Hello all,

First time poster here ... so be nice :P

I have a bit of experience with car audio but am by no means an expert. My first car was a hatchback and installing/wiring stuff in there was a breeze. I also installed all my dads rig in his Saturn. But there was no "modifying" there either.

I find myself caught in a little bit of a conundrum. I have a 2001 Mazda Tribute. I have already swapped out the FILTHy stock deck for a Pioneer DEH-P3900MP. Surprisingly, it sounds pretty decent with the stock speakers, but of course, its not great. I would like to upgrade bit by bit. Ultimately at the end, I would like to have:

- components in the front (dash/upper door tweeters, lower door midranges)
- 6x8's in the rear doors (as that is all the pre-cut holes allow)
- (2) 10 or 12" subs
- (3) amps to power each set of speakers


My really big issue is that I like to travel a lot. Camping, road trips, etc, etc, are not at all uncommon for myself and my son. Hence the reason I got an SUV. So as you can imagine, with whatever I put in, I dont want to take up too much of my interior cargo space.

I realize this question may seem silly and I already know the answer (which is probably "no") but, can I put amps under the rear seat? Ie. the rear seat (part you sit on) opens up to give a flat bed. Can I mount amps under the seat and then close it back up? Do amps need to "breathe" a lot? There typically is no one sitting in the back other than my son in his car seat.

Any suggestions on an enclosure that can minimize space used but maximize efficiency?

I know this all might sound a little "mixed up." I just have all these ideas in my head about where I want to but am not sure if I can get there.

Anywho ... any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Of course, thank you very much in advance (in case I forget to say it later).

LG

Yea, you can put your amp (s) under your back seats, just make sure that there is enough room for it to breath. (did this in my dads jeep)

For any enclosure your can make a ported box with aeroports.

Hope this helps

Define "room to breathe." How much room is needed? Keep in mind .. the amps arent going UNDER the seats (like mounted to the floor). They will be mounted in the foldout part of the rear bench.

if an amp gets to hot it will stop untill the heat comes down so no air the temp goes up and the amp goes off

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EVERY FAMILY HAS A RETARD IN IT. IF YOU THINK THAT YOURS DOESNT HAVE ONE, THEN ITS PROBABLY YOU.

So im thinking that this idea definately wont work at all. I cant imagine there being much air space under there.

Any other ideas in terms of maximizing space efficiency?

"Room To Breath"- Having at least 2 inches or more around each side.

But since there going to be mounted to the SEAT, i would assume the it will be mounted upside down? If so, then not a very good idea.

You could do a fiberglass box. But the best bet in this situation would be a sealed box, or aeroport ported box.

Hope This Helps

You can also pick up a 12v fan or two and rig them in with a switch or a relay in about 30 minutes. This would allow you to place them about anywhere.

Jboy2: There definately wont be two inches of breathing room, thats for sure.

No, they wont be mounted to the seat part that folds up and down. But rather to the base of the seat. I'm not sure if I am explaining it right. The rear seat in my Tribute has 3 parts. The back (that folds forward to go flat), the seat that you sit on (that folds "forward" ie. you can pull the whole thing forward so that the part that sits at the back of your knee is on the floor). That leaves the "base" of the seat. I would want to mount them to that, face up.


Creamedweasel: But if I have no breathing room under there, wouldnt that defeat the purpose? The fan wouldnt really have any "air" to blow around. I would assume anyway ....

I suggest under the seats, there is normally enough ventilation (unless you have power seats, then they probably won't fit)

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Deck: Pioneer DEH-P8600MP
Ipod Attachement: Pioneer CD-IB100 Ipod attachment hooked up to an 80GB iPod Video
Speakers: CDT CL-60CV's
4 Channel Amp: Kicker KX350.4
Subwoofer: Alpine SWR-1242D in a Custom Ported box, tuned to 32hz
Subwoofer Amp: Kenwood KAC-8152D
Wiring: 2AWG to subwoofer amp, 8awg to 4channel amp, seperate runs.
Oh God...

Hmmm .. thats not a bad idea, but I may be thinking of something different now. I cant put them under the back seats as there is no opening. But I suppose I could put them under the front seats. I guess the only thing I would be worried about is dirt/water getting in there.

Could I build a small wooden enclosure for the amp with small little ports for air (leaving as much space as possible inside the box for breathing) and then on the top of the enclosure, put in a small fan blowing downwards on the amp? This way I get some breathing space (inside the box), some forced air shooting down on it from the top, and its protected from the elements.

Would this work?