An update, and a few more questions...

So I'm almost done with a really sweet sub enclosure Its very long (36") but very narrow, and it will sit at the front of the trunk, tucked right into the curve. (the back side is the same taper as the seats) I'll post a pic of the mockup. Its going to fit like a glove and take up very little typically used trunk space It is "exactly" .75 cu ft internal volume, subtracting for speaker, port, and bracing displacement.... which is "exactly" what my subwoofer works best in

I already bought the sub, a Sundown Audio SA-8V3
.... and for an 8" sub, its pretty ridiculous ! It is close to 30 lbs ! The magnet is as big around as the cone ! The cool thing is though, it is designed almost more for deep bass, than it is "loud" bass, IMPO. In fact, it is best tuned at 35hz (which mine is tuned to spot on 35hz). I like this, because very deep bass is less likely to drown out mids + highs, plus you need more of it to cover road noise.

I'll be running an Infinity Reference 4555A which puts out 45wts RMS into the 4 stereo channels at 4 ohms, and 500 wts RMS (exactly what my sub woofer wants) into the mono sub channel. Sweet looking amp, with great reviews. Looks like it will integrate beautifully Check out the details here....
https://www.crutchfield.com/p_108R455AM/Infinity-Reference-4555a.html?tp=115

BTW, they recommend 3 x 30 amp fuses... but I might start out with 20's or 25's just to see how long they last, as if I can get by with those, I think it will be safer on the car. Either way, this is apparently a very efficient amp, which is easy on most vehicles.

Now, I'm curious to know what is up with the factory mids and highs ? How many watts are they actually designed for ? If I blow them in the first two days, so be it. I'll have to get better ones ....but hoping I can be easy on them, and make them last for a minute. One good thing, I'll be taking away any of the bass they would normally be trying to play, and sending it to an actual, dedicated subwoofer, so that should be easier on them.

I think most of you know that you can use 100wts with a 30 wt speaker, as long as your very careful not to clip anything.... but you can also blow 30 wt speakers with 20 watts of garbage distortion...

Anyway, even for those of you who are not into heavy bass, you know their is always bass and gain controls, right ? And although I enjoy deep bass which you can feel.... even over road noise, I do not like to drown out my actual music. Plus, I listen to everything from old school classic rock (with very little bass) to electronic / house music with tons of crazy deep synth bass. I listen to it all, so I want a stereo that plays it all.

Your thoughts ???

 

My cardboard mockup... 3rd try ... but finally got it right. Easier, and cheaper, with cardboard, than wood though

 

Sorry... OCD running wild this morning lol

But I just had a streak of paranoia..... for anyone who might know, my concern is, does the factory stereo setup (thinking its playing into a weak little amp and speakers, which cannot handle a lot of bass) filter out, or cutoff the bass signal at the lowest end ?

Edit: A tech guy at Crutchfields told me my concerns were totally legit, and that this would be required....

https://www.crutchfield.com/p_161LC7IB/AudioControl-LC7i-Black.html?skipvs=T

Hmmmm. Another $189

 

Well, I guess with an LC7i. It seperates, reconstructs, and boosts bass levels, as well as other important features. Honestly I have not seen any other brands which make a device such as this, although surely their must be a few ? In any case, I read through all 56 reviews for it on Crutchfields and it got extremely high ratings, with many people doing exactly what I want to do (upgrading a stereo system, but keeping the stock head unit.) Almost every review said it worked great.

 

Thomassster yes, from what I hear, a Digital Sound Processor makes all the difference. Now honestly, I think pretty much all of the different DSP's would help a lot, but check out my other thread, "Just what I needed to know"....

.....that guy turned me onto the Axxess DSP-X, which not only will keeps the bass loud and clear, but requires no cutting and splicing of wires in our factory system. And, it uses a phone app, from which you can make any necessary adjustments right from your phone. It even includes a 31 band parametric EQ

Also, the amp I bought, has a seperate remote controller for the bass level as well.

BTW, one more interesting thing, when you say, our factory unit has terrible sound, and crappy bass, that's actually not entirely true. If your ever sitting in a very quiet place, and you are playing from a good, clean source, you will see that it sounds beautiful, clean, and deep clear bass > at very low volume levels. The problem is, the head unit "thinking that it has no way to reproduce that deep bass, at higher levels", begins to chop off the lows, both in loudness and depth, the higher you turn it. A DSP completely prevents this

 

Well almost never. But my point is that the beginning signal, before any significant amplification, is really quite nice. A DSP will preserve and amplify that.