Stock rear Subwoofer rebuilt, is it worth it???

[mustardfj40]

Question for audiophiles please: My 1998 has the stock Premium sound system and I has been pondering with rebuilding the stock rear subwoofer with Kicker 6-3/4" driver (Kicker 48CWRT672, dual 2 ohm voice coil) and have it driven by a Kicker sub amp (Kicker 47KEY500.1, 500w at 1 ohm), total cost is about $450 so is it worth it to rebuild it? Does the new sub setup sound substantially or noticeably improved?

I love music and at 60+ years old, I'm not looking for loud music just quality sound and I don't want to put too much money into a truck that's worth a few $K. And I avoid having a separate sub box taking up space. But if I have to is a compact powered sub such as the Kicker HS10 (power 10" 188-watt Sub) a better choice?

Is it worth it or for $500, what would you do? AI says it ain't worth rebuilding that sub but AI doesn't have ears LOL

Thanks!

 

[Dirt J]

IMO, no not worth it. I just did almost exactly this. Finished it last night. The exact same speaker you mention but with a 1600W Kenwood KAC-835 to also repower the door speakers.

Its a good amount of work to get that speaker to physically fit. I bought a kit on eBay to covert the two 4" holes to one 6.5". This also required trimming the backside of the speaker grille. Removal of the interior side panels and tailgate threshold. Then need (?) to run a larger gauge speaker wire from the rear under the carpet to the amp under the PS seat.

I made a snazzy new mount for the new amp using the factory amp brackets only to figure out when I tried to reinstall the PS seat that the amp sat too high. So the amp just sits in the cavity under the seat.

My amp setup needed two adapters, power, ground, sense, and RCA wires all ran to the appropriate spots.

The door speaker sounds is a bit cleaner and I have a smidge more bump but would not do it again.

 

[mustardfj40]

IMO, no not worth it. I just did almost exactly this. Finished it last night. The exact same speaker you mention but with a 1600W Kenwood KAC-835 to also repower the door speakers.

Its a good amount of work to get that speaker to physically fit. I bought a kit on eBay to covert the two 4" holes to one 6.5". This also required trimming the backside of the speaker grille. Removal of the interior side panels and tailgate threshold. Then need (?) to run a larger gauge speaker wire from the rear under the carpet to the amp under the PS seat.

I made a snazzy new mount for the new amp using the factory amp brackets only to figure out when I tried to reinstall the PS seat that the amp sat too high. So the amp just sits in the cavity under the seat.

My amp setup needed two adapters, power, ground, sense, and RCA wires all ran to the appropriate spots.

The door speaker sounds is a bit cleaner and I have a smidge more bump but would not do it again.

Thanks so much for the feedback! I watched a few youtube videos and it seemed it wasn't worth the effort and cost.

 

[Dirt J]

A somewhat cleaner/easier upgrade would have been to replace the entire woofer enclosure with one from a newer model that has the factory 6.25" woofer. The hassle/cost/benefit of installing a new amp would still be on the table though.

 

[TahoeZ]

No; not worth it. The output from the stock enclosure and location is negligible. IMO, best options are:
- Ditch the sub and run high-quality full-range door woofers
- Install a separate sub enclosure, either powered or powered by a new amp