[How-To] Subwoofer Upgrade - Replacing/Upgrading the Factory Sub

[Johnny Mo]

Some overlap with the OP and other posts but wanted to add my details on the mechanical approach I took here for the KK 500.1 and Kicker 8" sub.

1. Don't cut the larger mounting hole concentric with the factory hole. Offsetting it so the new driver clears the front protrusions in the enclosure prevents any required cutting/removing of these main body protrusions and repairing/plugging them later. I cut with a side cutting drywall bit in a dremel with the drywall router type base on the dremel tool.
2. Shave off the small protrusions from the factory screw holes and various tabs/stiffeners that prevent a totally flat mounting of the new sub.
   
   
3. The standard depth 8" sub (48CWR84) is just a hair too deep. Easily remedied by taking a sharp knife or box cutter to a couple of the ribs on the back wall.
   
4. Trim any interfering ribs away from your new mounting holes with wire cutters.
   
5. The plastic case is very epoxy "resistant" so I used #8 aluminum rivnuts for mounting.
   
6. I sealed the port (and stuffed the enclosure with poly fill). I used a Husky brand closed cell foam knee pad from Home Depot and Liquid Nails Fuze It. Fuze It is supposed to adhere to just about any substrate. Due to the poor adhesion of a dedicated plastic epoxy, I actually tested the adhesion of Fuze It to both the foam (stronger than the foam) and to the enclosure (decent, no where near a well bonded epoxy, but good enough for sealing). I cut and oversize piece of foam, sanded the inside of the terminus of the port with 60 grit and scared it with a dremel cut off wheel, cleaned everything with IPA, slathered up the foam with Fuze It and held it in place with clear packaging tape while the Fuze It cured. Worked great.
   
   
   
7. Don't struggle making custom plastic mounting plates for the amp and then struggle more trying to get perfect alignment and clearing the large plastic cover panel (or denting the cover panel badly as some did...). Mount the amp using:
   1. Standard upper left enclosure mounting hole, through the existing upper left amp base plate hole. Have the power side of the amp face the woofer itself. Cables will be tight but will fit without undue kinks/stress.
   2. Standard lower left enclosure mounting hole and simply drill a new hole in the amp base/mounting plate to line up.
   3. An offset aluminum L beam (hobby or good hardware store) and the existing enclosure upper right mounting hole.
      
   4. A custom fastener "stack", based on a threaded rod, through the existing lower right amplifier mounting hole through a drilled hole, all the way through the enclosure near the plugged port. From near side toward outside of the truck the fastener stack is: #8 nylock nut, #8 washer, 3.75" long #8 threaded rod, #8 fender washer (much larger OD than a standard washer), 2nd #8 nylock nut. I'll try to post a picture to better explain this.
   5. P.S. Don't try to get away with just 3 mounting points for the amp. I tried only #1-#3 above and she rattled good, hence I added the threaded rod solution in #4.
8. Wiring colors courtesy of @6inthefamily here.
   1. White with orange stripe = upfitter switch (dont use, tape off)
   2. Yellow with red stripe = power (dont use, tape off, ran new 8 guage power wire)
   3. Violet with green stripe = speaker positive
   4. Green with white stripe = speaker negative
   5. Black with green stripe = ground (don't use)
   6. Yellow with violet stripe = remote turn on
9. The speaker positive on the vehicle harness should be wired to both the L AND R amplifier positive inputs, similarly for the negatives.

She really moves some air and provides much more feel to the bass as compared to stock. I was definitely cursing trying to use my snap ring pliers trick to get the huge 8 Ga cable through the firewall grommet, but it was definitely worth it.

Very nice touch with the rivnuts - now I'm mad I didn't think of that since I have a rivnut tool.

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[RagnarKon]

Very nice touch with the rivnuts - now I'm mad I didn't think of that since I have a rivnut tool.

Me too.

Nice job @swamp2

 

[swamp2]

Rivnuts were a nice recovery from the failed attempt to epoxy in some (cylindrical) plastic spacers. As alluded to, the special plastic epoxy which usually works fantastically had nearly no hold on the enclosure.

What did you guys use?

 

[swamp2]

Having some tuning/calibration issues with my Key 500.1. Any ideas @RagnarKon, @Johnny Mo, @jshapz (IIRC you all have the Key 500.1)?

Basically, I can't get the Key 500.1 to fully set up via the "Key Algorithm". I'm on my 2nd unit now and the same issues persist and Tech Support are very friendly and available, but I question their knowledge and responses.

My first 500.1:

I got the gain set via the KEY button and Gain Match track (via USB, not phone). I could not get the amp to calculate the corrections by using the Sweep track. Basically, I could never get the steady flashing light mentioned in the manual.

When I press and hold the Key button for the Sweep track procedure I get (I think) 3 quick flashes, then a steady on light for a couple seconds and finally 5 flashes, I then release the button. My understanding from the manual, and from Kicker support, is that the light should then stay pulsing as I turn on the Sweep track. Unless the state I call steady above has a faint pulsing to it, the amp just will not enter this calibration mode.

Fortunately, with a combination of the factory equalizer, Kicker bass control knob (46CXARCT) and the other Key settings, I was able to get to very happy with the volume, "shake", balance, etc. I would occasionally/rarely adjust the remote knob, typically when hanging out with my kids when they really wanted to really feel the bass track on one of their bass heavy songs requests.

Now I'm on my second (brand new) 500.1 and it is behaving almost identically. However now, my remote knob is also non functional. I recall with amp#1 that I could also end up in a state where the knob was non-functional, but, I think by powering the truck down and up and holding the Key button for 10 seconds (full reset), I could always get back to a functional knob.

I'm obviously regretting trying to squeeze out a bit better sound/performance. Kicker tech support said that the DSP was bad in the first unit. Now it seems obvious something else is going on.

The support guy today also told me that I should be using high level inputs (pretty obviously wrong) and he also claimed the gain track is a steady 50 Hz signal, which it very clearly is not (of course I downloaded directly from the Kicker site).

If it helps:

1. Am also using a Key 200.4 with a PnP harness. I set the gain on that and did the next "listening"/mic calibration for it, but it sounded truly horrible, so I just run it without.
2. DC offset is on.
3. Have tried both High and Low level inputs.
4. All other knob controls are right about in the middle.

TL/DR . Precisely how do I get this thing in calibration mode? Also, his do I get the bass knob working again?

A big thanks in advance for any advise/solutions

 

[swamp2]

Entering calibration mode solved (by trial and error). Manual is wrong. Correct procedure is:

Press and hold the Key button, light will flash 3 times and then go steady on. As soon as the steady light on is observed let go of the button and start the Sweep track. The light will pulse slowly as soon as the button is released and as the track plays. If you hold the button too long, you will get five flashes of the light and you can simply restart the procedure.

After the track completes, quickly press and release the Key button. After corrections are calculated the flashes noted in the manual are then correct.

Functionality of the knob is still somewhat random, I thought I noticed a kink just behind the knob. So I addressed that and changed where the cable had slack and I got it working again. But after remounting the new amp and one final gain and DSP calculation, the knob no longer works and the bass is waaay too low.

I'm pulling my hair out here...

 

[Johnny Mo]

Entering calibration mode solved (by trial and error). Manual is wrong. Correct procedure is:

Press and hold the Key button, light will flash 3 times and then go steady on. As soon as the steady light on is observed let go of the button and start the Sweep track. The light will pulse slowly as soon as the button is released and as the track plays. If you hold the button too long, you will get five flashes of the light and you can simply restart the procedure.

After the track completes, quickly press and release the Key button. After corrections are calculated the flashes noted in the manual are then correct.

Functionality of the knob is still somewhat random, I thought I noticed a kink just behind the knob. So I addressed that and changed where the cable had slack and I got it working again. But after remounting the new amp and one final gain and DSP calculation, the knob no longer works and the bass is waaay too low.

I'm pulling my hair out here...

I didn't use the the calibration function. I used to install sound systems in nightclubs with my bro-in-law and sound systems in cars were always a hobby so we just tuned it by ear. But I did use someone's dials as a reference starting point. I did notice after a recent OTA update that it was a little more boomy, so I just used the speaker settings controls and the volume control to dial the bass back a bit.

 

[Keerplunk]

Great information Happen to remember the Hardware you used to secure the box?

 

[Aquam]

I have the 2024 non B&O 7 speaker with factory amp and sub. My question is a Little layered before I pull the trigger on money I barely have. lol.

-I noticed @RagnarKon mentioned that I have all the wiring I need to be plug and play but to “be careful” with the supplied 12ga power wiring. If I’m considering going with the 8” kicker with a 500.1 amp will I be pushing it On the existing power wire?

-In anyone else’s experience with the existing setup, will I need a volume knob to control bass output. Or is there adjustability in myford or eq.
(I’ll also be installing the 200.4 up front with just a wiring harness from crutchfield, I don’t mind all the crimping)

 

[RagnarKon]

-I noticed @RagnarKon mentioned that I have all the wiring I need to be plug and play but to “be careful” with the supplied 12ga power wiring. If I’m considering going with the 8” kicker with a 500.1 amp will I be pushing it On the existing power wire?

Depends what volume and power levels you run the amp at.

I'll just say this: The 500.1 recommends an 8 gauge power cable.

-In anyone else’s experience with the existing setup, will I need a volume knob to control bass output. Or is there adjustability in myford or eq.
(I’ll also be installing the 200.4 up front with just a wiring harness from crutchfield, I don’t mind all the crimping)

I personally did not use the bass control knob. Didn't feel the need to install it.

 

[Aquam]

Depends what volume and power levels you run the amp at.

I'll just say this: The 500.1 recommends an 8 gauge power cable.


I personally did not use the bass control knob. Didn't feel the need to install it.

thank you! Is there some bass controllability in the eq/system once all this is installed. We definitely don’t want a “bumpin” system as we say in Memphis . Just full sound.

 

[RagnarKon]

thank you! Is there some bass controllability in the eq/system once all this is installed. We definitely don’t want a “bumpin” system as we say in Memphis . Just full sound.

Yes, you still get the basic Treble/Mid/Bass control that you have today.

 

[Aquam]

Yes, you still get the basic Treble/Mid/Bass control that you have today.

Thanks again. Time to place an irresponsibly large order.

 

[RagnarKon]

Thanks again. Time to place an irresponsibly large order.

Heh... have fun!

If you want to do less cutting, there is now an adapter harness available for the subwoofer made by Enfig. This wasn't available at the time I made the video.

A little pricey if you ask me, but some people don't like cutting factory wiring.

 

[swamp2]

Great information Happen to remember the Hardware you used to secure the box?

Which hardware exactly? In my case all factory hardware except the aluminum 10-32 (or 8-32) rivnut for driver to case and the threaded rod for one of the 500.1 holes to the enclosure.

-In anyone else’s experience with the existing setup, will I need a volume knob to control bass output. Or is there adjustability in myford or eq.

I also debated the knob, decided to use it without hearing it, forgot to run the cable, so went back and ran the cable. I love having it. It's just like an additional frequency range for the stock/basic bass/mid/treble controls.

I also flush mounted it near the light controls on the knee panel. IIRC the knob slides off without tools.

 

[Aquam]

I also debated the knob, decided to use it without hearing it, forgot to run the cable, so went back and ran the cable. I love having it. It's just like an additional frequency range for the stock/basic bass/mid/treble controls.

I also flush mounted it near the light controls on the knee panel. IIRC the knob slides off without tools.

@swamp2 so you ran the wire all the way from the sub to the front in the panels to mount?

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