GamblerZ

I have been to 3 car stereo stores here in town and they look at me as if I were speaking Latin when I ask them about a free-air subwoofer for the rear deck. They all want to build a box, blah, blah, blah...

Is there no easy aftermarket option to upgrade the rear sub with something similar other than the now discontinued JL subs? My son needs his trunk for golf clubs and other gear. Putting the sub in the spare tire well is NOT an option either.

Meanwhile, my son grabbed some 6.5" Kenwood KFC-1694FS and 5.25" Kicker KS525 to replace the stock units. We have decided to retain the stock headunit. Is he going to be OK with these? Also, how does one tell if the amplified is still good?

Ali SC3

iTrader: (10)

I have had best luck finding the one I want and ordering it on amazon, thats how I got my kicker 10" sub that more or less fits with a little bending here and there, but you could probably get a replacement 8" that would drop in perfect, I think it depends on if you have the nakamichi cause the rear sub sizes are different. may want to measure if you are not sure.

aftermarket speakers usually sound pretty good through the stock amplified stuff, not positive on the nak system though but I think it should be fine. the only thing that may be weak amplification wise is the rear sub itself, you may want to get a small amp with line level inputs and hook the original subwoofer wires to the in and the amplifier outputs to your new sub.

Biddles

iTrader: (2)

This is the sub I'm currently looking at... Alpine SWR-T10. At $315 it's a bit expensive, but I want good quality sound. Not sure if it's going to hit as hard as I'd like however. I plan on pairing it with Alpine PDX-V9 amp, Alpine SPR-60C 6.5 component system, and ALPINE SPR-69 6X9's, and I should be getting my Pioneer AVH-X5500BHS in the mail later today. Are you keeping the stock amps? If so you might want to double check the wattage of the current sub and get something comparable.

Ali SC3

iTrader: (10)

yeah if you are planning on using the stock amp you need to check the resistance on the back of the original sub.

GamblerZ

Thanks Ali. I recall reading your write-up on that Kicker sub a few weeks back when we were searching for some information on a sub. We still have that one on the back-burner as he is looking for something that doesn't require him to a lot of fab work. Of course, I mentioned to him that those 5.25" speakers aren't going to fit without a bit of customization either. He assures me that he can make it work. For some reason I recall there was a write-up and template as to how to get one in there with some simple cutting and gluing. Will have to search again.

Not being the big stereophile, I don't know whether what he purchased is any good, or not. Back in the day the choices were pretty simple--Jensen 6x9 coax or triax in the rear and Pioneer 4x6s in the dash. Meanwhile, it seemed every shop I spoke to wanted to upgrade the stock (premium, not Nakamichi) headunit. My son is pretty happy with the way it operates, and in fact uses the CD-changer. He bought himself a simple FM transmitter for his iPod music for the time being, but I think he would prefer to add the line directly. To do so it seems that one loses the CD-changer. He is not thrilled about losing that at the moment.

I really don't know how big an amp a sub really need, but my son likes to listen to techno, trance, house, electronic and dance music that has a pretty good bump beat. I am pretty sure he blew my aftermarket sub in my Avalanche last time he and his brother borrowed it.

Overall, he wants to retain the stock headunit and look, but REALLY wants to improve on the sound quality/clarity for the genre of music he listens to.

xxtoobsxx

iTrader: (4)

Kicker cv-10 i think its called, or pioneer makes a kick *** lil 10" free air too, super shallow mount.

Ozzzzy

I just pulled a Nakamichi woofer out of a LS400 from the local pic-a-part place. $6. Works great

Ali SC3

iTrader: (10)

you can also wire a line in that takes over the tape mode so you can keep the cd changer.
In fact its the best way to add an auxillary line to a sc300/400.
This is how I ran mine before going aftermarket you get the best sound as long as your not using the charger at the same time, then it kind of hums, but it does that on most of these aux mods for some reason.
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/lex...ml#post6041548

account2x

iTrader: (5)

dont waste your time with a free air woofer. build a box in the trunk. remove stock woofer for better air flow.

MXT4life

iTrader: (1)

Yeah I have a 10inch Kicker open air sub that fit perfectly in the stock sub location. Don't remember exact location but clears gas tank and can be covered with the third brake light. Imo I think its good enough but if you want maximum quality and sound go for a box build.

Duck05

Replaced the OEM head unit with a Pioneer X940 and the 10 inch sub was shot and they recommended a JL Audio 8W1v2-4. It fit the space and cleared the gas tank. I did not want to sacrafice the trunk space for a larger sub.

The stock amp could not drive it so a separate Alpine amp (KTP-44SU) was added and they split off the front speakers onto this amp freeing up the work load of the X940 amp. A little pricey but sounds great (they hid the amp in the front dash under the head unit).

LEXXIUM

iTrader: (1)

I got the JL but in a 10" and its not only a great fit, but also has an awesome bass. Sometimes I think the back window is gonna blow out with alpine mrp500 amp

OP. I have a writup somewhere on the install

Biddles

iTrader: (2)

Exactly which sub did you get LEXXIUM? I'm getting the Alpine PDX-V9 amp it has 500W RMS @ 2 or 4 ohm, and I'm trying to put a free air sub in there that pounds. Looking for all opinions, so far the Alpine SWRT10 is looking like my choice, but open to opinions of people on here who own an aftermarket sub in stock locaton. I listen to hip hop...gotta have hard bass.

3L4jzz31

iTrader: (2)

I'm running free air right now. 2 12" kicker comp subs and an 8" comp sub. the 12s are mounted under the rear deck and the 8 is mounted in the stock 8 spot. It's not exactly.... orthodox how it's installed but it works lol. I'll get pictures later

6N1SC

iTrader: (3)

I put one of these in my car, cut the stock nakamichi sub out and used the bracket to mount this sub. Link

It is a MTX TM1004 10" Marine Free-Air sub. Sounds great in my SC