Originally Posted by Bass Mech

yes as a matter of fact i played with one just yesterday. we hooked it up temporarily in my friends 2014 4 runner. does it make bass? yes but nothing to get excited over. it vibrated the seat bottom but the factory system had better bass.
the other problem with this design is that in a car sound waves travel and bounce off the interior.
if you add a sub to the front part of the car your going to end up with cancellation. this means some of the bass frequencies will cancel each other out since the arrival time of each is different since they are vastly different distance from the driver seat.
I've been thinking about building a Lexus IS specific sub system and if i had enough interest here that i could make it worth my time i would.
since i have the same car i can use mine to build a box from that fits perfectly in the trunk.
the problem is i don't know if any of you would be willing to pay what i need to make it worth while.
i could also get a deal on some small amplifiers to power it with and include everything you need to DIY
i have access to the subwoofers, amps, wire kits all at wholesale.

Originally Posted by djh0002002

I just bought 2 Alpine pdx-m6 amps, 1 Alpine pdx-f6 amp, the alpine pxa-h800 and control. from reading posts I think i'm going to have to take trunk output speaker wires, input them into my pxa-h800, then output to amps, then reconnect to cut factory speaker wires. i'm going to take out factory sub and run 1542 15" alpine from the two m6 amps.

anyone see any problems with that?

later i'm going to swap out factory speaks with focal utopia... but $$ so waiting

Originally Posted by Loe

Ok just wondering. I know the factory sub is a free-air system, but I wonder how it would sound with a dedicated bolt-on "box" to fit it directly underneath the sub on the rear deck to seal up the sub?

Originally Posted by Rebirthing

Hey Bass Mech,
I'm curious on that plan. Not sure how much it'll be, but if that specific build will work well with the system as a whole, that'll be much better than just sticking a random subwoofer in the trunk, since you mentioned that it's not good to replace the factory sub with something else....

Originally Posted by Bass Mech

if i had enough interest i might be able to bring it to a reality.

edit, apparently the moderators don't like the idea of me trying to help people out here without getting paid for it. so much for that idea!

Originally Posted by jbkhat303

Wow really? Mods wont allow you to make a diy? That's the most useful part of online forums.

Originally Posted by Bass Mech

the easiest upgrade is to just get a small sub and amp.
disconnect the factory sub and use the signals from the factory amp to power a dedicated sub amp.
personally i wouldn't mess with a sealed box like most shops will install. most shops employ installers that lack the necessary skills to design and tune a properly built ported enclosure.
if done right in a ported application a single 8" would be plenty. it won't take up very much space at all in the trunk.

2nd option is to replace the factory amp. i would keep the factory speakers as they will take more wattage but the thing is the 875 watt system is not really 875 RMS watts it is probably closer to about 20 watts per channel.
you would be amazed at the additional volume you would get from a simple 35 watt per channel aftermarket amp.
i think JL makes a nice 6 channel small profile amp that would to the trick.
it should have enough power to run everything including the sub.

also you don't need any dynamat! whenever a shop starts recommending that i would run! this is a classic sign of a shop that likes to charge way too much money for things that just make them profit.

I've been installing for 25 years, 10 as a professional and the rest as a hobbyist
if i were doing the system for myself i would start with option A that would cost me all of about 100 for the sub and since i still have connections to buy from distributers i can get the amp at cost about 400 bucks.
i know a shop will want at least 2x that money to do the install.

if i went with option B i would additionally add the alpine digital signal processor or the Audison Bit one and 8 channel amp.
this way i could also tweak the time alignment which would help a lot. but that will add another 700 bucks to the project.

personally, i think the ML sounds good with 1 exception. if you listen to anything with heavy bass the free air sub in back simply cannot handle the high excursion needed to play that type of music.
but if you listen to ACTUAL music like rock and roll or country it sounds fantastic! in fact so good that to me and despite having the ability and experience not to mention the access to the equipment for less than your local shop pays for it. mine is staying stock.

don't get me wrong i like hip hop also but i think a lot of people listen to it because they want their friends to think they are cool. I'm 44 now and also a drummer so i appreciate all kinds of music.
i listen to country at the office (don't want to offend my clients) usually r&b in the cars and on long trips pretty much everything from rock, to jazz, to country, classic rock
usually volume setting lower than 50 works good on anything.

if you lived in colorado i would hook you up!