I've gotten good recommendations from you guys so far, and I have one more set of questions...

I want to install (I think) a JL 8w3v2 free air sub where the stock sub is. I was told that perhaps I could go sans-amp and get the bass I want if I don't want a whole lot. That's a great idea, and I'll do it tonight if it's easy. The problem is, before I tear my car apart, I want to know:

How hard is it to get this thing in there? What all has to happen before I can start putting my car back together, in other words. Do I have to cut, weld, or use magic (because I can't do any of those ).

My second question - Are there any subs that are better than the JL 8w3v2, but can be used basically the same way. I know that competition 15s are better, but I don't see them being installed in the stock location . If there is a better brand, etc., I'd love to know.

Thanks so much for helping a new and unexperienced TLer out.

 

Not too hard to take apart. Remove rear seat botyom, remove headrests, remove rear seat back. Remove rear cutains that cover up the airbags, remove rear deck cover. Remove trunk ceiling liner. Remove sub. Install JL sub, mark holes, drill holes, install sub. Too easy.

 

bitchin...I'll have a new sub tonight. Hope the sub has enough bass for me by itself...don't want to do an aftermarket amp.

 

You will need and aftermarket amp to realize any benefit. Just a cheap 125 RMS JL e1200 ($90) should be all you need.

and be careful with impedence, as the 8W3v2 is a dual voice coil sub. I have no idea what the stock impedence of the OEM sub is, but the DVC subs are particular to that, and have to be wired accordingly.

It's ALMOST plug an play, but you really need an amp to power that sub.

 

There's some scans and info in this thread.
https://acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=107568

 

Thanks Ron A, Kennedy, & TLF...I found and read DeathToToaster's thread about his installation. He's doing a lot more than I care to start off with (my first operation on a car in 6 years - since I was 18), and quite frankly, it frightened me. I want the satisfaction of having done something myself more, though.

Here we go...

 

A couple things to consider:

I emailed JL several months ago and they mentioned that none of their subs were recommended for free air use.

The 8W3v2-D2 is a dual 2-ohm sub. You will need to wire in series and you will end up with a 4-ohm load. The factory sub is a 2-ohm load. If you try to power off the factory amp you will only get half of the power. Given how short that amp is on power to begin with I really doubt that will be sufficient. You will most like need an amp.

 

I thought so too until I got this email from JL today:

Alex-
We do not offer an 8-inch infinite baffle woofer. The 8WØ is designed to be
housed in a sealed or ported enclosure. It will not do very well in an
infinite baffle installation.

Our new ZR800 that we showed at CES is more for mid-bass, not for bass.

If you want to modify the rear deck a little, we do offer a 10-inch infinite
baffle woofer in our Marine line of products. This is a really great
sounding and performing woofer. Although it was designed with the marine
environment in mind, it can be used in an automotive environment. I have a
lot of my dealers using this marine woofer in installation just like this.
You just have to paint the basket or hide it with a beauty panel, to hide
the marine white color of the basket.
Take a look;
http://marine.jlaudio.com/products_subs.php?prod_id=370

My question now for many of you out there is can we fit a 10 sub without cutting? I found a few that are 10 inch free air or infinite baffle sub.

 

A couple of folks have done the 8W3v2 and reported it works great. They it doesn't "thump" like a boxes woofer, but it adds about 3X the stock bass... which is more than enough for me.

 

You weren't very good at the square/circle/triangle game as a kid were you?

You won't be able to fit a 10in speaker into a 8in hole without cutting anything.

 

Doesn't the amps damping factor have a major influence over the speasker cone travel ?

My understanding is that an infinite baffle driver would have a very stiff spider suspension because it lacks the air spring. Seems to me most car woofers have extremely stiff suspensions anyway and combined with a good damping factor should be very controllable. You miss the resonance of the enclosure but then your trunk becomes an enormous cavity.

What are the other factors infinite versus sealed versus ported ?

 

I haven't had a chance to tear up the car. So the obvious answer to a simple mind such as you is, of course, 8 does not equal 10. But if you have replaced a few OEM speakers, you would not immediately come to the simple conclusion of 8 does not equal to 10. Some 6 1/2 speakers fit nicely in a 5 1/2 depending on the actual speaker housing and the OEM slots/brackets. But I guess in this case, I think perhaps your simple mind is right sine I haven't heard anything to the contrary.

 

Thanks baby, have a good night. Daddy will see you in the morning.

 

This isn't for me, but I found this article on the "infinite baffle"/"free air" subject. I hope this helps someone.

http://www.caraudiomag.com/specialfe...e_speaker_box/

 

That's a pretty good article for those that are curious about speaker design.
I've designed plenty of sealed home speakers and a few bass reflex (ported) speakers. Sealed is much easier and more tolerant of errors. I can agree with the article about the complexities of ported and bandpass enclosures. To do them correctly usually requires more equipment than the casual DIYer will usually have. Since actual driver specs (Vas, Qts, Fs) will vary, sometimes wildly, from what the manufacturer specifies and will "settle" after use it can be very hard to tune reflex and bandpass designs. Most of this isn't worth arguing about with anyone I've met that is simply looking for "punch" in there system. They usually mistake boom (really high system Q) and other really bad design artifacts as "good bass". Arguably it really doesn't matter as much in a moving vehicle and if the owner likes it that way.

 

i recently picked up a 8w6.....does any one have an idea of how it would sound or if it would even fit in the rear deck?