melymel96

Wondering what would be the best route to replace the stock subwoofer. I dont want to build a box or anything. I just want to change out all the speakers and upgrade the amp, but I want to know what is the best free air sub I can throw in there.



Thanks!!!

rgarjr

iTrader: (1)

I believe JL Audio used to make a descent free air sub but I think they discontinued it.

sexilexi

the difference in SQ/SPL from free-air to an enclosure is huge.

Revhard191

iTrader: (4)

I don't think they manufacture Free Air Speakers any more, but I will have to check with my vendors to see of they have any or who continues to makes them. They were kind of popluar back in the early to mid 90's. But I have no idea, although I will check and re-post later.

Cheers,

Revhard191

trbopooh

JL used to produce an IB4 series that was highly recommended, but it's been discontinued. Maybe you could call JL and ask if they make something similar.

Krupski2

Yeah, I am going to eventually replace my speaker too (GS3 2001). I really dont want to do anything except replace the sub...but I figured it would be difficult to find a replacement.

mkorsu

The JL Audio IB4 is the perfect sub for the SC rear deck. I made this switch and am still running off the factory amp (remember stock sub is 6ohms and a replacement sub will most likely be 4ohm), and the difference is HUGE!! The IB4 is no longer produced but they can still be found either here in the classifieds or on fleabay. Look and you shall find!! Check my gallery and you can see the early pictures of the install. I still haven't uploaded the finshed pics yet though. (even though I finshed this project about 6 months ago!)

Other manufacturers do still make free air subs. KIcker's Isobaric is one that comes to mind.

melymel96

Nice thanx guys. Now that I think about it though, that litte back area in the trunk of the GS I might just throw 1 10" JLW6v2 back there.

Thanks I will look for that JL IB4 series and see what I come up with.

Krupski2

Yeah, that little extra trunk room would be perfect for that. I dunno...I guess I will just think about it some more too.

SCoupe

So the factory amp drives the JL IB4 ? Forgive me, but I don't know what the effect is for the sound when you replace a oem 6ohm with the 4ohm JL as you described.

mkorsu

Well, by going with the 4ohm in place of the 6ohm you have lowered the impedence, resulting in the sub seeing less power. I forgtet offhand what the IB4 is rated at but I know it can handle much more power than it is currently getting. My goal for the interior was to to keep everything completely stock appearing. So I am still running the stock NAK head unit & amp. Only my speakers have been changed. The output of the IB4 is more than adequate....for me. Others may want a bit more bump. It will hit pretty hard on the stock amp. All depends upon what you're looking for as the end result.

sexilexi

When you drop the impedence, you are lowering the resistance your amp sees. The 4 ohm sub is getting MORE power out of your amp. You aren't going to hurt the new sub; the question is what are you doing to the factory amp. Is it stable at a 4 ohm load? It will get hotter and put more strain on it and charging system. Is it enough to worry about? I don't know.

mkorsu

I guess I had it reversed, but a few others here explained to me that the power the sub was seeing was decreased. Also, if the stock amp is also running 4 other front and rear speakers, all at a 4ohm load, I would say the amp is stable at 4ohms.

sexilexi

It all depends on the amp and how it's wired. I'm not familiar with the stock amp. Does it have a seperate amp for the sub or do all the speakers run off one amp? I'm sure all other speakers are running in stereo and and it either has a mono channel for the sub or two channels are bridged mono for the sub. The power rating (how many watts it can handle) on the aftermarket sub will definitely be higher than the factory sub. Should sound much cleaner. I checked and my factory sub is 2 ohm. I'm going to replace it with another 2 ohm sub running free-air/ IB (infinite baffle) and if it doesn't sound good enough, I'll build an efficient ported box for it.

Krupski2

This is exactly why I am not going to hotwire the stock amp and if I do get a new 10", it will be powered by its own new amp.