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Replace your Fender sub the cheap and easy way

238K views 582 replies 147 participants last post by  heavystarch 
#1 ·
A lot of you want better bass from your Fender systems. I've read many descriptions on how to add a new power amplifier, processor and subwoofer to the car. I know how great that can sound, that's exactly what I did with my last car. This time however, I did not want to go the extra mile both in terms of cash and the effort to bring a power line through the firewall to the back of the car. I'm guessing there are a lot of people who don't want to mess with the powerline as well.

I wanted cheap and I wanted it all delivered to my door.

My first effort was a fail. I connected a Pioneer 10” sub that came preinstalled in a very nice narrow box ($107 on Amazon). I connected directly to the lines that feed the Fender sub and was able to get deep, reasonable sound, but not all that much output even when the sub control was turned up to 7 or 8 (even after I got the polarity right). It did however hit much lower notes and this gave me encouragement. The problem turns out I did not pay attention to resistance, as this is a 4 ohm single voice coil subwoofer. I returned the Pioneer to Amazon.

The Fender subwoofer has a dual voice coil woofer labeled 2x2ohm and is fed by 4 wires from the amp, a pos and a neg pair for each side of the woofer. The two white wires are positives and the brown wires are negatives. There is a yellow stripe on one of each color to distinguish which belong together as a pair.

This is the setup I connected yesterday, and it sounds every bit as awesome as the 500 watt Boston Acoustics setup I had in my Saab:

Rockford Fosgate 12" Prime R2 2-Ohm DVC Shallow Subwoofer, $68 on Amazon
http://www.rockfordfosgate.com/products/details/r2sd2-12

Atrend slim 12” box, $36 on Amazon
https://www.atrendusa.com/12-single-sealed-slim-2

PIXNOR DIY Home Car Stereo 2-Way Speaker Box Terminal Binding Post Round Spring Cup Connector Subwoofer Plug (Black), $7 on Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00P5Z76NO?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00

I wanted to copy exactly the stock configuration, which meant two pairs of wire entering a box made with connections for only one pair. The biggest bit of work was drilling a 2 inch hole in the box for the extra connector terminal and then vacuuming up the sawdust. You need two 1-2 foot pieces of speaker wire to run inside the box for each of the 2 pairs of connectors on the new sub. You will need another two pieces of wire to connect to the stock wires, as they are too short to reach directly to the new sub. One terminal is connected to the yellow-striped pair of wires, the other to the plain ones, whites are positive, browns are negative.

I face the sub down and it straddles the round indent in the floor. Four little squares of sticky-backed velcro keep it from sliding. The deck cover almost closes flush over it but not quite; the sub box is still about half an inch too thick for that. Not a bother for me, some others may want to seek a thinner box (4.5 inches would be perfect). I really should put a grill on the sub for protection - maybe someone can recommend one (if it is cheap and on Amazon).

The sound is awesome, though some will say that a 1000 watt amp is needed for any meaningful bass. Now I know there is an easier way.

And did I mention it only cost $111?
 
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#3 ·
Awesome can you take some pictures of the installed setup? How does this one improve bass over the stock sub? I've never upgraded one before.

Are you planning on upgrading the front door speakers or anything else too? I wish I looked at the model number when I was doing the folding mirrors, I wonder how much $$ it would take to get a significantly better speaker.
 
#4 ·
This was my first post and I don't know if a n00b has privileges to post pictures, but I will try.
With the larger sub, the sound has a deeper, more powerful foundation. The Fender sub had too much 60-100Hz bass, boomy is the term, I think. I confirmed that it didn't reproduce anything under 58Hz with a subwoofer test app. The Pioneer sub went down to 44Hz, and I still have to test the new one.
I have found that a decent car stereo is hugely improved by good bass, and I think the rest of the Fender system is more than decent. I think I'm satisfied as I now have it.
 
#8 ·
OoOooOooOoooOokay, I will bite!

I was going to do a dual 12" setup with a 800 watt amp to power them but I will give this a try first. I manage to get the Punch P3SD2-12 at Jet.com for $96 shipped. Also getting the same box but slightly used on amazon for $25.50 shipped. Total = $121'ish.

If this doesn't suffice me, I will do my original plan with a fiberglass box for the dual Polk MM1240DVC with a Massive Audio N2 amp.

Obviously the Dual Polks and 800rms amp will sound a LOT louder but I'm somewhat content with the stock fenders already so if this will double the boom, I will be content.
 
#11 ·
Good job and great write up! I'd definitely be interested in pics too. I really like the sound of the Fender system. It's the best stock I've had in any car and I've had some nice systems. I do miss the deep bass I had once with an aftermarket 200w 12" JBL though. That thing could warm you up on a cold winters day.

I'm a new poster and was able to post photos without any problem. Just upload them somewhere to the interwebz (I used photobucket) and then you can link to them here with the Insert Image icon.
 
#17 ·
I am so grateful to this community for all of the amazing information about this great new car of mine. I hope at least a few people try this upgrade and save a few hundred bucks. There are better places to spend that money, like on JB1s or JB4s! Consider it my way of saying thanks.

I tested the output this morning with the Android app called Bass Tester. It generates tones with a slide to adjust. The output stayed full volume down to 33Hz (where the Fender went inaudible around 55 or 56). I think this is pretty impressive, and maybe will be even better when the speaker is broken in (and isn't at 28 deg F).
 
#19 ·
I want to try this is a Golf R with a JL Audio 13Tw5. Factory radio to Audion BitOne. BitOne to a pair of Arc Audio 4200SE amps running two pairs of Hertz Mille comps all active and use an Arc Audio 2150SE to power the sub.

Yellow
 
#27 ·
No one really knows :) someone once said 200 watts but I kind of doubt that it's 200 watts RMS. Are you saying try to give the Amp a dual 1 ohm load and not a dual 2 ohm load? that's assuming the amp can handle a dual 1ohm load. That would typically double the RMS power. Why don't you give it a shot and let us know. :D

FYI, I'm thinking I will refuse my box that's coming from amazon and build my own. It will be a simple 24" x 30" x 4.25" square/rectangle box. Shouldn't be hard to do with some 5/8" MDF. I have all the tools, glue, clamps to do this. This will give the sub more air space. With sufficient bracing, It'll be 1.2 cf of air vs .6 cf. This way the lid will be able to close flatly.
 
#29 ·
All the parts are showing up tomorrow, I'm gunna install this over the weekend :beer::thumbup:
 
#36 ·
I did a little extra reading and there is speculation the stock amp could be EQ'd for the factory sub and not have a totally linear output, especially on the low end? Do you feel with the upgraded sub on stock amp you notice this or is it a fairly linear output? I'm sure the stock EQ in the Fender can be adjusted a bit but that would be my only worry.
 
#41 · (Edited)
So we run 2 speaker wires individually from each of the two connectors on the sub to the two boxes (one of which is newly installed), then run more speaker wire from the outside of the boxes to the stock wires, right? I'm looking at the wiring diagrams in the sub manual and getting confused.

Is this right?



Also, can you run the wire from the sub connector through the box and connect it directly to the stock wiring? Is there any need for the second connector box? I ask because its a lot easier to drill a hole for a wire then a 2 inch hole for the box.

Which ones are the positive and negative wires, like how do you tell them apart? I hate wiring/electricity...
 
#42 ·
The white wires are both positives and the browns are negative. One pos/neg pair is yellow-striped, the other is not. Connect one pair to each side of the sub.

I installed the second connector box because I worried that passing wire through a small drilled hole would not be sealable in an adequtely air-tight way. A small hole would have been a lot easier and there may be a way to seal it that I don't know about.

You might want to look into preserving the stock connector plug from the amp and attaching spade connectors on the ends of the wires that come from your new sub. The spades need to be shaped like the 4 contact points you see inside the connector on the Fender sub.

All sub diagrams I have seen all assume just one pair of wires coming from the amp, so I think our VW setup is not at all typical.
 
#43 ·
I ended up feeding both wires through the drill hole (since together they almost 100% block the opening) and connecting them to the wires. I thought about going the spade route but I'm too lazy and don't ever plan on putting a spare tire under there again. Sound is a lot better, obviously. You can feel the music much more, with the volume cranked up you get a little bit of that chest compression effect like at a concert. Needless to say the fender sub is never going back in, I'll throw my spare in the back if I ever do a long road trip.


I didn't realize how tiny the stock sub is, look at the difference:
 
#45 ·
I'm thinking of going more of the 10" route and wondering what the actual useable depth we have. That enclosure is 5.00" and the floor sits raised so is it safe to assume a 4.5" enclosure might work better? At work so can't measure until I'm home.

That picture is amazing...makes the stock Fender look so minuscule.
 
#46 ·
Thats the same box OP used, the floor is raised enough that I can't get it back under those two black tabs. It doesn't seem like its going anywhere so I don't really care, I think you'd have to go at least .5 inches shorter, maybe more.
 
#52 ·
Another question for the audiophiles or people familiar with the Fender amp. There aren't two many dual VC 2 ohm shallow mount subwoofers available but there are a few single VC 4ohm ones available. Does anyone know if it would be safe to bridge the 2ch factory amp for a 4ohm load instead of running each 2ohm channel separately?
 
#55 ·
That is pretty much what I tried with the Pioneer sub and it did not sound nearly as strong. Was it the way I wired it, was it the sub itself, or was it the amp? No clue.
There are a few other choices for DVC shallow mount subs, like JLAudio and a Pioneer. I was trying to save money with my choice, but also feel that more expensive subs will just give more power handling and we don't need that with the stock amp.
 
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