I am currently shopping around for a 5 channel amp and have faced a dilemma. Most are huge, but the one I am interested in (Alpine MRV-F450) is not quite as big as the others. With this in mind, has anyone found a stealth location to store their amps besides taking out the spare tire? I was thinking of taking out the Bose amplifier under the rear deck and trying to fit it there...any opinions?

Dre'

 

why not just mount to the rear seats? This way its not taking up any space and doesnt look bad....

 

If you have the premium with reclining rear seats.....
I have my Audison 5ch mounted behind the seat back; completely stealth.
Installed mesh at the top of the seat to let the heat rise.

 

have you looked at the DLS RA50? it's relatively small for a 5 channel

 

I mounted mine on the floor where it meets the back seat and built a protective shelf out of carpeted MDF to protect my 21 inch Xtant amp. I can throw anything in the trunk and not worry about damaging the amp. There is just a little step at the back og the seat on the floor.

I like the hidden Audison behind the seat back. That's a great idea.

 

FWIW, BigSash is correct with the exception of the Audison:

423.832825 in.^3 DLS Reference RA50
428.526684 in.^3 Alpine MRV-F450
430.051 in.^3 JL Audio 500/5

267.645259 in.^3 LPx600.5 Audison

The hit you take with the audison is obviously going to be output:

Audison:
60x4 180x1 @ 4
85x4 240x1 @ 2

DLS RA50:
70x4 265x1 @ 4
100x4 265x1 @ 2

note: both are probably underrated.

 

yep DLS amps are highly under rated they seem to have a lot of head room

 

Does it interfere with the operation of the adjustable seat?

 

Had to bend two rods on the back of the seat to clear the amp (see pic)
After that recliner works just fine.

 

Mine is on a little shelf in the trunk and interferes with nothing. It has a pretty small form factor though (DLS RA30). Pretty slick. You can't even see it looking from above. This photo is shooting from below.

 

GeeMan,

How is your amp handling heat buildup where its mounted? I'm concerned about heat dissipation for my application.
(I'm looking at different options as to areas for mounting an amp that is 23.25x7.5x2( Zapco)).
Trying for one amp but might have to consider going with two.

Thanks,

B.

 

So far no problems with heat. This is the first summer though as it was installed in Oct 05. We're due for a stretch of 90-100 weather here over the next week so it should be a good test. The installer didn't think it would be a problem. It may well be problematic with other amp designs. This particular amp is 15.15 x 9.65 x 2.33 and is a fanless design.

 

Got a Amp Rack kind of thing built on the back of the seat.

 

Using the finish panel from the back of the seats as a template, I cut a board from mdf, carpeted it, and mounted it to the steel behind that finish panel. I went ahead and cut out the pass-thru hole so that functionality was not lost. I've got my NINe.4 on the right and room for another (future upgrade) on the left.

Brian

 

sounds like a nice setup, any pix?