Would boxing in trunk make radio sound better?

[funbnme]

Tell me if I'm crazy.

I got another trunk panel fabbed up and in the car. For this one, I had extra carpet, so instead of cutting it, I covered the back of the panel too.

Today, I took the car out and the radio sounds better. I have the Classic Auto Sound radio...and I know it's not great for sound quality. But today, the speakers didn't sound as thin and the bass sounded a bit deeper.

Could the smaller space behind the speakers and the carpet on the trunk floor and rear panel really help improve the sound...or do I just feel like it sounds better because of the extra time I spent doing the trunk (placebo effect)?

Here's what it looks like now (the carpet is dirty from all the MDF dust).

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/09/DSCN1087-1.jpg


I angled the back piece a bit. I liked the look just a bit more than having it stand vertical.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2009/09/DSCN1089-1.jpg

[NOT A TA]

Back in the early 70's I built small wooden speaker boxes for my 6X9's I mounted in the rear shelf of my 68 Camaro and the bass sounded much better. The 8 track player didn't have much power and nobody had amps yet.

[fmk123ster]

I am no expert but I think Free air systems make it so you dont need to fully enclose a system

[CarPlayLB]

It probably does sound better!
Besides the front of the speaker projecting sound, the back of the speaker creates a soundwave of it's own. That soundwave is sensitive to hard surfaces. The more you can cut down on bare metal surfaces, the better your system will sound. A lot of factory systems used a cardboard box with insulation to isolate the back of the speaker.
Take a peak in your home speakers some time, and you will see what appears to be fiberglass insulation. That is there to dampen the back wave off the speaker cone. Without it, the speaker would have somewhat of a "ring" to it. I use pillow stuffing material in my speaker boxes, as it is easier on the hands and arms than fiberglass!
This can also work to your advantage. High frequencies, like tweeters, can actually project their sound off of glass surfaces. I didn't want to cut the doors on my '69 Camaro, so I mounted the tweeters where the A pillar meets the dash. They project the sound to windshield and are reflected off...not perfect, but my kneecaps don't have ears!

[Modo Innovations]

It will sound better. What you have accomplished is basically put you rear speakers in an enclosure.
Free air speakers require quite a bit more power to get the same out put as a speaker in an enclosure. Your bass will be more responsive, accurate and louder in an enclosure. I once hooked up 4, 12" woofers in an enclosure and set it outside of the vehicle to make sure it worked before I installed it. Although the speakers where in an enclosure, the sound was awful to say the least. The sound waves had nothing to bounce off of except the earth's atmosphere. When the enclosure was installed it was awesome. Speakers need areas in front of the cone and behind it to perform properly.

Now, if you wanted to improve your sound with same power, you could replace the speakers with a more efficient speaker than what you have now. This will increase your volume and sound quality. Your efficiency is called out as the "db rating" on the speakers specs. Example 89db is not as efficient as a speaker with a 93db rating. The higher the number the more efficient the speaker is.
My 2 cents.

[funbnme]

Thanks for the replies. Good to know that it's not a placebo effect.

I think I have good speakers...they are made by Kenwood. I'm not sure of the model, but I'll look them up and see what the db rating is on them. I doubt they are top of the line, but they aren't flea-market cheapies either. I would like to get some front speakers installed to balance out the sound. Might need an amp too.

All that is down the road though. Rear suspension upgrades are next on the list.