ACURAte_tiTLe

Put my 10" 300W powered subwoofer in my TL last weekend (nothing crazy, but imo it was the perfect volume and easy to install in my old car). My expectations weren't too high because I planned on getting the signal from the factory sub harness (instead of an aftermarket head unit like my old car).

However, even after setting the gain and phase properly, it comes nowhere near my already "low" expectations. Unless I have the bass boost knob turned all the way up, I can barely hear it from inside the car (sub is in the trunk, non ported but facing the back seats). I'm pretty sure the factory sub was louder... Not only does having it turned up all the way make the car rattle, it makes the bass sound really muddy/thumpy. It's ridiculously loud from outside and inside the trunk which leads me to believe the back seats are absorbing all the sound. Opening the seat pass-through helps a little, but it's still FAR from how it sounded in my old car.

I figured I'd seek advice from other TL owners with subwoofers before reverting it back to stock. Otherwise I could try an under-the-seat subwoofer, but I fear it would overheat quickly.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

simply put; the TL trunk isnt a good enclosure for a sub.
we have found the best setup is an ifinite baffle set up.
the IB setup makes the whole car the enclosure instead of just the trunk

ACURAte_tiTLe

sockr1

iTrader: (5)

something wasn't installed right or setup right. i have single corner 10" in my trunk and people think i have a 12 back there. it's super crisp and sharp and is more than enough bass for me. it's super clean. i'm running my signal directly from the oem head unit.
i don't think you should be having the sub face the seats. make it face the trunk lid or the corners of the trunk.

but i believe something about your install isn't right, many people have had plenty of bass from a 10" in their trunk

it's extremely hard to find a sub that fits correctly in the oem location so i wouldn't even try that search haha

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

I have a heavy ass sub from an older install....but I dont want to install it in the TL.
maybe if I had a truck or SUV thing, I would be able too.

dopeboy1

sockr1 is right first try turning the sub around so it faces the back of the car, see if that helps at all

stevemk07

I have a 10 in small sealed box in corner facing me... Sounds good and loud enough... Try switching the wires to the sub around.

Bchester6

Yep this is where I would start. You may have frequency cancellation associated with phase issues. I know you said you have all of the electrical phase set but sometimes acoustical phase wins out in car audio environments. Can you please provide the model of your sub that you're installing?

Bchester6

You may also try tapping the rear speaker outputs for a full range signal as the subwoofer outputs may have a limited frequency band to protect the subwoofer.

06.UA6SD

ACURAte_tiTLe

I decided against a line out converter and taking advantage of the fact my amp supports speaker level input. I also still have the factory sub connected. I'm going to try unplugging the factory sub and see if it makes a difference.

ACURAte_tiTLe

Wires have been tried both ways, doesn't seem to make a difference. It's a Rockford Fosgate P300-10. Another person pointed out they had their factory sub disconnected. My factory sub is still connected. I'm wondering if the factory sub is cancelling out my sub because of it's placement. I'll see tomorrow morning.

Yup the filters probably aren't ideal, but it seems to have decent range and plenty loud in the trunk. It's just extremely quiet when in the cabin.

06.UA6SD

06.UA6SD

stevemk07

Definitely disconnect the factory sub.

If you face the sub to the rear you will have more issues of increased resonances and rattling through the trunk/lid/deck.

The rear seats dont have much effect on sub bass frequencies getting to the cabin.... The seats are good at blocking other noises from the trunk though... Just not sub-bass.

Bchester6

A corner loaded or front/rear facing subwoofer with 300 watts should be more than sufficient for bass duties... something's not right here. Why don't you grab the signal directly from the OEM headunit and go low level/balanced signal (RCA) input instead of speaker level. Just requires some light soldering and if you don't feel comfortable doing that then here: https://www.crutchfield.com/p_206KISL/Kicker-KISL.html

wlbolton

I concur with Bchester6, The most proficient way is to tap the signal pre-wire. The front/rear signal is Flat, however, If memory serves me correctly, the pre-amp sub-woofer signal is NOT.

I started out wanting better sound, but keeping the OEM HU because of the difficulty of adding a aftermarket HU and loosing some features. I added Precision Power Amps, P1000.1 (Sub-woofer) and P900.4 (Tweets/Mids). Because output on the OEM HU was extremely low (less than 1V), I added a Line Driver. I also added the iSimple for Auxiliary input, and Image Dynamics for the Front Mids/Tweets. The Center and Rear speakers remained on the OEM Amplifier. My system sounded extremely good, but I felt it could be better. I personally feel adding additional pieces into my build introduced a little noise.

After some in-depth research here, and learning I could keep the OEM Navigation, I decided to take the plunge and add aftermarket HU with DSP for 2-Way Active. Must say, could not be happier. The installation was fairly easy because of all the guys before me providing photos of their install. I have all the Steering Wheel Controls to includ, On-Hook and Off-Hook to answer incoming calls. I did loose the center speaker, but it never played a role in my system.

In short, this is not intended to have you change your entire system, But I would look at adding a Line Driver (it won't break the bank) to increase the output from the OEM HU and tap pre-wire for a flat cleaner signal to go directly to your sub-woofer amplifier. Also, disconnect your existing 8" woofer in the rear deck area.
.

Please note, the OEM Head has an extremely low output level (less than 1V), Initially when I added aftermarket amplifiers, I added a Line Driver to increase the output.. I wanted to keep the OEM look so I keep the HU and added iSimple with the original HU and added aftermarket amplifiers. I keep the orig

3GTLCHICK

Can the line driver allow the stock radio to sound as good as an aftermarket radio If done right?

b15

Are you asking about just adding a line driver and nothing else? If so, then no and it'd be pretty pointless.

Bchester6

The short answer is yes. I just recently upgraded to an aftermarket HU after rocking a base OEM radio that was wired to a Xtant P500a (line driver/EQ) -> Xtant 603x amplifier. This was done by taking the existing speaker leads and soldering on male RCA connectors. The sound was exceptional and I would've stayed all stock if I didn't need some time alignment and other little tweaks to achieve the exact sound I was looking for. You're looking for components and amplifiers that have "balanced differential inputs" so you can make this happen. This feature has been around for a long time to help integrate aftermarket products into an OEM environment.

ACURAte_tiTLe

Turns out it was interference, not from the factory sub, but from the rear deck speakers. I am 1000% sure the sub's phase was set correctly yet unplugging the rear deck speakers made the issue disappear. Anyways, today I got around to properly mounting the enclosure against the backseat with the speaker pointed through the pass-through and adding some sound deadening foam. Works perfectly now with the rear speakers hooked up again.