nimboobaba

The Polk sub fit perfectly in the factory bracket, I ran a bead of automotive RTV around the basket as I placed it into the plastic ring. I drilled holes through the speaker basket into the factory bracket and ran hardware in reverse to give the bottom a chance to better sit against the rear deck. I used Dynamat between the speaker and the factory bracket instead of the broken down foam and ran a ring under the factory bracket where it makes contact with the rear deck and covering the heads of the 4mm flat allen head screws I fed up to nylock stop nuts on the top of the woofer. I used some more Dynamat to fill the holes that exist on both sides of the woofer in the rear deck too. It sounds great all the way up to the excursion limit of the woofer. I have a 10" JL W3 series that I'm going to run a speaker level line off this summer to give the factory system better boom and bottom end, but this sounds pretty amazing for now.

JoshuaaXD

Very clean install. Are you running the factory amp? Or did you bypass it?

Tom57

Is that a dual-voice coil 8-ohm speaker wired in series to achieve 16-ohm impedance (which matches OEM ML speaker impedance)? Is it this Polk speaker > Polk Audio db840DVC 8-Inch Dual Voice Coil Subwoofer? That speaker has a frequency response only up to 200 Hz. Are you using the stock crossover, and if so, what is the crossover spec?

nimboobaba

I'm running all factory electronics, just replaced all woofers due to the glue being broken down around the surrounds. I did the RTV fix to the factory sub and it was just okay. I could hear the voice coil buzzing from over excursion as the surrounds weren't giving it enough resistance with just RTV.

The doors are now 4 ohm and the sub is 8 ohm, no overheating or cutting out at all. I used Dynamat whenever possible and there's no rattles to speak of. Polk DB all around, went for cost more than anything. I figured a rubber surround speaker is going to sound better than a paper/foam combo that isn't working in the first place.

2KHarrier

Yeah, I'm in the same boat. I repaired the sub in the rear deck and it's already starting to make some noise, so I keep the "Bass-down-low"......

So, I'll be picking up a Dual Voice Coil sub and replacing it when the weather improves in a few months.

Bocatrip

I refoamed my rear sub 4 years ago, but it started rattling about a year ago. I bit the bullet and went for an OEM ML subwoofer. The rear seat was a pain to remove and I didn't want to take a chance (after reading all the posts here) of killing my amp with anything aftermarket. I still don't blast music as I know these speakers are vulnerable.

nimboobaba

The air purifier vents and rear brake light needed some adhesive backed foam around where they meet with the rear deck and then I used Dynamat on any flat spots to give the panel weight. I've only owned the car for a couple of weeks (bought it used), but it sounds great to me now.

LuxuryGS3

iTrader: (12)

Nice. I was going to grab the Polk one as a local friend of mine did and it sounds decent. I opted for the Kicker 8" and should be coming in soon, so hopefully I can get that in and compare it to the Polk.