drcookie

Hey all,
Just want to share my project that I have been doing in the past two weeks.
As some of you have known, I was working on replacing the stock sub with another shallow mount sub without adding any enclosure. After doing some research, I found out Kicker has just released a new 8" mid bass sub, model RMB8 which has shallow mounting depth (2.25"). They were sold in pair but I bought it anyway since I pretty sure I could make it fit.
I also bought a mono amp to power the new sub that I will be installing. I got RockFord Fosgate 200M. It is a pretty small amp but it should have enough juice to power the new sub.

Well, after working a few hours everynight on the mini project after I got out from work, I managed to get the sub fit into the stock position using 1/2" plywood as a spacer. I believe 1/2" plywood will be thick enough since if 3/4" plywood were used, it will lift the sub too high and causing the sub to hit the stock grille.

Taking out the back seat was easy but it needs to be done really really carefully so the leather will not get scratched.

I cut off approximately 13"x10" of 1/2" plywood as a mouting board to mount the RF amp. I mouted the board against the backseat below the navigator since there was a metal bar going from the top left to approx. 14" to the bottom right.

Wiring will be the most challenging experience.
I was having problem looking for the correct grommet to pull a 10 gauge power cable from the battery across the firewall. After spending many hours, I found out there about an inch in diameter hole with grommet covered on the firewall. It is close to the middle of the engine. If you look from the inside, there will be a cut off carpet a few inches up almost right on top of the gas pedal. That was the hole where I pulled the power cable through. The rest of the way through the door sill was pretty straight forward.

Tapping the input and remote on wires will be another experience. After taking the back seat off, I unscrewed the stock amp from the braket and unplugged the wiring bracket from the amp.
I tapped the blue cable as my remote on for the new amp and I tapped the yellow and purple lines as the input line to the amp.
For the input line, make sure you mark which one is positive (+) and which one is negative (-). I made a mistake by crossing the two lines and I ended up have to retap the wires again.

OK ... after everything has been wired up and double checked to make sure all wires are properly installed. I turned on the head unit. First thing to look for, does the new amp have power. YES.
Now turn on the volume just a little, can u hear the music from stock speakers ? YES ! Now go to the sub and lightly touch the woofer. Can you feel the vibration ? YES ! The last thing to check, do you smell any burns ? NO !!!!

Now it's time to tune the amp. With default settings on the amp. I can defintely hear the bass coming from the back; a lot better than the crappy, cheesy stock sub. However, the new sub does not provide as much PUNCH as the enclosed 10" or 12" subs that take out some space in the trunk. Hey ! it's only an 8" sub and it's IB.
Anyway, the current for the input line from the HU is pretty low, I have to boost it up by cranking up the gain and the boost step to +12dB on the new amp.

It took me about 2 hours to organize the wirings, and put back the backseat.

So, the conclusion is:
In my opinion, the project is well spent and worth every single penny. I am not a heavy bass listerner. So the bass provided by the new sub is more than enough for me to enjoy the music/radio.

Keep in mind that this is a mid bass sub. It does not give you deep bass frequency below 35Hz and it will not kick your seat or shack your rear view mirror. But, it will give your a better, tighter, and cleaner bass compare to the stock sub.

I want to thank Austin519-X for aswering most of concerns and questions that I have before I began the project. Thanks Austin519-X !!!
I also want to thank many other members that provided pointers and suggestions.

Cheers !!!

drcookie

Hey all,
I finally took some pictures of the installation and how I ran the power cable through the firewall. Enjoy !

Pictures of the Kicker sub and the stock sub:



Sub installed on top of a 1/2" spacer:


Bottom view :


Amp mounted against the backseat :



Power cable going through the grommet :
View from inside :



View from outside:



I forgot to take a few shots while I was wiring up from the stock amp. ARGH !!!

Cheers !!!

heyrandy

Great work -

A few questions:

Could you make a 10" sub fit?
How did you get the power cord from the gas pedal to the amp?

Thanks

drcookie

Hey heyrandy,
If you could find a 10" IB (free-air) sub that has 2.25" of mounting depth, you might be able to make it fit. The main issue is the mounting depth of the factory sub since there is a tension bar holder for the trunk lid underneath the sub position. If you cut out the tension bar holder, then you will definetely be able to fit the 10" free-air sub. In fact, some members in this forum actually did that

About the power cable, it pretty much goes from the battery terminal, around the engine bay, through the grommet that is approximately a few inches from the middle of the engine and comes out on top of the gas pedal, goes underneath the fuse box, through the door sills, up behind the back seat and to the amp. Let me know if you need more detail info.

Cheers !!!

stinkboy

heres a stupid question? ok the blue is the remote wire. they you state that you tapped the yellow and purple as you input wires to the new amp. then you state that make sure which is positive and which is negative, however why dont you tell us which color is which? did tapping these wires give the amp the right input or would have tapping into the HU for input been a better option since the stock sub is such a low ohm but the door speakers are 4 ohm?

jc000

hi drcookie

I am having problem tapping the input and remote wire, can u explain in detail?

drcookie

Hey jc000,
What kind of problem are you having ? Looking for the wires to tap or having issues after you have tapped the wires ?

Here is the diagram I got from Iggy:
http://www.drcook.net/images/acura-t...y-circuit1.jpg

If you are looking for a remote wire, it is an orange cable (marked as #2 on the diagram on stock amp) that goes to the stock amp at on your back seat.

The input cables are marked as 7 and 8 on the diagram on the stock amp. Those are mono feed, not stereo.

Let me know if you need more info.

Cheers !!!

wpf

HELP DR COOKIE

Went to install my RMB 8 this morning and had problems with the input.

The orange wire to the stock amp is hooked to the remote on the amp-no problem. B+ and ground no problem.

When I powered up my amp (JBL BP300) it went into protection mode. I brought it to Tweeter and they bench tested it and it did the same thing-they couldn't get it to work. So I got a bum amp and will be returning it for exchange.

I don't know if I wired the input incorrectly so PLEASE HELP with correct wiring.

The brown cable to the stock amp has two wires a blue green and a orange blue. It is wrapped with a wire shield.

An RCA male plug has a center post and an outer post.

How do you wire the RCA plug? Which wire to the center post and which to the outer post? Do you have to have two RCA plugs going into the new amp or just one?

Sorry for the stupidity here but I don't know if I fried the amp and want to make sure I get it right when I get the replacement amp.

drcookie

Hey wpf,
As long as you 100% sure the connections are correct for the 12+ and ground and remote line, I don't think you fried the amp. But when you get the new amp back, double check the wires again to before you make the install.


The polarity of the input lines are as follow :
(from randomwalk101)
BTW,those who are wondering about the polarity, here is the 411.

#7 blue/green (+)
#8 org/blue (-)


On the RCA connector, the center post is a positive terminal and the out post of a negative terminal.
So, you will need to connect blue/green to the center post and org/blue to the outerpost.

When I did my installation, I accidently switched these two wires and no sound came out but I did not fry the amp.

Hey man, this is an adventure and learning experience and we are here to help out.

Cheers !!!

wpf

Dr Cookie thanks for the quick reply.

12+ was right from the battery, Remote was orange wire from the wiring harness, ground from chasis.

When I turned the head unit on the amp powered up but as I descibed the amp went into protection mode

I guess I got a dud amp!

Well I sent it back already. I will make sure I wire the input as you have descibed and will keep you posted once I get a new amp.

Another question- If you don't have the input plugged into the amp and turn on the head unit and the amp powers up, will that harm the amp- in other words would it go into protection mode- just curious.

jc000

here are the photos that i took after tapping the remote wire. these tappings are temporary only, i will do a better tapping after i have done every correctly.

http://www.automotiveforums.com/img....5-1551_IMG.JPG


http://www.automotiveforums.com/img....5-1552_IMG.JPG

drcookie

I am not 100% sure but they look correct to me. One thing I noticed on the pix is that each input line has two wires connected to it. I pressume these two pairs are going to the Left and Right input on the amp. Make sure you don't accidently mix up the polarity.

Cheers !!!

drcookie

jc000,
My guess is the remote on wire does not have enough current to turn on your amp.

Check out this post. There is some discussion about the remote on problem :

http://www.acura-tl.com/forum/showth...ghlight=remote

Plan A:If you are brave enough, you could try bridge the 12+ terminal on the amp to the remote-on terminal to see if your could turn on the amp.

Plan B: Go to Radio Shack and get a small multimeter (costs around $10) and measure the voltage on the remote line while you have the HU turned on. If the voltage reads somewhere below 9v, the remote line does not have enough current to turn on your amp. You need to install another wire from the fuse box to turn on your amp.

Hope this helps.

Cheers !!!

jc000

drcookie, Do you know the spec for our stock sub? How much watt it can handle?

drcookie

If I could recall correctly, the stock sub is rated 100W @ 0.5Ohm. You don't want to hook this sub to the aftermarket amp, or you might fry the amp.

Cheers !!!

wpf

Well I got my replacement amp and got the RMB8 up and running today. It sounds much better than the stock Blose.

MUCH THANKS TO DR COOKIE FOR ALL HIS WORK ON THIS IMPROVEMENT TO THE TL SOUND

I do have a question on the AMP SETUP and ADJUSTMENT

The electronic crossover is a 12dB/oct low pass filter which can be set from 32HZ to 320HZ.
What would be the best setting?

I followed the instructions on the Input Levels (turning the head unit up 3/4 then turning up the input until distortion then backing off a little.

The bass can be boosted 6dB at 50Hz.

SO THERE ARE THREE ADJUSTMENTS THAT CAN BE MADE

ANY SUGGESTIONS TO WHICH ORDER I SET THESE AND AT WHICH SETTINGS?

Also after driving for an hour or so today I put my hand on the amp- It was hot to touch- I was able to keep my hand on it but it was hot. I know the amp will put off heat but is this normal?

drcookie

wpf,
Since I have a small amp (100W), I turned the gain to 100%.
I set the amp to +6dB boost and tuned the low pass crossover to around 100-200Hz.
You might want to try a few settings to find the "sweet spot" .


Cheers !!!

Iggy

Move both front seats all the way foward to give yourself room. Now hop in backwards facing the seat and spread the cushions apart just to the right of center. You will find a 10mm black bolt that needs to be unscrewed. Now tug upwards from under the front of the bottom cushion. Now that the bottom cushion is out you will find three aditional bolts on the bottom of the back cushion.....one on each side near the door sills and one slightly to the left of center. Once those are out snake the center shouder harness out of it's plastic holder on top of the seat back. Grab under the back cushion on both sides and lift straight up. Wiggle it around a bit wile doing so and it will come free fairly easily.

Once you have it all apart you will see exactly how this all goes together. Good luck.

Iggy

oVerBoost

is a 10" sub the largest sub that will fit in that space? or can i nudge in a 12"?

systek

gotta route wires? need to find a good spot for a tapping a ground connection? look here! http://www.cardomain.com/member_page...=164157&page=6

eh!curaplus

how about just tapping into the power supply going into the stock amp, i mean if we're pretty much tapping in to the remote and speaker wires, why not into the power too? is that possible?
i cant wait till sunday where i'll be trying that myself, tell me if anyone succeds b4 me!

drcookie

If you read my previous post, that is a no no.
Once you have removed the back seat, you will notice that the stock amp is real small and the power cable that drives the amp is really tiny as well. The size of the stock power cable is not big enough to drive any after market amp. If you have a 200W or 400W amp, just run a 4 gauge wire from the battery to the back of your trunk (off course you need to run through a fuse as well). It should take average 1 hour for the job. Like a lot of people said, if you want to do it, do it right.

Let me know if you need more info.

Cheers !!!

GSteg

Ah! the Midbass driver, not really intended as a subwoofer. If you're looking for more bump in the 70hz-250 section, the Kicker RMB8 will be good. If you want low-end extention, an 8" Kicker CompVR or a Resonant Engineering RE8 would be better (make sure amp can handle 2ohm if you get RE8).

drcookie

Anything that has top-mount depth more than 2 1/2" will not fit the stock position without cutting out the tension support bar.
Hope this helps.

Cheers !!!

randomwalk101

Dr.Cookie,
I don't think that'll do much good cuz the box just overwhelms it Besides, I don't have an extra cross over...also the sub line is from stock sub..I believe it's a low pass already...plus my amp is a momo amp...
I bought the Polk Momo MM-10 box sub for only $99 at Fry's...can't beat that

DeathtoToasters

Ok nobody has asked this and it is driving me crazy.
Why not remove or cut the trunk tension bar...what is it for?

I have the helms manual so I can remove it without actually cutting them. What will happen or what will I lose by doing that.

I am thinking about losing the bars, then installing a JL 10" Sub and making a custom box or modding a already made box to mount under the new JL sub in the stock mounts.

I will just need to find a way to secure the box under the rear deck without it pulling on the deck and making it come down.

Any Ideas?

I was thinking if I got some 90 degree brackets and screwed them into the side of the sub box. Then Attach the other end of the brackets to maybe a secure mounting bar that I put across the back of the trunk or something like that?

Any ides for this?

Thanks

SuperDave

Those bars help lift your trunk. You better start looking at alternative methods of keeping your trunk up such as hydraulic lifts.

David

Lanzerbot

For those who are looking for a sub-woofer there's the Earthquake SWS-8. They're around 70 dollars and a little smaller than the stock sub. I end up tightening the screws on the edge of the sub and installed it with no modification. Wouldn't suggest adding this sub unless you're adding an amp to drive it.

And thanks for the info on removing the back seat!

jmaddy12

what amp did you use, and did you find that the Earthquake has good sound seeing that the kicker is now discontinued.

Jerzyboi

yes i'm also curious to know what the earthquake sws-8(10) sound like

03blueTLtype-s

ok so i understand how u hooked up everything except on my amp i have an rca input so how do i hook that up

soupey

I know this is an old thread, but I just installed a pioneer shallow mount 8" into my stock speaker location. did you get a lot of rear deck vibration after the install?? I feel like I need to deaden the rear deck, or figure out what's causing all the rattle.

Was there anything you could do to reduce the rattling after installing the sub? Right now all i can tell is that there's a black "SOK" box on the right when looking into the trunk and up towards the rear deck panel that when held down seems to reduce a significant amount of rattle, but it also looks like you need to take out the seats to get at it...

Any help to get rid of the rattle would be greatly appreciated!

halswisher

I want to try to do that with a 10' kicker has anyone else tried??? pics???

tigerpause444

thank you thank you thank you!! tapped right into the blue and orange lines as you stated below.. ran the RCAs straight to the amp, and hooked it to my sub.. slammin... thanks again Dr.!

#7 blue/green (+)
#8 org/blue (-)


On the RCA connector, the center post is a positive terminal and the out post of a negative terminal.
So, you will need to connect blue/green to the center post and org/blue to the outerpost.

MilwaukeeDave

iTrader: (3)

Dang I wish I saw this first. I installed a pioneer TS-8 in my factory opening right now. It was the shallowest 8" that crutchfield sold. I only have the factory amp running it right now because I haven't found a way to hide one properly out of sight.

Sener

Hey Dave, how does that pioneer sub sound? I was thinking on picking up the same one also and connect a stronger amp to push it. Let me know, thanks!

TheRealAsianSethRogen

I am kind of a noob here but when you tap the rca's into the harness do you use a inline converter?

vii3tkidd

i can't see the pics