# Added two 6x9 subs to rear deck! chyea!



## Chyeab0i (Dec 12, 2012)

So I did alot of research and came to a conclusion that I dont want a sub in my trunk at all! I wanted it stealth installed or hid away somewhere. Then again, I also didn't want bass that'll rock my block so I decided to go down a "premium" audio system route. On one note, this is for the cars without the pioneer upgrade as I only have the 6 speaker option. Next weekend I should get the rest of my parts in for the rest of my speakers but this is some pics from my install. I used two Tang Band subs Tang Band W69-1042J 6"x9" Subwoofer 264-837 (note: these are awkward shaped subs so they need to be custom fitted into the stock rear deck 6x9 holes! forewarned)
Along with the subs I used:
2x- 6x9 Universal MDF Spacers (too lazy to make my own and because they didn't come with templates. I am going to seal the spaces soon to make sure no sound will leak out but it is a mad tight fit)
8x- #8 1 [SUP]1/2 [/SUP]stainless steel bolts
8x - 8x Rubber washers
8x- Lock Nuts (these made the install perfect for doing by myself or else the speaker wouldve fell on my face!)
You will need to drill your own holes into the metal of course. 

Here is a quick explaination on how to get to the rear deck. Credits to Cruze15 from chevroletcruzeforum.com
First, from inside the trunk take out the 2 screws that hold the third brake light in. pull down on the grey clip and then unplug the connector. Take it out now.

2nd, on each side of the car is a little plate that says AIR BAG, slightly pull the side out a bit and push the airbag plate out from the back. Take out the screw behind the plate. You might want to use a magnetic screw driver.

3rd, Pull gently on the side piece til it pops out of the 3 clips. Pull straight out btw.

4th, If the back seat is not already down then do so. Pull the plastic push clip on each side just under the latch. These clips old the rear deck to the back seat mount.

5th, lift up on the front part of the deck so you can clear the edges of the back seat mount.

6th, Pull the deck piece at an angle following the contour of the back glass.

In the end, they were completely worth it. They bump like crazy an they have an insane good response and sound reproduction. I can hear/feel it outside of the vehicle if i turn it up...and that isn't even blasting them. So really, they turned out to be the perfect sound I was looking for. I don't ever really have to turn them down as they aren't boomy as ported subs are. I installed these IB by the way...best way IMO. Next week i'm installing a 4 channel amp, two sets of kenwood component speakers, and dynamating the doors and rear deck. Yes, I am custom mounting tweeters in the rear doors! I will do a write up when I'm done! Feel free to ask any questions I hope I filled in some gaps other posts didn't.


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## emanon9297 (Oct 10, 2012)

very nice


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## Chyeab0i (Dec 12, 2012)

emanon9297 said:


> very nice


Thanks man. It took me a good part of the day because I didn't have help and I had to run to the store for longer screws. The ones I used were questionablly short but once i tightened them up really good they fit mad snug and aren't hanging out they are pretty much invisible it looks like the speaker is floating there. Just need to find some type of glue seal! Next up is my component install! That'll definitely take all day hopefully I'll have an extra pair of hands to help me


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## PaulRoncelli (Nov 17, 2013)

Hey I just got the 2014 diesel cruze with the upgraded Pioneer system. Its not the greatest I was gonna buy a line out converter and grab these tang bands with a spacer. Will any spaceer so I was looking at this Metra 82-6900 (met-826900) 6" x 9" Universal Speaker Spacers /. i just want to make the install as easy as possible


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## 2SLO2RCE (Nov 12, 2013)

Very interesting!!!!! This is one of the first things I wanted to do to to the car but everywhere I read it was said it wasn't a good idea. I want a little better sound but don't want to loose trunk space or haul around a bunch of extra weight in the trunk. What did you do for the signal for the speakers just tap the rear door speakers?


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## XtremeRevolution (Jan 19, 2012)

Here's the concept behind this whole idea. 

6x9 subs are great if you want more output. Tang Band as well as Cadence make some great ones. However good the trunk I'd at sealing noise, it is imperfect. The end result is that any 6x9 sub will effectively be installed in the equivalent of a very leaky box. 

As a result, you will lose low frequency extension. Your bass will be louder, but it will not be truly deep. Play "The Kraken" by Hans Zimmer to see what I mean. You will not be able to hit the truly deep yet natural double bass notes because of that. 

The other issue is the rear deck pad. It differs in cars equipped with the Pioneer factory 6x9 subs from cars not equipped in that there is more material cut out of the pad in the former to allow air to move. Any 6x9 subs you install will not produce the entire potential of their sound as a result. 

The Tang Band subs will get recently loud, but are ultimately going to sound boomy until you get some mass loaded material over the rear deck to seal all but the 6x9 holes. However, that rear deck can breathe for a couple of reasons. 

1. Closing doors. There are two flaps on opposite sides of the car in the 1/4 panels by the rest tail lights that vent air. When you close a door, you pressurize the car. The pressure is released through those vents. 

2. Closing the trunk. Some of that pressure will go through those flaps, but if you seal off the rear deck and close the trunk too quickly, you will force pressure on the 6x9 drivers.

3. Driving with windows open. Seal the trunk enough, and you will begin to create a "fluttering" sound. 

Thus, you have a catch-22 with rear 6x9 subs. Use them, and you have stealth bass but you lack linear extension below ~55Hz. Seal the deck, and you get that extension but you create pressure problems in the trunk. 

Finally, all of that bass goes away the moment you fold down the back seat for any reason as the bass waves will cancel out. 

For a stealth install, a fiberglas molded enclosure is really the best bet, but of course will wind up costing you an extra $250. How accurate do you want your bass to sound? Do you just want a louder punch, or do you want to tell apart each note in "The Kraken?"

Sent from mobile.


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## jjducky (Oct 22, 2013)

so after several months with them how do they sound??


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## trevforever (Feb 20, 2014)

This is exactly what I wanna do. How do they sound?


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## Chyeab0i (Dec 12, 2012)

So sorry for the late response!! I really do like the install. It does lack in bass in some songs and in certain frequencies. It does really hit notes loud and deep but sometimes it's a little sloppy. I ordered a 10inch sealed sub to see the difference in what I am missing. It is very satisfying but sometimes I want that 20hz note on certain songs. It will just completely cutout like there wasn't much bass to begin with. Overall...it's sounds more like a premium sound system that would come factory installed in an expensive car.


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## Chyeab0i (Dec 12, 2012)

XtremeRevolution said:


> Here's the concept behind this whole idea.
> 
> 6x9 subs are great if you want more output. Tang Band as well as Cadence make some great ones. However good the trunk I'd at sealing noise, it is imperfect. The end result is that any 6x9 sub will effectively be installed in the equivalent of a very leaky box.
> 
> ...


 Where can I go about getting this! That would be nice!


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## Chyeab0i (Dec 12, 2012)

The signal I originally got from the drivers side kick panel. After I didn't have time for my door speaker install because I wanted to route new wires, I went to a pro. He did it all behind the headunit so it'll be easier if I wanted to put in an aftermarket headunit later on.


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## CHEVYCRUZE RS (Mar 29, 2011)

Nice install, was looking into something like this for my cruze!


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## edcast22 (Jun 24, 2015)

Still have it installed? if so how is it? shoot me a message or something please if not email me [email protected]! thanks


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## hificruzer226 (Mar 27, 2013)

I just removed these and I absolutely loved this set up. Not a ton of output but deep clean bass. I would do it again if I didnt have the itch for dual 18's


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## Chyeab0i (Dec 12, 2012)

no I don't but these were great. Even though the bass wasn't thunder...you felt the bass more than you would in a 10" sub due to the subs being fixed to the car's frame. It also made the sound more "full". Though on some deep notes it is lacking especially those ultra lows...but we all know that you need like a super expensive 12-15" to get that fix and a huge trunk. I would recommend if you want your trunk space and if you don't need heavy bass. It does bump wayyyy better than any factory 6x9. Just make sure you secure your third brake light as I was having rattling issues against the rear window. A pro anchored it down for me.


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## ChevyGuy (Dec 13, 2014)

How is the deep bass compared to some of the other options like the underseat sub or the boxed sub that was mounted to the underside of the shelf? I'd like bass, but I'm not giving up a big chunk of trunk space to do it. I'm not into loud, but I want it there.


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## hificruzer226 (Mar 27, 2013)

ChevyGuy said:


> How is the deep bass compared to some of the other options like the underseat sub or the boxed sub that was mounted to the underside of the shelf? I'd like bass, but I'm not giving up a big chunk of trunk space to do it. I'm not into loud, but I want it there.


I would say they were touching the 28-35hz depending on the complexity of sine wave. so very low


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## hificruzer226 (Mar 27, 2013)

I never measured, my statement is just from what I remember it sounding like. it was clean and low not loud


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## NickD (Dec 10, 2011)

Have to say the Cruze is the one and only vehicle that I have owned that has small rear door speakers. Wonder why they did this, when you get much higher sound quality from the package tray and already laid out for this.

04 Cavalier had rear deck speakers, cheap single cone speakers with a magnet about the size of a wedding ring. Replaced those with Blaupunkt overdrive 6 by 9 full range speakers, wow, what a difference. But also installed an auxiliary amplifier to convert the radio from a CD toaster to a CD player. Just used the fadder to kill the front door speakers, my feet don't have ears anyway and were causing acoustical phase distortion. 

So what did you do with your rear door speakers? Disconnect them? Sure can't parallel additional speakers, would overload the car radios amplifier. Stereo infers two sound systems where the music is recorded with two microphones to produce a lot more fullness to the sound. Adding additional speaker with the same identical signals only acts to degrade the quality of the sound. Ha, and contrary to so-called purist, do love the ping-pong effect.

Did add rear speakers to my home system for sound surround, but entirely different signals, makes my relatively small listening area sound like a concert hall. In my Cruze, haven't play with it yet, just kill the rear door speakers, notice a degradation in sound quality with those turned up. Certainly wasn't designed by a professional. A marketing guy is more like it. 

Rare for me to have the rear seats down, only when I am hauling something, but a cure for this also. Radio has an on-off switch.

Also a L-R and R-L circuit that by increasing the negative levels gives the effective distance a lot more width when speakers have to be mounted closer together, like in a car. Add this and sound surround would be nice, but the main speakers have to be in the front. Impractical and would require some really major modifications, like getting rid of the air bags.

Ha, in my airplane all I got was a 4" speaker, but if you want to stay alive, far better off to listen to ATC than to music.

Best sound in a vehicle is to wear noise canceling head phones, but is illegal, but say nothing about adding a 2,000 watt system to your vehicle. Can also get a driver's license if you are stone deaf, so will leave this to you to figure out. I could, if I was smoking crack like our law makers do.


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