'95 90Q Subwoofer project pics - great bass, zero space....plus a glimpse inside the human body (NAC there)

[Joel Lenorovitz]

Just thought I'd finally post some pics of a subwoofer project I completed on my '95
90Q.  The page design is a little crude, but feel free to have a look.

http://www.uchsc.edu/sm/chs/staff/joel/joel_page4.htm
(unless you're squeamish, I also invite you to pay a visit the Center for Human
Simulation website at www.uchsc.edu/sm/chs)

The story behind the pictures:

I decided to take advantage of all the cavernous space that is the spare tire well
to beef up my stereo a bit.  Instead of the plastic well cover, I inserted a
similarly contoured contraption made of particle board and a sheet metal flange with
a hole in the middle to accept the sub driver.  It's got door seal foam and rubber
molding around the edge for a smooth finish and a tight, airproof seal.  The amp and
crossover are mounted to the seat back with industrial strength Velcro (this stuff
will not give way!) so the entire setup is completely removeable and required nary a
mod to any part of the car.  Everything fits right into place (including the donut
spare) and makes for a great subwoofer enclosure.  With the grille in place, the
carpet lies flush across the floor and virtually no trunk space is lost.

I have a 12" Kicker driver in there which is powered by a 100W RMS Rockford Fosgate
amp.  Up front is a Blaupunkt Toronto CD receiver and I replaced all of the factory
speakers with new Blaupunkt 2-ways (if there was a Blaupunkt sub I would have used
that too for that good German karma, but, hey, I got the Kicker for free).  I had to
relearn a few lessons in electronics, but I threw in some homemade bass-blockers to
attenuate the low frequencies going to the regular speakers.

So how does it sound?  Excellent.  I don't claim to be an audiophile, but the
frequency response is amazing, it's head and shoulders above the factory system, and
I'm appreciating all kinds of new aspects of my music that I could never even notice
before.  In a sentence, I'm thoroughly satisfied with how this project all came
together.  Feel free to e-mail me with any questions or if you have any tips on
additional improvements to make in the sound department.

Joel



=====
Joel Lenorovitz
Center for Human Simulation
University of Colorado Health Sciences Center
303-724-0516 (Aurora)/ 303-554-0565 (Boulder)
joel at chs.uchsc.edu

www.uchsc.edu/sm/chs

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