Had a small sub idea

[Silver Ecstasy]

I've been telling myself that I won't be putting anything aftermarket on the inside of my car. No audio, nothing. But there's still this small itch that wants to put my subs back in the car.

I wanted to keep the stock HU but i've always hated using a line output for the subs, they act real sloppy. So I thought about this setup that'd be super nice.

JL Cleansweep with outputs to the amp, and have 2 10" shallow mounted subs installed in the rear hatch! How clean would that be! I have zero experience with shallow mounted subs and don't know how they'd even sound, but I wanted to maintain as much trunk space as I could and the hatch would be a perfect spot for some woofers, granted if they fit right and sound good.

Thoughts?

 

[mordant80]

Honestly man, if you're gonna put a sub in the back I would replace the stock speakers. I found some 6x8 3way pioneers for a good price from best buy. It makes a dramatic difference in the way everything sounds. Helps alot in getting some decent highs to go along with a sub. The stock speakers are just plain muddy compared to the pioneers. I'm not sure what kind of extra work it might take though since you have the bose system. I'm non-bose so it was just a direct replacement for me.

 

[Silver Ecstasy]

The Bose speakers arn't that bad to me actually, i'm just lookin for a little more low end if I could. Then I started thinking creativity hehe.

 

[mordant80]

I hear ya, go for it. I did have my sub installed before I replaced the door speakers. It was definitally an improvement. The stock speakers didn't sound bad to me either though... until I replaced them. lol. Are you think of putting the subs in the hatch door itself? That would be pretty sweet. Take some pictures if you get it all figured out.

 

[mckraut]

Honestly man, if you're gonna put a sub in the back I would replace the stock speakers. I found some 6x8 3way pioneers for a good price from best buy. It makes a dramatic difference in the way everything sounds. Helps alot in getting some decent highs to go along with a sub. The stock speakers are just plain muddy compared to the pioneers. I'm not sure what kind of extra work it might take though since you have the bose system. I'm non-bose so it was just a direct replacement for me.

What speakers did you get and are they a direct replacement? You simply took out the old ones and put in the new?

 

[mordant80]

What speakers did you get and are they a direct replacement? You simply took out the old ones and put in the new?

Returned your PM. They were a direct replacement, just keep in mind I don't have the bose system. So there may be some unknowns there.

Has anyone replaced their bose speakers before? I'm curious myself to know if this would work.

 

[mckraut]

Returned your PM. They were a direct replacement, just keep in mind I don't have the bose system. So there may be some unknowns there.

Has anyone replaced their bose speakers before? I'm curious myself to know if this would work.

Yes, saw that. Thank you for the reply. I have not yet found a website that shows the impedance of the MS3 GT Bose speakers.

Edit: Found this, applies to the MS6, but also it might apply to the MS3 according to the post.

UPGRADING THE BOSE SPEAKERS

The factory BOSE speakers are 2ohm while most aftermarket speakers are 4ohm. Most amplifiers, the factory amp included, will put out half their rated power when you double the resistance/load/impedence of the speakers. You may get cleaner sound from a set of aftermarket speakers but they will NOT play louder. Furthermore, the BOSE amplifier has a built-in EQ which is optimized for BOSE speakers. The EQ curve will not be ideal for your aftermarket speakers. For these reasons, it is not recommended that you just upgrade your speakers in the BOSE system. You should upgrade the head unit (and wire speakers directly to it) or add an aftermarket amplifier (see below) for optimal results.

Most 3/4" tweeters and some 1" tweeters should fit into the factory sail-panel location. The stock tweeters are connected to the front outputs of the factory amp so if you install a component set you will have to install the supplied crossover box somewhere in the door. Most 6" and 6.5" speakers will fit in the factory front locations. You can also fit 5.25", 5x7" and 6x8" speakers by building a baffle. Most 5.25" speakers will fit in the factory rear locations. You can also fit 6.5", 5x7", and 6x8". The best approach to replacing the subwoofer is to remove it entirely and install a basic sealed box subwoofer with its own amp. You can also mount an 8", 10", or maybe even 12" subwoofer to the factory hole in a free-air setup but it requires considerable sound deadening and will only sound good with a handful of subwoofers designed to work without a box.

 

[mordant80]

Oh, just occured to me, you might want to make sure the bose stuff isn't filtering the signal to the door speakers, like filtering the lows or highs out. Where you'd find that out, I have no idea. Sorry for the thread jack Silver X, I'll quit now.

 

[ecniemann]

Sounds OK, but keep in mind that the weight of those subs will cause your hatch to not stay open unless you upgrade the "shocks" or whatever they are called that assist with the opening/closing and that keep it open. I had an '88 Eurosport wagon and upgraded the 6x9's, and just from that extra weight, the gate never stayed open and I had to keep it open with my head when loading/unloading stuff.

 

[Silver Ecstasy]

No big deal on the thread jack, just a simple audio convo.

I was seriously considering seeing how much depth and room I had in the rear hatch and adding some shallow subs there. That'd be a stealthy ass install.

ecniemann, I never thought about that, I assumed they wouldn't be too heavy but most sub magnets are usually like 8lbs right?? Nevermind that idea I guess.

 

[m5rMS3]

Oh, just occured to me, you might want to make sure the bose stuff isn't filtering the signal to the door speakers, like filtering the lows or highs out. Where you'd find that out, I have no idea. Sorry for the thread jack Silver X, I'll quit now.

When I hooked up my sub I connected the amp to the rear speaker output on the Bose amp under the driver's seat via a LOC. I can tell you that this particular output does filter out the very low frequencies. I am just using an 8" sub now so it doesn't really matter to me, but if you are looking for low base you won't find it in that output. Since the Bose sub is so small I would assume that the output to that is filtered as well. I asked arounf this forum and another and could not find anyone who knew if any of the outputs were untouched. Best bet may be to tap into the unpowered signal wire that runs from the headunit to the amp.

 

[mckraut]

I'm honestly not 100% sure what you mean by shallow-mounted subs, but I did find this link for you. A former 247 member either did or tried to install subs in his MS3's spare tire compartment. Take a look here...at the very least it might inspire you.

Booya

 

[Silver Ecstasy]

Shallow mounted subs are basically woofers that do not require the depth to breath nor do they have large magnets. Here's a picture:

 

[Euphorism]

a lot of companies make those now. the jl audio and elemental design models are very nice.. not the biggest fan of the pioneers personally.. i sell them and people are never happy with em.

 

[VRMS6]

Heres a idea for ya... My MZ3 had this setup...

Sub was only a 8in sub but it thumped nicely. Most people believed I had a 10in sub in a box when they heard it... Took up 0 space in hatch area...