Amps under the seats

[bngl3rt]

So if the head unit is in the passenger cabin, and the speakers are in the passenger cabin, it seems a tad excessive to wire all the way thru the engine compartment to the trunk and back. Seems like an opportunity to lose signal over long cable runs and introduce noise from all the other *stuff* going on in the engine compartment.

Does anyone have experience mounting the amps under or behind the seats in the passenger cabin? Any amps low-profile enough to fit in there? Any issues i.e. heat with doing it this way?

 

[TURBO2GO]

You obviously have not looked under the seat.

 

[bngl3rt]

You obviously have not looked under the seat.

Right you are, been busy... Any other suggestions for where to put an amp without going through the engine compartment?

 

[Bluebeast]

I was in same deliema. I had my guy wired everything to the trunk. At first I wanted to put the amp under the passenger seat but it was to low, so he had to route everything in the back. My guy did tell me that arc audio do make an amp that is thin enough to fit under the seat and powerful enough to run all speaker and a 10 inch sub but a little pricey.

 

[03 raw nsx]

You obviously have not looked under the seat.

with a feeler gauge :biggrin:

 

[TURBO2GO]

My guy did tell me that arc audio do make an amp that is thin enough to fit under the seat

Your guy hasn't looked either. The factory seats ride the carpet. This isn't an accord.

You can do a thin amp behind the passenger seat. Alpine pdx, JL xd, Polk digital series, or if you want really small that can fit almost anywhere, fosgate BR series.

 

[EAC]

My Audison is behind the Passenger seat, but coupled with the 10" sub, there isn't much leg room in the passenger side. I need to changed that....

thinking about moving the amp to the front and somehow making it waterproof without overheating... i have no room in my trunk or I'd mount it there.

 

[bngl3rt]

My Audison is behind the Passenger seat, but coupled with the 10" sub, there isn't much leg room in the passenger side. I need to changed that....

So the passenger is limited as far as how far back they can slide the seat? Lest they squish the amp?

 

[EAC]

So the passenger is limited as far as how far back they can slide the seat? Lest they squish the amp?

Yep, by about 3 inches.

 

[TURBO2GO]

Yep, by about 3 inches.

That'd be acceptable if there wasn't also loss of legroom because of his sub. But losing in the front and the back is probably too much.

Try these:

 

[bngl3rt]

Try these:

Those look great! Wonder how they sound for $250.

Doesn't have a fuse though... they recommend a separate distro. Where would you mount that?

 

[spider2k]

fuse at the battery just like any other install. the fuse is there for the wire, not the amp.

jl has a small series as well and they sound great. you really aren't going to notice any sound degradation by having the amps in the trunk FYI.

 

[angus]

Marine amp under front hood.

 

[NSXDreamer2]

My Audison is behind the Passenger seat, but coupled with the 10" sub, there isn't much leg room in the passenger side. I need to changed that.... .

just pick a lighter, petite passenger! your car will be faster and u don't messed up your corner balancing as much either.:biggrin:

 

[SaleenS7Rs]

I saw one guy put the amp under the hood. This guy made it all nice looking and show like. I cant find a picture of it to save my life lol.

 

[PATCHEZ]

I have a Pioneer amp mounted behind the passenger seat on the back panel. It really dosent loose very much room. Maybe an inch.

 

[TURBO2GO]

Marine amp under front hood.

This is risky. I personally wouldn't. Marine amp or not exposing it to the elements is inviting future failure. It's a matter of time. You still have exposed connections. To totally "seal" things is very time consuming and just not worth it IMO. Digital amps like the alpines and JLs are 2" high. The RF pictured is 1.5". That thing is so small you can fit it in the glovebox, center console, under dash, etc. Why do an under hood waterproof marine install.

 

[bngl3rt]

Digital amps like the alpines and JLs are 2" high. The RF pictured is 1.5".

Could you put them at headrest level on the rear firewall in the cabin?

I'm thinking about a 5ch system - tweets L/R, mids L/R, and sub with a Pioneer Stage 4 head unit. So I guess I'd put a distro at the battery, get two stereo RF amps and one mono (or a stereo one in mono mode)?

 

[TURBO2GO]

Could you put them at headrest level on the rear firewall in the cabin?

I'm thinking about a 5ch system - tweets L/R, mids L/R, and sub with a Pioneer Stage 4 head unit. So I guess I'd put a distro at the battery, get two stereo RF amps and one mono (or a stereo one in mono mode)?

Headrest level behind the seat is rear window glass. Do you own an NSX yet or are you planning a future install? I'm just surprised because if you look in the car or under the seat you wouldn't be asking these questions.

Just run the mids and tweets off a 2 channel amp. Why are you trying to bi-amp? Use a mono amp for the sub but make sure the impedance is low as these amps like low impedance and put out much less at higher impedances. You can also just get an alpine pdxf4 or f6 and run it 3 channel and power everything off of it.

 

[bngl3rt]

Headrest level behind the seat is rear window glass. Do you own an NSX yet or are you planning a future install? I'm just surprised because if you look in the car or under the seat you wouldn't be asking these questions.

I am in the process of buying one and have spent quite a bit of time with it, but frankly evaluating the cabin for a future stereo install was pretty far down my list of stuff to do while there.

Just run the mids and tweets off a 2 channel amp. Why are you trying to bi-amp?

The head unit I want has active crossover management so it wants to drive the tweets and mids separately. It has eight outputs (4 groups)

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-jBlcNwMjbxx/p_130DEXP99R/Pioneer-Stage-4-DEX-P99RS.html

• outputs: 8-channel preamp outputs (5-volt highs, mids, lows, subwoofer)

I imagine if the tweeters are mounted in the correct place then they would also have different time correction offsets from the mids.

Yes, I am trying to figure out how to install a Pioneer Stage 4 system without putting any amps in the trunk. So sue me

 

[spider2k]

no offense but you are pissing away $$ on that head unit when you are not going to be able to use it properly. our cars are not the best acoustically in the first place. you won't notice a difference in that or a $300 pioneer simply because you'll have to reengineer half the cabin to utilize what that head unit can do in an SQ vehicle.

but hey, it's your $$.

 

[bngl3rt]

no offense but you are pissing away $$ on that head unit when you are not going to be able to use it properly. our cars are not the best acoustically in the first place. you won't notice a difference in that or a $300 pioneer simply because you'll have to reengineer half the cabin to utilize what that head unit can do in an SQ vehicle.

None taken. Appreciate the feedback.

I figured since the cabin is so acoustically challenged, a head unit with really great timing & spectral correction capabilities would make up for some of that.

In my last car I ran the speakers off the head unit's internal amps and it was honestly fine, but since the SoS audiophile kit comes with an Audison amp I figured separates was the way to go in an NSX.

 

[Ric]

Look in the nsx magazine a few issues back. There was a diy on how to mount the amp behind the seats. It was written by a prime member here.

 

[cosmod250]

I'm around 5'10" so mine is behind the drivers seat as I do not have to put it all the way back anyways. Actually even has a tiny bit of air space. Better for me than the passenger side as my Angus 10" sub and enclosure means that seat is best all the way back.

Peter

 

[angus]

My amps are in an amp rack under the hood, keep in mind I try to never drive in rain.

Also keep in mind that most car amps are "water resistant" to some degree, as they will almost always encounter water/moisture in the automotive environment.

In my 25 years working with car audio (12 in the industry) I have only seen a handful of amps fail due to water damage, I have seen more than one that was fully immersed and still operating.