Mount amps under rear seat or under front seats?

I know there are some posts about this but I wanted to ask if you had to do it again where would you mount your amps? And if you have mounted your amps in one of these areas can you post some pics and let me know some detail around it?

I have these things i need to mount

I have a 2021 Tundra Crewmax

1 - 5 channel amp
1 - 4 channel amp
1 - Helix DSP

I was thinking of doing it in the rear seats, but after the seats are down its just too close for any air flow... So that means i would have to cut some foam so the amps can sit flush to where the carpeted area is.. and Im having second thoughts about that route.

 

I put my Kenwood Excelon 5 channel amp under the front seat.

 

Did you use any amp mounts or make one?

 

I made one. The Excelon is kind of compact, so I had plenty of room. I just cut a 3/4 piece of plywood, coated it with spray on bed liner, and used some existing floor bolts (don't remember what they attached) to hold it in place. There are only two bolts on the front, so the thicker plywood gives good stability. The black bed liner on the plywood blends in well with the black seat rails and carpet.

 

I have 1 JL Hd900/5 under each front seat (2 total) and a helix dsp pro mk2 under the drivers seat. Its quite a lot of wiring crossing over the console. If you are only running 1 sub then there would be room behind the rear seats, but i'm running dual 10's and there is no room for amps/dsp.
I ended up using a piece of mdf with feet to keep it level and a place for the under seat vent's air to go. Others have used a piece of thick plastic/acrylic

If i were going to run it under the rear seat, the only way i would do that is with this guy, but its expensive:
https://www.esptruck.com/product-page/2014-2018-toyota-tundra-crewmax-long-box-under-seat-storage

Another option would be this, but dont like that its not covered.
https://www.esptruck.com/product-page/toyota-crewmax-rear-under-seat-storage-unit-1

 

Thanks for these options and I saw both. The one with the 3 pockets wouldn't work as my 5 channel amp would not fit. The long one was on my list as well but then though there is no opening for air flow. Id have to cut some holes out and I know its aluminum and all out of stock at the moment.

Im running dual 10's as well. The speaker box was a really tight fit. Had to screw them down for it to fully seat and i think i hear a couple small cracks when doing so. I hope i didnt damage anything. A little bent metal is fine though. I did have a thought of creating a amp rack above the speaker box. There is that long strip above the subwoofer box just under the rear window that may work. Will look again later as to how far the seat sits...

 

Yeah i thought about that strip above the seat as well. I couldn't figure out a decent mounting option for it, so it went under the front seats.
I have a box from tech12volt and its a snug fit behind the rear seats, it doesn't move an inch. So you screwed down the sub box to the floor board and then put the rear seats in and that's when you heard a crack?

What speakers/subs/amps/dsp are you running?

 

I put my 5 channel Alpine PDX V9 under the passenger seat.
Made my own mount out of a cutting board..
What I have under the seat now..




First had it with an AC LC6i LOC, but it didn't sound good.



I had it with my JBL MS-8 but could never a decent calibration so I ditched the stock Entune HU for a Kenwood HU.
Had the front door focals bi-amped with the 5 channel and another amp for the rear doors and bridged center dash speaker.
Never got good results, it all boiled down to the crappy stock HU, so I replaced it.



Running a twin 10" Stealthbox under the seat of my DC.
Very happy with it since I fixed the wiring issue I had..

SB-T-TUNDB3/10TW3/BK - Car Audio - Stealthbox® - Toyota - JL Audio

 

The sub box is from James as well. I do have some sound deadening material however that should flatten with that amount of pressure. I did not bolt the box down. I just put the speaker box in, then placed the seats in and started bolting them down and then heard a couple cracks (3 small cracks) while getting them tight. Checked the rear and didnt see any metal deformation....hopefully its nothing.

My setup
Head Unit:
Kenwood 1057XR

Amps:
Mosconi Pro 5/30
Mosconi Pro 4/10

DSP:
Helix DSP Ultra

Subs: Dual 10" Arc Audio and subs from tech12volt

Speakers:
Focal KX3 components
Cheap rear fill speakers

 

Thanks for giving me the pics. It helps!

 

My amps have been under my rear seats for 3 years with zero issue.

 

Holy shit. You aren't messing around! That 5ch is impressive. I dont think i've seen a 5ch that puts out that much power to the subs. So you are running 3 way active in the front and passive in the rear?

You'll know if your box cracked but i doubt it. If its ported, wont make much of a difference at all. Just make sure your subs dont contact the bar thats right in front of the subs.

sound deaden everything you can. I did all the doors and the rear panel behind the subs.

 

Yeah Im about mid 40's now and what I have learned is do it right the first time. In the end you will save money.

I am going to run active front and rear. Its a sealed box but I dont think the box is damaged at all. I was more worried about damaging something on the car - lol. I have sound deadened everything (roof/floors/doors and rear) followed up with Noico 350mil closed cell foam. The subs are not contacting the front bar... but its very close... im scared it will in high excursion... but we'll see.

 

Where the hell is your build log with all the pictures?

Active in the rear with coax speakers?

Have you already tuned your helix?

 

LOL - Less talk and more action. I will post once I am completed. I have been taking pics along the way. Rears are midrange speakers ( Timpano TPT-M6-4) not coaxial. I have not tuned my helix yet. I do have my numbers ready for HP and LP filters. I also have a UMIK-2 for use with REW after Im settled in for fine tuning.

 

Nice. Have you tuned before?
If not, here's my take on it:
https://www.tundras.com/threads/my-take-on-stereo-tuning-using-rew.84015/

If you are a pro, let me know if i'm tuning wrong. Its just what i gathered from doing all the research i could. lol

 

Im by no means a pro but I have dabbled in tuning before with subwoofers. I built a subwoofer for home theater and needed to tune that to my room. That was years ago.

I glanced at your post and it looks like a great starting point for me. Will read once I am off work.

 

I've got a bunch of information on using a oscope to set the gains correctly, but still need to finish and do the writeup.

 

I look forward to seeing your build thread!

I am getting ready to sound deaden the rear wall and floor of my crewcab this weekend. I have a box for two tens on the way from James as well and want to understand a bit more about the fitment of your box.

You put sound deadening sheets on the back wall and then put the Noico 350ml closed cell foam over that it sounds like. Did you also place the factory fabric back over top of the deadening sheets and closed cell foam?

I read on here that someone decided not to do closed cell foam on the back wall because of the spacing for the sub box and factory liner. I am wondering if I should skip the closed cell foam as well to make sure the subs have more room.

 

Initially i didnt have it on but I will be placing it back on when I put everything back. You would have more room but I think I already stretched my fit out so It should be fine.

 

Funny. I have the same problem right now. I really don’t want to chop up the carpet. If you figure out how to fit those amps under the seat let me know.

 

I think it’s a lot easier just going with 5channel amp under the passenger seat. That is plenty of power to run the speakers and subs. I did it in the past with my installer and my system kicked ass.

 

Not enough channels if you’re active.

 

Explain your set up. So far I see most guys are just replacing the doors with components. Not touching the dash speakers? Or you changing all the speakers?

 

This is taking a large step past a 5ch amp, some passive components and a sub or two. Nothing wrong with that, but if you are serious about your system the next (large) jump up is a full active.

He is going to be running a full active setup, that means that instead of using that little passive crossover box that came with the components, you are connecting all the speakers directly to the amp, and using a DSP that you control what sound frequencies go to what speakers by using a calibrated microphone and test tones to tune the sound to perfection.
If you were playing a game, the 5ch amp and speakers/sub is easy mode and a dsp with an active setup is Hard/Expert mode.

I believe the OP is running 8ch for his door speakers, 6 channels will be used for the 3 way speakers in the front (6" midbass in the door, 1" tweeter in the sail pannel, and 2.5" midrange in the dash corner most likely) and the other two will be for a midbass driver in the rear doors. Then he has 1 channel for his sub(s).

 

Thank you Daniel for the awesome write up. I’m in touch with James from tech12volts. Just trying to get a really good idea which way guys are going on there systems. I plan on having my installer do one. I understand your post thanks again.

 

Let us know with what you end up with!

 

Been in touch with James again. I just placed my order with him. Arc audio setup.

 

Ok they are now mounted under the seats. I used a piece of wood and glued them into the floor with construction polyurethane adhesive. Then used 1/4 HDPE board on top of carpet. Used stock bolt holes when I could and other screws into the wood. No drilling new holes into floor. Worked great. Fits perfect. Breathes good. Heat/AC vents still open and can still flow onto the side gaps.

 

Wow you’re not messing around amps look beefy! Nice build.