on the top roof of the trunk (directly beneath the rear-hat shelf), and are protected by metal rim rings...the metal rim rings drop down approximately 3", while the sub-woofers' magnetic structures drop down an additional 1" below the bottom edge of the metal rim rings (for a total of 4" from the top of the trunk)...regarding clearance, you can still slide a full-sized cooler all the way to the back-seat back-board.