Adding a subwoofer to the SHO

iceberg65 · January 09, 2016, 12:45:41 PM

Hi everyone,

Nothing groundbreaking here but worth sharing; I've decided to add a sub to my SHO, I've done a stereo in every vehicle I've had, but this is the first off the stock headunit. I wanted to make sure I got a good signal to the amp so I went with a Lc2i LOC/line driver. A friend of mine has had good success using one in his 2014 Ram, Compared to the basic PAC LOC he whas using before the Lc2i blows it away.

I'll be using a alpine PDX 1000.1 that looks like it'll be small enough to stealth install behind the trunk lining near the factory amplifier, kinda on the corner between the strut mount and upper rear deck. The Lc2i is going to be mounted directly beside the factory amp, utilizing two of the factory studs that mount the factory amps mounting plate.

The Sub is a Eclipse Titanium 12" (quite the beast) The box is not quite as good as it could be as its a MTX prefab box. It is 3/4" mdf @1.75 m3 with a decent slot port volume; not sure what the tuning is on the port but its really a decent box for the $40 I paid.

I went with running the 4awg cable through the shift cable grommet (beside gas pedal) and along the center console to the back of the car. The Lc2i just needs bass signal right now so I'm using the Purple and Yellow (As far as I can tell this is correct, confirmation would give some piece of mind) wires off the Sony amp to the Lc2i. I'll probably end up adding the other woofer channel to the Lc2i to get the best signal.

Hope to get this finished up today!

iceberg65 · January 11, 2016, 12:08:09 PM

Well I did get it all finished up last Saturday; as expected I was able to do a completely stealth install.

The sub sounds great, its really a low tone beast, which is why I wanted to retain the factory 6X9's to fill in the higher bass frequencies. Damn does that trunk kill a lot of volume though. I saw a post where someone made a vent through the back of the back seats armrest. I may consider doing something along those lines eventually.

I love how I got this stuff mounted, with the liner up, all you see is the sub box; although the box I have is not ideal for the trunk dimensions; and it's not hard to get at the Lc2i for adjustment, the amp however I do have to remove the clips to move the liner away and get access (shouldn't have to get at that regularly by any means though). I may try my 10"type x in here too.

Scott4957 · January 11, 2016, 01:43:20 PM

Nice, looking to do the same here with the Lc2i. Still kicking around ideas on how to mount. Was thinking of trying to keep the sub in the stock location "i have a 2013 MKS with the THXII". The MKS doesn't have a full pass through, but does have a small window when you drop the rear center cup holder. I was considering trying to build a box that would allow the port to exit into the cabin through that small pass through. Some subs I was looking at were sundown or PSI, both have 10's that need less than a cube sealed, I would think i could fit that in the stock location with a creatively built box and cover it, you would never know it wasn't stock. Nice to see there is a place for the Lc2i and amp that is out of the way. Thanks for sharing.

iceberg65 · January 11, 2016, 01:54:56 PM

Yes It was actually a really easy spot to put the Lc2i. I opened up the mounting hole slightly on one end to fit over the stud on the top end, used a thick washer to space it out a bit and put another bolt on top. The bottom end I had to make a small bracket to line up with the other stud This is pretty much just to add a bit of length. In the future I may switch to a simple piece of flat bar that goes over both studs with the lc2i bolted to the flat bar.

I've used an SA10 under the seat of my Ram 2500 and I will say they do very well sealed in a very small box. Great quality.

As for a pass through, Doing some kind of vent just in the rear deck may be the direction I go. Just make a hole and get some sort of perforated cover for it. That area is really out of sight for the most part.

Scott4957 · January 11, 2016, 01:57:43 PM

Quote from: iceberg65 on January 11, 2016, 01:54:56 PM
Yes It was actually a really easy spot to put the Lc2i. I opened up the mounting hole slightly on one end to fit over the stud on the top end, used a thick washer to space it out a bit and put another bolt on top. The bottom end I had to make a small bracket to line up with the other stud This is pretty much just to add a bit of length. In the future I may switch to a simple piece of flat bar that goes over both studs with the lc2i bolted to the flat bar.

I've used an SA10 under the seat of my Ram 2500 and I will say they do very well sealed in a very small box. Great quality.

As for a pass through, Doing some kind of vent just in the rear deck may be the direction I go. Just make a hole and get some sort of perforated cover for it. That area is really out of sight for the most part.

Yes the MKS already has what I believe is an 8 or 10 inch sub back there, so I would try to use the stock location. We will see when it warms up and I can open it up!

Sent from my SM-N910V using Tapatalk

iceberg65 · January 11, 2016, 02:35:59 PM

great idea, when you do eventually get in there take a picture of the factory amplifier, I'm mostly just curious how different it is.

Ryan02Stang · March 15, 2016, 02:22:02 PM

Quote from: iceberg65 on January 11, 2016, 02:35:59 PM
great idea, when you do eventually get in there take a picture of the factory amplifier, I'm mostly just curious how different it is.

You ever get around to this?

I have a 12 inch sub, and Kenwood mono amp that I'd like to install into my MKS to give the THX surround system a little more bump.

Not sure where the best spot to run the 4 gauge power wire, or where to splice in the line out converter.

Scott4957 · March 15, 2016, 03:03:59 PM

I have not pulled it apart yet

makoskey · March 18, 2016, 02:04:44 PM

Polarity of the speakers. All speakers have that.

In a system you need to make sure the polarity is the same. Do a search on google for more info. On subwoofers especially if you are running a pair it is very important that polarity are identical.

glock-coma · March 18, 2016, 03:19:40 PM

Quote from: Fordgofast6613 on March 18, 2016, 04:06:12 AM
Do you know what's the +/- are on the factory subs? I'm doing a similar install next week on my '13 SHO. Thanks

I would not use the subwoofer speaker for your signal to loc. You will only have the very narrow frequency range that factory subs were designed to play.

I would use the rear doors signal which is full range. That way you can dial in the frequency that's best suited for your subs.

BiGMaC · March 18, 2016, 04:13:20 PM

Quote from: makoskey on March 18, 2016, 02:04:44 PM
Polarity of the speakers. All speakers have that.

In a system you need to make sure the polarity is the same. Do a search on google for more info. On subwoofers especially if you are running a pair it is very important that polarity are identical.

This can be checked with a test disk that has polarity "clicks" on it after install, and should be... In any event, because cars are funny shaped inside and direction of sound propagation varies... The best answer is to RTA the installed system. Some speaker polarities may need to be reversed on purpose to stop phase cancellation of some frequencies.