Stock Subwoofer Replacement
Originally Posted by dannichols
Excellent points Bixby. I've been watching this site for over a year and see a repeated pattern. New owners will post that they are looking for "a little more bass", or "a little better sound without losing the stock look." But that little upgrade (like changing the Bose sub with an amped one) is not really that little in the grand scheme of things if you consider it involves running power cabling from battery, through firewall to cubby. Removal of panels, splicing into stock wiring, RCAs, HLCs, remote wiring, building a sub box, etc. etc.
Usually when people go through all of this to "slightly upgrade" their system, they come to the quick realization that basically the rest of the stock system is crap and start replacing everything because of the new familiarity with the cars internals and the sudden appreciation for quality sound.
My point is, no one should rule out the possiblility of future upgrades and no one in my opinion should limit their future options by installing equipment that will not support expansion. NOr should they limit themselves by running basic power & speaker wiring that will not support future upgrades. Don't build yourself into a corner.
Usually when people go through all of this to "slightly upgrade" their system, they come to the quick realization that basically the rest of the stock system is crap and start replacing everything because of the new familiarity with the cars internals and the sudden appreciation for quality sound.
My point is, no one should rule out the possiblility of future upgrades and no one in my opinion should limit their future options by installing equipment that will not support expansion. NOr should they limit themselves by running basic power & speaker wiring that will not support future upgrades. Don't build yourself into a corner.
And I'm a perfect example. I started with a JL 300/4 amp as an example. I was driving my new fronts (Focal's), factory rears and bridged the new sub to the same amp. Great upgrade and was adequate sound quality. I listen louder than most and I was thrilled with the results.
The BIGGEST issue with keeping the Bose HU is there is still no Bass or treble response to speak of (not huge since the Bose already is quite trebly). As I stated before, you need the bass *** to control the amount of bass you get. You notice a difference using the HU but I found it best to leave it at 0. If you go above +2 you will risk blowing your speakers (at least in my setup).
The phase II portion I added another amp (300/2) and dedicated that to my fronts and moved the 300/4 to support new rears (more Focal's) plus the sub.
Oh, I highly recommend you find a proffessional installer. preferably one you are familiar with or at least comes highly recommended.
Last edited by bixby; Sep 28, 2005 at 11:32 AM.
I dont care about keeping the stock look at all. I just dont have the money for everything all at once and since right now I am satisfied with the sound of the other speakers and the headunit itself, I figured I would upgrade the sub first since thats what I'm not happy with. I'll search for other installations and see what wires they went into.
would it be a good idea to pull out the rear speakers? im gonna do my system real soon i have a clarion vrx935vt dvd HU
im goin buy the door speaker pods from NAZAR and decide on what speakers would be best then an amp and sub
can anyone give me any recommendations?? thx
im goin buy the door speaker pods from NAZAR and decide on what speakers would be best then an amp and sub
can anyone give me any recommendations?? thx
oh and what kind of amp should i get if i were to pull out the rear speakers
3 chan? or
if i decide to keep them in get a 4 chan for the rears and fronts
and a diff amp for the new sub?
thx again peeps ^^
3 chan? or
if i decide to keep them in get a 4 chan for the rears and fronts
and a diff amp for the new sub?
thx again peeps ^^
Registered User
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 4
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From: las Vegas
im looking for the same thing a little more base than the stock bose sub. i went to a shop yesturday and they wanted to change everything and they said they could not put a better sub where the bose one is. thats their opinion they wanted to sell me 3 grand worth of stuff.
i've seen alot of people put a jl 10w3 in the stock bose position i dont know if they did any custom work to it, dyno matt and what nots, can anyone help?
i have a roadster but i wanna know if i can jus pull the bose sub out and use the factory box for the jl 10w3
i have a roadster but i wanna know if i can jus pull the bose sub out and use the factory box for the jl 10w3
Isn't there a way to just replace the subwoofer only? Do I really need to buy an amp just for the subwoofer? I want a sufwoofer that is like 3" to 4", I don't need the 10" subwoofer.
Registered User
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 4
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From: Long Island, NY
I have the stock non-bose system and have upgraded it by putting a 10" sub in the stock location connected to a 200watt amp. I dynamatted the inside of the stock location and added a generous amount of fiber fill. I also stuck a rectangular piece of carpet inside to separate the bass compartment behind the driver from the rest of the compartment behind the passenger seat. It's ghetto for sure, but it does sound a lot better and has a respectable bottom end now. I plan on eventually doing a complete audio upgrade when I can afford it.
Originally Posted by Kronos
I have the stock non-bose system and have upgraded it by putting a 10" sub in the stock location connected to a 200watt amp. I dynamatted the inside of the stock location and added a generous amount of fiber fill. I also stuck a rectangular piece of carpet inside to separate the bass compartment behind the driver from the rest of the compartment behind the passenger seat. It's ghetto for sure, but it does sound a lot better and has a respectable bottom end now. I plan on eventually doing a complete audio upgrade when I can afford it.
do a search on google for those pieces. You'll find plenty out there. You can use an external amp for all of your speakers with those pieces, but if you plan on keeping the factory BOSE speakers, look for a high current amp that is at least 1ohm stereo stable. Bazooka makes some nice inexpensive amps that will definately do the job 
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Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 1
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From: Los Angeles
I just picked up a used '04 Z coupe...this car is so sweet! I was driving a tin-can '93 Civic hatchback for the last ten years. This car came with a decent Kenwood head unit, a Kicker amp in the stock Bose sub compartment, completely wired for sub, but the sub isn't there. The guy must have kept the subs when he got rid of the car (repo?). My Honda has been broken into 4 times and I'd prefer to stick a new 10" sub right where the Bose one was, especially because it is already wired up for this. I could use the Zenclosures' strut box with the way the wires are now, I just don't want to. I don't need huge bass, either, but I want it to sound good enough to feel it. Is the open-air sub in the factory location that bad? Has anyone actually done it, or is it all just hear-say? All I know is that I really miss the low end I used to have with 250W powering a ported box with two 10's. BTW, this box is too big to fit in the Z.
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Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 866
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From: Temecula, California
Why not build a small MDF or Fiberglass enclosure to stick in the stock cubby?
Originally Posted by DiZaster
I just picked up a used '04 Z coupe...this car is so sweet! I was driving a tin-can '93 Civic hatchback for the last ten years. This car came with a decent Kenwood head unit, a Kicker amp in the stock Bose sub compartment, completely wired for sub, but the sub isn't there. The guy must have kept the subs when he got rid of the car (repo?). My Honda has been broken into 4 times and I'd prefer to stick a new 10" sub right where the Bose one was, especially because it is already wired up for this. I could use the Zenclosures' strut box with the way the wires are now, I just don't want to. I don't need huge bass, either, but I want it to sound good enough to feel it. Is the open-air sub in the factory location that bad? Has anyone actually done it, or is it all just hear-say? All I know is that I really miss the low end I used to have with 250W powering a ported box with two 10's. BTW, this box is too big to fit in the Z.
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Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 110
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From: Fremont, CA
This is the route that I am going to try. I am upgrading all the speakers using MA Audio. I found that the stock Bose sub was a 0.6 ohm speaker. That explains how it runs with such a small amp. I put 6.5" coax in the rear and 6.5" componets in the frount and that is a huge upgrade in the overall sound quality. I am still running the stock sub until I get the PAC-amp installed. Got mine on EBay for $50.
Buy the following PAC pieces and you'll be able to bypass the BOSE amp and add another amp and subwoofer.
PAC:
OEM-1
ADD-NIS2
AMP-RCA
Originally Posted by NisAznMonk
Buy the following PAC pieces and you'll be able to bypass the BOSE amp and add another amp and subwoofer.
PAC:
OEM-1
ADD-NIS2
AMP-RCA
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