cube total space.

You could also check out the Sundown SD series. I dont think they make an 8" though. The SD series is a 10-12" line. Somewhat shallow mount and only require tiny sealed enclosures.

I would suggest putting it somewhere else if at all possible. That sub is great ported, not so much sealed.

Having used the second gen Solos many many times like this, I would go that route. They are cheap, accessible anywhere, and are proven performers.

i did an install years and years ago in the same car, 2 10's in a ported enclosure. sounded damn good for a drop top, but no truck space after the install......

I'm gonna do some measurements to get a more accurate volume.

I'd do that before shopping, perhaps no reason to be limited to an 8".

I'm rather limited to a single 8" if I want to point the sub towards the drivers side. I could point the sub directly at the passenger (then I would likely go with the shallow mount JL 13), but I like the idea of it being concealed. No one would guess a decent amount of sound would be coming out of the car. As for the trunk, I don't want fart noises; trunk is out of the question. I have an old JBL GTi1200 in the garage from my IASCA car back in the day to fill the trunk if I wasn't up for a challenge.

Thanks for the +1 on the Solos. I personally have never heard one, but the specs do fit perfectly for me. And, once again it's mentioned the SA-8 doesn't perform the greatest in a sealed bit - I think I can rule out Sundown this time around. I'm really considering the Solo L7. What about the JL 8W7AE? Bit pricey, imho (so is the Solo, really); however, it'll take the wattage and can be shoe horned in less than a cube. Since I'm going 8, I don't want shallow mount so I can get the extra excursion to make up for the lack of cone area.

have you figured out what air space your dealing with yet? I dont think we've ruled out a larger sub yet, honestly.

you could put a whole system in for the price of that w7.

L7 is cheaper than the sundown, http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-KICKER-S8L7-8-900-WATTS-L7-SUB-CAR-AUDIO-SUBWOOFER-/230794835816?pt=Car_Subwoofers_Enclosures&hash=item35bc71b768&vxp=mtr#ht_1807wt_1396

I think he's talking about the solo classics or the CVX, not any of the square drivers.

As for the 8W7, go to your local dealer and get your hands on one. They are monsters and will likely not fit in the space you have available.

I would make some suggestions, but first I would want to know atleast how much volume you actually have to work with.

As for the 8W7, go to your local dealer and get your hands on one. They are monsters and will likely not fit in the space you have available.

True story

Alright, I don't want to give up, but this will definitely be challenging without major body modification which I don't want to do (I can already see my wife's expression explaining I need to reconfigure the dash for a speaker). I couldn't find my packing peanuts to get a more accurate volume measurement. I took a series of measurements and to load the sub to the driver's side I can "just" fit a circular frame which shoots the idea of a concealed square Solo. Now, I'm open to the idea of just pointing the speaker to the passenger, BUT *insert sir mix-a-lot jingle here*, I'm only comfortable tucking a .7 cu.ft. box anything else would start to sacrifice too much of the passenger side. With that in mind, I could fit the square Solo with ease; I might even consider going up to a 10" Solo. I think at this point, I'm just gonna have to make the enclosure and go from there.

I don't know why I didn't look at these before considering the rest of my setup is JBL. Anyone familiar with the GTO line of subs? I was so mesmerized by the SA-8 possibility I overlook the realism of using a GTO 8 since it only requires .3 cu ft. I can damn near put two of them in the front if I want to hit the passenger or return to the original concealed idea. Hmmmmm.

And if that box fits there are 10's you could use as well. The GTO's are fine, but not ultra exciting. In that volume that isn't what I'd do. Is .7 your actual number?

For all practical purpose .7 is my actual number. I may not have earth shattering bass, but I'm feeling the 8" GTO at .3-.5 with the original concealment idea may be my answer. My only concern is wattage of the amp - at least it won't be abused cause I may have to turn it down. This reminds me of the last time I ran a single 8" sub; it was in a craptastic beater car (79 Ford Pinto wagon) I drove while my 300ZX was in the garage for the winter. I ran all Orion separates with Cobalt amp and 8" cobalt sub with a Pioneer deck I had laying around. Friends thought I should have competed as a joke car in some of the IASCA events I took the Z to. I dug up a pic to share, this was back in 96':