Dual 4 inch Dayton Audio "subwoofer upgrade"

[fil1983]

TLDR: Just as everyone has said before I tried it, there is no saving the stock subwoofer box setup

I have been replacing the factory speakers in my 2000 Land Cruiser. Replaced the door woofers and tweeters up front with Focal speakers. Applied sound deadening and foam surrounds to woofer locations and the result was mind blowing, much better bass response and crisper sound even with the factory amp. The only issue was I wanted more bass and the stock subwoofer was now grossly overpowered if it every did much at all. Decided to order the Dayton Audio TCP115-4 speakers that others have tried as drop in replacements for my factory 4" woofers. All my factory speakers are in mint condition, a benefit of cooler climates, but with how impressed I was swapping out the door speakers, I was hoping for similar results with the subwoofer.

The factory woofer speakers in the sub enclosure have a unique mounting plate so I created a 3D printed adapter for the Dyson Audio speakers that allowed them to bolt right up at the same height as the factory speakers so there was no issue with fitment both in the enclosure and with the panel covering it. Everything was looking good until I started playing some music...

These speakers were much "louder" than the factory ones, they push way more air. I could hear them clearly from the front seat. The issue is that they sound terrible. There was a resonance that I was assuming was coming from some other panels in the car due to the more aggressive bass response but when I went to hunt down the culprit, it turned out, it was the subwoofer enclosure itself. It sounded horrible with more air being pushed around inside. Thin and hollow with an annoying drone.

I’ll be trying a Kicker 46HS10 all-in-one under the passenger seat next. I’m not looking to shake my 23 year old car apart, I just want to round out the impressive sound coming from the new door speakers.

 

[Berkut10r]

My friend, I hope you find a solution that is acceptable for you. After 3 different setups, I am still looking for mine. OEM enclosure paired OEM amp never produced anything close to acceptable until I stepped away from both.

 

[Pucker5]

Forgive an unproductive question but I haven’t seen a lot of guys on this forum replacing Dual 4’s with any sort of success. 4” driver just isn’t a lot of cone area to move air, neither is 6” but there seems to be a number of beefy drivers out there that folks have had “success with”. After market everything with a slim profile 8 or 10 and call it a day.

 

[Greenbean]

I wish you success brother,
I also have a 2000 with the dual 4” “woofers.”

I’ve even thought about buying a newer 100 series single woofer enclosure off eBay or the like and going from there.

I have almost 15 pictures of each enclosure from different angles and even the plugs look the same. However I know the resistance is different!

Could you not load up the enclosure with pillow stuffing to slow the air down and wrap the enclosure with some cheapest Amazon sound deadening mat.

Heck I’m tempted to PM you and ask about a set of the adapters you printed…

 

[Live to Ski]

sounds (no pun intended) like you guys know what you are talking about.

?: I had my speakers "professionally" replaced. They did not do the base (i refoamed...still sound terrible). the 4 door speakers were replaced with new speakers. Now i know the resistance is not factory (forget the factory values.....2ohm or 4ohm?) because you can't get those plug & play.

How would that resistnace mismatch affect sound?

I still have the factory speakers taking up space in the garage. I may refoam in the future depending on answer to the above question.

That's not my story and i'm not sticking to it

 

[delz05]

TLDR: Just as everyone has said before I tried it, there is no saving the stock subwoofer box setup

I have been replacing the factory speakers in my 2000 Land Cruiser. Replaced the door woofers and tweeters up front with Focal speakers. Applied sound deadening and foam surrounds to woofer locations and the result was mind blowing, much better bass response and crisper sound even with the factory amp. The only issue was I wanted more bass and the stock subwoofer was now grossly overpowered if it every did much at all. Decided to order the Dayton Audio TCP115-4 speakers that others have tried as drop in replacements for my factory 4" woofers. All my factory speakers are in mint condition, a benefit of cooler climates, but with how impressed I was swapping out the door speakers, I was hoping for similar results with the subwoofer.

The factory woofer speakers in the sub enclosure have a unique mounting plate so I created a 3D printed adapter for the Dyson Audio speakers that allowed them to bolt right up at the same height as the factory speakers so there was no issue with fitment both in the enclosure and with the panel covering it. Everything was looking good until I started playing some music...

These speakers were much "louder" than the factory ones, they push way more air. I could hear them clearly from the front seat. The issue is that they sound terrible. There was a resonance that I was assuming was coming from some other panels in the car due to the more aggressive bass response but when I went to hunt down the culprit, it turned out, it was the subwoofer enclosure itself. It sounded horrible with more air being pushed around inside. Thin and hollow with an annoying drone.

I’ll be trying a Kicker 46HS10 all-in-one under the passenger seat next. I’m not looking to shake my 23 year old car apart, I just want to round out the impressive sound coming from the new door speakers.
View attachment 3592840View attachment 3592841View attachment 3592842View attachment 3592843

Any chance you could share the Focal size and model numbers that you used? I amlooking into upgrading m,y 01LX ML system... starting with the speakers....

 

[fil1983]

Any chance you could share the Focal size and model numbers that you used? I amlooking into upgrading m,y 01LX ML system... starting with the speakers....

Focal RSE-165 for the fronts and Focal ACX 165 in the rear doors. The fronts are components. If you remove the factory tweeter and mount, you can use some heat to pull the tweeter off the mount and drill a hole into it to screw the focal tweeters (they have a provision to screw into the back) to the factory mount and you will have perfect mounting and aiming of the tweeter. I ordered from Crutchfield which will give you mounting adapters for all the doors and oem plug adapters all for free with your speaker order. Highly recommend. I also used some Amazon “dynamat” type stuff inside all the doors and bought thick foam ring surrounds for the woofers in the doors. Even before the subwoofer upgrade I just finished, the improvement in mid-bass was nuts.​

 

[delz05]

​

Focal RSE-165 for the fronts and Focal ACX 165 in the rear doors. The fronts are components. If you remove the factory tweeter and mount, you can use some heat to pull the tweeter off the mount and drill a hole into it to screw the focal tweeters (they have a provision to screw into the back) to the factory mount and you will have perfect mounting and aiming of the tweeter. I ordered from Crutchfield which will give you mounting adapters for all the doors and oem plug adapters all for free with your speaker order. Highly recommend. I also used some Amazon “dynamat” type stuff inside all the doors and bought thick foam ring surrounds for the woofers in the doors. Even before the subwoofer upgrade I just finished, the improvement in mid-bass was nuts.​

Thank you!!!

 

[Live to Ski]

anything relevant to newer ('04+) years?

 

[icce]

I wish you success brother,
I also have a 2000 with the dual 4” “woofers.”

I’ve even thought about buying a newer 100 series single woofer enclosure off eBay or the like and going from there.

I have almost 15 pictures of each enclosure from different angles and even the plugs look the same. However I know the resistance is different!

Could you not load up the enclosure with pillow stuffing to slow the air down and wrap the enclosure with some cheapest Amazon sound deadening mat.

Heck I’m tempted to PM you and ask about a set of the adapters you printed…

Would you mind sharing those photos? I'm also looking at this option as I don't have space for a different sub setup and trying to keep everything looking as stock as possible

 

[fil1983]

Would you mind sharing those photos? I'm also looking at this option as I don't have space for a different sub setup and trying to keep everything looking as stock as possible

I ended up abandoning trying to get the factory sub to be part of the sound system. I kept mine in place but decided to bypass the factory amp, remove it, and install a new amp and sub under the passenger seat. I went with the following items and the sound is better than I could have imagined with new speakers in the doors, a new amp, and powered sub. Kept the factory head unit because I want everything to look and feel OE. The sub is more than enough and I ran it with the new speakers and sub with just the factory amp thinking it would be fine but had trouble fitting the factory amp and sub under the passenger seat together so got the kicker amp which is tiny and has DSP and it completely change the way the new speakers sound. Do not use the factory amp, it's worthless.

Kicker 46HS10 10 inch powered subwoofer
Kicker 47KEY200.4
Focal RSE 165 for front doors
Focal ACX 165 for rear doors

 

[icce]

I ended up abandoning trying to get the factory sub to be part of the sound system. I kept mine in place but decided to bypass the factory amp, remove it, and install a new amp and sub under the passenger seat. I went with the following items and the sound is better than I could have imagined with new speakers in the doors, a new amp, and powered sub. Kept the factory head unit because I want everything to look and feel OE. The sub is more than enough and I ran it with the new speakers and sub with just the factory amp thinking it would be fine but had trouble fitting the factory amp and sub under the passenger seat together so got the kicker amp which is tiny and has DSP and it completely change the way the new speakers sound. Do not use the factory amp, it's worthless.

Kicker 46HS10 10 inch powered subwoofer
Kicker 47KEY200.4
Focal RSE 165 for front doors
Focal ACX 165 for rear doors

I just ordered a pair of the Dayton CF120-4. Doubtful they'll fit but for $60 it's worth a gamble. I'm curious to see if I can optimize the enclosure any further. I will try polyfill on interior and closed-cell foam and mass-loading with some butyl dampener on the exterior to see if any further improvement to can be made to the "resonance/ hollow/drone" issues you reported. I'll report back with results.

 

[rbrave]

I ended up abandoning trying to get the factory sub to be part of the sound system. I kept mine in place but decided to bypass the factory amp, remove it, and install a new amp and sub under the passenger seat. I went with the following items and the sound is better than I could have imagined with new speakers in the doors, a new amp, and powered sub. Kept the factory head unit because I want everything to look and feel OE. The sub is more than enough and I ran it with the new speakers and sub with just the factory amp thinking it would be fine but had trouble fitting the factory amp and sub under the passenger seat together so got the kicker amp which is tiny and has DSP and it completely change the way the new speakers sound. Do not use the factory amp, it's worthless.

Kicker 46HS10 10 inch powered subwoofer
Kicker 47KEY200.4
Focal RSE 165 for front doors
Focal ACX 165 for rear doors

I have been looking to do exactly this. I recently found a good solution to add Bluetooth to the OEM stereo on the cheap. After a few months, it is still working well. I have to go into my rear doors soon to do window motors, and want to do speakers and deadening in the process. New speakers and a little sound deadening sure go a long way.

Questions - did you keep the factory speaker wiring? What about the factory wiring from the HU to the amp - were you able to reuse that? I too appreciate the all stock look, and being able to easily wire the kicker key to the stock harness might drive me to finish the job.

 

[fil1983]

I have been looking to do exactly this. I recently found a good solution to add Bluetooth to the OEM stereo on the cheap. After a few months, it is still working well. I have to go into my rear doors soon to do window motors, and want to do speakers and deadening in the process. New speakers and a little sound deadening sure go a long way.

Questions - did you keep the factory speaker wiring? What about the factory wiring from the HU to the amp - were you able to reuse that? I too appreciate the all stock look, and being able to easily wire the kicker key to the stock harness might drive me to finish the job.

Kept all the factory wiring for everything for the signal but I did run new ground and power to the battery for the new amp and sub.

 

[suprarx7nut]

As somebody that's now had like... 10 different setups in various cars... The bass you get from a proper subwoofer with a dedicated amp is a world apart from anything you're going to get out of that factory 100 series enclosure. Best case, you'll find something "not bad". Pour that same time and similar $$ into an actual sub and amp and you'll be ahead.

IMO, stop trying to do any "Bose" wizardry getting a tiny speaker to sound big. It's exceptionally difficult. A simple 8" sub in a compact sealed box with a dedicated amp will outperform anything in that stock plastics box. OEM amps are generally tuned very specifically to a speaker. Change the speaker and it's just going to sound bad. Conversely, a basic 8" woofer, sealed box, basic amp with a couple knobs for adjustment and a simple wiring kit from amazon and you'll have something significant.

I still get goosebumps thinking about the system I had in my 99. Morel Virtus fully active components up front, DSP on all channels, 125W per tweeter, 125W per 6" woofer, 500W for dual Focal 11" subs in a sealed box. Glorious. Vocals like I've only heard live or in a hi-fi demo room, guitars you could *feel* in your chest and bass that makes you wonder if you need to start adding thread-locker to all your fasteners. And that was all still pretty amateur.

Kudos on the design and printed adapters. That's pretty cool. Your skills are out-punching your components.

 

[rbrave]

@fil1983 did you have to cut into the factory wiring or did you have an adapter that mated to the stock amp hookup?

 

[icce]

As somebody that's now had like... 10 different setups in various cars... The bass you get from a proper subwoofer with a dedicated amp is a world apart from anything you're going to get out of that factory 100 series enclosure. Best case, you'll find something "not bad". Pour that same time and similar $$ into an actual sub and amp and you'll be ahead.

IMO, stop trying to do any "Bose" wizardry getting a tiny speaker to sound big. It's exceptionally difficult. A simple 8" sub in a compact sealed box with a dedicated amp will outperform anything in that stock plastics box. OEM amps are generally tuned very specifically to a speaker. Change the speaker and it's just going to sound bad. Conversely, a basic 8" woofer, sealed box, basic amp with a couple knobs for adjustment and a simple wiring kit from amazon and you'll have something significant.

I still get goosebumps thinking about the system I had in my 99. Morel Virtus fully active components up front, DSP on all channels, 125W per tweeter, 125W per 6" woofer, 500W for dual Focal 11" subs in a sealed box. Glorious. Vocals like I've only heard live or in a hi-fi demo room, guitars you could *feel* in your chest and bass that makes you wonder if you need to start adding thread-locker to all your fasteners. And that was all still pretty amateur.

Kudos on the design and printed adapters. That's pretty cool. Your skills are out-punching your components.

Not sure who your comment is directed to, I assume it was me. In any case appreciate your input and I do not disagree that a stiffer enclosure with adequate volume and a larger woofer will result in improved low-end response. My primary goal is to retain a completely stock appearance and have a "not bad" system.

 

[suprarx7nut]

Not sure who your comment is directed to, I assume it was me. In any case appreciate your input and I do not disagree that a stiffer enclosure with adequate volume and a larger woofer will result in improved low-end response. My primary goal is to retain a completely stock appearance and have a "not bad" system.

More so @fil1983