Replacement Subwoofer

[Alonso Mendoza]

I have been wanting to replace the sub woofer on my 2003 Adrenalin as its not really as hard hitting as I had hoped. Does anyone know the exact volume of the box under the seat? And how much power the current sub woofer takes in? Would one of the following be a good replacement for the sub woofer? Also, I'm not looking to break the bank either. Here are the following options, JBL GTO804, Rockford Fosgate P1S2-8 Punch P1 SVC 2-Ohm, or the Kicker 10C84 (10C8-4) at 4 ohms. Any suggestions are welcome. Thank you.

 

[Phil V]

I believe the under seat box volume is .45 cu. ft if I recall correctly. Do you already have it? Or do you currently have the stock sound system? Located behind the driver's side rear seat?





The subs you listed should fit as the box's mounting depth is 5 inches or so.



Depending on which amp you use that will dictate what sub you want right? I don't know the specs on the stock amp but I suspect it isn't powerful enough to do much.



The JBL you listed looks a little more power hungry than the other two. The impedence (ohms) are dictated mostly by the amp again. You just have to match everything up well. So say you take an amp that does 500 watts at 2 ohms and 300 watts at 4 ohms you would want a sub wired at 2 ohms to get the most out of your amp

 

[Alonso Mendoza]

It is the stock sound system, I would suspect at max each speaker draws at around 50 Watts (give or take a little) thus leaving around 270-285 watts left to power to sub-woofer. So perhaps the Rockford is probably the better option as it pulls around 200 watts and has a 4.4 inch mounting depth. I don't mind trimming here and there but perhaps would a direct swap do for a little while? I do plan on getting a mono-amplifier later down the road but would just like to add a little higher end bass as the stock sub-woofer sounds like it isn't there at higher volumes. Thanks!

 

[Phil V]

Well now I am a little confused. I didn't think the stock sub was under the seat?



I have no idea what the volume of the stock sub box is.



Depending on what you can fit, maybe look into getting a 10" subwoofer. Atleast if you will be upgrading the amp down the road. This would be ensure that you won't be let down again

 

[Alonso Mendoza]

It is, the Adrenalin has a box with a sub underneath the seat behind the driver. I do believe the sound system without the Adrenalin is behind the seat not underneath it. As when I pull the seat forward there is a hole where the sub would have been but is replaced with the amplifier.

 

[Phil V]

Wow see and I had no idea that was the case. I thought they were just behind the seat in all instances. You're definitely going to have to check the volume figures. I thought you were referring to the aftermarket box under the rear passenger seat

 

[Phil V]

Found this on google :



http://www.fordservicecontent.com/Ford_Content/catalog/owner_guides/03p27ad1e.pdf



Looks like the adrenalin stereo has a 485 watt amp, which powers the front speakers and sub.



It states that the box under the rear seat is 12 litres. That's .42 cubic feet.



Looks like you might have a little more power than you thought

 

[Yardsale]

That information is confusing.

Your Explorer Sport Trac is equipped with the Adrenalin Edition Audio System. This

powerful system includes a dual media (cassette and CD) in-dash audio system with

an internal amplifier to power the custom rear door speakers. The 8-inch subwoofer speaker is in a 12 litre enclosure under the split fold rear seat.* This system also contains a high performance, 4 channel amplifier to power the subwoofer and front speakers. The system will produce a maximum of 485 watts of power.

The subwoofer enclosure (including speaker and amplifier) is made from strong high-density polyethylene plastic. This enclosure should not come in contact with any type of moisture.

So, an internal amp for custom rear door speakers, a high-performance 4-channel amp for sub-woofer and front speakers AND an amp in the sub-woofer enclosure.



Unless two channels are bridged, a 4-channel amp is not needed for front speakers and a sub-woofer; 3-channel should suffice.



Two amps for the sub-woofer is confusing.

 

[Phil V]

Now that you point that out, yes. Very confusing. Looked like official Ford documentation to me.



I think it means the 4 channel amp is built into the subwoofer enclosure. In that case why would they bridge 2 and feed the two speakers all the way at the front? And have the head unit power the rear speakers? Doesn't really make any sense to me either



Perhaps somebody who has a factory Adrenalin sound system wants to help out ASM2014. I tried! haha. Who knows where the truth lies

 

[Yardsale]

I think it is Ford documentation (remember - quality is job one).



It is typical in "canned" factory systems to include an amp with the sub-woofer - makes it a plug-n-play addition. This doesn't really help, does it?



onSpeculation;



How about this - without the Adrenalin enhancements, there is a 4-channel amp for the four door speakers (basic system). With the enhancement, the rear speakers are upgraded, and amp added, and the sub-woofer, with amp, also added. This leaves the 4-channel amp there, but only providing power to the original front door speakers (two channels not used).



This makes sense from the perspective that adding a sub-woofer to a full-range system, without adding a crossover, will result in a bass imbalance from the original rear door speakers. Better to add the complete rear system.



offSpeculation;