When I fitted my new head unit and Infinity speakers, I remarked in this thread that I was staggered at the difference - I also mentioned that I was pretty confident that I wouldn't be needing a sub

Again, I'll repeat the fact that I'm not an ICE fanatic at all - I sometimes drive hundreds of miles without any music at all

However, Matthew, my youngest son has recently bought a Mk2 Punto ELX, which came with a small 100W sub tucked away in the corner of the boot.

Once we got it up and running, I was amazed at how good the sound was, so I decided to splash out....

I didn't want to lose half my boot space and also, I didn't want a feeble little underseat sub, so after doing some research, I ended up with one of these

Pioneer TS-WX77a

Its not exactly small - it takes up almost all of the width of the boot - however, its super-slim, so I've only lost a couple of inches of boot height, for about half of the boot floor area

And as for the sound difference - I'm just as staggered as I was when I fitted the new speakers and head unit - amazing!

I've backed off the bass on the main speakers, which has made the sound much clearer, but the bass from the boot is truly thunderous (although usefully, I have a neat little remote in the car to wind off the bass for when I'm not in the mood)

Not cheap, but very, very impressive

I think the biggest improvement comes from taking away the task of delivering bass from the 6.5" speakers. The sound quality in my old coop was awesome! I'll sort this one out eventually, but it's not high up on the list of things to do. Like you, I drive about for days/weeks without the radio on sometimes just enjoying the sound of the engine/exhaust.

sounds like a very good compromise with that flat sub Nigel. For my recent ICE install I decided against going with a sub box as I didn't want to lose boot space. I did toy with the idea of getting one of the 'flat' subs but was told they weren't worth it

Still, with JL Audio 6.5s upfront the bass is still good but doesn't have the low end kick a sub would deliver.

Agree with that completely, the rest of the speakers have a much easier life, great sound as a result. I went the simple route with a very detachable sub-unit, as I use it in my wintercar (Punto Mk2) and the Argenta too.

Pic: http://sfk.ibk.se/depa/showfile.php?carpic_no=2218&type=picture

Somewhat over a year ago I put in new component speakers in the front and matching 6x9s in the back but always felt that the very bottom was missing so bought one of these:

http://www.pioneer.co.uk/uk/products/25/130/201/TS-WX11A/index.html

However, the FIAT is really my winter car (strange choice I know!) and does not get as much attention as it may deserve. I have only just got round to fitting the sub. It went into the cubby-hole on the left side of the boot and is absolutely all I need to fill out the bottom octaves adequately. When adjusted correctly, you don't really realise that there is a sub installed - the music just seems to sound balanced. Cheap but well worth a look for those who don't want to spend much nor use up too much space.

To be honest, I find that the background noise in the FIAT is so high, especially at speed, a top flight hifi would be overkill. Best leave that for the lounge.

totally agree with that, a top flight sound system would sound better in a german car

in some ways having a loud system can drown out the annoying squeaks though!

Neil - I looked closely at that one, but I worked out that I'd struggle to get it under a seat - never thought of the boot cubbyhole

I tried drowning out the noises from the engine and the rubbish door seals (didn't they improve them at some point?) but the bleeding ear drums was a poor compromise!

I'm not a great fan of German cars myself - too uncharismatic, often willfully ugly, and not as reliable as their reputation suggests, but each to their own. However, a quiet car does make it easier to enjoy music without causing hearing damage.

Needless to say a good extra soundproofing is essential in a good car audio. Not too difficult in a Coupe and easy in a Punto Mk2.. (now the Punto's half the noice of the Coupe - very quiet! )