got a bmw convertible hardtop... trunk space is pretty limited so i'm not even sure if i will put a sub in there...
one of my worries is that the sub vibrations will hurt my hardtop mechanics

any inputs?

nah it won't hurt anything unless you like...shorted the wires out on the hardtop mechanics or something lol.

lots of shallow mount subwoofers available so you just need to figure out how much actual space you have for a subwoofer and go from there.

Don't buy a shallow mount sub. They are absolute garbage. The mechanics of the roof wilk be fine as long as you don't do a crazy build. I've broken 3 sunroof in different cars but aith huge builds had smaller builds and everything stayed fine. Measure you trunk and how much space your willing to give up. Alsoblet us know what your goals are for the build

so i did some measurements finally...

i'm hoping to give up this much space... 13inch deep, 14 inch height, 23inch wide

would anything sound good with measurements in that size?

subwoofer wise that's plenty of airspace for a good subwoofer.

just need to find a prebuilt box that will fit in there unless you want to get a custom one built.

https://www.sonicelectronix.com/cat_i1_car-subwoofer-boxes.html busy atm but you can browse through here and see if something works.

nah

actually, i found my space to be much more limited...

27inch wide, 11 inch height, 14 inch deep
i might be able to go 17 inch deep but will have to lower the height to 10 inches in that case...

i've been looking for 10 inch and 12 inch subs. vented.

i've only found the truck style one that will fit or the shallow mounts... can someone advise how those would sound?
https://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_33881_Atrend-12TKV.html <--- box
https://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_93406_JL-Audio-MicroSub-ACP112LG-TW1.html <--- only 400 watt, would that be ok for a convertible? and it's also a microsub...
https://www.atrendusa.com/best-car-audio-subwoofers-6 <---- and what's with these being so cheap with 500 watt output?

i would prefer something around the 500watt rms because it is a convertible and i think it would need at least that power to sound any good with the top down?

looking to spend around the $1000 price point for everything included, i'm willing to go a bit higher if $1000 is not realistic.

Should I start looking at 8 inches? or dual 8 inch vs a 12 inch? how would a dual 500watt 8 inch ported box compare to a 12 inch 500watt in a box like the above?

This post was edited by 1xtimer on Mar 9 2017 08:25pm

http://store.soundsolutionsaudio.com/categories/sub-woofers/sundown-audio/e-series.html
http://www.sundownaudio.com/index.php/products/subwoofers-2/item/ev3-series

surface area isn't that big of a deal tbh. a 10 vs 12 of the same series generally won't have a whole lot of difference. yes the 12 will be better but it's not worth losing sleep over.

with the top down i don't think it'll be the subwoofer you find lacking. mids and highs suffer terribly in convertibles compared to the subwoofer.

as for the box issue..probably just go the custom route. an audio shop should be able to design and give you the air space of a box and build it for fairly cheap. you can do it yourself but if its an odd design it's easier to let someone use to building boxes do the work.

once you settle on a box that works best in your situation is when you can really start narrowing down the subwoofer choices.

now onto the more technical issues.

dual 8s vs a single 12 is too vague tbh. if its say two 8 inch 250rms per vs a single 12 500rms with the similar design then the 8s will probably do better but its not gonna be a giant difference most likely.

ported vs sealed is one of those long never ending debates. if you listen to lots of different music genres a sealed is generally a better idea because it's less specialized. if you listen to generally low bass rap/hip hop then a ported will help the subwoofer reach maximum potential within that specific range.

your budget is fine for what you are trying to accomplish. the box is really the biggest hurdle in the mix right now because a custom box will be better than dealing with prebuilts.