Adding a second sub to Ford's "Premium" sound system

[PPro]

I have an 02 Sport, that came with the Ford/Pioneer Premium system. Its got the 6 disk changer, an 8" sub, and two small tweaters up front.

The 8" sub does pretty well for its size and being by itself, but I'd like to add another one in the system as well. I use the cargo area of my truck, and the Sport's cargo area is already smaller than the full size X's. I was thinking about putting a 10" sub directly behind my center console, on the floor. This way, it wont be in the way of the people in the back seat, and it will be hitting right behind me/the passenger.

Any negatives to this? I'm pretty sure I wont be able to fold my seats down after this, still deciding if I want to do that or not.

Is my head unit powerful enough for this? I'm not sure it this system comes with an amp or not.

Just some ideas/insight would be nice. I would like to put 2 more 10's in the back, but I just cant see myself giving up that much room. I don't know what to do yet.

Thanks.

 

[96limitedX]

i'm also interested in this..i have a extra stock sub for my truck i would like to add but i'm not sure if the system can handle it.

 

[smittyrock3]

Head units are not designed to power a sub. If you have an extra stock sub you have a few options. But you need to do some homework first. Find out the following:

1. Ohm rating of your subs
2. How stable is your amp i.e. 2 or 4 ohm stable (this will dictate your wiring options)
3. Running a lower ohm rating can cause your amp to run hotter than Ford had intened. If it overheats can you fit a cooling fan in the factory mounting area for the amp?

Let us know what you come up with. I thought I was cramped on space when I built my Mustang's system until I got an XLT with 3rd row seating.

 

[Jason94sport]

Be easier to bypass the stock sub & use a good amp to power a good 10" sub. It will blow away anything you can get from the stock setup. Maybe look into a Stealthbox if you want to save room.

 

[enyego]

Is there a quick easy way to hook up a 2-channel kenwood to run a replacement(preferably Fosgate) sub in the stock hole, while still running the stock high/mid on the old Ford amp? BTW, mine is a '97 Mounty, so it's the JBL amplified system

 

[PPro]

Be easier to bypass the stock sub & use a good amp to power a good 10" sub. It will blow away anything you can get from the stock setup. Maybe look into a Stealthbox if you want to save room.

Well I would want to still run my stock sub as well, no sense in having it all wired and mounted and just not even use it...

Does anyone know if there actually is an amp with the "Premium" package? I haven't searched real hard, but I dont see one anywhere in the car, or in the sub mount area (where most X's have the little storage bin in the back). If there is an amp, anyone know what it's rating it? A friend of mine has 2 10's and a 1kwatt amp he wants to sell really cheap, but I dont really want all of that stuff. Maybe just one of his subs and the amp if I need it.

Thanks.

 

[Turdle]

At 1 point in my life I had a pair of 12" image dynamics in a box in another car. Just for giggles, I hooked them to my stock sub amp in my mounty.
There was no increase in bass at all. That stock amp is lousy for music.
I would get another amp and try to modify the box to accept a 10" woofer

 

[TeamPwnageBrad]

dont run 2 different subs, its not going to do you any good if you want it to sound nice. Youll end up with cancellation problems. Also putting a sub directly in the center of the cabin firing down isnt going to work very well either. If you want to get it to sound how it should then put it in the cargo area firing back towards the lisence plate. If you do 2 sealed 10s in a box 41 wide and around 13 tall youll probably lose only around 7 or 8" of depth. Thats a very small amount of lost space.

 

[terdrocket]

The stock system is crap. Premium/Mach = feces.
Either leave it alone or scrap it all and start fresh.

.....putting a sub directly in the center of the cabin firing down isnt going to work very well either.

It actually works very well. I had a 10" down firing in a custom box in front of the center console in my 94. It sounded excellent. Everything was transferred to the 2001 w/ a rear firing sub in the cargo area. Not as good as the original setup. Bass up front is always better than bass out back.

 

[Jason94sport]

Well I would want to still run my stock sub as well, no sense in having it all wired and mounted and just not even use it...

Because the stock sub is not a good sub to begin with. You will get far more sound & bass output from a single good aftermarket sub & amp. The stock one would be distorting & under powered. And if you tried to run an aftermarket sub off the stock POS amp it would either be so under powered you would get only distortion or blow the stock amp.

You can use a Line output converter on the rear speaker leads to get a line level signal for the amp. Run power & ground to the amp & a turn on lead from the radio, or switched 12 volt source, then hook up the sub to the amp.
Get an amp that uses speaker level inputs & you don't even need a line output converter or a turn on lead.

 

[PPro]

If you do 2 sealed 10s in a box 41 wide and around 13 tall youll probably lose only around 7 or 8" of depth. Thats a very small amount of lost space.

But then I also lose the option to fol the seats down, which I don't want to do.

Anyone ever mounted a 10" sub in the stock 8" area? I may just do that.

 

[Turdle]

I mounted a 10" polk momo in mine. Cut hole and use body filler to seal the bumps, refinish hole and thats it. It can look like crap because you will cover it with trim piece. Sounds good and still have space for gear.
When i let people listen to mine, they can't believe it, look all over for the "other" sub

 

[Jason94sport]

But then I also lose the option to fol the seats down, which I don't want to do.

Anyone ever mounted a 10" sub in the stock 8" area? I may just do that.

I have a 10" JL stealthbox with the amp mounted behind the panel. Totaly hidden & I have all my hatch space.
Space was my #1 problem also.

 

[PPro]

Do you two have pics?

Thanks.

 

[TeamPwnageBrad]

From testing on the termlab for SPL purposes, the further the box moved forwards in the vehicle, the less loud it got on the sensor. Theres a few tricks to getting the box just right. Id be willing to bet the center console box you had was probably more suited for the sub than the other one was. If you have a front stage that is capable of playing down to ~60hz, and have the sub crossed over around 60 then you should not be able to tell that it is all the way back there.

 

[PPro]

So... to bring a dead topic back. I've finally got my hands on a good aftermarket 10" I'm going to mount in the stock space in the back. My girlfriends brother just blew one of his, so he's selling me his one good one for 30 bucks. It's a 10" Kenwood

Do I NEED a better amp for this to sound better, or can that wait for a little while? What size amp would I need for just one sub?

Thanks.

 

[2000Xplorer]

for one 10'' sub, i would buy a monochannel amp that puts out like what ever amount of power that the sub can uses(rms watts)

if you have the premium audio, where is the sub at?

 

[PPro]

Its in the rear cargo area, where most Explorer's have the little storage bin. They remove the bin, put the sub back there (firing to the left, into the cargo area) and cover it with a nice looking wire mesh screen. There are some pics in the audio section here of people who have mounted a 10" back there (the stock one is 8").

Thanks for the help guys, I'll get pics up soon.