New Sub Woofer Upgrade

[musclemerc]

I originally had the Pioneer 8" shallow sub installed in the stock enclosure and never was fully satisfied with the sound. The basline was never on the money (it had a flappy artificial sound to it), I guess the shallow design was a factor in the performance. I wanted a richer, deeper, liver basline and I think I found the sub that deliver's exactly that.

I ordered the JL Audio 6W3V3-4 its a 6-1/2" sub that requires a sealed enclosure. The stock enclosure is almost perfectly matched for dimension's and the cost was pretty good at $109.00 Shipped. I included pics of both subs next too each other and the JL Audio is by far the superior sub.

I had to modify the stock enclosure first by lowering the support on the inside bottom of the enclosure. I chose to use my Dremel with a shaft attatchment to make this cut. Afterwards I had to relocate the mounting hole for the sub opening 5/8" away from the outside edge. There will be a small void that can be either sealed with silicone or do like I did and cut a half moon out of some 1/2" MDF and install it (see the two screws on the side of the new sub). I was able to reuse the factory seal to keep the sound in the cabin and not in the trunk, I chose not to reuse the foam pad that covered the factory sub, the JL Audio has a longer excursion so this was not reused.

Total time to modify the box is about 2 hours and was well worth it, the final fit was perfect and this little sub kick's a$$. The sound is night and day compared to the Pioneer or the stock sub. :burnout:

[03sport007]

Nice work!!! Did you keep the factory amp?

[MOTOWN]

ive been waiting to see how this worked out for you, i may do the same as mines is not hooked up , looks like it was great mod!

[4drcbra]

i just ditched the factory sub all together and installed the brand new Kicker line of component speakers. I have 2 12's in a sealed box w/ factory amp. Let us know how it sounds because I would like to have my trunk space back

[MercNasty]

you have 2 12's hooked up to the factory amp?

[ImpalaSlayer]

nice T, may have to do that.

what about wiring ad stuff? factory amp? run any new wires? im an audio noob

[F8LBITEva]

pretty sweet man

[LANDY]

looks good, by what i see its just a speaker swap.

[4play]

could I just use the factory signal to an aftermarket amp? how about the power? or do I have to run a seperate wire from the battery? talking about 1300 watts.

[musclemerc]

Landy, you are correct. Sub swap only, I kept the factory amp and wiring.

The sub sounds great, the cabin has a "live" sound to it. The extra bass is nice!

The enclosure I used was a spare I picked up years ago, my old setup will soon be for sale it has the shallow Pioneer sub installed in it.

[F8LBITEva]

this is cool for us that want a little extra thump and dont want to be rattling the car apart.

[justbob]

could I just use the factory signal to an aftermarket amp? how about the power? or do I have to run a seperate wire from the battery? talking about 1300 watts.
No. It only supplies a 5v signal. All other wires can be used unless you are going BIG.

[4play]

so off the factory deck you cant use the sub output wire to signal an aftermarket amp? so what, tap into the rear deck speakers?

and would 1300 watt be considerd big?

[dohc324ci]

Sweet! I was going to go aftermarket Infinity but this will do. Thanks for the writeup and pics!

[JBeezy]

I'm in on this. Perfect Christmas gift to myself.

[ImpalaSlayer]

this is cool for us that want a little extra thump and dont want to be rattling the car apart.

exactly. :banana2:

[4drcbra]

yea I have 2 JL 12's hooked to factory amp. They sound great. Amp tends to overheat after about 30 mins of consistent face rocking. Its a temp setup, I have 2 JL amps to install and the wiring kit just need the time to do it. I put them in just seeing if it would actually work.... and it did. Not something I would rec as a permanent setup

[musclemerc]

^^ The amp is heating up and going into protect mode most likely because the 12's are much lower than a 4-Ohm load. The stock amp cannot handle that kind of load.

Get a Analog multimeter and try a parallel/series to get them up to 4-Ohm's, if they are dual voice coil then only use one side on each speaker in a series

[4play]

isnt the factory amp only 150 watts?

[musclemerc]

^^ I think the factory amp is 75 watts peak and 40 watt continuous.


BTW I saw another thread that mentioned using the Kicker 6.5" sub. Just remember you get what you pay for, the Kicker is a "shallow" sub and will not perform the same. I removed a 8" Pioneer "shallow" sub in favor for this JL Audio sub and the diffrence is night and day.

[4play]

yea I have 2 JL 12's hooked to factory amp. They sound great. Amp tends to overheat after about 30 mins of consistent face rocking. Its a temp setup, I have 2 JL amps to install and the wiring kit just need the time to do it. I put them in just seeing if it would actually work.... and it did. Not something I would rec as a permanent setup

hard to believe

[offroadking208]

i have a single Kicker 12" in the trunk, hooked up to a Polk audio 300w amp and it sounds great! Since im employed by best buy part time i got the stuff for a steal (less than 150 for the sub, sealed box, amp, and wiring), but i'd do it again even at full price. the bass really compliments the Kicker 6x8's i have in the doors and rear deck and has the ability to "rattle the car" even though it annoys me when it does. Anyone looking for a little extra bass, i'd recommend the Kicker 12". Kicker also has a 10" in a shallow box that sounds alright, but not quite comparable to the 12" obviously

[4drcbra]

my speakers are dual I'm only using one side on both for now. Like I said its temp until I get a chance to wire my new amps and install... gonna do it this Sunday

[JBeezy]

I originally had the Pioneer 8" shallow sub installed in the stock enclosure and never was fully satisfied with the sound. The basline was never on the money (it had a flappy artificial sound to it), I guess the shallow design was a factor in the performance. I wanted a richer, deeper, liver basline and I think I found the sub that deliver's exactly that.

I ordered the JL Audio 6W3V3-4 its a 6-1/2" sub that requires a sealed enclosure. The stock enclosure is almost perfectly matched for dimension's and the cost was pretty good at $109.00 Shipped. I included pics of both subs next too each other and the JL Audio is by far the superior sub.

I had to modify the stock enclosure first by lowering the support on the inside bottom of the enclosure. I chose to use my Dremel with a shaft attatchment to make this cut. Afterwards I had to relocate the mounting hole for the sub opening 5/8" away from the outside edge. There will be a small void that can be either sealed with silicone or do like I did and cut a half moon out of some 1/2" MDF and install it (see the two screws on the side of the new sub). I was able to reuse the factory seal to keep the sound in the cabin and not in the trunk, I chose not to reuse the foam pad that covered the factory sub, the JL Audio has a longer excursion so this was not reused.

Total time to modify the box is about 2 hours and was well worth it, the final fit was perfect and this little sub kick's a$$. The sound is night and day compared to the Pioneer or the stock sub. :burnout:

More details on the 1/2" MDF. I'm about to order the JL sub now. I want to install it all this weekend. eBay has them for $99 shipped from a seller with good feedback.

[musclemerc]

If you look at the pics I posted you will see the sub opening had to be modified off center. There was a little gap that needed to be filled so I cut a half moon out of a piece of 1/2" MDF and screwed it in from the inside of the enclosure. You don't have to do it with the MDF you could just run a bead of silicone around the gap.

It's not that complicated! If you can use a jigsaw or a dremel you can do this mod.

[JBeezy]

Cool I think I have a tool I can hook up to my compressor. No dremel. Hopefully my sub will be here this week.

[2,4shofast]

That fit much easier than my 8" sub! Good work:beer:

[JBeezy]

That fit much easier than my 8" sub! Good work:beer:
So you installed the JL 6.5" sub as well? How do you like it? What sub did you remove?

[2,4shofast]

So you installed the JL 6.5" sub as well? How do you like it? What sub did you remove?

I think you might be getting me mixed up with musclemerc, I modified the stock sub housing to fit a 8" Image Dynamics Sub...but required substantial more modification to fit.

[JBeezy]

Ok sorry. I just misunderstood.

[JBeezy]

I'm suppose to receive my sub today but we are covered in snow and I probably wont even b going to work. Would have been nice to have it then I could work on installing it all day. SMH!!!

[281MERC]

nice install musclemerc. good choice of sub, i was going to use that exact sub when i upgraded my system but i ended up going with the JL 6w0 instead mainly because it is better suited for the output of the factory amp. the 6w0 is rated at 75W RMS compared to the 150W RMS of the 6W3v3, i dont think the factory amp is pushing more than 50W RMS. Another good reason the 6w0 is a good pick is that the outer edge of the steel basket part of the sub is the same shape as the factory basket, so the factory plastic spacer piece can drop right in so the other funny lookin' plastic piece(with the foam on top) can fit perfectly on top of everything. i believe this piece is used to make a seal with the rear deck. like the 6w3v3, there is still clearance issues with the magnet so you still have to mod the enclosure. Sub sounds great btw, noticeably louder with a wider range of output, im impressed with how low it can play can play for such a tiny speaker. Don't forget to use polyfill! Here is the link for info on the sub: http://mobile.jlaudio.com/pdfs/6_8W0_MAN_pages.pdf
these woofers are discontinued now so they might be hard to find. I got mine off ebay for around $100. make sure you get the 4ohm version.

[musclemerc]

Nice job, JL Audio put alot of work into these little subs to get them to perform like they do. I did'nt reuse the foam that covers the stock sub, it's used to block higher audio frequencies from the stock unit (it's more full range speaker than sub). I did however reuse the seal that goes between the sub and the decklid, it keeps the bass in the cabin and not in the trunk. I notice you did'nt have to resize the factory opening to get the 6w0 to fit.

Very nice!

[281MERC]

Nice job, JL Audio put alot of work into these little subs to get them to perform like they do. I did'nt reuse the foam that covers the stock sub, it's used to block higher audio frequencies from the stock unit (it's more full range speaker than sub). I did however reuse the seal that goes between the sub and the decklid, it keeps the bass in the cabin and not in the trunk. I notice you did'nt have to resize the factory opening to get the 6w0 to fit.

Very nice!

yep the opening and screw inserts fit n line up perfectly with the JL. cant wait to get the car back out in the spring!

[stevemarauder]

Found this model JK Audio says it will work fine.8W1V2~4

Silver Birch Society

[stevemarauder]

JL AUDIO NOT Jk sorry for the typo.

Silver Birch Society

[musclemerc]

^ That is an 8" sub that will require more modification and probably will not be ideal for the stock sealed enclosure due to its size.

Besides i've been there and done that with 8" subs, I removed a stock enclosure with a Pioneer shallow 8" sub and replaced it with this new 6.5" JL Audio setup ;)

[MOTOWN]

im looking forward to doing the jl mod, ill also try a couple of jl 6x9s as they can handle a bit more power than the 5x7/6x8

[281MERC]

"Musclemerc bumper sag fix" .....tell me about this please! rear bumper right?

[musclemerc]

^That is correct. For just the bumper sag fix check out MMBLUE's "A Modded Day" thread. For the bumper sag fix with a proguard dig through my old threads.

[JBeezy]

I'm about to install the JL 6.5" sub. Can't find any 1/2" MDF so I'm going to try silicone to fill the gap and see how it works. I'm thinking it will blow out but I don't know. I'll report back later

Edit:
Got the sub installed. I admit I like the way it sounds. Definitely has more low bass than the factory sub. Still trying to get the settings on my Pioneer DEH-P7900BT set just right.

[musclemerc]

I have JL Audio 6.5" subs ready to ship. I cannot post the cost on the internet due to JL Audio vendor rules.

If you want a BA sub that fits in the stock enclosure shoot me a PM at: info@musclemerc.com

These are REAL subs and not shallow subs, shallow subs sound flappy and destroy fidelity in the listening area.