I've got a pretty awesome JL audio 12" for the back of my 2dr. It fits perfectly behind the rear seat, and I usually lay it on it's back facing up. I get great bass response in the rig... when the hardtop is on.

Take the top off, and my bass disappears. No big surprise there, but even bumping up the gain and facing the speaker towards the front seats does little to compensate for the top off. I'm sure I'm not the first one to deal with this

I've been seriously considering ditching the hardtop lately, and going year-round with the Trektop NX in twill. For those of you with that setup, what can you tell us about subwoofer response inside that soft top? I would guess that it's better than topless and not as good as hardtop, but I'm curious what people have to say about running a sub with a trektop.

 

Best thing i have found to improve the feel of the bass inside a topless jeep or soft top jeep is to make it downward firing. I did it in my old tj with soft top with great results and have done it with my jk when i pull the hard top off during summer.

 

I have a similar setup. I installed a Tuffy Trunk that gives me a secure area in the back and fits over my 12 inch Alpine sub enclosure. I have the sub firing toward the rear seats and right up against them. Mine sounds real good. Maybe that will work for you.

 

This is a great idea. Since a lot of sub range is actually in the more-felt-than-heard frequencies, firing down into the tub makes sense! I would have to fab up something to point my box down, though. I'll give it a try.

In the meantime, still curious to hear more re: trektop and sub response..

 

X2 i have a pionner 12 down firing and with all my windows down and top off i still have a decent amount of bass...only 600w

 

In the mean time firing it at the tail gate may give you some improvement.

 

Great, thanks!

I'll give it a try this weekend and report back.

 

Think I have a very similar set up... JL audio 12v3 in the back of a 2-door. However, I also have 4 aura bass shakers in the front seats (2 per seat). You wont believe how much of a difference it makes! A large part of bass is felt not heard. I will actually make you bass "feel" way louder. There pretty inexpensive and don't need a hi quality amp (since there not playing sound)... Definitely worth a try.

 

I have bass shakers too. Unfortunately they won't fit in 2-door Jeeps.

 

I have a sub inclosure (punch 12 P3) similar to JL Stealth. Incredible bass w hardtop and trektop