Miata Mailing List: May 1995, Message #165
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   From: "Michael Simmons" 
Subject: Re: Subwoofer in Miata
   Date: Thu, 4 May 1995 13:36:42 -0400

Brian Crawford asks:

> Has anyone installed, or know of anyone who has installed a subwoofer in their
> Miata.  As we all know very well, the Miata does not have very much room.  I
> have considered trying to cram a bazooka sub, or something of similar size in
> my trunk, but do not want to lose precious space.  I don't believe that the
> door speakers, any make, would produce the deep bass that I am looking for.
> Any reponses would be appreciated.

I have two 10" Nakamichi woofers in a custom enclosure in the trunk.  It
definitely gives as much bass as you would want.  I mostly listen to
classical music, and I can feel the floorboards vibrating with low organ
notes.  It does cost precious space, though.

The enclosure is in the area where the spare tire goes, with the sound
coming in through the tunnel behind the passenger.  The enclosure is
sealed from the trunk, so the trunk is really the enclosure for the
speakers with the box being the front of the speaker enclosure.  The
speakers are mounted pointing into the trunk, so the sound that comes
into the car actually comes off of the back of the cones.  Some speakers
do this well, some don't; it saves room in the trunk.  The sound
is very well integrated for the driver, with no sense that the bass
isn't coming from the same place as the rest of the music.  The
passenger hears the music as boomy, though.  I also have much
upgraded mids, upper door tweeters and super-tweeters on the dash
reflecting off the windshield (only the tweeters and supers are visible,
with the stock head unit still in place and the CD controls hidden, so
it's still pretty stealthy).

As to space in the trunk:  The spare tire can just be squeezed into the
left side of the trunk, but I chose to leave it out and carry some
Fix-a-Flat, and keep my fingers crossed.  I hadn't had a flat since
November 1989 (the day after I bought the car) until last week.  That
was a slow leak that I didn't discover until the next morning when it
was easy to deal with.  With the spare out there seems to be just about
as much room in the trunk as with the spare and no woofers.  We have
no more problem getting our stuff into the car for weekend trips than
we did before.  I could always put the spare in for a while if I want
to, but then there's very little room.  For me it's worth it since
I've really enjoyed both my commutes and trips with great sound to
keep me company.  I listen to the stereo much more often than I need to
carry bigger stuff in the trunk.  There's still more room than there
was in my MG trunk.  If I really need space I take my wife's car.  The
rare time when space is a problem is more than offset by the hours of
listening to the stereo the rest of the time.  And the passenger gets a
free back massage!

Mike Simmons
90 White A pkg
Southern Cal