RE: subwoofer

["Neal Tovsen" <ntovsen@piper.hamline.edu>]

Sounds like you've found a dual-coil subwoofer. Because deep bass is
"unidirectional" (you can't really tell where it's comming from), some
subwoofers have both the left and right coils in one speaker. This way, you
only need one speaker and don't have to bridge the amplifier or anything
like that. Plug the left channel into one set of tabs and the right into the
other.

The amplifier is my next point. You'll probably need one to run the sub. I'm
not aware of too many subwoofers that function properly even with the "high
power" stereo decks, unless they have their own amp with them. Your deck is
probably something like 40 Watts peak, or somewhere in the neighborhood of
15-20 Watts RMS (sustainable Wattage). Since subwoofers suck lots 'o power,
you'll need an amplifier to provide at least 100 Watts or so to get
reasonable quality sound out of the sub. I have a single-coil 10" sub with a
bridged (both stereo channels into one mono channel) amplifier that puts out
about 250Watts, and puts out more bass than I need, though I can't compete
with some of the "ghetto cruisers" that have dual 12"s and gajillion-Watt
amps. I don't want to.

The final point is that most subwoofers need an enclosure of a specific size
with specific ports (air vents). Essentially, the sub needs to push air off
of something nearby to get good sound. It relies on the pressure that it can
create in a smaller box. Thus, mounting it in the rear deck is usually a bad
idea unless you have a "free-air" subwoofer, which is designed for mounting
in rear decks without an enclosure (like you want to do). These speakers
(from what I remember...I may be wrong) require even higher power, since
they use the whole trunk as the enclosure. I haven't seen any free-air subs
around for a long time...

I know this doesn't sound good for finding a way to use that hole in your
deck, but unfortunately it's the truth. Even worse, that popping noise from
your speakers either means that your stereo or your speakers are
blown...probably speakers, which may be ok if you're replacing them.

If you want to spend a little money getting an enclosure and an inexpensive
amp for your sub (you'll also want a MonsterWire kit to supply power from
the battery to the amp), you can save money and hole-cutting by getting some
quality 4x6s and using the stock mounting locations. This is what I did, and
it sounds great because the sub fills in the bass that the 4x6s can't do. An
extra bonus: you can use the stock plastic grilles on the 4x6s which
(assuming the sub is in the trunk under the hatch cover) will hide your
killer system from "wandering eyes."

Good Luck!
Neal

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Majordomo [mailto:majord@neubayern.net]On Behalf Of
> Robert Whitney
> Sent: Wednesday, November 11, 1998 8:19 AM
> To: 'scirocco-l@scirocco.org'
> Subject: subwoofer
>
>
> I was wondering how I should hook up a stereo system in my
> 'rocco. I can't
> stand the two 4x6's in the back, so I think I'm going to
> throw in two 6x9's
> in the rear hatch. But here's my real question. There is a
> hole cut out of
> the center of the rear hatch for a 6x9 speaker, but I don't
> want just one
> 6x9 in the middle of the hatch, so I was thinking about
> putting one 10" sub
> in the hole. I picked up a cheap 10" sub to try it out, but I
> want to make
> sure I hook it up right. Do you need to wire it directly to
> the stereo, or
> two the rear speakers. I've never hooked one up before. The
> sub has the
> regular + and - hookups, but two tabs for each. Do I run a
> wire to each tab
> from each of the the back speakers? Also I was wondering what
> this problem
> is: when I turn up the stereo to the two back 4x6's (original
> speakers)
> after a point in volume they just stop playing sound and just
> do a clicking
> sound. Any thoughts?
>
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