Replaced JBL Sub/Added Amp: Install Pics/Info

[yosh2000]

OEM nav

my bad, just noticed the amp i will be using has 4 inputs, so i'll just hook up the 4 wires from the JBL amp to the 4 line level inputs on my amp. answered my own question.

 

[ARK_SWAMP_RIDER]

OEM nav

my bad, just noticed the amp i will be using has 4 inputs, so i'll just hook up the 4 wires from the JBL amp to the 4 line level inputs on my amp. answered my own question.

Yep, that is correct. There are 4 wires going into the factory sub, and 4 wires on the converter. I hooked them together, you do not join multiple wires into one.

 

[yosh2000]

edit:

did some MM work today...amp is getting over 1 volt (depending on volume) through the HL inputs. It appears that the amp is not putting any voltage out through the bridged output...bad amp? havent used it in like 10 years, but the amp worked last time i used it!

 

[brickdabkowski]

Help

I did this exact setup but do you have any tips on re-assembling the back of the car once you remove everything. I'm having trouble with that lol

 

[Agent_Smith]

OEM/ Aftermarket Enclosure

I really like your setup. I have an '07 SR5 WITHOUT the JBL system. I am replacing the head unit. Eventually I want to add a sub, replace the door/ post speakers and perhaps add the rear pilar speakers in place of the mirrors and the front center channel.

I have not found anywhere to purchase a used OEM sub box or aftermarket replacement. All the ones I have found sit in front of this panel and wrap over the wheel well.

I would appreciate any links or suggestions you might have.

 

[nicheel8]

Does anyone have any pictures of how they did the wiring? I have an 04 and I plan on going with a Fosgate amp and 8" shallow sub.

I just need to see how the wiring is done from the factory JBL amp to the Fosgate amp and Sub.

 

[chuntmd]

nicheel8, your going to amp a already amp'ed signal?

CEH

 

[nicheel8]

nicheel8, your going to amp a already amp'ed signal?

CEH

On Ark's OP he states the following:

"Third, wiring. I tapped into the rear DC outlet for my turn on wire. I tapped into the speaker wires right before entering the sub box and connected to my speaker level inputs on the amp."

This is where I am confused. Which amp do you connect to? The JBL or new amp?

Thanks.

 

[S p a r k y]

On Ark's OP he states the following:

"Third, wiring. I tapped into the rear DC outlet for my turn on wire. I tapped into the speaker wires right before entering the sub box and connected to my speaker level inputs on the amp."

This is where I am confused. Which amp do you connect to? The JBL or new amp?

Thanks.

You need a sound signal from the factory wiring to send signal into the NEW amp. Otherwise the NEW amp will have no signal for sound. Make sense. with an aftermarket radio you would use RCA's. Since factory doesn't have that you have to use a high level input.

 

[nicheel8]

You need a sound signal from the factory wiring to send signal into the NEW amp. Otherwise the NEW amp will have no signal for sound. Make sense. with an aftermarket radio you would use RCA's. Since factory doesn't have that you have to use a high level input.

It does. So the high level input are the wires from the JBL amp to the Sub? in the box?

 

[dchild]

It does. So the high level input are the wires from the JBL amp to the Sub? in the box?

Yes, from the JBL amp to the sub. I would tap into them outside the box - there is a 4-wire connector going into the sub box which has a pair of wires for each voice coil. This thread has a list of the wire colors so you can identify the ones you need.

 

[RedMan84]

Looking to get some feedback & make sure my plans will work.

My factory sub blew over the weekend and I can't deal with the blown speaker sound any longer.

I've got an old bridgeable Jensen 200Watt 2-Channel amp (model XA2150) from a previous car.

Ideally, I'd like to use this to push a JL Audio 8W1V3 4 Ohm sub to replace the busted factory sub.

Upgraded my headunit to a Kenwood DDX371 about a year ago, so I should be able to run RCAs from the headunit straight to the amp.

I just want to make sure that the ohms of the amp match the ohms of that particular JL sub.

Can anyone with some more knowledge than me confirm or deny this for me?

Thanks!!

 

[ARK_SWAMP_RIDER]

Looking to get some feedback & make sure my plans will work.

My factory sub blew over the weekend and I can't deal with the blown speaker sound any longer.

I've got an old bridgeable Jensen 200Watt 2-Channel amp (model XA2150) from a previous car.

Ideally, I'd like to use this to push a JL Audio 8W1V3 4 Ohm sub to replace the busted factory sub.

Upgraded my headunit to a Kenwood DDX371 about a year ago, so I should be able to run RCAs from the headunit straight to the amp.

I just want to make sure that the ohms of the amp match the ohms of that particular JL sub.

Can anyone with some more knowledge than me confirm or deny this for me?

Thanks!!

Yes, shouldn't be any issues with that setup. You will want to use a multi-meter to set the gain on the amp to prevent damage to the sub.

From the amp description: The bridged output at 4 ohms is 200 watts x 1 RMS at .1% THD. Peak bridged output is 400 watts

From the sub description: SUBWOOFER DRIVER, 150W, 4Ω

So, the amp can push up to 200 watts RMS at 4 ohms. The sub can handle 150 watts RMS at 4 ohms. The gain on the amp can be used to cut the amp down to 150 watts. If you're not familiar with this, you can google how to set the gain, there is tons of info on it.

 

[RedMan84]

Thanks for the feedback, much appreciated.

Just stumbled across this shallow mount sub on Ebay, from a company called Rockville. Not familiar with them. In your opinion, based of the amp specifics, would it have enough power for this particular sub? I sent a Facebook PM to the company and they said it would push it, but them tried to suggest this amp of theirs instead. Looks to me to be a much more powerful amp, almost too much.

Would you have any suggestion as to how to go about feeding speaker wire from the amp into the enclosure? Is there an existing hole that I can feed through or will it require drilling something new?

Thanks again.

 

[riverwolf]

Thanks for the feedback, much appreciated.

Just stumbled across this shallow mount sub on Ebay, from a company called Rockville. {snip}

If I were replacing the factory sub driver and budget were an issue, maybe even if it's not an issue, I'd choose this driver. Running simulations, its specs are perfect for the OE enclosure. I'm pretty sure, at least with a spacer ring or a bit of rib cutting, the RE's 4.5" depth will work in the stock enclosure.

To make bass, you've got to move air. The specs on the Rockville show ~8mm peak-to-peak, which means only 4mm one way. The RE Audio I linked has 13mm *one way*.

Ignore the power numbers. If you're lucky, the manufacturer spec'd the wattage where the glue on the coil or the coil wire itself starts to melt. More times than not, especially in car audio, the "marketing" guys get involved and make up a number. In reality, a sub driver's power handling is almost always determined by excursion limits before "wire melting" limits. And excursion is controlled by box volume so there can be no single power handling number...it's a sliding scale where the bigger the box, the lower the power handling as excursion increases with box size.

Case in point, the RE driver I suggested. RE specs the driver at 200/400 watts (RMS/max). In reality, per the simulations, in the OE .6 ft^3 enclosure, the driver has enough excursion to handle 600 watts from 55Hz and up, as long as the coil/glue doesn't melt. Below that frequency, excursion limited power handling drops...down to 155 watts @ 30Hz. For perspecitve, the lowest note on a standard 4 string electric bass is 42Hz. A typical kick drum is usually in the 40-50hz range with some dipping into the 30s. Overall, I'd say RE actually did a pretty good job with their power spec.

You can use any amp with any driver. Just like with proper use of the accelerator pedal, once could drive an F1 car in bumper to bumper traffic. Just because an amp is capable of 1,000,000 watts doesn't mean you'll be sending that to the driver all of the time. If you hear the sound start to distort, back off, you've reached either the amp or driver limits. And a driver doesn't "need" a given amount of power. It starts to move once it sees more than 0.0 volts. Some just move further than others for a given input. Big numbers sell, but a driver that only needs 100 watts to move 10mm will play just as loud as a driver with a super stiff suspension that needs 1,000 watts to move 10mm. Remember what I said in the beginning...bass is about moving air with the cone.

 

[RedMan84]

Are you saying that potentionally the Rockville sub is too shallow and that the cone doesn't have enough depth?

 

[riverwolf]

Are you saying that potentionally the Rockville sub is too shallow and that the cone doesn't have enough depth?

No.

Output/volume/SPL, whatever you want to call it, is a function of cone movment. Per the published Xmax specs, the Rockville cone can only move 4.2mm in one direction. For roughly the same money (+$13), the RE Audio I linked at P-E will move 3x as far...13mm. The lower in frequency you go, the further a cone needs to move to produce the same amount of volume.

It's likely that the Rockville's 4.2mm is roughly equivalent to the OE JBL driver so it's probably capable of keeping up with the rest of the stock Synthesis speakers that it sounds like you're still running. I haven't actually modeled it to see how much power it needs to use up all of its excursion. However, the RE's larger available cone travel means it's capable of consierably more output than the Rockville should you ever need it. Per the simulation software, the RE Audio driver is an excellent match for the factory enclosure and the Jensen amp you already have.

The only potential hiccup with the RE might be mounting depth. The RE spec sheet says 4.5", but the product manager at P-E says 4 1/8" in the Q&A section. I'm pretty sure folks have squeezed other drivers with spec'd 4.5" depths into the factory enclosure so the RE should be fine either way. Worst case, you might need to cut a 1/4" spacer ring out of MDF/plywood/plexi so the driver will fit.

 

[ericg1088]

Just picked up a JL 8w3 that I got for cheap ! Leaving out of town tonight so install won't be until this weekend. If anyone in Utah county/south salt lake county wants to come by and contribute I'll buy drinks !

 

[nicheel8]

Thanks to ARK, dchild, and everyone else for this thread. I was planning on doing this mod for awhile and low and behold my factory sub blew. The sound is 10 times better. My only complaint is now I want to spend more $$$ on a new receiver, mids, etc.

I ended up going with Rockford Fosgate. Amp - R250x1 and Sub - P3 Punch Shallow Mount 8-inch. I've always been a Fosgate fan so that's why I went this route. Also, the amp came with the sub remote control.

I also installed a USB port for the GROM Audio USB/Bluetooth kit.

Stock vs Fosgate

<a href="http://s273.photobucket.com/user/nicheel8/media/IMG_4188_zpsftyqfozh.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj237/nicheel8/IMG_4188_zpsftyqfozh.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo IMG_4188_zpsftyqfozh.jpg"/></a>

<a href="http://s273.photobucket.com/user/nicheel8/media/IMG_4228_zpsitfn3gel.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj237/nicheel8/IMG_4228_zpsitfn3gel.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo IMG_4228_zpsitfn3gel.jpg"/></a>

Sub remote

<a href="http://s273.photobucket.com/user/nicheel8/media/IMG_4237_zpsu3xwmm1k.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj237/nicheel8/IMG_4237_zpsu3xwmm1k.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo IMG_4237_zpsu3xwmm1k.jpg"/></a>

New USB port in Center Console

<a href="http://s273.photobucket.com/user/nicheel8/media/IMG_4239_zpstvanwckt.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj237/nicheel8/IMG_4239_zpstvanwckt.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo IMG_4239_zpstvanwckt.jpg"/></a>

 

[seeking3rdgen]

Sub remote

New USB port in Center Console

Nice and clean. Great job!