- First Name
- Brian
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- Sep 14, 2023
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- #1
So, a few months ago I upgraded the subwoofer in my 7ch non-B&O system. I have a Kenwood X802-5 amplifier, which is a 50x4 + 500W amplifier. I had replaced the stock sub with a Kicker 6.5" (150W RMS), but hadn't done a lot to it: I screwed in the speaker to the OEM housing, put some fiber inside, and ran the upgraded amp output to it. I had put in Kilamat all around the sub and rear end, but hadn't done the housing at all. The housing, apart from having the new speaker and fluff in it, was more or less stock.
It worked. A ~lot~ more bass than the OEM sub/amplifier. But, I wasn't very happy with it. It was very boomy - certain frequencies would boom, and it would die off others. And the port would distort if anything got too heavy.
So, a couple of weeks ago, I had one of the old style trim panel clips start rattling again. I had swapped out some of them, but not all of them before. So, since I was going in there to swap out the trim panel clips anyway, I decided to do some upgrades.
I bought a new 8" Kicker to try that out, and while I had it out, I decided to seal up the port and cover the thing in Kilamat.
The OEM housing - use a fine toothed jigsaw blade or a dremel cutting wheel - the plastic is very brittle and loves to start breaking off if you aren't careful. It's easy enough to cut though. I found I had to slide the speaker a bit over to the side (away from high ridge that is towards the rear of the vehicle) - it isn't much, but just a bit, otherwise the 8" wouldn't fit inside that high ridge area. It makes the screws towards the front of the vehicle close to the edge, but doable. I used a dremel with a cutting wheel to help clean it up and get speed clips in for the mounting screws.
Rather than run the wire underneath the sub mounting ring, since i was trying to seal it, I bought a terminal post kit. I drilled a hole where the OEM amp mounted and installed this and sealed it up. That way all the internal wiring stays internal, and all the external wiring can connect up easily.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08265LWCQ?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details
When I first mounted it up, I was leaking air and it didn't sound great. There are 2 small posts that I had missed that are on the front/top side where the subwoofer mounting collar hits. Those posts originally help align the 6.5" speaker, but here they were holding my collar cockeyed. I ground those down, resealed it, and all was good after that.
I got the 2 Ohm version of the 8" - internally my dual coils are wired in series, so my amp sees 4 ohms.
Lots of silicone sealant on anything that could leak.
For the port, I had a piece of aluminum sheet metal in the garage. I cut a piece that would fit inside the port hole. I used some plastic welder staples - 3 staples in first so the plate would set on top of it, then with the plate in, 3 more staples over the top to hold it in. Then glued/sealed it all up with RTV.
After I was done with all of that, I giftwrapped the entire enclosure in Kilamat. It looked kind of like a big shiny christmas present.
Mounted it up, using blue loctite on the mounting bolts/nuts - with the new trim panel clips - and the difference is night and day. Despite being a higher power subwoofer, I had to turn the bass down slightly from my previous ported 6.5" to get about the same overall balance. The bass is much more even across frequencies and much tighter / less boomy.
Sorry - I didn't grab any pictures of the install (it was raining and I was in a hurry).
It worked. A ~lot~ more bass than the OEM sub/amplifier. But, I wasn't very happy with it. It was very boomy - certain frequencies would boom, and it would die off others. And the port would distort if anything got too heavy.
So, a couple of weeks ago, I had one of the old style trim panel clips start rattling again. I had swapped out some of them, but not all of them before. So, since I was going in there to swap out the trim panel clips anyway, I decided to do some upgrades.
I bought a new 8" Kicker to try that out, and while I had it out, I decided to seal up the port and cover the thing in Kilamat.
The OEM housing - use a fine toothed jigsaw blade or a dremel cutting wheel - the plastic is very brittle and loves to start breaking off if you aren't careful. It's easy enough to cut though. I found I had to slide the speaker a bit over to the side (away from high ridge that is towards the rear of the vehicle) - it isn't much, but just a bit, otherwise the 8" wouldn't fit inside that high ridge area. It makes the screws towards the front of the vehicle close to the edge, but doable. I used a dremel with a cutting wheel to help clean it up and get speed clips in for the mounting screws.
Rather than run the wire underneath the sub mounting ring, since i was trying to seal it, I bought a terminal post kit. I drilled a hole where the OEM amp mounted and installed this and sealed it up. That way all the internal wiring stays internal, and all the external wiring can connect up easily.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08265LWCQ?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details
When I first mounted it up, I was leaking air and it didn't sound great. There are 2 small posts that I had missed that are on the front/top side where the subwoofer mounting collar hits. Those posts originally help align the 6.5" speaker, but here they were holding my collar cockeyed. I ground those down, resealed it, and all was good after that.
I got the 2 Ohm version of the 8" - internally my dual coils are wired in series, so my amp sees 4 ohms.
Lots of silicone sealant on anything that could leak.
For the port, I had a piece of aluminum sheet metal in the garage. I cut a piece that would fit inside the port hole. I used some plastic welder staples - 3 staples in first so the plate would set on top of it, then with the plate in, 3 more staples over the top to hold it in. Then glued/sealed it all up with RTV.
After I was done with all of that, I giftwrapped the entire enclosure in Kilamat. It looked kind of like a big shiny christmas present.
Mounted it up, using blue loctite on the mounting bolts/nuts - with the new trim panel clips - and the difference is night and day. Despite being a higher power subwoofer, I had to turn the bass down slightly from my previous ported 6.5" to get about the same overall balance. The bass is much more even across frequencies and much tighter / less boomy.
Sorry - I didn't grab any pictures of the install (it was raining and I was in a hurry).
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