Replacing OEM JBL subwoofer with aftermarket question

I doubt the amp is more powerful but who knows. Also with the stock head unit I have no control of subwoofer levels. I hope it sounds better but I'm starting to think its not going to

 

Its been a while since I had it in but I thought you could?!

 

Not that I know of....maybe I'm missing something?

 

Not that I know of
Maybe through techstream?

 

I thought you could based on some people saying they saw good results by simply swapping out the sub. My bad.

Stopped by the stereo shop today to pick up an amp install kit and rca's. He almost sold me on a truck box with a 10" JL w3t in it. I'll see how the factory enclosure does after tomorrow.

 

I just had the JL fiberglass box with 2 10s w3t installed in my truck. Took the place of 2 kickers in a custom mdf box. The JLs definitely hit harder then the kickers.. and have a deeper bass as well .I kept the factory jbl componet and head unit .running all the speakers on a JL Audio xd1000 5 channel... Pushing 600 watts to the subs. Loud and Crystal clear. Eventually I'll start swapping out the mids and highs with JL as well. Bit I figured I threw enough money at the stereo so far.

 

Was able to get the subwoofer amp installed tonight and it definitely makes a big difference from stock. I feel like it's pointless putting this subwoofer in only to have it hardly move with the factory amp. It wants to jump out of the enclosure with the amp hooked up to it. I'm thinking I'm going to switch to a single 10" JL with a legit box next as it just doesn't hit right in that plastic box.

 

https://www.crutchfield.com/S-cR6Z8jTbrTg/p_136110TGW3/JL-Audio-CS110TG-TW3.html

Picked this guy up this morning and I highly recommend it. Crazy clean bass compared to the Kicker in the oem enclosure. Couldn't fit the 12" under the seat, so 10" it is. My goal was to make the mirror shake and this shakes everything with the gain on the 300w amp at a 1/4 turn.

 

I put my kicker 1ohm, wired to 2 ohm DVC sub in my stock JBL crewmax box tonight. Its better than the OEM sub but nothing great. Some day I'll get an amp on it. Slight improvement for cheap so I'm good with that. I did pack the box with pink fiberglass so not sure if that makes it better or worse.

 

@Pudge I'm looking to at least start with your route. I don't need to shake windows but a fuller sound would be good. Just to confirm, is this the sub you used? Still happy with it?

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/kicker...1-ohm-subwoofer-black/5190205.p?skuId=5190205

 

Yup that's the sub I got. I found it for $89 and I'll try to find you that link. I'd say its marginally better than stock. It may have been more worth throwing money into new 1 or 2 ohm front speakers but those are hard to find for a decent price. I'd say this sub is worth it for under $100 but not $150

 

https://www.hifisoundconnection.com...CWRT81-Limited-Quantities-KIC13-40CWRT8-D1-RS I may have got the last one

I think this one cam be wired to 1 or 2 ohm ?
https://www.hifisoundconnection.com...00W-RMS-2-Ohm-DVC-Car-Subwoofer-KIC16-43CWR82

 

I know a small amp will help and I may get one.
Wondering if a larger box, made from wood is really all I need though? What do you think @Twinky

 

Cool thanks for the confirmation. I found it on Crutchfield too for $129.
Yeah might investigate further options but I want to see what this gets me first

 

An amp and a wood enclosure would do wonders for it. I'm now shopping around for new speakers to put in the doors

 

How about either or, which would be best

 

I would say to go with a weak amp that will hardly drive the sub, but should give you slightly more bass but not enough to cause the vibration issue that I at least ran into.

 

It really depends on what you want that sub to do. That said, imo, a proper enclosure would be the place i would start regardless of the role i would eventually want my sub to fill.

I would figure out how much space you can donate to a sub enclosure first.

Next crunch the numbers and see how much internal volume that space will provide. That will more or less be the way you can determine what will be necessary to get the type of performance from your sub that you are wanting.

Ex...
You find that you can spare alot of space for you box. This opens up the possibility for a vented/ported box. This wont require as much power to get as loud as a sealed box that is smaller.

And if you can only spare a small amount of space for the box, then you may need to go with a sealed box. This will require more power to achieve the same output ad the above ported box.

Sadly, alot of this is going to come down to your budget. Or say a realistic approximate.

As of now you have
-subwoofer. A respectable one too.
-stock headunit. Im not sure which one you have but a low line/level converter (loc) will work just fine for a way to have rca jacks for a sub amp. These can range from $10 to $100. $20 isnt bad if its just temporary.

Now onto what you will need to go with that.
-amp wiring kit. This consist of
-rca cables
-power and ground wires
-remote turn on wire
-speaker wire
-wire lugs/terminals(for the power and ground mostly)
-assortment of crimp connector.
- that should be all of it.

Walmart's scosche (however its spelt) amp kits are actualy good. Well the power and ground wires are. They are ofc copper. Kinda cheap, but kinda not.... $35ish for a low power kit.

Or just buy some welding cable of the needed gauge from home depot and scrounge up the rest. 4 gauge welding cable and a fuse holder ($13) from walmart.

Amp wise.. I cant recommend this amp enough and if the price is within what you feel comfortable with.... The soundqubed s4.100(ill find a link in a bit) for about $150.
Its officially rated at 100 watts per each of its 4 channels. It has been proven to actually put out about 150 per channel. Has a fantastic built in crossover. A potential 100 to 150 watts a piece to each front door and a nice 200 to 300 watts bridged sub channel.

https://youtu.be/mIlftEX7D4s

And heres a crazy good budget gem also. Sadly this one isnt ment for a dual 1ohm sub, but it shows there are respectable budget amps out there.

https://youtu.be/kFBW9BLZ7RM

Definitely checkout his channel. He is a legit guy on how he test amplifiers and he has a decent selection. And all of the amps are budget price ranged.

In conclusion, its a tough call between getting an amp or a sub box. They both are capable of getting more out of your sub but its hard to say which will be the best choice in this situation.

I know, that was more reading than necessary for a "i dunno" answer but hey, i could actualy of stretched this post out even longer before giving a "i dunno" answer.

And as much as you might be telling yourself "i just want a little more bass", in a few months from now you'll be knee deep in acoustic theory and battling soundwave cancellation based on the distance between your two ears! Thats when it get fun!

 

Wow this is very helpful and I agree this could really snowball if I'm not careful. I have the whole space behind my rear seat in my crewmax I can use for a box, it's a decent space but it'll be shallow. I could build one for fairly cheap, but no clue how big to make it. Amp is am option ,but you're right If i do that i should get a 4 or 5 channel and power the front speakers as well. I will keep my options open and hopefully stay within my low budget.

 

ahh damn.. that soundqubed 4 chan wont do 2ohm mono either. most multichannel amps wont now that i think about it. sorry about that. its been a good while since ive used a multi channel for sub duties. either way though, a decent 300 watt(at 2ohms) mono block can still be had for very reasonable prices. just have to know which ones will really do what they claim on the box.

behind my passenger seat in my double cab, the small section of the backseat raised, my box has an internal net volume of 2.5 cubic ft. after subtracting out the port, sub, and bracing displacements.

I even drew a picture!


Under my seat and under the seat behind me is three amps. Im not much for having passengers.

 

A few more things worthy of consideration.

2 ohm stable mono block amp. 350 watts x 1 channel at 2ohms.
And most notable, made in
-Korea (thats very good)
-Adjustable subsonic filter (a must have feature when using a ported/vented box)
-Has high level speaker inputs. (wont require a LOC)
-$35 amp kit from walmart will cover just about all your install needs. Or the belva kit they are offering for $20. It would probably be just fine.
-Sonicelectronix is suppossed to be a good company to work with if there are any issues or warranty claims.
-only $60 and free shipping ($80 if you buy their belva kit).
https://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_78006_Dual-DA301L.html
imo, Dual, has been putting out good amps (as in their power to dollar value) for a long time.

$150ish
https://www.sonicelectronix.com/ite...k-Amplifier-w-Complete-8-AWG-OFC-Amp-Kit.html
Pros
-kicker amps are always well built and do their power. I think they are all Cea certified also.
-Comes with an 8 guage oxygen free copper (ofc for many is the only option) amp kit.
-subsonic filter.

Cons
-subsonic filter is fixed at 25hz.... wtf?
-for the speaker wire to amp connection (high level inputs) you seem to need to buy some rca's from them for $10...? im pretty sure they are just rca cords with one end of the jacks cut off..

The subsonic filter (high pass filter/infer sonic) that those amps come with is why i linked them. A sub in a ported box will need that option in most cases. It protects the sub from its self basically. The port increases its output at and around the frequency of the ports tunning. Below that point (how much below depends on many factors) the box looses its ability to support the subwoofer's cone movement.

at 300 watts and the type of music you decide to play may not require it. I would encourage always having a subsonic filter for any ported box regardless of power amounts. I wont buy a sub amp without one even if i intend to use a sealed box. Nothing worse then needing a different amp if you ever wanted to try a different box type.

My last subwoofer i built four different boxes over the course of its use. you can make a sub perform in so many different ways based on the enclosure design.

Now if you know youre going to be going with a sealed then that opens up a lot more budget friendly options. Like the Rockford Fosgate Prime sub amps. Awesome amps. Just dont have that one specific feature.

Fosgate 500.1 prime i think is $150.
rated to do 500 watts. typically that means it is really able to 50 watts minimum more. wouldn't surprise me if they could do 600 watts.

Fosgate 250.1 prime. its like $110$
basically the same from above applies.

 

Dude you are awesome. Thanks so much

 

Yeah man. I hope to hear that you get your system how you want it to be. Especially when it comes down to amps. 90% of the the manufacturers that were once amazing are now just a famous name slapped on the lowest cost mass production product possible. Its shitty ethics and thats being nice.

I know i keep refering to most of the audio gear as "budget friendly" but its not in a negative way towards the product nor the price range you or others may be aiming towards. I mean it as a compliment to that amp or sub and i honestly thing that company deserves our bussiness.

All my gear i acquired either new or got a lucky on something used. And i totally dig my setup.

All 3 of my amps are 10 years or more old.
Old school autotek street machine. Its a beast.
Old school memphis on sub duty. Its got to be underated by 300 watts atleast.
And an old school sony on tweeters.
I paid barely nothing for any of those. Actually, i didnt come out of pocket at all for any of them. I just traded the gear that fell into those budget gem categories for legit old school quality.

Mids and tweeters.... There are only a few car audio branded companies i would even consider buying now days. Theres only a hand full of car audio companies that design, engineer and build their speakers. Most (even some high end brands) buy theres from companies that you too can buy from yourself. Other than some small differences, the logos, and the 30 to 50% markup, you can get some outstanding speakers for amazing prices.
Seas
Scan Speak
Peerless
Dayton
SB Acoustics (my next upgrade will be from them)

Check this out. Arc audio's black series 6.2 component set is about $700. Thats mids, tweeters, and the cross over.

They are made by sb acoustic and are just a slightly changed version of the sb17nrx woofer. The tweeter is another sb product.

Sb sells their woofer for i think about $65ish dollars. The tweeter cost about $50. No crossover. But most head units are active capable now. Can get a single din for a hundred bucks that has time alignment, crossovers, independent speaker volumes..and more... For $100ish dollars.

Basically you can own the $700 arc black series component set for $230. Add another $100 if you need an active capable headunit.

Those sb acoustic woofers and tweeters setup has and can still be found in cars competing in world class sound quality competitions and placing very respectable in the top tier cars.

Fuck... Im off on a tangent like a mofo... My bad. But damn, thats serious gear for legit prices.

 

i just installed a Pioneer 12" shallow SUB in its own box. really good bass and was on sale too. happy with it. I have a Kenwood 4+1 channels amp feeding it.

 

I wish I had kept my old audio stuff from high school and college. It would be almost 20 years old but that stuff was good and I could really use it now.
I had 2 RF 15s that were hooked to a powerful Memphis amp, highs were all clear in with a clarion headunit and I had a kenwood amp for the highs. Sounded awesome, it was all second hand but was well built and powerful.

 

yeah when it comes to amps and speakers, not much changed in the past 20 years. HU, however, that's a different story.

 

My 2018 Sport has the Premium audio with integrated navigation. I didn't need my stereo to be the loudest badass on the street (I lived those days in high school). I just wanted a little more thump and sound from the current stereo.

My dealer had a special on a pair of 10" subs, a custom carpeted box, a 2000w amp, a LC2i and a UR1 controller. I had it installed the other day and man, what a difference. I'm posting this info to help others make a decision on what to do. Hope this helps.

 

Here are pics of the sub box, amplifier and LC2i audio controller.
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Just wanted to add to this thread. Been a lurker since I got my 2007 TSS with the 12 speaker JBL. Most of the speakers were blown including the sub. I repaired the speakers but the sub was just gone (paper cone had cracks/crinkles in it)

I put a Pioneer TS-SW2002D2 in its place and while it won’t be winning any sound competitions I have some decent low end bass in the truck again. I ran it in series instead of parallel using the stock amp/wiring since it’s a dual voice coil. For $60, I ain’t mad.

 

http://www.audioenhancers.com/vehiclespecific/tuncm110.php

Just installed this box over the weekend replacing the entire JBL system except the head unit. Two shallow pioneer 10’s and it sounds so good. Fits perfectly and solidly built. Best thing is it was like $80. Only thing I had to do was enlarge the holes for the subs.