So I've thumbed through the stickies and wanted to ask if anyone has tried and/or noticed any improvement from just replacing the stock Pioneer 8" sub with a nicer one, and if so, what they'd recommend. I'm not looking for anything earth shattering at all, but after my Lancer's RockfordFosgate system with a 10" in the trunk, this thing sounds very....tinny.

If nothing else the sticky on tapping into the RCAs and adding a small box+sub+amp is an option. If I read that correctly it should keep the stock 8" working as well, right? Just making sure so that if I had to pull the box to make room for cargo I wouldn't lose all low range.

 

Yes, I replaced mine with a Kenwood shallow mount sub. It will sound better then the factory sub. I also added an amp, but amp or no amp a better sub will sound better. You will want to use a shallow mount sub, because there is not much room in the factory box.

 

If your looking for a great sounding driver look into the Memphis S-Class Shallow mounts, unfortunately they only come in 10" and 12". There is also the M-Class 8" driver as well. It's rather small and should do the job for you. After listening to about every other shallow mount out there, I liked the Memphis the most as far as mainstream brands go. Stereo Integrity makes a 12" Shallow-Mount that is awesome and a very great SQ driver, but those aren't being made right now because the v.4 is in the works. But thats my .02

 

Do you have a part number for the 8" Memphis sub?

 

15-MCP8D4 for the Dual 4ohm

15-MCP8S4 for the Single 4ohm

There 150wrms with a mounting depth of 4.1"

Or you can look into some Sundown Audio E8 v.2

Here's more info on them. I am an actual rep for Sundown Audio so if you have any ordering questions or any question for that matter feel free to PM me.

 

Thanks, is the stock sub a 4ohm or 2ohm?

 

I dont have the factory sub, but I do have a huge heavy dual 12" box. Let me tell ya, it gets pretty tiring having to take it in and out, or having to deal with very little space leftover.
Im looking at putting a sub in the factory location and making my own enclosure behind the panel. It wont shake the car as much, not to mention the neigbors windows, but I think its time. Maybe Im getting old.

 

Yes, I remember those days. Its not that you are getting old, its just the fact you need to put things in your car now. That is why I like the setup I have in mine right now. It has plenty of bass inside the car and I still have all the cargo room.

 

Could you explain how you did this set-up please? I am very interested.

 

Here is my head unit, JVC Navigation/Multimedia Receiver KW-NT3HDT. I also believe I have a 300 watt amp to power the sub, which is plenty.If you want to keep the factory head unit, you just need to get a converter and it will work fine. If you add an amp you will want to disconnect it from the sub. Then all I did as you can see in the pic I cut out the old speaker grill, very easy to do once you have the panel off. Then all I did was add some foam weather strip behind the the plastic, so no plastic is touching medal, which then causes me to have no rattle noises, so basically no need for dynomat or anything else. Yeah people can had all that stuff, but still have it sound like crap, its all in how the setup is tuned. I have everything else factory except the sub and it sounds pretty amazing. Don't need it any louder, because I dont need the attention, but its plenty loud to make the mirrors vibrate and also the seats and it all sounds nice and crips no distortation. You can also hear the words just fine, I'm not a big fan of just bass, if you can't hear the words.