Question about the Factory Subwoofer

[TechGuru]

I believe the shielding should be wired to ground to be effective...

 

[klakalou]

wellll what happened next?!?! cmon im knee deep into this mysterious junkyard dumpster diving adventure, i need to know how it ends!!!

 

[Huntsman06]

Well, it's been an adventure, but it's all finished! Yesterday I finished assembling my "adapter" harness. Part of me says it's way redundant, but I'm glad I took the time to buy both of those wire pigtails rather than cut the existing wiring in the car. Both pigtails came with very detailed labeling on both the package and the wires themselves, so matching them up was a breeze. That extra red wire on the right was the one I ran behind the glovebox down to where I was able to splice it into the wiring that ran back to the woofer. The only tiny bit I cheated on was the ground. I was planning on running the subwoofer's ground all the way back up to the head unit as it would have originally been done at the factory, but the wire was literally 2 inches away from the bare metal so I just grounded it there (which I forgot to take a picture of! )

All in all, it sounds great! It's almost like the radio doesn't even try to play some of the bassy-er notes through the regular speakers because, despite being an OEM subwoofer and just an 8" at that, it sounds night and day difference. Now the big question, was it worth it? If you just want more bass, no it's not really worth it. Although if you do want more bass and (like me) are hellbent on keeping that stock radio, it's very reasonable to do.

 

[Ddudley84]

That's cool I am glade your happy with it it up to you on what you want. I put 12' subs with a factory stereo in my friends xls last month. ITs cool to see what it takes to get the job done happy for you

 

[klakalou]

glad to hear the project came out succesful!

 

[TechGuru]

So just to be clear you're running the stock headunit and stock door speakers too?

 

[Huntsman06]

That's correct. I've not torn apart the doors to check the speakers but I am assuming they're the originals since everything else was when I began. Head Unit is the 6CD oem too.

 

[TechGuru]

That's correct. I've not torn apartment the doors to check the speakers but I am assuming they're the originals since everything else was when I began.

I would get these: https://www.amazon.com/Pioneer-4-Way-Stereo-Speakers-TS-A6886R/dp/B016P03XAM/ I have them and they're awesome, a friend got them for his Mercury GrandMarquis and loves them too.

Here are those speakers powered by my factory CD/Cassette unit and then my Kenwood unit.



It was a night and day difference coming from the factory paper cones even on the factory headunit.

Head Unit is the 6CD oem too.

Ah, that explains how you were able to plug n play with the factory sub, I don't think the basic units have the output for it...

 

[larivera1989]

Great thread i also want to add the factory sub enclosure setup on my 02 XLT.