Subwoofer Question - Installed with Pics and Youtube

[mihai]

Im looking at putting a subwoofer in my car sometime soon. Got the amp and everything else sorted just looking for a good sub. Was going to get an Alpine SWE-1000 powered subwoofer, but was told by Freeway Car Audio that its crap. Therefore im now looking at options for an 8" sub for the parcel shelf.

Had a look under the parcel shelf in the boot, and saw that there isnt much space under there for a deep subwoofer due to all the metal rods going across the boot. Therefore a shallow mount is in order.

The two that ive found are:

Kenwoods KFC-XW800F (http://au.kenwood.com/Car_Entertainment/Subwoofers/KFC-XW800F)

Pioneer TS-SW841D (http://www.pioneer.com.au/Products/Car%20Entertainment/Subwoofers/TS%20SW841D.aspx)

I read somewhere that for a parcel shelf subwoofer, you need free air subwoofer, the Pioneer is free-air or enclosed, however i dont know if the kenwood can be used as free air.

If i do get one, i would be running it bridged across channels 3/4 of my MRP-F300 amp, 100W RMS @ 4ohm Bridged.

My other concern is that in vp290b's thread (http://forum.liberty.asn.au/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=8339) it is mentioned that the sub mount hole is actually 7.5" not 8". Has anyone actually mounted an 8" subwoofer there other than the McIntosh subwoofer?

Finally, my last option is to source a McIntosh subwoofer from someone that has put in an aftermarket sub+box in their boot or from a wrecker. If anyone wants to sell me their McIntosh ill be willing to give you my parcel shelf so that you dont have a huge hole or grill covering nothing. (My parcel shelf is black)

What are peoples thoughts/recommendations?

Thanks

[garbo41610]

hey mate, after doing a fair bit of research, and doing a bit of listening I've found that the Vibe Exact8 / Space8 is perfect for free-air application. Especially with a SD'd parcel shelf. In my experience, kenwood and pioneer subs sound pretty poor. They are designed more to go loud than to sound accurate, and when using such a small driver, you would probably want accuracy over loudness.

your best bet would probably be to email Marty from FHRX Studios up here in Sydney or one of the reputable installers in Melboure. They are more than happy to provide info on what to look for in any aspect of car audio.

As with the parcel shelf mounting, you may just need to make a spacer to lift the sub up a bit so it fits through the mounting hole in the parcel shelf.

What amp will you be running???

[mihai]

Thanks for that Garbo.

I will be running an Alpine MRP-F300 amp. Its a Class A/B 4/3/2ch amp. Gonna have channels 1/2 occupied by front splits and channels 3/4 bridge for the sub.

[mihai]

Just had a quick look at the Vibe Space 8. Its 300w RMS, 900w max. My amp can only give it 100W RMS bridged across channels 3/4. Its going to be way underpowered. How will this affect my output?

[garbo41610]

nice. should have some thump to it... actually, just thinking, the digital designs 1508 should be pretty good for free to air as well. they really go hard, handle about 500w RMS as well.

the vibes handle around 300w RMS from memory.

[mihai]

as i said before, my amp puts out 100W RMS Bridged across channel 3/4 @ 4 ohms. Since this is 1/3 of the 300W RMS that the sub can take, will it still sound good even though its under powered?

[garbo41610]

It will sound fine, just be sure you tune the amp accordingly as you don't want to push the amp too hard and risk clipping and potentially frying voice coils etc. There are some really helpful tutorials on MEA (I think I've seen you over there from time to time) on how to tune amps.

The Vibe subs are pretty sensitive from memory, around 89dB.

[SUB4RU]

I spoke with some people at Ryda car audio and they said they had tested a few of the 8inch free airs and found the Kenwood to work best (even though its cheaper than the pioneer) so I went ahead and ordered one. I will just be running mine off the stock Mcintosh amp for the time being but I will let you know next week about fitment.

[SUB4RU]

Update: They didn't have any in stock until this week....mine should be delivered today so I should be able to review it for you over the weekend

Not sure if the Mcintosh amp will have enough power to make a noticeable difference of the stock sub but time will tell.

[SUB4RU]

Just had a quick go at putting in my Kenwood 8 inch before i go out for dinner and it does not fit straight into the hole. It may need a bit of 'persuasion' as it close or it might just need a slim spacer (possibly the metal bracket that holds the stock sub). However, it does sound good wedged into place

Round 2 tomorrow, lol.

[mihai]

how much was the Kenwood 8"? how does it sound?

Garbo41610 recommended me the VIBE Space8 sub, and he told me to talk to Marty at FHRX. He also recommended the VIBE Space 8 for free-air application (300W RMS, 900W peak).

FHRX got some in today, so i ordered and paid for one, cost me $225 delivered. Will hopefully be here early next week. Bit worried about those metal rods that go across the boot but we'll see what happens.

Once i get it in, ill comment on the sound

[garbo41610]

great to hear you ordered one... make sure you get some pictorials so show off the vibe sexiness

[SUB4RU]

The kenwood was $149 plus $20 delivery.

Sounds good and clears the rods with ease. It's only 150rms i think so half of the Vibe sub but it does the trick with the Mcintosh amp. Just need to seal it up as it does not fit right and unfortunately i just found out that my old sub has been thrown away and i need it to customise the bracket to seal the kenwood properly

[mihai]

great to hear you ordered one... make sure you get some pictorials so show off the vibe sexiness

pretty happy

will definately get some pics up. Hopefully i wont need MAJOR modding to chuck it in, im especially worried bout the rods, but we'll see.

also gonna be sound deadening my fronts doors and parcel shelf, im goin halves with a mate for a Dynamat Extreme Bulk Pack ($204 off ebay, brand new, selling from carrum downs in melbourne. Aparently has plenty avaliable)

The kenwood was $149 plus $20 delivery.

Sounds good and clears the rods with ease. It's only 150rms i think so half of the Vibe sub but it does the trick with the Mcintosh amp. Just need to seal it up as it does not fit right and unfortunately i just found out that my old sub has been thrown away and i need it to customise the bracket to seal the kenwood properly

hopefully the VIBE wont get in the way of the rods, its mounting depth is 104mm and the Kenwood is 80mm. Even if it does, a spacer will help

now all i need to do is go get a sub grille so it doesnt stand out from outside the car.

[mihai]

got my sub today, after many hours, it was finally in and going. Sounds great to be honest

would definately recommend it to anyone with the stock HU and an amp.

only problem was that due to the rods in the boot, i needed to make a 30-35mm spacer to accommodate it nicely. Once that was done, parcel shelf went back on, outline of where to cut was done and a nice hole was cut into the parcel shelf carpet. Overall, looks completely stock (like the libs that have the mac sub) and sounds great

pictures up later