Subwoofer Upgrade 2010 Gen 3 Lexus RX450H
05-24-21, 08:35 PM
#16
If your going aftermarket you should run your own wire. The OEM wire is probably 20-24 awg. For a sub which I’m assuming will push decent wattage you’ll want to use 12 awg. Remember wires get really hot when they become overworked, and that’s when bad things happen.
05-25-21, 04:08 AM
#17
Sorry. I should have explained more. I’ve ready on a couple of post (including this one) that people have been able to use the wires going from the factory amp to the factory sub to provide a signal to the Aftermarket amp since we don’t have any RCA connections coming from the factory head unit. I wanted to do the same but noticed the wiring into the sub is a little different that what I’ve seen posted.
08-20-22, 01:05 PM
#19
Just finished installing the same sub speaker and amp (well a newer model but same family) on my 2010 Rx350 and it came out great. I also added a bunch of Kilmat sound deadening material to the rear and doors. I work slow so took like 15 hours over the course of 3 days.
Sounds great and looks stock (which was my requirement). I even put the amp's remote in the same button blank as the OP. Appreciate this guide or I wouldn't have been able to tackle it.
Sounds great and looks stock (which was my requirement). I even put the amp's remote in the same button blank as the OP. Appreciate this guide or I wouldn't have been able to tackle it.
08-20-22, 04:50 PM
#20
10th Gear
Thread Starter
I am the originator of this thread. Brings me great joy that you posted this and you are happy with it. We still have our RX450 and it sounds amazing as ever and super stealth which the wife told me was a must. Enjoy and rock on !!!
08-21-22, 04:15 AM
#21
and I note I can put the storage compartment back in on the right, the amp still has room (but of course changing settings is cumbersome).
You were so lucky having the battery in the trunk of your hybrid.... I had to run the wire from the engine compartment. Luckily there was a grommet on the passenger side that had extra room. Had a 17 foot wire but would have loved at least another foot.
I still have to find some rattling I have and use more acoustic foam to isolate it.
Any tips on how to tweak the amp settings, like Punch EQ, Gain etc?
11-06-22, 09:47 PM
#22
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Thanks
Thanks for writing this upgrade for the sub. I’m a long time bass head and missing some low end on my ‘14 RX450h.
What is the size of the inline amp fuse for the Fosgate? I read that you don’t want to use an amp that uses more than a 30amp fuse so you don’t cause problems with the hybrid system
thanks
What is the size of the inline amp fuse for the Fosgate? I read that you don’t want to use an amp that uses more than a 30amp fuse so you don’t cause problems with the hybrid system
thanks
11-07-22, 05:15 AM
#23
Advanced
Thought I would take some time to share my subwoofer upgrade to a 2010 RX450H. This should be the same for any Gen 3 2010-2015 RX. I had a hard time finding any good information on a stock subwoofer upgrade other than removing and/or adding an external subwoofer, box or combination of. You will need to remove the battery from the car to get the sub in and out, makes it much easier. The goal of this upgrade was to keep the car appear to be stock, no added subwoofer boxes or anything in the rear.
The end result is quite impressive and I have over 30 years of backyard mechanics of installing of creating custom subwoofer boxes, dash modifications, etc. I am by no means an expert but I thought I'd share my experience. In the end it cost me less than $200 for everything and it is some tight deep game changing bass in the car.
The two products I bought were:
Skar Vd-8 Dual Voice Coil DUAL 4 OHM Wired down to 2 ohms
https://www.skaraudio.com/products/v...-car-subwoofer
Rockford Fosgate Mono Amp 500 Watt - Line Level Inputs
https://rockfordfosgate.com/products/details/r500x1d
There are some other threads on how to remove the interior covers to get to the subwoofer, so search for those. I wont cover that here.
So this is the subwoofer enclosure removed from the vehicle:
Comparison between the two subwoofers (OEM versus Skar Sub)
Box that the speaker came in
So one of the things I had to do was use a dremel to grind down the inner hole of the speaker box just a little so that it would fit. There were also some raised nipples on the box that had to be ground down. 10 minutes worth of work. Not a big deal I am a little **** about air leaks so I used backer rod to make a gasket before I screwed it into the box
So once I got this all installed, there was an undesirable amount of rattle/vibration from the panel that covers the sub. I ended up using a bunch of dense foam and put it all around the subwoofer where it would touch the panel and it completely removed the noise / vibration. This foam was the magic ticket to keeping everything tight and clean
I ran my own speaker wires in the box and sealed up the hole with epoxy so that no air leak could occur. (Black wire at top is new wire, stock wiring on bottom)
I tapped into the existing wires that go into the box for my line level inputs to my amp. I only used one pair of inputs. Using two was too much voltage input and didnt sound as good.
The amp is installed in the passenger side of the vehicle so that the adjustments are easily accessible. Used heavy duty Velcro to install Accessible by lifting out the storage box.
Wrapped everything in loom
Remote gain wire - tapped into the rear AUX power port (old school cig lighter)
Green wire is hot
Inline fuse:
See the bolt next to the yellow loom? This is my negative tap for the AMP
Scroll down further to see where and how I installed the remote gain for the amp on the dash.
Temple in Kentucky
The end result is quite impressive and I have over 30 years of backyard mechanics of installing of creating custom subwoofer boxes, dash modifications, etc. I am by no means an expert but I thought I'd share my experience. In the end it cost me less than $200 for everything and it is some tight deep game changing bass in the car.
The two products I bought were:
Skar Vd-8 Dual Voice Coil DUAL 4 OHM Wired down to 2 ohms
https://www.skaraudio.com/products/v...-car-subwoofer
Rockford Fosgate Mono Amp 500 Watt - Line Level Inputs
https://rockfordfosgate.com/products/details/r500x1d
There are some other threads on how to remove the interior covers to get to the subwoofer, so search for those. I wont cover that here.
So this is the subwoofer enclosure removed from the vehicle:
Comparison between the two subwoofers (OEM versus Skar Sub)
Box that the speaker came in
So one of the things I had to do was use a dremel to grind down the inner hole of the speaker box just a little so that it would fit. There were also some raised nipples on the box that had to be ground down. 10 minutes worth of work. Not a big deal I am a little **** about air leaks so I used backer rod to make a gasket before I screwed it into the box
So once I got this all installed, there was an undesirable amount of rattle/vibration from the panel that covers the sub. I ended up using a bunch of dense foam and put it all around the subwoofer where it would touch the panel and it completely removed the noise / vibration. This foam was the magic ticket to keeping everything tight and clean
I ran my own speaker wires in the box and sealed up the hole with epoxy so that no air leak could occur. (Black wire at top is new wire, stock wiring on bottom)
I tapped into the existing wires that go into the box for my line level inputs to my amp. I only used one pair of inputs. Using two was too much voltage input and didnt sound as good.
The amp is installed in the passenger side of the vehicle so that the adjustments are easily accessible. Used heavy duty Velcro to install Accessible by lifting out the storage box.
Wrapped everything in loom
Remote gain wire - tapped into the rear AUX power port (old school cig lighter)
Green wire is hot
Inline fuse:
See the bolt next to the yellow loom? This is my negative tap for the AMP
Scroll down further to see where and how I installed the remote gain for the amp on the dash.
Temple in Kentucky
11-07-22, 07:24 AM
#24
10th Gear
Thread Starter
Thanks for writing this upgrade for the sub. I’m a long time bass head and missing some low end on my ‘14 RX450h.
What is the size of the inline amp fuse for the Fosgate? I read that you don’t want to use an amp that uses more than a 30amp fuse so you don’t cause problems with the hybrid system
thanks
What is the size of the inline amp fuse for the Fosgate? I read that you don’t want to use an amp that uses more than a 30amp fuse so you don’t cause problems with the hybrid system
thanks
11-07-22, 08:04 PM
#25
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11-21-22, 12:58 PM
#26
@Temple upon completion, are you able to go through the Lexus sound settings and decrease the bass to level 0 (zero) and run all the base through the subwoofer using the fosgate control only? If yes, what is your opinion on the sound quality when setup like this? Does the woofer have enough power and range to do all the bass work? ~10 years ago I setup my 3G 4Runner this way and by eliminating all the bass from the factory speakers and solely relying on (2) 10" entry JL woofers in a sealed box I was able to get great clean punchy bass at a wide range that could travel to the front of the car. It was 100% better sound quality when running near max volume.
12-27-22, 07:06 AM
#28
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Wondering if you just upgrade the subwoofer by itself and do not add an additional amp you dont have to run any wiring. Wondering how much of an improvement you would get from just upgrading the subwoofer? Anyone try this? Would the stock system be enough to drive the new subwoofer?
12-27-22, 04:22 PM
#29
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I bought the exact same subwoofer earthquake sws 8xi and just want to replace the stock sub as this is a 150w 300wmax subwoofer that does not need as much power to drive it. Hoping the stock system is enough especially at 2ohms. What wires do I hook up to the speaker if there are a set of 4?
12-28-22, 09:31 AM
#30
Moderator
You need to use the Skar Audio subwoofer linked several posts up as it has 2 voice coils (same as the stock sub) which allows use of the 4 wires. It is also on Sale for $63.99!
https://www.skaraudio.com/products/v...-car-subwoofer
The Earthquake SWS subwoofer from Amazon won't work as it is single voice coil and can only accept 2 wires. Return it and get the Skar.
https://www.skaraudio.com/products/v...-car-subwoofer
The Earthquake SWS subwoofer from Amazon won't work as it is single voice coil and can only accept 2 wires. Return it and get the Skar.