Looking for Hatchless Amplifier installs...

[Blorton]

Howdy Gang,

I'm finally yanking the stock system out and going with a nice component setup, sans any sub boxes.

What I was wondering is what people have done in terms of mounting amps anywhere but in the hatch. Looks like under the passenger seat will work well for a smaller/midsize amp (rarely have rear seat passengers) and it looks like a smaller one will fit under and/or behind the glovebox. I'm looking to keep things low-key and tidy. Plus, not having to make long pwer runs to the back of the car sounds good to me. :)

I'd be interested in hearing from anyone who's done anything along these lines.

Thanks,
Dan - occasionally filling the hatch with large and heavy items

[GrandMasterKhan]

you should be able to easily fit a small thin amp under the passenger seat. However keep in mind the amp needs to have easy access to cool air to avoid heating up. SO having said that..mounting amps under the seat is not the best place for them.

I recommend you mount a small amp inside the glove box or 'underneath & behind' the glove box.

[Blorton]

Thanks for the response. I've got an MTX 564 on the way to power the mids, and it looks like it will be an easy fit under the passenger seat. Space above it will be at least an inch, so airflow shouldn't be too bad. I had hoped to tuck it upside down underneath the glovebox, but it looks to be just a little too long for that. Certainly, the tweet amp will fit there. I'll stick the active crossover in the glovebox along with the docking station for the kenwood portable sirius tuner. My main goal is for nothing to be visible from outside the car.

Dan

[Keane]

Originally posted by: Blorton

What I was wondering is what people have done in terms of mounting amps anywhere but in the hatch. .....
I'd be interested in hearing from anyone who's done anything along these lines.

Thanks,
Dan - occasionally filling the hatch with large and heavy items

Dan -- there is a TON of room behind the rear seat side panels. I used to have a nearly-full size win98 PC behind the driver's side panel. I still have a Pioneer DEQ-P9, a Pioneer GEX-P910XM, a Zapco PSI-HPSL, a Zapco SLB-T and a Zapco SLB-TP4 behind the passenger's side panel.

Just get creative with an airsaw, remove a little metal underneath the rear speaker (or remove the rear speakers completely!) and you will have about 2 cubic feet of airspace to work with..... You could even put an amplifier on one side and a subwoofer on the other.....

[Blorton]

Ah yes! Thanks for the pointer, Keane. That's excellent.

I was thinking about going with some Illusion Audio 8's or 10's in the rear locations at some point. I may have to be careful about how much material I remove.

What I need to do is yank the bottom half of the passenger seats and make a little shelf to hide everything under.

Thanks again,
Dan

[St8LyRaVn]

The amp i put in for fron t components was hiddedn up under dash high. can not be seen.... the amps for my subs is in the following picture
http://www.outsp0ken.com/images/DCP_0434.JPGhttp://www.outsp0ken.com/images/DCP_0425.JPG

[Lukydogg]

I attempted an alike rear seat panel sub system with a single JL 8", but the fiberglassing of an entire new side panel was a lil more than what I was intending to do. So I then ordered another one from the factory and just cut out the sub opening and modified a truck wedge enclosure then fiberglassed the rest to get 1 cuft. airspace to fit behind the sub. It sounded fine from the drivers side, but the passenger went a little deaf when tilting the seat back and having an earfull of bass. It was running good for a week untill I decided to have a large scale sub system in the trunk, and in the process of returning the panel back to normal, destroyed the modified panel, but its possible to do and effective in hiding a sub. As for the sub amp, it was under the passenger seat- a 150.1 punch amp. I would like to see another one like it done, but with better construction. Mine was a little on the plain side.

[Blorton]

I finally finished installing the first part of the system. Was able to hang the mtx 564 upside down under the glovebox which works well with the power wire coming in from that side along with short wires connected to the scosch harness. I've got it hanging with heavy duty zip ties for now, and it's not easily seen from outside the car. Just need to do a little tightening up on the mounting and it'll be good to go. The red mtx power led does a great job of lighting up the passenger footwell in the dark. :biggrin:

Thanks for the feedback. Next step is dropping in the components after a few more parts come in.

Dan

[mindtrip1016]

This is great, guys. I have never even considered putting an amp behind the glovebox or mounting one or two behind the door panels. Now my imagination is active again.

[Keane]

Originally posted by: mindtrip1016
This is great, guys. I have never even considered putting an amp behind the glovebox or mounting one or two behind the door panels. Now my imagination is active again.

I would NEVER recommend putting an amplifier behind the DOOR panels. I was referring to the side panels next to the rear seat passengers. Putting amplifiers behind the door panels would require running high current-carrying cables through from the body to the doors. That's just not smart.

What ever you decide to do with your imagination, please be safe.....

[mindtrip1016]

Rear side panel is what I meant. Sorry. I work on 4 door cars and trucks every day, so everything next to an occupant is a DOOR panel. An amp would not fit behind the door panels anyway with the window, motor and bracing. Even if it would fit, the force from opening and slamming the door closed would eventually jar the connections and mounting hardware loose. I am very interested in mounting my amps behind a panel. I can't wait to pull it off and see how much room I have to work with.

[1badcat]

anybody heard of ALTO MOBILE??? check out the website for more info at www.altomobile.com
i have run these amps in the front door of a car before. very little current draw means that even if you did have a short in the doorjam it would be no more dangerous than your window motor wires. and if youre using the correct fusing like everybody should be doing then again no worries. if you are interested in any of the product, PM or email me. i can sell you anything from their line. the new falstaff sub is now shipping- very awesome speaker.
josh