| I received
the subwoofer enclosure packed in the box with the necessary materials needed
to complete the installation. What you see in the website is exactly the
same as what you would find in the package.
1. System Setup The plan is to use a PC2200 amplifier and bridge the output to power the subwoofer. The source was to come directly from the head unit (DEH-P520) since it has a subwoofer output. A coaxial cable was installed from the HU to the trunk. It was a pain to get it through the rubber grommet to the trunk. The amplifier was screwed down on the carpet and the pointed ends filed (quick and dirty way to do it- see pics). We used the existing wires going to the HK subwoofer to connect to the new enclosure.
2. Installation notes Kevin’s instructions were easy to follow. My car is 00 M with the 2 speaker HK subwoofer enclosure. I had to remove the brackets that hold the existing enclosure. This will give you the room needed to fit the enclosure (see pic 1 – brackets). This is only for the MY 00 M and may not be true for different vehicles.
There were 2 pairs of spacers that were included in the package for the install. I did not use the big spacer, as I did not see the need for it. The small rubber spacers were mounted adjacent to the subwoofer driver to create that space needed between the subwoofer and the plastic wall.
I used thick foam pieces to buffer the sides of the enclosure and the front. This will cushion the movement of the enclosure and prevent rattles. (see pics)
The amplifier LF cutoff was 90 Hz. And we adjusted the gain to avoid overdriving the sub. The HU had the cutoff freq for the sub set at 50 Hz and the level set at 5/6. Setting the center frequency at 80 Hz did not blend in properly - I guess I need more time to tune it. The HPF for the fronts was set at 50 Hz to get more volume out of the speakers.
WOW is all I can say! The difference was big. I can feel the subwoofer with the top up (with the windows down) and it really brings the low frequencies that was lacking with the current system. Difference was night and day. I can now get more volume from the front components without distortion because it is not reproducing the lower frequencies. I tried classical, techno, trance, rock, and pop. I was very satisfied with the clarity and the bass response. Driving top down you can still hear and feel the sub working. I took the car up to 70 mph today with the top down and could feel and hear the sub - of course not as loud as when you are driving at lower speeds. I switched the sub off at different speeds up to 70 mph (I had to stay a little over the limit) and I can feel the difference with and without the sub. Overall it was well worth it. I did not lose any legroom in the passenger side. I used the existing sub location without any major modification and with the sub cover in place the vehicle looked stock – until you turn on your stereo.
Mike in NC |
