8" Free Air Subwoofers?

Hi there. I have a Mazda MX5 (Miata in america) and I want to put 2 8" subwoofers in my parcle shelf. Now I know this is not going to give me earth shattering bass but what kind of bass can I expect from 2 8" subwoofers and what kind of chosies do I have as far as brands go. It will have to be a small enclosure or free air subwoofer really. I am looking for more the rounding off the system sound quality bass and know in my type of car the SPL bass is impossible but if it had a little oomph to it then it would be nice. Any suggestions?

I am doing a complete overhall of my sound system atm. I have a car computer that I built in there atm and the current amp and components in the door work decently well with the bass shakers in the seats on some tracks but in other tracks they are woefully bad. I am planning on upgrading the headrest and door speakers at the same time as well as getting bigger and more powerful bass shakers in there which are more securely mounted to the seat.

All suggestions welcome .

Thanks in advance.

Saahil

 

Thanks for the welcome back pedro. I had a carina before which I had a decent sound system in after searching on here but managed to kill the battery and alternator on it a couple times . But yeah the MX5 is terrible for space. Problem is I have no boot space to use so basically the subwoofers are going to be mounted on the parcelshelf. There is just enough space for 2 8" subs there. One either side. They are in theory infinite baffle enclosures as jonnyv describes it because the parcelshelf is basically in the same area as the boot. I have found some subs that are ideal for a very small enclosure but could use some suggestions for subwoofers that are ideal for IB that give some nice tight bass. If it hits hard then all the better .

And don't even get me started on petrol ... We pay £1.10 for a liter of fuel... dats like $2.20 a liter. How much does dat suck

 

Lol still say could be worse with the gas ....

@Azn: Check out this link. it will give you a better idea of what I want to do. As you can see there is not much room at all. But that whole area behind the parcleshelf is all part of the boot.

Subwoofer Install

I shall check those speakers you suggested. SQ is main priority ofcourse.

 

@Pedro: Been considering the set up you linked to with the 2 8" coming up and forward into the back of the seat. I think I am going to go for this option. With the top down it looks very much like a speedster deck which IMO looks very cool. And I still have the space under the parcel shelf for my computer and crossovers and things to stash them there. With the top up it looks more or less stock and it gives me an enclosure space of about 0.8 c/feet which is quite enough for most subwoofers of that size. With that in mind... What do you guys think of the subwoofers below.

JL Audio 8W7

These have some rave reviews and seem to offer tight bass yet some that can hit quite hard too. The enclosure size is just slightly larger then what I have but I am sure I could compensate for that by taking in a little space from the parcel shelf or changing the shape of the box a tiny bit.

MA Audio HK80XC

These need quite a low enclosure space but apparently are not too good for the tight low stuff. But then it is an 8" so can not really expect much tight low stuff from it anyway. And these have been installed in a miata before and the guy seems to like it from the review.

Infinity Reference 850W

These are the smallest power wise but have very high sensitivity compared to the other two. They need the smallest enclosure space too. They might be the best for what I need which is tight bass and Infinity do have a very good name. And they are easily the cheapest of the 3 (though money is not really an issue to a certain extent)

So from those 3 which one would you guys say is the one of choice. I am split personaly between the JL and the Infinity. Both names I have personally heard good things from. And ofcourse the Polk one that was shown to me earlier that has a similar enclosure space to what I am going to have. Also where as 200w is not much in a car where the subs are in the trunk, it will be a lot of different when the subwoofer is a foot or so from your head .

@Aznboi: The only reason I do not want to go custom is that I am in the UK and where as from a retail shop, an online retailer if I buy something, though it may be a bit harder then returning to a store it is quite easy to return something, Buying something custom is a much greater risk as if something is not right or something goes wrong then it is much harder to get put right. All those brands have stores and branches here so I can just go in store and whine and complain a bit if something goes wrong .

 

Fair points about the mounting depth. I took out the old tape measure and I have about 9" of "mounting depth" to play with. The thing is not going to sit inside the parcel shelf as originaly planned but is going to get its own enclosed box that sits on top of the parcel shelf facing forwards into the back of the seat. This means I have the whole length of the parcel shelf as the sub will by "lying down". The box should be between 0.8-0.9 cubic feet in volume which is what I can gather from the specs is a good volume. Just wondering if they are a good quality of sub. I am split between the Infinity and the JL but these dayton's look really good too from the reviews. Decisions decision .

Have not really looked at the Kickers tbh but I have heard them mentioned quite alot on this forum so they must be worth a look. I shall look into those also.

BTW thanks for helping me with this guys .