I have a 99 LS with the pioneer factory system instead of the nakimichi. I HATE the quality of this sub, it still works perfectly, however, I've heard that the Nakimichi has a warmer bass sound closer to the Mark Levinson sub in the LS430s and GS430s.

My question is, will the Nakimichi sub work and connect right into my pioneer factory radio and work without issue? If so, have any of you done it and what's the sound quality like?

For all others who've replaced the rear deck subwoofer. What did you replace it with? What modifications did you have to do if any? I'm trying to avoid cutting wires and doing a bunch permanent fixes/damages just in case. I also sold my dual Kicker CVX 12s in a ported box which I kinda wish I didn't do but tired of the huge box in the trunk taking up space.

The bass response sucks.

 

Get a good IB sub like an Acoustic Elegance IB12au, cut out the sub hole to fit it, use a LOC to connector the original sub signal to an amp and get 1000x the sound out.

Even the nak sub is pretty limited and has an RMS of about 20-40W iirc.

 

WHat do you mean by an acoustic elegance sub? Can you provide me with a link. I'm not trying to do any cutting to be honest, and what's a LOC?

 

http://www.aespeakers.com/drivers.php?driver_id=65

LOC = Line Out Converter, aka hi/low converter
It takes the sub signal and turns it into an RCA comparable output to hook to an aftermarket amp.

You can find ok 8" subs to run in the stock hole but even then you might need to do a little cutting. The benefits of opening up the deck and putting a 12 in there are more than worth the effort in both SQ and SPL compared stock or upgrading to the Nak sub... Which I do not think would work let alone net you any appreciable gains if you did.

Short of all that, buy a sub in a box and an amp and stick it into the trunk somewhere!

 

Interesting that you say that. I found out last fall when I had the Nakamichi head unit in my 00 LS replaced with a Kenwood double DIN that that the strange "warmth" (some call it funky-ness) of the Nakamichi was a product of Nakamichi head unit and not of the Nakamichi amp or the Nakamichi speakers/subwoofer.

The sound produced by the Kenwood head unit with the rest of the Nakamichi system is what I would call more digital and precise. I liked the sound of the complete Nakamichi system a lot but I also like the sound of the Kenwood through the Nak amp and speakers.

I never would have guessed the Nakamichi "magic" was in the head unit.

 

Here's a good thread from not long ago where we covered a lot of options. Might be worth the read: https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls4...-mounting.html