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Bass in a buggy?

6K views 36 replies 21 participants last post by  Brutpwr 
#1 ·
There's a lot of stereo threads in here but I didnt see any on this subject. Can you produce quality(not :mr-t: bass) in a buggy. I dont need it to hit like the tens in my suburban but a little more sound quality would be cool. So no doors,window, mostly metal panels and not a lot of space. It will have a back seat that they could probably mount behind? thanks Ryan
 
#3 ·
Size is definitely one factor. But I think the big problem is the open vehicle. I've taken my large sealed box out of my suburban and set it on the ground and it makes very little bass without the surrounding. Vehicle to bounce it off.
 
#4 ·
Like mentioned above, the trick for bass is reflection. You need to build the box in a way that the waves reflect off something before they reach you.

Back in my custom stereo days I built a console mounted sub box for a friend's old blazer, since he complained there was no bass with the top off. It had 2 JL eights firing into each other, with the center chamber ported toward the 2 front seats and the rear chamber sealed. It also had a 1500 watt amp pushing each sub. It was very loud even with the top off.
 
#8 · (Edited)
The box is the key to bass. Ive ran a obcon bandpass box with two 8"s and it produced excellent bass but takes up some room. Now I have two boxes sealed 8"x8"x20" with 6x9"s and it sounds great. you can feel the bass without top and doors. Of coarse I have room for them. The size of the box makes a huge difference. Have you checked out wake board speakers?
 
#15 ·
Definitely a nice little package, but I still think being an open buggy is more the problem. I can find a place to mount a few 8" subs or so but what Im really looking at is enclosure's and placement to get sound out of them. I think with out being in the trunk or enclosed cab theyre just going to push air?
 
#20 ·
My sub is on an extension cord, so I can move it around. I can pull the sub and put it outside on the ground. Believe me you can hear it just fine, might even sound better. So having a trunk or doors or windows is not needed. What is needed is a sub encloser designed for your subwoofer. I'm running an Polk MM 8" sub and it requires a 0.35 cubit foot encloser. Which is not too big. You can find spec's here
http://www.crutchfield.com/p_107MM840/Polk-Audio-MM840.html?tp=111

I still think the real issue is going to be space. Making a sub box and putting it under the seat is fine, but you could just strap it to the roll cage in the back and you will hear it just fine. Unless your running a straight pipe exhaust.
I think a good spot would be under the dash pointing down. Less chance of getting f'up by water, mud, rocks. which brings you full circle space needed.
 
#23 ·
Still waiting for someone with an open vehicle/buggy to chime in. Making bass with a roof and doors is easy regaurdless of space. An 8" sub with good power on the right enclosure will pound. Put that same setup in a buggy and not so much. thinking some high quality wake board speakers are about as good as its going to get.
 
#27 ·
Lots of bad advice in this thread. You seem to have a handle on the physics of why it's hard to get big bass in an open vehicle. If you could fit a box big enough for a long travel 10 or 12, then you could get good bass while the rig is in still air, but add movement or wind and a lot of that will go away. Ever go to an outdoor concert on a windy day? It takes a lot of sub to overcome that for the nearfield, and forget about the seats in the distance they're going to get bass that comes and goes with the wind, literally.

I think the only way you're going to get decent bass at speed is by using tactile transducers like those IBEAM's posted earlier. We use them for drummers that want to feel the kick drum, and call them 'shakers' or 'butt kickers' or such.

Me, I've got a simple system that is two Infinity 6x9's for when we're stopped on the trail or slow speed crawling. With a 48" wide chassis, and reservoir shocks, I don't have the room to try and make it fullrange.
 

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#24 ·
So.... since I don't think it has been covered, what kind of engine does your buggy have? Cam'ed out LS series like Campbell? Oldass 22R/E? Kinda makes a difference. :laughing:

The boss man has one of these http://www.amazon.com/Kicker-11SKM10-Subwoofer-Resistant-Enclosure/dp/B005FHRYZ2 and a set of Bazooka wakeboard "pods" on his Toyota based buggy. It is very loud and the sub being right behind the seats hits pretty good too.

Here is a picture of the buggy for reference, you can kinda see the 'pods' in the back:

 
#28 ·
Yea i totally agree! Not terribly worried about sound at speed as the race radio will run to the iPod and headsets. Just a nice whole sound while crawling slow or parked at camp. Again not trying to disturb the peace just a little full range quality. So far I've got two fosgate fanatic q component systems and a couple of their new power sport series amps. Thinking ill get two of their high end 8" subs and find something to bounce them off be it the back seat,floor,etc.
 
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