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Over the holiday I installed an NVX LOC (XFLOC 2), Alpine MRV-M250 (250 watt amp) and a Polk MM840 DVC 8" sub. I have it installed right behind the second row seating. It produces decent bass but only for the second row. I can barely make out an audible difference for my drivers seat :( I was really hoping this thing would come through since the cabin is so quiet but its really not living up to what I had envisioned. I had a 12' sub and a larger 600 watt amp in my old car, so I knew it was going to be softer than that but this is at least 10 times quieter, almost like I wasted time and money seeing how little difference it made in my drivers chair.

I guess my only other options at this point is to spend some real dough on a custom enclosure that fits into the rear quarter panel or lose the spare tire, which I really, really dont want to do.
 






From the specs of that woofer, looks like it wants a totally sealed enclosure of 0.35 cubic feet. If that's in line, then checking the gains on your amp, crossover frequency, and phasing of the system would be my next course of action.

I have this setup in my Explorer and it provides almost as much bass as 12" subs in my earlier days of thumping. Feel it fine in the front seat.

JL Audio W3 8" ported woofer box
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001UDIGAC/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Details of my complete setup in post #150.
 






Yeah, thats why I'm so stumped. The box I created is solid 3/4 MDF and is 0.36 cubic ft. Air tight, should be fine. The reviews for both the amp and the sub were great as well so I'm not entirely sure why I'm so underwhelmed. Its a mono amp so I cant have the crossover setup being that bad. I dont think the coils are wired out of phase or else it would sound like crap in the back seat as well.
 






Yeah, thats why I'm so stumped. The box I created is solid 3/4 MDF and is 0.36 cubic ft. Air tight, should be fine. The reviews for both the amp and the sub were great as well so I'm not entirely sure why I'm so underwhelmed. Its a mono amp so I cant have the crossover setup being that bad. I dont think the coils are wired out of phase or else it would sound like crap in the back seat as well.

You may just be getting some low frequency cancellation in the front seat due to the positioning of the box. Waves reflecting around could be meeting at your front seat and cancelling each other out. Try moving the box around a little, or face it backwards/upwards/sideways and see if that has any effect.

If you're happy with the bass in the back seat, then I can't imagine why a few extra feet should effect it that much.

Good luck!
 






Well it was a couple of things. The bass is still better in the back seat, but I was able to bring it up some in the front. I'm used to using normal RCA outputs from the back of the head unit. This is my first experience with an external LOC. I had the bass boost up at +6db on my amp. Then when I initially hooked it up for the first time, I had the gain all the way down and then just stepped it up until I started to hear distortion. I didnt realize that with deeper bass, the bass is already boosted by the head unit. I have it to +3 there. I don't think these signals add either, I believe the multiply. So in essence, I pretty much had something like +20db bass boost at the amp which made everything besides 50Hz seem quiet.

I do believe there is some cancellation up front - no idea why. I cant move the sub but so much since I built it to specifically fit where it is, but I'll see if I cant move it around at all. I really think the muddiness of the front speakers is killing my soundexperience as well. I have replaced the back ones with Polk dB coaxials. Maybe that's another part of the reason it sounds better back there. I already have the Polk dB components for the front, but I have to make brackets this weekend. Will report back with the results!
 






I debated on replacing the stock speakers in the vehicle, but since I added the sub I've been happy enough with the improvement since more than anything, bass was what was missing.

The muddiness of the front speakers could definitely be detracting from your sound. To minimize that effect in my system, I simply decreased the bass setting on the head unit 3 or 4 clicks from center. My subwoofer has a dash mounted control knob I can adjust to boost the sub back up, w/o effecting the stock speakers. Not quite as good as putting a passive crossover network on the door speakers, but the band-aid works for me. One day I will add a dedicated amp and replace the front speakers with some nice components. Don't know if I'll invest in improving the rear speakers.... feet don't really care what music sounds like. ;-)

Keep us posted....
 






Continuing from a month ago where I replaced the rear door speakers and disconnected the third row speakers.


The rear door speakers removed. One is cut out from surround.

Serround ready for new speaker.



panel peeled off to access third row speaker connector.

picture of third row toy speaker

third row connector wires same color as 2nd row. These are wired in Parallel.

I have additional photos of the panel removal and completed speaker mounts. I have to find them.

If the moderators want to embed these Photos permanently i ok it. These will not be in photobucket forever.
 






A few weeks back I upgraded the front and 2nd row speakers with JBL 6x9 (front) and 5 1/4 for the 2nd row, the sound is now clearer but still missing bass, so I am planning to install a sub with built in amp, choosing between the JBL SL8 or the Kenwood KSC SW11. Last week end I did the install prep while deciding on the sub, installed the Line converter to RCA Kicker SLOC and the power cable to the battery. I was able to use the grommet at the back of the glove box used for the rear washer hose, it's very hard, I followed a tip from the previous post, where he loosen the clips of the washer hose, then pull out the grommet and cut a hole in the grommet, and insert the 10 gauge wire (these subs only require 12 gauge) far enough so I can reach it from the engine side, before putting it back I put in silicone to seal it. It was also hard to put back the grommet since I can barely reach the hole to put it in. I was planning to take pictures of the grommet but forgot about it, since I am tired and sweating so much (Texas heat). Hoping to install the sub this week end.
 






QUOTE="daverns, post: 3551371, member: 248381"]A few weeks back I upgraded the front and 2nd row speakers with JBL 6x9 (front) and 5 1/4 for the 2nd row, the sound is now clearer but still missing bass, so I am planning to install a sub with built in amp, choosing between the JBL SL8 or the Kenwood KSC SW11. Last week end I did the install prep while deciding on the sub, installed the Line converter to RCA Kicker SLOC and the power cable to the battery. I was able to use the grommet at the back of the glove box used for the rear washer hose, it's very hard, I followed a tip from the previous post, where he loosen the clips of the washer hose, then pull out the grommet and cut a hole in the grommet, and insert the 10 gauge wire (these subs only require 12 gauge) far enough so I can reach it from the engine side, before putting it back I put in silicone to seal it. It was also hard to put back the grommet since I can barely reach the hole to put it in. I was planning to take pictures of the grommet but forgot about it, since I am tired and sweating so much (Texas heat). Hoping to install the sub this week end.[/QUOTE]

I decided to install the Kenwood KSC SW11, it's much cheaper than the JBL SL8. Completed the install yesterday and I am happy with the result. You can now call the sound as PREMIUM. I installed it under the middle of the second row seats, it fits nicely, it has about maybe 1.5 inches clearance between the sub woofer and the seat.

JQ2hyxxecP4sYSxfF0Zu5afREv0TOtw7Bu0Por549teu2Fn7_Z4zp29RN0I0URzojDc2kT8WC4qrnDWI1CjEgdCW-7DiAnsfGnBYN9BOZziHLRAFwk83z4scSfmUTiPCytCo081x37Q6i9d9EcuuYIny0DSIQA--9lqLFzHwSFxXEZtt3OSvQU4eXRG9Qz8PGJ9hI6JLo1cFXNMFpvHXzoiUXR-P-epZQFg-pbwUfWpuVc-ltLz9hDtC40n7oy1D1m_r4IXZKPwUI3cwZ3ZQP_b_nQJL1HVKFpfffUhzjtotSSe4oINV2TCcNS-JAUTu9ALUMQiTXOvMIwlDJs61SsVCl4H7caZj6bBuDiz3o6EKS5HXbtGbs7cevGZcociIc1tZGq35Xpc-cHpTBl3G8oaWzsZfvgQoJx84GZeTkOHv1PTtgIPMeEinTcfHEmSgsG0Bf5pYTO8jOkwpF1zqO9o7o-q02J_EJe0M6dko1YGGR04Hk8EjzuiLhnu64yWGWXtO4EDPJGiCN9gKAOAL0kydgZwuJLvkgbhPiyVR1wl7Vapi3hb108s2GNjyMsOMr-G-oNtObRXCXWKVG29TbYBsFVSptTm2=w1247-h935-no
 






A few weeks back I upgraded the front and 2nd row speakers with JBL 6x9 (front) and 5 1/4 for the 2nd row, the sound is now clearer but still missing bass, so I am planning to install a sub with built in amp, choosing between the JBL SL8 or the Kenwood KSC SW11. Last week end I did the install prep while deciding on the sub, installed the Line converter to RCA Kicker SLOC and the power cable to the battery. I was able to use the grommet at the back of the glove box used for the rear washer hose, it's very hard, I followed a tip from the previous post, where he loosen the clips of the washer hose, then pull out the grommet and cut a hole in the grommet, and insert the 10 gauge wire (these subs only require 12 gauge) far enough so I can reach it from the engine side, before putting it back I put in silicone to seal it. It was also hard to put back the grommet since I can barely reach the hole to put it in. I was planning to take pictures of the grommet but forgot about it, since I am tired and sweating so much (Texas heat). Hoping to install the sub this week end.

Did you disconnect the third row speakers??? It's easy and will help immensly the second row speakers. Especially the base.
Those connectors can be used to line drive a amp and subwoofer setup. BE VERY CAREFUL OF THE SIDE AIRBAGS!!!!
 






Did you disconnect the third row speakers??? It's easy and will help immensly the second row speakers. Especially the base.
Those connectors can be used to line drive a amp and subwoofer setup. BE VERY CAREFUL OF THE SIDE AIRBAGS!!!!

No I did not disconnect the third row speakers, I may try that in the near future. Thanks for the warning on side air bags.
 






2016 Explorer Sport with the Sony sound system. Wanting to know the best place to tap into the audio signal coming from the factory radio. I am putting 2 JL 10w3v3/JX1000D using the high level inputs on the JL Amp.
 






2016 Explorer Sport with the Sony sound system. Wanting to know the best place to tap into the audio signal coming from the factory radio. I am putting 2 JL 10w3v3/JX1000D using the high level inputs on the JL Amp.
I think Dewan has detailed the Sony System pretty well here in this thread. There was another poster here who went thru his entire system with great pictures on his Sony system. Maybe Peter can ferret out the links for you. Or you can start at #1 and click thru.
 






I saw the pics that danxmanly put up of his install, but I have a 2013 Ex Limited and my wiring harness doesn't have the same speaker wires running out of the head unit. Mine only seems to have 4 speaker wires running out which doesn't make sense. Anyone run across this that could help?
 












2016 Explorer Sport with the Sony sound system. Wanting to know the best place to tap into the audio signal coming from the factory radio. I am putting 2 JL 10w3v3/JX1000D using the high level inputs on the JL Amp.

For my system I just taped into the out-puts from the factory amp, located behind the trim panel on the 2nd row seats (passenger side). It is a tight space but not hard to do.
 






Going to mention this again as there are alot of posts in here. I dont recommend taking line level from anything but the front ch feeds. I am almost certain the rears (and 3rd row) have a highpass filter. this will kill your low end response. sub frequencies run from 20hz-100Ish, If the rear speakers are in fact filtered, they will be filtered around 80 or possibly higher. If the feed is filtered at 80 hz (depending on rolloff) you will be missing the main portion on the sub band.

Again I have to assume as the fronts in my xlt do the majority of the low end and the 3rd row (if parallel are so tiny they would really need to be controlled) As for the sony system I would be getting the high pass feed on the sub ch before the factory amp.
 



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