Okay, maybe someone with more audio knowledge than myself can help me here. My Seville came stock with a Delco system, with the center channel front dash speaker, and rear subwoofer. I so far have installed an Alpine head unit, Alpine CD changer, and Infinity Kappa speakers. The system sounds awesome. But, the stock sub is a little bit lame. I am still running the system through the factory amp, and do not want to change that. So on to my questions. My Alpine head unit has a pre out for a subwoofer. Can I unhook the stock sub, install a new one, hook it straight to the head unit, and be done with it? The HU is amped, so I am assuming it doesn't need an external amp? Lastly, does anyone make an aftermarket center channel sub, to work in direct replacement of the factory one? The bass is not hitting hard enough, in my listening range. If I turn it up, the sound quality gets better, and the bass starts to hit. But, then the overall volume is too high. I am happy with the speaker output, just trying to bump up the sub. Thanks

Don

hey man i kno none bose car audio really well i can help you with this one lol. Yes you can unhook your stock sub and instal a new one there i think its a 10 inch sub. The best sub brand is JL Audio one of them will def give you great sound (i have 3 of them in my ETC). As to just connecting the pre out to the sub it cant be done. Its an rca sub out with no amplified output. You need to run an external amp to the sub in order to power it. I do not reccomend useing your stock amp plug to connect to the new sub. This may be very confusing and if you want i have free long distance with my cell phone i can call and help describe it too ya if need be its alot to try and explain it in type.

So if I buy an amp, and a new sub, unhook the stock sub, tape off the leads, run the amp off of the existing RCA's in the back of the HU, into the amp, and then to the syb, I am in business? I am assuming that there is also a power feed, and a ground to contend with. Is it that simple?

Don

that and a remote wire need to be run (this is usually connected to a special blue wire on your aftermarket head not to be confused with the antenna wire that tells the amp to turn on) but yes thats basically it. Its not so hard biggest deal would be accessing the power wire to your batt which i believe on your car is under the rear seat correct?

BTW a few subs to look at for your car are Kicker, Audiobahn, Rockford Fosgate, MTX or especially JL Audio (a JL 10w3v2 would be great for the size of the trunk is if you want more though get a 10w6v2. The best sub on the market is the JL w7 series but this sub may be very overpowering unless you want that much bass)

Not looking for a ton of bass. Just more than I have now. I cannot control my sub seperate from my speakers. So it seems like it is way behind in the volume range. If I could control it seperate, then problem solved. So that is why I want to hook into the head unit, as it has a seperate sub volume in it. Thanks

Don

then the 10w3v2 is the one for you JL Audio is the best no popin at lower bass and handles the higher great as well and its designed for use in small boxes or larger ones (such as using your entire trunk as the box). Take a look over the net and do a little searching youll hear from most that JL Audios the best.

no, no, no. use a kicker in place of the stock sub. the JL's are designed to be put in boxes. kicker has a very high SPL and do not have an extremely long excursion. this will allow you to simply put it in the stock spot and not worry about needing a box. the stock cover should fit over a kicker, too, and the short excursion won't push the cover off. use any amp, it don't matter.
i do have a question, though...
which wire do i tap into to get to the remote wire that turns on the stock amp? i looked at the wires by the amp the other day, but which wire is the one that turns on the stock amp? i want to use this one for my aftermarket amp to push some boxed subs.
Thanks, SAM

then the 10w3v2 is the one for you JL Audio is the best no popin at lower bass and handles the higher great as well and its designed for use in small boxes or larger ones (such as using your entire trunk as the box). Take a look over the net and do a little searching youll hear from most that JL Audios the best.
I disagree. The w3 series is designed to work best in small sealed enclosures, not large ones. Installing the sub you mentioned in the factory location would be a waste of a very good subwoofer (not the best, but well above average IMO).

For design/application purposes, the trunk is not considered an enclosure. A sub mounted the way it is in the caddys is considered to be a "free air" or "infinite baffle" sub.

I have a Alpine 9811 in my 93 Eldo. The Hu's amp has been shut off. You don't want to run the HU amp into the factory amp.

I disagree with all of you, JL is good, but not the best. I personally like a RF sub. Nothing beats Alpine and RF together in perfect harmony. Not to mention, RF subs you can put them in a smaller enclosure then the rest.

Well now, I am just going to let all of you guys battle this out for a while.:D My SLS has the sub mounted on the rear shelf. The bottom is under the shelf, only covered (a little) by the trunk carpeting. I am planning on installing the new sub, in the stock location. No boxes cluttering up the trunk. Nothing custom either. So, what would be a great sub for this application?

Don

I disagree with all of you, JL is good, but not the best. I personally like a RF sub.
Re-read my post:
a very good subwoofer (not the best, but well above average IMO).

Nothing beats Alpine and RF together in perfect harmony. Not to mention, RF subs you can put them in a smaller enclosure then the rest.

Nothing beats alpine and rf together? you have a lot to listen to.

Well now, I am just going to let all of you guys battle this out for a while.:D My SLS has the sub mounted on the rear shelf. The bottom is under the shelf, only covered (a little) by the trunk carpeting. I am planning on installing the new sub, in the stock location. No boxes cluttering up the trunk. Nothing custom either. So, what would be a great sub for this application?
Don
The V guys have been installing free-air subs in their cts', do a search and read their impressions. That may give you some orientation.

Re-read my post:




Nothing beats alpine and rf together? you have a lot to listen to. Not quite sure what it is you mean?

oh gosh.... I'll just stay out of this one....

*errr... guess I didn't

Not quite sure what it is you mean?
I just meant to clarify something: on your first post you said "I disagree with all of you, JL is good, but not the best.", when in my first post I said the same thing: "a very good subwoofer (not the best, but well above average IMO)."

anyone who knows anything about subs know that the w7 series by JL Audio is the best sub period the subject ends at that RF Power Series 3 comes close and thats only because they construct that sub out of titanium.

errr....

saying "brand X is the best no matter what" kinda reminds me of a kid saying "my bike is faster then yours"

there really is no "best" there may be very GOOD products... but for any given price point (major factor) and intended use.... it depends on the person.

my old sub consisted of a 15" RF and an MTX amp (325watt x 1) ... I got the thing CHEAP, and hell it was great for my use...

that was perfect for rap music... but since i liked rock, country and dance type stuff... you know... very fast beat... the 15" RF couldn't keep up and it was just like 1 big boomy bass note... it honestly got so bad that I turned the sub off and ran my in cabin speakers full range (stock front 4 and Infinity Kappa rear at the time) I had (have) a 4ch Alpine amp running the in-cabin speakers.

I now have a single 10" in a small sealed box... small company called Dayton Audio, www.partsexpress.com is where you get it, powered by a 600watt x 1 MA Audio amp.... this thing hits HARD and is extremly tight.... but not all that loud... wait... let me rephrase that... it goes *far* louder in my car then I would want... but you will not hear it a mile away... know what I mean? then again I built the whole system for sound quality, not SPL.....

anyone who knows anything about subs know that the w7 series by JL Audio is the best sub period the subject ends at that RF Power Series 3 comes close and thats only because they construct that sub out of titanium.
:histeric:

you find this funny because... its the truth? Seach all over the w7 is the best rated and tested sub by multiple sources.

yeah, in a box...

The w7 requires a huge box or guess what would also work MOUNTING IT ON THE REAR DECK and get ready for this one USING THE TRUNK AS THE BOX. I know this is rocket science

I know of only a few woofers that need a cabinate volume of 25 cu. ft. or so.... and... well, simply put they are a bit bigger and heavy duty then what you would put in a car....

I know of only a few woofers that need a cabinate volume of 25 cu. ft. or so.... and... well, simply put they are a bit bigger and heavy duty then what you would put in a car....

I am assuming you meant 2.5 cu.ft not 25. It's all relative though.

no.... I ment 25....

if you are using the trunk as the box, then all the volume in the trunk becomes the internal volume of the "box"

So whats the turnk space on the car? I thought it was around 23 cu. ft. or so.

On the other extreme, my 10" Dayton was designed for very small sealed boxes... 0.85 cu. ft. to be exact, and that thing hits hard... nobody believes me is a single 10 :)

The w7 requires a huge box or guess what would also work MOUNTING IT ON THE REAR DECK and get ready for this one USING THE TRUNK AS THE BOX. I know this is rocket science

The W7 recommended enclosure volumes are 1.375 cu/ft for sealed and 1.75 cu/ft for ported. Those volumes are quite small compared with the trunk volume.

I dare you to post a link to a reputable source claiming that the W7 is designed to be used in a free air setup (using the trunk as a box, as you say). With a Qts of 0.482?? Please.

:annoyed:

name and single after sub specifically a trunk sized volume... yea exactly

All i can suggest are brands depending upon your favorite type of music. I have 2 12inch sony explod P5Ws. I have gone to independant audio shops and also to places like bestbuy. For a really good sub with hard hitting bass id suggest ALPINE TYPE Rs. They were on displays and they hit so hard you could feel it from like 10 feet away but they were in enclosures. My subs were on display and they hit hard too but they were cheaper so i went with them. Another brand to consider would be KICKER almost all of my freinds have them in thier cars. a couple kids i got to school with have audiobahn but thier stuff doesnt sound as good as KICKER. In this civic a kid has 2 kicker isobaric dual voice coil 12s and they hit so hard they rattled the tail lights out. he had em in the trunk in his enclosure. My freind rick had 2 J/Ls in his cavalier and he had em out in the parking lot cranked and i was in a teachers room gettin help about 400 yards away and the windows were closed and i could still hear ricks subs boomin away. My freind steve has a 99 silverado ext cab and hes got 2 MTXs and a slightly underpowered amp but they sound ok. not loud but they repeat bass lines clear. im not sure what he has for the model of subs but i know theyre mtx and he has a kenwood amp. check online for your car heres a site you may want to look at for your subs they have everything that fit your car as well as mine----- http://www.crutchfield.com/S-VXPGb0jIDZo/cgi-bin/autoinfo/autoinfo.asp?vehicleid=0&typeCH=home&vb=Y&lp=%2FS-VXPGb0jIDZo%2Findex%2Ehtml%3F%26id%3D1530%26vehicl eid%3D1530%26id%3D0%26vehicleid%3D0&cm_re_o=fB5EzM*5yBpFwEAN*ctzfubflFYgzy copy that and paste that into your address bar.

So after reading all of the posts, I am now more confused. What will be a good sub, that is going to use the trunk as the enclosure, that isn't going to cost more than $300.00? I only need one sub, as I am only going to replace the stock one. I am not interested in subs that require a small enclosure, as I am not going this route. When I am searching the web, what am I looking for, to decipher which sub is going to work well? I haven't noticed any spec to what size enclosure is needed. Thanks

Don

JL 12w3v2 it will work and sound great trust me no sub is specifically deigned for an area as big as your trunk is (the Bose works good because of its "pancake" reverse magnet design. They had a huge hole in the rear deck so they placed a delco sub in there to surfice. Trust me as a car audio entusiast and as a owner of 2 kicker soloar barrick subs an audiobahn flame excursion sub and 2 jl 12w6s, jls the best bet

JL 12w3v2 it will work and sound great trust me no sub is specifically deigned for an area as big as your trunk is (the Bose works good because of its "pancake" reverse magnet design. They had a huge hole in the rear deck so they placed a delco sub in there to surfice. Trust me as a car audio entusiast and as a owner of 2 kicker soloar barrick subs an audiobahn flame excursion sub and 2 jl 12w6s, jls the best bet

Man, you have no clue whatsoever what you are talking about.

There are subwoofers especifically designed to work in free air enviroments, like a trunk.

Hell , there is no such thing as a kicker "soloar barrick" sub. Kicker makes a Solo-baric line of subs, though.

You have not posted any text/link to support your claims, and still you keep recommending this guy to use a sub in a way that will be a complete waste of its capabilities. Only the old version of JL W1 series was able to be used as free air.

i have JL and i have Kicker. My dad has a 98 STS. Ive tried both subs in his car. And i think my 12w6 sounds better. No i dont post links because im basing this on experiance and actually testing it on the same car that he has. He can buy as he pleases but im recomending JL.

So after reading all of the posts, I am now more confused. What will be a good sub, that is going to use the trunk as the enclosure, that isn't going to cost more than $300.00? I only need one sub, as I am only going to replace the stock one. I am not interested in subs that require a small enclosure, as I am not going this route. When I am searching the web, what am I looking for, to decipher which sub is going to work well? I haven't noticed any spec to what size enclosure is needed. Thanks
Don
The easy way is to go to user-friendly websites, like cardomain.com.
They usually mention if a sub is suitable or not for free air applications.

The hard way is to learn what the specifications mean and make a decision based on that. the12volt.com gives good explanations about subwoofer especifications.

In my opinion, this is one of the best free air-capable subs you could get for your budget: http://www.cardomain.com/item/INFPERFECT12VQ
Also check the ID series from Image dynamics.

NOTE:Realize that using a subwoofer in a free air setup will greatly reduce its power handling capabilities.

Okay, now answer me this. My Alpine HU is a 4 ohm unit. I am still running through the stock amp, and the speakers are 2 ohms. Everything is great. If I hook a 4 ohm sub, to the 4 ohm HU, while running the 2ohm speakers, will this be okay? While hooking a new amp, between the HU and sub, I will not be running the sub through the stock amp. Does this sound like it will work alright? Also, what wattage amp should I get. I am not pumping lots of power now, so will a high watt amp, used just for the sub, ruin the sound quality? I do not listen to my music at high volumes. Oh, the Infiniy sub that was posted looks like a winner. Thanks

Don

Forget about ohms for now, since connecting the sub to the HU is a bad idea:
No head unit will produce the RMS wattage you should use to power your sub, even if you don't play your music too loud.

You must get an amplifier for your sub. It won't ruin the sound quality, but the opposite. The infinity recommended RMS is 400 watts, but 300 will most likely be enough, specially since you are using it as free air.

I've got an HiFonics Falcon Amp the specs are 2 channel 2x90 watts of power with all channels driven at 4 ohms or 1x280 watts stereo pairs mono bridged into 4 ohms, THD 0.1%, noise below rated output at 105db, frequency response 2Hz - 150kHz (is this enough info) should this be enough amp to run my infinity 1042w which is dual voice coil 4 ohm, sensitivity 91db, frequency 25Hz - 400Hz, RMS 250 watts/1000 watts peak.....or am I wasting my time. The amp is 6 years old but was only used about a year to power 2 6x9 Pioneer Premiers.

I've got an HiFonics Falcon Amp the specs are 2 channel 2x90 watts of power with all channels driven at 4 ohms or 1x280 watts stereo pairs mono bridged into 4 ohms, THD 0.1%, noise below rated output at 105db, frequency response 2Hz - 150kHz (is this enough info) should this be enough amp to run my infinity 1042w which is dual voice coil 4 ohm, sensitivity 91db, frequency 25Hz - 400Hz, RMS 250 watts/1000 watts peak.....or am I wasting my time. The amp is 6 years old but was only used about a year to power 2 6x9 Pioneer Premiers.

The amp's Rated Power @ 4 ohm: 280W x 1 RMS mono (600W max)
The sub's Power range: 60-250 watts RMS (1,000 watts peak power)

As for power rating they could be matched (the amp is most likely rated at 14.4 volts, so in real life it yields a little less power), but there is something you didn't mention that makes the union less than optimal: the infinity 1042w is a double voice coil sub, and each of the voice coils is rated @4 ohms. That means the only way to make a safe load for the amplifier is to wire them in series to yield a total of 8 oms. This way it will be safe, but it won't produce as much power as if other load was used.

Can you explain further the wiring in series as you explained so I attempt this correctly. Should I switch to a single 4 ohm voice coil sub. I'm also looking at a 5 channel amp. Whats the better way to go? Trying to keep costs in check.

Give the current amp/sub a try. Who knows? you may find the combo enough to suit your needs. If it's not loud enough, a 4ohm single voice coil sub is the cheapest way to gain volume. Just make sure it's sensitivity is similar to that of the one you have now.

Here is a diagram: The only difference is that instead of two different subs, you have to wire the coils in your single sub the same way.

Here is a diagram specific for your sub:

Hey Dadillac,
I would get a Infinity Perfect Vq since you have infinity highs and mids. I know the Perfect Vq can be used as free air, I have seen it. Remember if you have shit in your trunk its not gonna sound as good as a empty trunk. This subwoofer will be loud enough for you and has excellent sound quality, like everything from infinity. Look on ebay for a vq they are like $200 shipped and a 400 watt amp and you will not be disappointed for one 10" sub. For amps get a Infinity 311a, 611a, or kicker 400kx.1 these are all under $170 on ebay. My friend had 2 12" perfects hooked to 2 600 watt amps, bassheads... so dont worry about overpowering. W7 is one of the best subs im bout to get 2 12" but there are better subs RE XXX, Treo CSX/SSX, Adire Brahma. They are hard to find, supposably the RE XXX has more SPL and about the same maybe a little better at lows SQ. Dadillac let me know on the seville forum what u got.
Later
E

Well she's done. I installed the sub last night. That turned out being the most difficult part. The stock sub, is slightly larger than the Infinity. I had to cut out slots in the new sub, by each miunting hole. I then used machine screws, with washers, to clamp down on the sub. I installed the amp this morning. While doing this, I had a chance to reposition my HU, as it was sitting a little wierd, after the install. So that made me happy. The amp install was pretty straight forward. I haven't yet mounted the amp, it is just laying on the trunk floor. I will get to that sometime.

The new sub / amp sounds great. When I say that, I mean that it sounds 100 times better than the stock set-up. I really do not have any experience with iother components, so I cannot give a good review. Other amps. or subs, may sound better, I do not know. But now I have the capability of raising my bass, at lower volumes.

After removing the stock sub last night, I had to run to the store, to pick up the machine screws. The system had almpst no bass whatsoever. It sounded like crap. Even the stock sub sounded pretty good.

I am exstatic with the results. Now I just have to figure out how to dial in the amp. I am sure that I can get it sounding even better than it does now. Any tips would be welcome.

Don

I am glad you are happy with the new stuff. Post pics when you can.