Hello! I recently purchased a 2004 F150 STX reg cab and am loving it. The only dislike I have is the stock stereo. I am planing on fixing this problem by using the extra space behind the seat for a sub enclosure. I have all my equipment from a previous install (97 t-bird) but was wondering which box is best suited for pickups. I have enough space for a portred or sealed box and will be using 2 12" diamond m-6 subs. Is one box better than the other to use with the small area of the truck cab or is it just personal preference?

 

Welcome to the forum!!!

As you probably know, the most crucial part of a decent sub system is matching the gear properly. This means having the correct air volume for the sub/subs and amplifying them properly. I would think one of the subs would be more than sufficient in a regular cab, but that's a matter of your taste. If you had ported box/boxes in your T-Bird, you probably won't be too happy with a single sealed 12". If you had sealed, one might be enough. I think I would try one sealed box behind one side of the seat. If you're not pleased, add another identical box on the other side. Just be sure to make them the correct size and don't cut any corners ANYWHERE in the installation.

 

Thanks for the reply. I had a sealed box in the t-bird with both Diamond 12's but the amp I was running at the time (jbl bp1200) was not matched well with the subs and I wasn't happy with the sound. I have been working on designing a system for about a year buying a piece here and there and have tried to pay close attention to the components and am shooting for a system that is more for SQ than SPL. I have replaced the JBL amps with a PPI pcx 2400 for the subs (800 watts x 2 @ 2ohms) and a PPI pcx 480 (80 watts x 4 @ 4 ohms) for the highs. For the head unit I purchased a Sony ES System CDX-C90 and XDP-210EQ. I am going to use Infinity Kappa separates for the fronts and Kappa co-ax for the rears. You can see that this system is primarily designed with sound quality in mind. The only road block I have is the sub design. I was originally going to purchase a Dodge Magnum and would have had no problem with space for any type of box but after seing the amount of space behind the seat in the new regular cab F150 I decided that I could have the best of both worlds with an impressive system and the utility of a truck. In previous installs (except the t-bird) I have used all ported designes and think that I prefer the sound of this design over sealed. Building a wedge box with slotted ports would be a lot more challenging to design and build so I wanted to see what you would recomend. Do you think that a sealed box using the large amount of power I will be feeding the subs will make up for the lost output I would have had with a ported box? Do you think that one box design works better than the other acousticaly due to the small air volume interior of a pick-up cab?Thanks for your feedback.

 

I like sealed myself in any situation for the simple reason that I'm an SQ guy and don't care for the narrow bandwidth capabilities of ported set ups, in general. I prefer the tight, "non boomy" sound from sealed. That's not to say ported enclosures can't be SQ as well, it's just not my cup of tea. In addition, your regular cab space limitations would lead me to believe sealed would be more sensible, but who ever said we have to be sensible. You sound like you have a plan and that's more than most people even attempt. You also have top notch equipment, so why not follow thorugh with your best "hunches" and see what happens. You can always change what you don't like.

 

I have a ported stealthbox and im diff not gonna complain. There is all sorts of sites online that help with designing a box. Just gotta look. Plus to get an ideal look at ebay. I saw a few with designs for 2 subs. Good luck!

 

Thanks for the input. I have decided to go with a sealed design and leave the box unfinished untill I hear what it sounds like. I will post some pics as I go.