Subwoofer question (1 Viewer)

[Shawn Wilkins]

I have already replaced all of my speakers and subwoofer with suggestions from the forum and they work great. However, the sub being the size of a biscuit leaves it a little lacking to say the least.

I found an old sub box with 2 10 inch subs that I had sitting around and I just had them tested and they work great.

My question is, how big a sub will the stock amp handle? Can I just splice in the subs to the current wiring and let her ride?

Suggestions on replacement amp.

Thanks,

Shawn

 

[lhommec13]

I don't have the exact answer you're looking for, but considering the stock amp went with a single 6" or less subwoofer, I'd say you want something more powerful to power your 2-10's. Even with the "upgraded" JBL system in my 2002 LC, I felt the sound and power were very underwhelming so I pulled the stock amp and replaced it with an aftermarket 5-channel amp to power the new speakers and 12" sub that I put in.

For me, I felt the stock amp couldn't even handle the stock setup. Doubtful it will adequately handle 2-10's.

 

[johsti]

Get an amp that can adequately power two 10"s. The factory amp will not work for this. I'd recommend leaving the factory system as is with the exception of possibly disconnecting the oem sub and augment the low end with the addition of the two 10's if you crave more bass.

 

[Shawn Wilkins]

Thanks, I figured as much. I have an old Sony EQ with bass boost that I might could run after the amp that might help. I'll have to pull the manuals as I have a couple of them to see if that might work.

 

[C6H12O6]

If you pick up a sub amp that can accept speaker-level inputs, you can cut the stock sub wires and plug directly into the new amp. I used an older Alpine amp and a single 8" subwoofer I built into my rear cargo box. The newer amps even have the option for a bass adjustment knob. It's not going to win any SPL contests, but it sounds much better than the plastic stock sub.

 

[Shawn Wilkins]

UPDATE: I had replaced the old sub with a new one based on my research here along with the other speakers as well. However, the amp was still too powerful for the new sub and it was always distorted. Since I had an old sub box with 2 10" subs I decided to hook it up.

I took out the old sub and box mounted in the side and re-routed the speaker wires and hooked them up to the sub box. To my surprise it sounds unbelievable. It won't blow the windows out with the bass, but it is 1000% better than stock. Since there were two pairs of wires running to the one speaker, I ran one set to each speaker and then ran a wire to connect the other speakers together just as it was on the original sub.

The was a 2/10 on the time and ease of project scale so it was well worth the time. I will update photos just to show you how it looks.

If you have some sitting around it is worth it. I did the connections where I can remove it with ease if I want to use the rear seats.