Installing a subwoofer

J1SUA · Post by **J1SUA** » Tue 05 Apr, 2011 20:57

Hi guys

Just purchased a Clarion slim active sub. Bargain. Have been looking for a second hand sub off eBay but have been going for £50-65. So I found the Clarion which was sold by Wilco direct for £80 + £5 delivery which was cheap as it was anyway I originally noticed they had 127 of these for sale so I made an offer of £70 delivered and they accepted. Brand new - Result!

So I am confident of installation. The only thing I am not sure about is how to run the power cable from the battery inside to the cabin. Can anyone please help me here / pics etc

I will let you know the results for anyone interested in getting one for their Z but any/some bass will go down a treat!

Thanks in advance

wonderloaf · Post by **wonderloaf** » Wed 06 Apr, 2011 06:49

Just had a quick look at this on Wilco direct and the price now is £59.99 (sorry J1SUA) and it looks as though the delivery is free. Only 89 units left when I looked, could be a cheap way of getting some bass into the cabin of your zed!

Gazza · Post by **Gazza** » Wed 06 Apr, 2011 09:05

Novice here.....

What's the function of the Low Pass Filter ?

XVar · Post by **XVar** » Wed 06 Apr, 2011 09:16

garythefish wrote:Novice here.....

What's the function of the Low Pass Filter ?

The Low Pass Filter (LPF) lets you prevent sounds above a certain frequency being produced by the sub, commonly set to around 30-50hz depending on the sub, and your other speakers. Your mids/tweeters will also have a HPF setting on some amps which lets you filter out low frequencies (bass) so if you set the LPF on the sub and the HPF on the mids to the same then you'll have a clean cut between which speakers produce which sounds, although having them crossover slightly generally isn't a problem.

Gazza · Post by **Gazza** » Wed 06 Apr, 2011 09:23

Thanks for that, I'll check my settings

siwilson · Post by **siwilson** » Wed 06 Apr, 2011 17:27

30-50Hz is very low, especially for a small sub and taking into account the other speakers in the Zed.

I would try 70-120 Hz and see what sounds best.

msassoon · Post by **msassoon** » Fri 08 Apr, 2011 12:46

I am going to do the same thing, so will let you know. I will try and take the cover off behind the drivers seat and see if there is room in the grommet there.

Sorry your original question wasn't answered.

Gazza · Post by **Gazza** » Fri 08 Apr, 2011 13:12

siwilson wrote:30-50Hz is very low, especially for a small sub and taking into account the other speakers in the Zed.

I would try 70-120 Hz and see what sounds best.

Cheers Si

wonderloaf · Post by **wonderloaf** » Wed 13 Apr, 2011 11:06

J1SUA wrote:Hi guys

Just purchased a Clarion slim active sub. Bargain. Have been looking for a second hand sub off eBay but have been going for £50-65. So I found the Clarion which was sold by Wilco direct for £80 + £5 delivery which was cheap as it was anyway I originally noticed they had 127 of these for sale so I made an offer of £70 delivered and they accepted. Brand new - Result!

So I am confident of installation. The only thing I am not sure about is how to run the power cable from the battery inside to the cabin. Can anyone please help me here / pics etc

I will let you know the results for anyone interested in getting one for their Z but any/some bass will go down a treat!

Thanks in advance

hI J1SUA, any results yet? Thinking of getting one of these myself together with a quick release connector http://www.raysmith.co.uk/vibe-fast-plu ... -plug.html and putting it in the back where the hood normally folds into. When I want the hood down can just remove it and put it into the boot.

J1SUA · Post by **J1SUA** » Wed 13 Apr, 2011 12:48

Hi

Right got it installed on Sunday, running that wire through from the boot to the cabin is a right ballache! Now i am sure with a bit more force I could pushed the coat hanger all the way through the gap but to be safe and didn't want to break any wiring I made sure I had easier access, so I thought I would release the trim behind the seat.....easy I thought.....to do this I had to take the roll hoops out, centre tray then I could get to the screws holding it in! Got there in the end though

Pictures coming soon when I write up our progress thread

So for the right up on the Sub. It's not going to win any sound offs but for £60 it does a tidy job. I have a 12" Alpine in my 330 running off an Alpine monoblock, shouldn't have been listening to this prior to installation of the Clarion, because I was disappointed at first but I know I am not going to get the same rumble.

The Clarion unit is very tidy, it sits neatly behind the passenger seat, and I even had it in the cargo net, but it looks better hidden away. I have hidden the controller in the glove box. Sound wise it's nice to be able to turn the bass off on the components which was very little, but it means I can turn the sounds up. Then I can have all the bass out of the sub. I would say it is probably on par with a decent set of 6x9s. There is nice clarity in the cabin now with this, good balance of Treble, Mid and now Bass. It's not going to shake the car to pieces. Obviously with 6x9s you will need to cut the trim to fit them, with this sub the components are still hidden behind OEM trim and the sub can come out whenever, or sold on ebay if we ever get rid.

So my final thoughts, I am happy with the results and the sound for what I paid, and for £59.99 off Wilco Direct it's worth a go. All the used ones on ebay go for £40-60 anyway but I can't tell you if they are any better, the better units you are still looking at £100+ like the Blaupunkt and Alpine (which i had years ago - really tidy!) At last I have decent sounds in the Z

wonderloaf · Post by **wonderloaf** » Wed 13 Apr, 2011 18:17

Hi JISUA thanks for the write up, sounds like the Clarion could be what I'm after as I agree with all you say about component speakers, lots of detail but not much low end grunt. I'm not after upsetting the neighbours or anything so this unit may suit. Had an Alpine SWE-1000 active sub under the passenger seat of my last car, this more than met my bass needs and would fit it in the zed but it's a bit too big!

The thing that worries me most is getting the cabling from the Battery/HU, sounds like a right PITA so have decide if I want to start pulling the interior around.

Will be interested to see any pictures you have of routing the cables.

Cheers, wonderloaf

J1SUA · Post by **J1SUA** » Wed 13 Apr, 2011 21:06

wonderloaf wrote:Hi JISUA thanks for the write up, sounds like the Clarion could be what I'm after as I agree with all you say about component speakers, lots of detail but not much low end grunt. I'm not after upsetting the neighbours or anything so this unit may suit. Had an Alpine SWE-1000 active sub under the passenger seat of my last car, this more than met my bass needs and would fit it in the zed but it's a bit too big!

The thing that worries me most is getting the cabling from the Battery/HU, sounds like a right PITA so have decide if I want to start pulling the interior around.

Will be interested to see any pictures you have of routing the cables.

Cheers, wonderloaf

I had the same exact Alpine Sub, it was awesome in our old car! If the Alpine was 10/10 for sound and 7/10 for looks, the Clarion is 7/10 for sound but 10/10 for looks but this is why it is only 70% of the cost

I'll try get you pics, reckon you don't have to pull everything out like me though - i got carried away. This is what I would try if I ever did it again.

Boot is the easy part - take off the floor part to expose the battery etc, then pop off the trim at the back of the boot passenger side, you will see where the wires are running through to the inside of the motor - 2min job

Inside the car passenger side, between the roll hoop at the back of the hoop is a little square cap, this lets you get to what is holding the roll hoops in, pops off dead easy and this will let you see where those cables from the boot come out. Pop the speaker grill off, again easy and remove the speaker which will let you get your hand toward those cables.

Now you need a flexible piece of wire - in my case a coat hanger chopped. Carefully feed this through and try to see it eventually make it way out the other end. Grab it if possibly bend it so you can pull it out of the speaker area, then duck tape the power cable to it, then carefully put it back into the boot and attach to the battery.

Simples

wonderloaf · Post by **wonderloaf** » Wed 13 Apr, 2011 21:16

Excellent explanation jisua, I'll be taking a look at what you described at the weekend ... if I can find a way out of gardening duties

msassoon · Post by **msassoon** » Sun 17 Apr, 2011 14:45

Here is my install of the Clarion sub:

I am a little disappointed, because putting it in the boot meant that the bass is almost non-existant. Open the boot and you can hear it, close it and it's gone. It would be too boomy for me in the cabin though.

J1SUA · Post by **J1SUA** » Sun 17 Apr, 2011 21:39

Hmmm IMO these are meant to be for inside the cabin as there just isn't enough bass that will travel from the boot.

It sounds great in the cabin you would just need to adjust the amp and HU to ure preference. I just have a subtle but noticeable amount of bass

Sorcerors Apprentice · Post by **Sorcerors Apprentice** » Sun 17 Apr, 2011 22:05

msassoon wrote:Here is my install of the Clarion sub:

I am a little disappointed, because putting it in the boot meant that the bass is almost non-existant. Open the boot and you can hear it, close it and it's gone. It would be too boomy for me in the cabin though.

Sorry but that just looks like....

And you cant hear it.

freelandm · Post by **freelandm** » Mon 18 Apr, 2011 16:19

J1SUA. Why didn't you connect everything up at the headunit? I am baffled why you would go into the boot for i presume 12v+ve.

Reason is i have one ready to go and thought i would do all connections behind the headunit unless i haven't read properly and you have an amplifier in the boot?

Matt

XVar · Post by **XVar** » Mon 18 Apr, 2011 16:49

freelandm wrote:J1SUA. Why didn't you connect everything up at the headunit? I am baffled why you would go into the boot for i presume 12v+ve.

Reason is i have one ready to go and thought i would do all connections behind the headunit unless i haven't read properly and you have an amplifier in the boot?

Matt

I'm not sure about these mini subs but in regular car audio installs you take the 12v directly from the battery using a much thicker guage cable than the one feeding the head unit because you risk frying the whole loom if you pull too much current through the head unit live.

freelandm · Post by **freelandm** » Mon 18 Apr, 2011 18:14

XVar wrote:
freelandm wrote:J1SUA. Why didn't you connect everything up at the headunit? I am baffled why you would go into the boot for i presume 12v+ve.

Reason is i have one ready to go and thought i would do all connections behind the headunit unless i haven't read properly and you have an amplifier in the boot?

Matt
I'm not sure about these mini subs but in regular car audio installs you take the 12v directly from the battery using a much thicker guage cable than the one feeding the head unit because you risk frying the whole loom if you pull too much current through the head unit live.

The kit comes with the wiring supplied and i would guess no thicker than the wiring to the head unit.

Don't think that if the wiring was not looking suitable i would tap into that supply for the unit, i was only asking the question why he hadn't?

wonderloaf · Post by **wonderloaf** » Mon 18 Apr, 2011 18:53

Just found the install instructions for this unit:

http://www.clarion.com/eur/product_manu ... SRV313.pdf

Looks as though you don't need to run a cable dirctly from the battery, unless I'm mistaken?

J1SUA · Post by **J1SUA** » Mon 18 Apr, 2011 21:47

freelandm wrote:J1SUA. Why didn't you connect everything up at the headunit? I am baffled why you would go into the boot for i presume 12v+ve.

Reason is i have one ready to go and thought i would do all connections behind the headunit unless i haven't read properly and you have an amplifier in the boot?

Matt

You know what... I think you are right. Dang...lol guess because I've always done it this way i did the same here... I really should RTFM

Let us know how the install goes. Got mine behind the passenger seat

Z3cade · Post by **Z3cade** » Mon 18 Apr, 2011 21:55

I thought of going for a slim sub behind the seat but me and the misses need the seats right back so its a no go.... so i made a custom box to fit an 8"sub in just infront of the passanger seat.. doesnt get in the way as its lower than the seat and drops down to the floor. The sound quality of the bass is brilliant, tight and punchy in its sealed enclosure..

Would recomend this for anyone....

Devon Z · Post by **Devon Z** » Mon 18 Apr, 2011 23:06

That looks cool

what make of speaker did you use?, is it a shallow fit?.

freelandm · Post by **freelandm** » Tue 19 Apr, 2011 15:53

Reason is i have one ready to go and thought i would do all connections behind the headunit unless i haven't read properly and you have an amplifier in the boot?

Matt[/quote]

You know what... I think you are right. Dang...lol guess because I've always done it this way i did the same here... I really should RTFM

Let us know how the install goes. Got mine behind the passenger seat[/quote]

Read a manual? You must be joking takes all the fun out of it..

I haven't even test fitted yet i was thinking under the seat passenger side is this possible? Failing that it can go behind like your install.

I will let you know probably 2012 if it goes like any of my other projects.

Regards Matt.

msassoon · Post by **msassoon** » Tue 19 Apr, 2011 16:36

Well, I had to try it. I didn't want to cut the carpet, but had no choice in the end. It doesn't have to look great as it is in the boot.

It did achieve the objective of filtering out some of the stray bass on MP3 tracks, and I can still feel it. Mounted behind the seat would be better, but I haven't got the time to look at it.

As for the power cable, it was wired into a plastic connector, so no chance to use heavy guage cable, it is pre-wired. I connected it to the permanent live that was left over from the CD player, and the CD trigger wire for the amp to turn on with ignition.

J1SUA · Post by **J1SUA** » Tue 19 Apr, 2011 16:56

Will not fit under the seat so behind it must go

Z3cade · Post by **Z3cade** » Tue 19 Apr, 2011 17:02

Devon Z wrote:That looks cool what make of speaker did you use?, is it a shallow fit?.

Thanks, the speaker i used was this...
its fantastic and an absolute bargin

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Pyramid-Power-Mid ... 35af42275d

Z3cade · Post by **Z3cade** » Tue 19 Apr, 2011 17:04

J1SUA wrote:Will not fit under the seat so behind it must go

Will it not fit infront of the passenger seat J1SUA? saves having to keep your seat forward

g8jka · Post by **g8jka** » Tue 19 Apr, 2011 19:43

I have a Blaupunkt active sub installed in mine and I managed to squeeze it behind the drivers seat as I'm only 5'11" and can just get the seat far enough back for a comfortable driving position.

I'm very impressed with the sound it produces although I have uprated my speakers also. Some say they were not to impressed with the Blaupunkt unit but I beg to differ, its fantastic!

Certainly beats the sub and amp I had in the boot before and now I got the boot space back and the sub can be heard roof up or down with no bass lost

gookah · Post by **gookah** » Tue 19 Apr, 2011 19:55

g8jka wrote: as I'm only 5'11"

what's it like driving in 4" heels.....

I'll buy you a new tape measure for Christmas.. son

.

g8jka · Post by **g8jka** » Tue 19 Apr, 2011 20:19

gookah wrote:
g8jka wrote: as I'm only 5'11"

what's it like driving in 4" heels.....

You should know, you gave them to me after you upgraded to the 6" version

gookah · Post by **gookah** » Tue 19 Apr, 2011 20:25

g8jka wrote:
gookah wrote:
g8jka wrote: as I'm only 5'11"

what's it like driving in 4" heels.....
You should know, you gave them to me after you upgraded to the 6" version

thats must make me 5'14" then...

J1SUA · Post by **J1SUA** » Tue 19 Apr, 2011 20:54

Z3cade wrote:
J1SUA wrote:Will not fit under the seat so behind it must go
Will it not fit infront of the passenger seat J1SUA? saves having to keep your seat forward

Yeh it would fit but in my opinion wouldn't look right. I wanted the sub tucked away. I actually had it in the cargo net but again wasn't sure. But me and the wifey are shorties we don't really lose seat space. I can tilt the seat back and the sub sits at the bottom of the back of the seat. The sub is only 4" thick so no big loss

mich · Post by **mich** » Wed 20 Apr, 2011 07:24

sub woofers in a Z

Zeders used to have taste,I shudder to think what kind of music you are going to inflict on others,

gookah · Post by **gookah** » Wed 20 Apr, 2011 07:34

mich wrote:sub woofers in a Z Zeders used to have taste

that'll be the old-aged Zedders then. I would imagine you don't need them for "James Last plays Meatloaf" or Leo Sayer....

mich · Post by **mich** » Thu 21 Apr, 2011 01:54

Older than that mate, try Ted Heath, Dave Brubeck, BPO, LSO that kind of thing anyway for good audio you don’t listen in a car particularly a roadster, you need a good HiFi system at home and an understanding Wife.

gookah · Post by **gookah** » Thu 21 Apr, 2011 07:33

mich wrote:Older than that mate, try Ted Heath, Dave Brubeck, BPO, LSO that kind of thing anyway for good audio you don’t listen in a car particularly a roadster, you need a good HiFi system at home and an understanding Wife.

well I recognise the old prime minister but none of the others....

gookah · Post by **gookah** » Thu 21 Apr, 2011 07:33

double post. oops

Z3cade · Post by **Z3cade** » Thu 21 Apr, 2011 07:38

Yes thats right we all drive round to mc'donalds and listen to drum n bass....

Only reason i felt the need for a subwoofer is because i have a decent hifi at home and it makes you realize what quality of music you are missing.. sure some arnt botherd about the quality of sound they listen too, but if like me you enjoy music why not have a great sound coming out of your zed and into your ears? if the sound quality isnt good it isnt worth listening to imo....

for me its the quality of sound not the volume.

ps. the misses would also like to add that the rumble between here legs feels quite nice too

mich · Post by **mich** » Thu 21 Apr, 2011 08:48

gookah wrote:
mich wrote:Older than that mate, try Ted Heath, Dave Brubeck, BPO, LSO that kind of thing anyway for good audio you don’t listen in a car particularly a roadster, you need a good HiFi system at home and an understanding Wife.
well I recognise the old prime minister but none of the others....

Actually he was a very good conductor I even have a CD with him conducting the LSO (I think) THE Ted Heath (English) and Brubeck (American) were Jazz men, but not wishing to hijack the thread I will say no more

jakey · Post by **jakey** » Sat 30 Apr, 2011 09:24

If you order the clarion sub from wilco direct this weekend, put in the discount code offered on their website, it comes to £53.99 delivered! Bargain!

jayson f · Post by **jayson f** » Wed 08 Jun, 2011 16:58

Things are cheap for a reason!

jakey · Post by **jakey** » Wed 08 Jun, 2011 19:35

Good enough for the space offered in the z3 and your not going to be whacking the music right up with the roof down! I'm very happy with mine for the price!

Gixerthou · Post by **Gixerthou** » Wed 08 Jun, 2011 20:37

Having a sub installed now in the footwell. It's not cheap but will post pictures on Saturday when I get it back. Had Pioneer speakers all round and a new Sony head unit.

jayson f · Post by **jayson f** » Wed 08 Jun, 2011 20:51

put mine behind the passenger seat

zroadster.net

Installing a subwoofer

Installing a subwoofer

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