Hey all,

Today I replaced my factory subwoofer with a kicker comp 10" sub. Its running in free air and off the factory power. There in lies my problem I believe. The sub hits well, much better than the factory, but it seems to be lacking a bit from what I expected.

Correct me if im wrong, but the original factory amplifier is around 125 watts at 1 ohm ? And the factory sub is a 1 ohm subwoofer. My new sub is rated at 125 watts, but its a 4 ohm subwoofer. So then technically would It only be seeing 1/4 of the power at 4 ohms ? Which would be around 40 watts. If im thinkin correctly then that would be the problem with why it feels a bit sluggish.

Again correct me if im wrong please, but Im just looking for some answers. Anyone got any ideas /

~Joey

 

I think the new subwoofer is lacking power from the OEM amp. Maybe you should consider getting an aftermarket amp to drive that sub with more power.

 

Factory sub is not 1 ohm, it is not that low. The factory amp is not meant to drive loads that low. Nor does it have much power. Its dynamic power characteristics are pretty crappy too.
Best thing you can do is tap the factory sub leads, add a line-level converter, and a new decent quality amp that's about 150-250 watts RMS (a JL 250/1 would do nicely). You'll have dynamic power and much improved bass. Only problem is that you'll need to worry about where you're getting power from and running wires.

 

i respectfully suggest a lexus factory stereo equipment solution to your problem. the orignal sub was 1 ohm . JL made a 1 ohm replacement sub years ago but no longer available. the lexus pioneer 1 ohm subamp had 60 watt rating so the sc sub amp was great for pushing the 10 inch 1 ohm 60 watt factrory sub but not the one you bought. which is 4 ohm 120 watt. however the 90 to 92 lexus ls400 nakamichi sub amp was a 4 0hm 100 watt sub amp and has the exact plug of your present subamp. so it would be a plug in and play solution to your problem . the lexus nakamichi subamp is part number 86280-50020..they are available for 50.00 to 100.00 in used working condition which would make it a less expensive solution also. most of the nakamichi equipment units are still working 15 yerars later which proves their high quality . you would have no power problems that hooking up a 250 watt amp would entail. . so you wouldnt need new power wiring. or triggering problems and dead batteries and vibration problems from incorrect hook up of aftermarket. unplug the old amp and plug in the new would be the entire instalatiion process.

 

I stand corrected, apparently the sub IS 1 ohm. Those SC's sure are weird beasts.

 

Hey,
If your Kicker Comp 10" is like mine and is dual-voice coil, you want to make sure you are running them parallel. At 4ohms per voice-coil, this makes a 2-ohm load on the amp. Since my SC came with only the 40-watt amp I ended up temporarily installing a small Kenwood amp I had lying around. BTW I noticed you and a couple other members are in Tulsa. I live in Owasso. Maybe we'll cross paths one of these days.

Brad