Replacing 8" door "woofers" (Probably been talked about before, but not recently)

[matty]

Hey everyone,

Hope everyone had a good labour day long weekend. Although I think the Shaker 500 isn't a bad system at all, I've been thinking about how to improve upon it. I've already replaced the head unit with an AVIC-D3 which I found not only helped overall sound quality but also gave me more control over sub settings.

I'm fairly happy with the highs (for right now) but I'm finding that the low to mid range is lacking which got me thinking about different options. I know that a few companies have come out with 8 inch "thin" woofers like Kicker's CompVT woofer, JL's low profile (JL Audio 8W1v2-4) and even Pioneer's "Premier 8" Shallow-Mount Subwoofer", would any of these work in our cars without any modifications of the door? I realize that they probably wouldn't run off of just the AVIC-D3 I have and would need an amp, but in terms of fit and sound quality what are your thoughts?

Oh and btw I noticed when looking at different subs that they come in different ohm ratings, like the JL 8W1v2 has two options a 4 ohm version and an 8 ohm version, its probably a really dumb question but why would one choose one over the other?

Any other suggestions would be awesome too, I'd like to have the system looking stock still but improve SQ and if I could do it in stages that would be even better.

Matt

 

[blbrchnk]

There is an amp in each door with a crossover for each sub already. The only things that are amped by the headunit are the 4 speakers.

 

[Big Top GT]

Subscribing.

I spoke with Crutchfield about a month ago and they said they didn't have a drop in shallow mount Sub for my 05.

I was a little disappointed.

Hopefully, they were wrong.

 

[matty]

Sorry I should have been more specific blbrchnk, I should have said that I would have to replace the factory amp to power the new sub should decide to replace the one in each door.

Does anyone else have any suggestions of a great sounding, stock looking setup? I like the idea of having the 8" woofers up front near the driver & passenger.

Matt

 

[CPman]

I used a 8" (pioneer) shallow mount sub in a small home made enclosure that I managed to fit up under the dash behind the glove box. I wrapped it with black felt, so the small part that is visable just below the glove box is hardly noticable. Most people that ride in my car never notice it is there until I point it out. This small unit does not give mind blowing bass, but it does balance the bass coming from the trunk mounted sub and brings a more natural balance of bass up to the front of the car, which is all I was really after. I have JL XR's in the doors for mid's and high's.