rlp1949

I successfully replaced the foams on my front seat oval speakers and this morning I turned my attention to the subwoofer. The subwoofer was pretty much silent.

I followed the excellent advice from other threads and access to the subwoofer was pretty easy. Turns out my foam is fine. I re-plugged the speaker (loose from its mounting) and could not hear anything but could feel movement in the cone.

I called Simply Speakers and the tech I talked with thought the culprit is the subwoofer amp (not the voice coil???).

I drove down to an auto audio place and got pretty much a load of poor advice. The guy put an ohmmeter on the speaker and said I've got 12 ohms but he doesn't know what that means. He smelled the speaker and pronounced it blown. I bugged him until he wired it to one of their amps and he said the speaker was making sound. I thought it was pretty weak, but he said the speaker needs to be enclosed to get the air pressure to get more sound.

That turned attention to the subwoofer amp. Have any of you heard of the subwoofer amp going bad? The auto audio guy said I had to replace the amp with OEM or I'd have to replace all of the speakers.

I'm having trouble with the logic here. Does it make sense to any of you????

bacardi11

iTrader: (1)

there is no subwoofer amp there is only one amp for the hole system. I use 2 amps the oem amp and the Focal 1 for the sub.

rlp1949

Well, if there is no subwoofer amp, I guess I could add one, assuming the speaker is indeed okay.

bacardi11

iTrader: (1)

I use the Focal 1 amp and Polk db 840 sub great sound.

ShawnOk

iTrader: (1)

I just did quite a bit of work on my sub this last month. I actually had a custom professinal box (with metal cutting) made and installed an amp in the trunk behind the rear seat where the OEM spot is located. I will make a new thread quite soon with photos. I went with a JL A1200 amp and a rockford fosgate 8" P1S2. It sounded awful. They took the OEM subwoofer line and connected a Line Out Converter (PAC LOC7 Pro). It was awful. I noticed in removing the subwoofer, I lost the 16 ohm resistance and all the other speakers were much quieter and weaker. It was too much dirty bass and no highs. I put my MODIFIED subwoofer (not OEM) back (see my thread on subwoofer replacement) and now the other speakers are loud and hit hard again. Plus I kept the new box so the bass is amplified and deep. Additionally, now that i have already installed the amp and have a line out off the subwoofer feed, I'm looking to have a second custom box made for the trunk corner that will house a 10" Rockford Shallow Sub. I will make the thread soon with photos.

texsexlex

iTrader: (3)

...so Shawn is your new box behind the metal, where the backseat is mounted ? I'm looking into possibly expanding the factory subwoofer hole & mounting a 12in sub. I presently have a 10in mounted in a box, in the trunk

ShawnOk

iTrader: (1)

My installer actually cut the metal that mounts the oem sub out and ran a continuous box THROUGH the hole to the trunk [as far back as he could possibly manage]. I had to do an 8". I asked for a 10" but due to the tonneau cover bar a 10" was impossible, according to my guy.

texsexlex

iTrader: (3)

...probably couldn't do the 10in, because a bigger box would be required. If I do try the 12in, it'll be a free air sub,without a box & mounted to the metal wall...that's if there's nothing to get in the way of the huge magnet.

ShawnOk

iTrader: (1)

The larger you go, the deeper the speaker must sit if you plan to mount to the metal behind the seat. To give you more clearance, you might have to remove a "L" bracket that holds a wire harness and supplies minimal support for the folded top. I also had to remove one of the black support bars for the custom box, but you shouldn't have to do this if you go with a free air sub. Building a custom box allowed me to move the front mounting surface up about 2 inches. I could then "shave" out the back of the center of the rear seat to keep it from rubbing, but I still installed a grille to protect the sub. If you plan to cut into the bare metal to use a larger sub, you will have problems with the tonneau cross cover bar and the metal "floor" behind the wall. The cover cross bar will sit against the inner edge of the speaker and could theoretically damage the speaker. Secondly, the floor just below the speaker is slanted up, and this might interfere with flush mounting depending on the magnet size. I doubt a larger magnet would interfere with the top closing though, so that's good news. A larger magnet should still fit under the trunk dressing panel. Just some thoughts to keep in mind.

Update: I attached a pic of my sub box and my modified sub. As I was saying, I choose not to stick with the Rockford Fosgate I purchased as in losing the 16 ohms, the rest of the my upgraded Rockford Fosgate System got weak.

loveslexus

iTrader: (2)

I'm in the process of complete speaker replacement with a 5 channel amp...only way to go.

rlp1949

I have been taking my time deciding what to do with my electronics. I've been listening to the system with my newly re-foamed ovals. The foams in my other speakers are all fine... to my surprise. After several trips to the auto audio shop, I was told my subwoofer is now working, but it's pretty wimpy if it is.

I enjoy a broad spectrum of music, ranging from opera to country/bluegrass to jazz and also rock. I expect a lot from my sound systems. If my system is now back to OEM original operating condition, it's not as good as the system I had in a 1997 Lexus LS400. If my subwoofer is really working (I'm still skeptical), it falls way short of where it needs to be.

I agree with those of you who say the subwoofer needs to be replaced. I've been told that the other speakers then need to be replaced to match. If that's true, that raises the issue of the 8 Ohm speakers and the adequacy of the OEM amp that relies on speakers that require less power. That's why I'm taking my time before I start tearing into the system.

I'm sure learning a lot more about this stuff than I wanted!!

ShawnOk

iTrader: (1)

Check out this thread.... https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sc-...-change-2.html

texsexlex

iTrader: (3)

I'm still running my factory head unit & will probably change it out sometime next year.But when I originally started to play with the system, I wanted to keep it as stock looking as possible,but with great sounds.I've built a few large systems in some of my previous cars,but definitely don't consider myself an expert. Six years ago, when I replaced my speakers,everyone told me "you can't put 4 ohm speakers in, it'll blow the amp out"....well 6 years later, my 4 ohm speakers are playing just as good,as the day i put them in. I did a plug & play with Boston Acoustic SX95 (6x9) & I think SX45 (4.5) for the rear.Everything was direct bolt up,no adapters,cutting,etc...later down the line, I added a Rocksford Fosgate Amp & Rocksford Punch 10in sub....but now starting to toy with the idea of going more power,more sound,more custom & of course, more money...lol