Subwoofer replacement

[TexasAngel34]

love this thread, i want to replace my amp and sub also, i dont have the factory radio anymore , just bought a indash dvd setup.. what is the best amp/sub to replace the factory ones with? and do i need any special items to make them work .. ? Thanks...

rightnow i have a sony cd deck with a fosgate 700W amp...

 

[cnovalles73]

well im getting a kenwood excelon sub thats what the guy recommended for me seeing as Im not willing to spend the money on JL audio he told me kenwood is the best choice for me

....ok, cool but is the kenwood a direct drop-in replacement...?

 

[jacks3am]

Please do this

Buy this sub and hook it up to your stock amp

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_777B17/Sound-Ordnance-B-17.html?tp=112

ITS CRAZY GOOD! best of both worlds! works great with the stock amp!

 

[scot008]

JBL GTO 804 or Polk MM840

Even if your subwoofer is not blown, this is a good, inexpensive upgrade:

JBL GTO804 Reduced Depth 8-Inch Subwoofer

It works well with the factory amp, and it sounds much tighter than the factory driver. Organ pipes sound like organ pipes, and base fiddles sound like base fiddles, instead of vague thumps. The JBL is also more efficient.

However, do not get this driver (or any other upgraded 8 inch subwoofer) expecting an easy and quick substitution. The factory enclosure must be modified to accept the added depth of this subwoofer and many others. Also, the speaker mounting holes do not quite line up. The factory enclosure has a molded platform that permits an additional mounting screw into the center of the subwoofer magnet. To mount the deeper JBL, I had to cut an inch off this platform and reseal the enclosure using a steel plate, about 10 3/4" screws and half a tube of silicon. I redrilled the speaker mounting holes to match the new driver, and attached the JBL using #8 T-nuts held in place with plastic epoxy and #8 machine screws. Lastly, I had to remove some of the damping material from the eclosure to accommodate the much larger magnet on the JBL.

The improved sound made all of this work worthwhile, but I have subsequently realized that there might be an easier way to do it. There is a full inch of clearance between the subwoofer and the speaker grill, and the whole procedure might be done using an adapter ring at the front of the enclosure. I would probably use polycarbonate sheet like Lexan to make the ring.

The mounting depth of the factory driver is 3 1/2", and the mounting depth of the JBL GTO804 is 4 5/16", for a difference of 13/16". So, a 3/4" adapter ring with a 1/16" gasket would work, provided the enclosure did not rattle against the back of the magnet.


A 3/4" adapter ring would definitely work with the Polk Audio MM840. It uses a more powerful and compact neodymium magnet that gives the driver a 4 1/8" mouting depth.

I wish I had thought of these things before I embarked on the project. Oh, well.

My next upgrade will be to replace the amp with Rockford Fosgate R500-1D, witch supplies 250 watts RMS into 4 ohms. It is about the same size as the factory amp and will mount transparently.

And then, I will probably need a 10" subwoofer in order truly to scare passengers with the cannon shots in the 1812 Overature. It never ends.

 

[bobholthaus]

Scot008- thanks for the ideas. I might try your advice on going with rings. As I'm brand new to this forum and expeditions (I'm helping a friend), can you give me the basics on sub amp location and whether there's a factory amp and how it's all wired. Friend has 06 with nav and we want to do new hu, 4 speakers with their own amp, & new sub with the same Rockford amp you mention. Thanks.

 

[Expeditionary]

right now I have a kenwood ddx318 HU with along with the stock speaker and sup amps from the mach audio system, I have the stock amp powering 3 JL audio 10W0s that are 12ohm a piece wired down to 4 ohms, idk how much power the stock amp puts out but those subs are PLENTY loud for me right now, even though I have a 1000.1 hifonics class D mono amp laving around here fresh out of the box that for some reason or another doesnt put out power.
thaT stock amp will push a ton of power with an aftermarket headunit, so any good kicker, JL, rockford, pioneer, kenwood, alpine, 8" sub is going to get the beats pumping real well.
My set up shakes the rear view vibrates the seats and rattles the trunk like crazy. 3 10s on stock power... who'd a thunk...

 

[GAINMOB]

i have a 3600 watt amp now...i'll be looking at doing a custom install by either putting it in the hatch area where the jack is (removing all that) and putting battery in factory sub spot or removing the factory sub and installing it there with another battery