TypeSDreamin

I want to replace the Bose sub with something a little better. I would like the new sub to be mounted where the Bose one is. I also want an amp, and would like to have it mounted maybe next to the sub.

I listen to rap and alternative.

A box is out of the question because I do a lot of skiing (can't block the pass through).

What kind of amp and what kind of sub? I don't want to spend more than $400 total.

Thanks for the help.

NSXNEXT

iTrader: (2)

There aren't any subs that will give you the sound you desire AND can fit in the OEM opening. The space where the sub sits is too shallow.

Best bet is a small sub box stuffed in one corner of your trunk. Seeing that you listen to rap, my suggestion is a single 12.

Brewboy

I don't think anybody here has installed a new sub in the stock hole without modifications. If your dead set for that you'll have to experiment due to the small mounting depth and diameter. Maybe a Morel MW-266 or JL 8IB4, don't know the depths of those so do your research first, Morel is about $90 and JL $?. Like NSXNEXT said, a small portable box is probably your best best that can be moved to the corner or completly taken out when you need the pass-thru. I've seen the Alumapro BP-10 for around $200-250 that sounds real tight, very compact, and really bump for rap. Ask TLDaddy or Nate about it. $50 for wiring, connectors, etc leaving $100 or so for a good used amp of your choice. Ron can probably set you up with the whole package if you PM him. Good luck.

Austin519

Brewboy:
Good call. I bet you can guess what I'm about to say

TypeSDreamin:
I've been suggesting a JL 8IB4 to everyone...it's a good not too expensive but good sounding 8" free air sub...and of course, it's JL and I'm a JL whore. The sub is no more than $100 anywhere you look. The wiring and the ring you would need to make (really easy) would be about $100 max, which leaves $200 for your amp. You will have to remove the two bars below the stock hole, because no sub that I know of is that shallow sans the factory one and a few others that you will definitely not want to upgrade to.

Austin519

Brewboy

I know, but it hurt as I typed. At least I did it in one sentence. I'll give credit where credit is due, I just think everybody deserves at least two different choices since there is so much gear out there to choose from.

Remember those two bars are torsion bars to counterweight your trunk lid. If you do decide to remove them, you will need to supplement them with something like hydraulic springs or linear accuator, or?. You will also have to remove the brace underneath that holds the plastic clip for those same bars. The brace can be easily drilled out at their spot welds and later easily replaced with 4 bolt/nut.
Good luck

SuperDave

TypeSDreamin:

Illusion Audio makes some subs that use an inverted voice coil design to reduce the mounting depth. The Illusion Audio Carbon series gets a lot of good feedback on some of the other forums I read on car audio: www.termpro.com and www.caraudio.com. The Luccent series is Illusion's freeair sub and should fit with minimal issues. Unfortunately, I haven't found anyone that has heard the Luccent although I have heard it is the same as the Carbon series with a different cone material.

I have also been researching drop-in freeair subs and the best freeair sub for SQ I have read about is the Oz Audio 250H. Unfortunately, Oz doesn't seem to make it anymore. Image Dynamics has a huge sub for SQL (SQ and SPL) called the IDMAX 12 which I have heard works well in freeair. They are scheduled to release a 10" in March.

As far as the torsion bars, I have seen on this forum where someone has installed a freeair Pioneer and just placed the torsion bars against the subwoofer with a rubber piece in between and used plastic wire ties to hold it together (if I remember correctly).

My recommendation would be to look at an Image Dynamics IDQ10/12 and have a custom enclosure built on one side of your trunk. The IDQs are around $100-$150 and only need about 150-200 watts to sound extremely good.

Hope this helps.

David

Austin519

Brewboy:
"Remember those two bars are torsion bars to counterweight your trunk lid. If you do decide to remove them, you will need to supplement them with something like hydraulic springs or linear accuator, or?. "

Linear actuators yum yum. Yeah I'm planning on getting those for the trunk, and for the hood, and for the e-brake...

Austin519

SuperDave

Austin519,

I am barely familiar with linear actuators but I so much want to find a way to modify the ebrake so I can put some decent kickpanels in. Can you followup with how I might use a linear actuator to move the ebrake? How to install, where to buy, etc. Thanks.

David

Austin519

SuperDave:
Well I haven't ever replaced an e-brake with them before to tell you the truth...so I'll have to get back on you. It has to be done in my car so I WILL have an answer for you, just not right now. I have to do it for the same reason. As for where to get them...the most expensive and most well known place is select products...as for others I gotta go do some research.

Austin519

SuperDave

Austin519,

Thanks for the info. I would be interested in hearing what you come up with. I have one other question for you.

Are you moving the computer under the passenger side kickpanel? I would like to so that I can make as small of kicks as possible while still having some decent airspace. I just looked under the kickpanel briefly and saw it there but I haven't looked at it in more depth to see if it is easily moved. If the wires aren't long enough, do you know where I can get those male and female connectors to make an extension cable?

Thanks.

David

Austin519

SuperDave:

"Thanks for the info. I would be interested in hearing what you come up with. I have one other question for you.

Are you moving the computer under the passenger side kickpanel? I would like to so that I can make as small of kicks as possible while still having some decent airspace. I just looked under the kickpanel briefly and saw it there but I haven't looked at it in more depth to see if it is easily moved. If the wires aren't long enough, do you know where I can get those male and female connectors to make an extension cable? "

No the computer is actually going in the spare tire well. It's too big to fit in the passenger side kickpanel. It's about 9"x9"x6". The kickpanels are for my JL midranges and tweeters...so they can be pretty small (in fact I MAY get away with not moving the e-brake, but probably not). What wires are you talking about? Because you can always cut the wires and solder an extension into them with any piece of wire as long as it is at least the same gauge.

Austin519

SuperDave

Wrong computer. I am talking about the ~4"x6" ABS computer behind the passenger side kickpanel. I would like to move it if possible but I don't want to cut into the stock wiring. I am hoping that there is enough wire to maybe move it up under the dash. Alternatively, I would like to get a matching pair of those connectors so I can add wire extensions to those without changing the stock wires. Just wondering if you were going to that extreme. I don't know if I will be going to that extreme but I am trying to learn my options.

One thing I thought about on the e-brake was bending it into an S-shape away from the kickpanel area. That should give enough room for some decent kicks and wouldn't modify the actual working of the e-brake mechanism. Just a thought.

Are you by chance moving the hood release on the driver's side?

Thanks.

David

Austin519

SuperDave:

Ah okay, that makes more sense. I haven't checked under the kickpanels yet...but I would bet that the only way is to splice those wires and move it somewhere else with an extension. They wouldn't leave a lot of extra slack. I'll have to take a look at the connectors...if it's a simple molex then it can probably be found...custom Honda connectors I don't know. But if that's in the way then yeah it'll have to be moved. I'll let you know.

You can bend the e-brake probably...but I don't know if you can bend it enough to where you can use it and you also have enough room, and it doesn't interfere with the other pedals. I doubt it...but hopefully you're right.

And hopefully I won't have to remove the hood release, but if so it would just be a simple servo I'd replace it with, and mount a push button (similar to the trunk button).

Austin519

SuperDave

Thanks for the reply Austin519.

When do you plan on messing with the kickpanels and trying to move some stuff? I would like to do mine within a month or two. Still trying to listen to some speakers to figure out what I want. I listened to the Focal PolyKevlars and thought they sounded good. I also want to listen to Dynaudio and Rainbow among others. The problem is finding authorized dealers and then making sure they stock the high end stuff.

Keep me informed if you have any great ideas on dealing with the kickpanel areas. I will do the same for you. Thanks.

SuperDave

drcookie

I was searching the internet and came up with this site.
It is Morel Sub Model HCW 8. It has fairly shalow mounting depth and it's FREE-AIR !!!
Do you all think it will fit/replace the Bose Sub ?

Here is the website:

http://www.morel.co.il/car/component...fers/hcw8.html

Here are the specs :

Diameter
222mm (8.7'')

Power Handling

170 W

Max.Transient power
600 W

Sensitivity

(2.83v1m) 91 dB

Frequency Response
35-3000 Hz

Impedance
4 Ohms

Voice Coil 75mm (3'') Hexatech aluminium
Magnet System Hybrid rear vented
Mounting Depth 67mm (2.36'')


Cheers !!!

SuperDave

Check out this thread in the car sound forum. I searched for "Morel HCW".

http://www.carsound.com/cgi-bin/ubbc...=1&t=012162&p=

Elite Car Audio forum talks about them the most. Go there and do a search on "Morel HCW".

http://forum.elitecaraudio.com/search.php

They look like good SQ subs but may not be very loud. It all depends on what you want. I would also try to fit a 10" in there as I have heard it can be done, although it depends on the sub. When I look at my factory sub, it has a 9" sticker on it and it definitely looks bigger than an 8" sub.

I did a quick search to get a price for them but couldn't find them anywhere. You will probably have a hard time getting them. If you want a "mostly" drop in sub, I would have to recommend looking at the Illusion Audio Luccent line. Unfortunately, I haven't heard them but their big-brothers, the Carbon Series, gets a lot of good press on the forums.

I may wait for Image Dynamics to release a 10" version of their IDMAX to run in freeair. I may also try to Luccent. I am still looking for an Oz 250H, which is the best freeair sub based on my research but is no longer made.

Good luck.

David

Brewboy

Our stock sub is 9" and the stock hole in the rear deck is not over 8". I don't think you will get a 10" sub in the stock hole without cutting or rebuilding. Morel's are good subs, along with IA and ID, DEI also makes an inverted-magnet 8" sub. I know of a president of a speaker company to be running (2) 8" Morel MW-266 in his rear deck IB and said they are silky smooth and tight but not loud, but then he doesn't listen at extreme levels. Like SuperDave said, it depends on what your looking for. If you want loud and booming bass then IB is probably not the solution anyways. If you play bass in equilibrium with your front stage at reasonable levels and don't listen to rap, hip-hop, or electronic music nor feel the need to go boom-boom down the streets, a good quality SQ 8" in free air may satisfy you since youwont really need anything below 30Hz or so. I have an 8" in a sealed box sealed into the cabin and it is just right for blues, jazz, classic rock. It'll tap the mirrors and seats but not make things rattle since its not firing into the trunk while giving no sourcing clues to its origination. Any new sub would probably require a new amp since the stock is crappy and rated for only 100W @ 1/2ohm (I think) I think the best part of audio is the experimentation and sometimes the speaker itself is not always the problem. Everybody hears differently-there is no right answer(most of the time). Good luck

Austin519

SuperDave:
I plan on doing the kick panels by the end of March. It's tough for me, because I'm in college and don't have any of my tools or a garage. So all my work will have to be done in my Solar Car shop...which is not convenient. Good luck finding speakers my friend. I will keep you informed.

Austin519

SuperDave

Brewboy,

Can you tell us more of exactly what you are running for a sub? How do you have the 8" sealed into the cabin? Did you build a sub box attached to the rear deck? Just wondering.

Austin519,

I have the same problem with the Solar Garage as I live in an apartment. Good luck on the kicks and keep us updated. I may have some speakers by the end of the decade. Too many choices, too little time, and too much mileage to cover to listen to all of it. Always fun.

SuperDave

Brewboy

Yep. A CDT MS80 sub in a .45cf sealed box attached to the underside of the deck with a closed-cell polystyrene collar around the sub to seal it to the rear deck/cabin. Torsion bars removed along with the rear bracket and replaced with gas spring/struts.

Austin519

BrewBoy:
"Torsion bars removed along with the rear bracket and replaced with gas spring/struts."

Why are you replacing that with gas springs/struts???

Austin519

Krazykrust

I remember reading someone who successfully replaced that speaker but he had to remove the 2 tension bars and he rerouted them with major mods. Try to search for it.

Brewboy

Once you remove the torsion bars you need something to help counterbalance the trunk to stay open so I installed 2 gas struts like the hood has. They are mounted from the back wall to the curved trunk hinge on each side. I'm too cheap to buy 12V linear acc's which would be a better install. Better too would to have installed the gas struts so they lay down in the rain gutter on each side of the trunk then to the lid. Need thin ones and lots of silicon. (I may change to the latter this summer).

drcookie

Here is the link to the discussion and there is a picture of the sub at the bottom of the page.
http://www.acura-tl.com/forum/showth...oneer+free+air

Currently, I still have not heard anyone had successfully replacing the stock sub with Illusion Audio sub or some other shallow mount subs with an additional amp.

I will be checking around the car stereo stores this weekend to see if they carry any shallow mount subs.


Cheers !!!

Austin519

Brewboy:
Sounds good. Actually I like the gas shocks idea more...all but the really expensive linear actuators are extremely slow...but we'll see.

Austin519

SuperDave

drcookie,

You might not want to mess with Illusion Audio as I have heard rumors that the company is in trouble. Apparently, they were a little too high-priced and couldn't compete. Maybe try those Morels you were looking at. I am not sure where you would find them but you might want to try the following:
http://www.madisound.com
http://www.partsexpress.com

I myself am waiting for the IDMAX10 to come out so I can mount it on a reinforced rear deck. I heard it would be out in March but I don't know for sure. However, that could always change tomorrow. Too many choices.

SuperDave

drcookie

SuperDave,
Thanks for the info. That will definately help me further my research. Morel seems to be a good choice so far but the mounting depth is still an issue. The TL only has 2" windows between the top mount and the tension bar. I won't be able to know so sure if Morel sub will fit until I actually see the sub.
Another suitable sub that might fit is Lanzar's NEO-08 which I believe has 2.5" mounting depth.

drcookie

I would like to share some more information on my research on replacing the stock Bose subwoofer with an aftermarket sub.
This info may be old but I will post it anyway.
I found out Kicker also makes a shallow midbass sub that might be able to fit or replace the crappy Bose sub.
Here is the model number : RMB8
Here is the web site : http://www.kicker.com/kcsc/mainx.sho..._bg=MidTweetBG


I am still working on getting the price for the sub. Please share with me if you know how much it costs.

Cheers !!!