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Mach subwoofer replacement

J Zee109

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1998 Mounty
After blowing two Mach subwoofers in a matter of months, I have decided they are junk. Are there any aftermarket replacements for the Mach subwoofer or any that fit into the stock subwoofer compartment?
 



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After blowing two Mach subwoofers in a matter of months, I have decided they are junk. Are there any aftermarket replacements for the Mach subwoofer or any that fit into the stock subwoofer compartment?

You can get enclosures by Q-Logic, MTX and JL Audio that allow you flexibility in the subs you use in the space taken up by the OEM setup. I've got a Q-Logic box and a 10" sub (powered by Fosgate amp). WAY better than stock. :thumbsup:
 






I was looking for something along the cheaper side which is why I just want to replace the subwoofer.
 






I was looking for something along the cheaper side which is why I just want to replace the subwoofer.

You obviously have a propensity for blowing these things. Is it really "cheaper" to replace the OEM?

I scored my Q-Logic box for less than $40 on eBay, used and that included shipping (I lucked out...hard to get them that cheap). I started out with a cheap sub and amp and eventually upgraded both. With the OEM sub, it was hardly like having a sub at all. Hardly impressive. Save your money for a better aftermarket system, IMHO.
 






You make a good point, hence why I created a thread trying to find out if there was any direct aftermarket replacement for the factory Mach sub.
 






I removed the right side interior panel, removed the black resonator box, removed the stock blown subwoofer, and replaced it with an eight inch Polk subwoofer I bought, on sale, at Fry's for $40. Had to cut a circle out of the back, of the black box, to allow the longer, bigger magnet speaker. Had to drill a couple of small holes around the perimeter for screw attachment. Took about ten minutes. Family and friends think it sounds better than original.
 






I removed the right side interior panel, removed the black resonator box, removed the stock blown subwoofer, and replaced it with an eight inch Polk subwoofer I bought, on sale, at Fry's for $40. Had to cut a circle out of the back, of the black box, to allow the longer, bigger magnet speaker. Had to drill a couple of small holes around the perimeter for screw attachment. Took about ten minutes. Family and friends think it sounds better than original.

after that drilling does this mean that the box isn't airtight sealed anymore? If so that's losing a lot of potential. If you seal it back up somehow I'm sure it'll be a lot better
 






Yeah, I've been thinking of doing the same thing as you J Zee, but more along the lines of what raleigho did, as opposed to just a direct replacement like what you seem to be looking for. I think those stock subs are just an inch or two deep, so the stock enclosure, or resonator box, is not deep enough for most aftermarket subs, even 8-inchers, which is why he had to do some cutting. I've opened that compartment up and looked at the sub and box and amp before, but never while thinking that I would want to put an aftermarket sub in there. After blowing my stock 8-inch, I orginally went with 2 12s in a box in my cargo area with an aftermarket amp hooked up to the stock head unit, which sounded awesome, but I got tired of not having full room in the back, so I took it out and have been driving around with no bass for a while now :thumbdwn: . I just haven't had much time to take that rear panel off and observe the situation again. However, what I'm thinking about doing is removing the stock enclosure, stealing the mounting apparatus off of it along with whatever hardware exists, and attaching it to a custom box that I'll make out of MDF to fit into the area where the stock one is now. Actually, I'll probably upgrade it to a 10 inch (part of me even wants to go to a 12 and/or an aftermarket amp placed where the stock one is) but I'm not completely sure about it yet. As far as the size of the sub, it really just depends on how big of an enclosure I can fit back there, but like I said, I haven't had time to look lately. It may turn out that all I can fit back there is just another 8 inch, but if that's the case, then that's fine. I like the clean, stock look, but, like you said, those stock 8 inch subs seem to blow easily (if you like to play it loud anyway :D ) I know this thread's already been open for a while, but I'd like to help you out if you're still looking to upgrade. Hopefully I'll get more into this project after New Years, so if you're still wanting some options, I can tell you how it goes for me, and post some pictures too if you want.
Good luck
 






I got the Infintiy 8" sub-woofer to replace the stock sub-woofer. Perfect fit and sounds better than the MTX.


now you see it :D
2146670_14_full.jpg


now you don't :p:
2146670_13_full.jpg
 






after that drilling does this mean that the box isn't airtight sealed anymore? If so that's losing a lot of potential. If you seal it back up somehow I'm sure it'll be a lot better

its not like these subs are moving massive amounts of air inside, a couple of small drilled holes should not make a difference.....


I got the Infintiy 8" sub-woofer to replace the stock sub-woofer. Perfect fit and sounds better than the MTX.


now you see it :D
2146670_14_full.jpg


now you don't :p:
2146670_13_full.jpg

very very clean, i like it!!!!:thumbsup:
 






I have an aftermarket 8" sub in my factory box...
 






JL Audio makes an 8" sub that's almost tailor made for swapping out the stocker the factory enclosure, even with 75W RMS power handling to go better with the stock amp than the 200W+ subs.

http://mobile.jlaudio.com/products_subs.php?series_id=22

Pioneer also makes one in their Premier line thats quite shallow.

http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/pna/v3/pg/product/details/0,,2076_310069929_297969765,00.html

But as stated, pretty much any aftermarket sub thats not too deep will do nicely, though I suggest using one with 150W RMS power handling or less if using the factory amp.
 






So, how many ohm's is the sub woofer in the back of an "Explorer" 4 or 8 ???
 






It'd better be 4 ohms, 8 ohm stuff is for home stereos and dual voice coil subwoofers to be run in series/parallel configurations.
 






Don't worry, it's 4. That amp is rated at 85 watts RMS (170 Watts Peak) over a 4 ohm load, using a 14 volt battery charge. Frequency rresponse of 20Hz to 200Hz. Not horrible for stock, could be better though.
 






I didn't mention that my stock sub amp is connected to an aftermarket HU. My really efficient sub along with a ~2volt preamp signal makes it alot louder...
 






It'd better be 4 ohms, 8 ohm stuff is for home stereos and dual voice coil subwoofers to be run in series/parallel configurations.

Some older car subs are 8ohms as well. I bought a pair of still in the box Rockford Fosgates RFZ1812 (12" 8ohms) off Ebay back in July.
 






I want to do somthing like this too. But i ran into a snag...I don't know if anyone else noticed this but, In my 1997 Eddie Bauer explorer the sub is 6 inches, not eight. Is this how it is for older models or what? Cause all you guys are talking like 8 inch is the norm. Im looking at putting an 8 incher in there but I was going to take my truck to a car audio place and pay them 75 bucks to make the enlcosure bigger. is there any way I could get one of the 8 inch enlcosures off ebay or a salvage place? that might be cheaper and better than cutting the old one. Im a little confused. so any suggestions would be appreciated.
 






I want to do somthing like this too. But i ran into a snag...I don't know if anyone else noticed this but, In my 1997 Eddie Bauer explorer the sub is 6 inches, not eight. Is this how it is for older models or what? Cause all you guys are talking like 8 inch is the norm. Im looking at putting an 8 incher in there but I was going to take my truck to a car audio place and pay them 75 bucks to make the enlcosure bigger. is there any way I could get one of the 8 inch enlcosures off ebay or a salvage place? that might be cheaper and better than cutting the old one. Im a little confused. so any suggestions would be appreciated.

it is 8" for 98-01 models. Yours has a smaller sub, but you can replace it with a standard 6.5" sub if you can find one- you dont see them as much as you used to.
 



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I want to do somthing like this too. But i ran into a snag...I don't know if anyone else noticed this but, In my 1997 Eddie Bauer explorer the sub is 6 inches, not eight. Is this how it is for older models or what? Cause all you guys are talking like 8 inch is the norm. Im looking at putting an 8 incher in there but I was going to take my truck to a car audio place and pay them 75 bucks to make the enlcosure bigger. is there any way I could get one of the 8 inch enlcosures off ebay or a salvage place? that might be cheaper and better than cutting the old one. Im a little confused. so any suggestions would be appreciated.

For my "Budget Bass" project, I put an 8" Goldwood sub in the OEM JBL enclosure made for a 6" sub. All I did was figure out how much larger the hole needed to be, drilled 1/8" holes side by side around the perimeter, and broke off pieces every few inches with Vice-Grips, pliers, and a hammer. Took a while, but that was the only way I could think of using the tools I had access to. Drilled four holes for screws to mount subwoofer. Used some 1/4" foam weatherstripping to seal the subwoofer to enclosure.

Someday, I'll post pics of my project...
 






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