My Subwoofer Solution

Oh okay, well the one I have my eye on is a class D/Mono amp. I think I'll be okay. Thanks for the input!

 

I hope all that terrible distortion is due to the recording for the video and not what is actualy sounds like because at this end on my pc it sounds dreadful!

 

lol i thought it was my macbook's crappy speakers...

 

Class D will also only use power as required

 

Great! I just ordered my setup. I'll post it up once I'm done. Thanks for the help.
(sorry to hijack this thread in any way)

 

My Boss Bass 1200 just died this weekend. I am thinking of going down this path (non-powered sub) rather then just replace with another Boss. I really liked the sound from it but it seems overly sensitive to power fluctuations. Not real sure what the failure was.

In any case, Lulz, let us know how your setup sounds when complete. Thanks!

 

I say buy a box in an enclosure, and a separate amp. I like doing that the most. More customization, and when something dies on ya / you don't have to replace everything. I'll make a thread of my setup once I get it all hooked up. Should sound good!

 

^ that is what I am coming to realize. I might even gut the Boss and hook up a separate amp to it...

I was more than impressed by the sound from it.

 

I ended up with the Crutchfield Sound Ordnance B-8pt compact sub, so I could fit it under my front seat and not take up any cargo space behind the third row. I also verified that it fits under our 2010 Prius front seats, though like the Highlander Hybrid, you do have to work around the air vents somehow. My installer mounted it above the air vents on brackets, but you could also get tricky and mount it on the underside of the seat somehow or remove the vent.

It has a ton of great reviews at Crutchfield, but so far, it is about what I expected from such a tiny box. More bass and a little punchier bass than my door mounted 6.5 component woofers can provide, but nothing near what a good amp and larger enclosure with a high quality driver can produce. It really doesn't have any significant output below 50Hz, but my system is improved overall compared the OEM speakers (the 6x9s in the HiHy actually produced lower bass to around 40Hz but were quite "boomy") and the OEM system in our 2010 Prius II. If you really want decent bass, even if not earth shattering bass, this isn't for you. If you want some more bass fill under what door speakers can provide and prefer to keep it out of a cargo area, then this might be worth consideration. Plus you get Crutchfield warranty/service.

I have some pics below. You can move the seat forward and have just enough room to finger the controls. There is just enough room underneath for the vent air. Plus, it almost looks factory as it matches the carpet, though it will soon be partially concealed by some Weathertech Direct Fit mats. Our Prius lacks a power seat, so there's a little more clearance in this photo because I have the seat all the way up, but almost all the way back. I can still move it down and back without touching the sub.

I may still consider adding an amp and a smaller enclosure in back, but this will suffice for now and also for when I'd have to remove the enclosure for cargo.

 

Hey KM, I noticed on ebay that there is two kicker subs boxes, One black 200 rms @4ohms $102.50 and one grey 200rms @ 2ohms $89.50. Does it matter which one I get? Do ohms matter? Thanks

 

Had I known about the $60 cheaper B-8 before I order this unit:http://www.amazon.com/dp/product/B003PJ6TJE?tag=priuschatcom-20 I probable would have purchased it. I'm getting this Cadence unit for placement under the rear seats of my F150 SuperCab. I will dry fit it to the Prius to determine if it can be yet another viable candidate.

Originally, I like the pricing on all the BassBoss units but the overwhelming number of horrible/1-star reviews on both Amazon and Crutchfield soured me. And although the Cadence unit I bought has a lack of ratings (pos. or neg), it does come with what appears to be a no-hassle Two year warranty while your SO unit is even better at Three. Let's hope we don't have to use them like all the bassboss folks have.

 

It looks like there is a 2009 version and a 2010 version that seem to vary by the color of the driver. The specs are almost identical, but the 2010 version appears to have a bit more excursion for the driver.

The 2-ohm version will allow a quality amplifer to send more power. Depending on the amp, that could mean twice as much power. Sounds great, but even doubling the power from an amp is only a somewhat audible increase in perceived volume. It takes about a factor of 10x increased power for a perceived doubling of volume. If your amp can handle it, I'd say you might as well go for 2 ohms, though. Some amps are only rated for 4-ohm speakers, especially if they are bridged from a 2-channel amp to a mono amp.

Ultimately, the problem is the small box volume. You can take the best quality 8" driver out there with 300W RMS ratings and huge excursion limits and drive it with a huge amp, but in such a small box, you just can't move much air below 50Hz or so. Lower quality drivers won't even go that low.

I measured the Crutchfield one and it rolls off around 60Hz too, there's not much air moving at 50Hz and nothing by 40Hz. I suspect the Cadence and Boss are about the same if the box volume is about the same, since none of them are likely to be using very expensive drivers. I modeled the Kicker CompVT 8" driver in a 0.25 cubic foot box and has a -3db point just above 60Hz, too, along with a bump in response around 100Hz. Some other drivers in that volume (like the JL audio 8w3v3) extend to 50Hz or so with less bump. I suspect the Kicker will still move more air down to 40Hz with some bass boost, especially compared to the even smaller volume of the Crutchfield solution I have.

I haven't looked, but it's quite possible that a high quality 6.5" woofer will do better in this small a volume, extending to a lower frequency cutoff than a larger driver in the same volume.

You really need a bigger box to get any appreciable sound pressure level to 40Hz and below. I'm not even talking levels that shake the car next to you, but even just levels that produce a flat overall response even with the rest of the music.

I'm going to try the Kicker 2-ohm version to see how it compares. I need to get a small amp as well. If it isn't much better, I may have one to sell cheap!

 

I also wish to install a sub and amp but was just told by Crutchfield that installs of such are not recommended in 2011 Prius? They mentioned affecting the charging system and how it alters its capabilities. I have installed in a 2007 Mazda 5, 4 channel sub, mono sub, 4 speakers and a 10 inch sub and yes, I know they are different vehicles. I see a few posts on sub and amp installs. Anyone wish to share their ideas and how-to's?

 

^ I wouldn't worry about it. The 12v battery is about 1/2 the size of a regular vehicle with probably 1/2 the capacity. So sitting around in ACC mode with 4000 watts of power pumping wouldn't be a good idea for long but normal operations shouldn't be an issue.

 

As a followup, I've been testing the Kicker box mentioned in the first post (10TCVT8). I have the 2-ohm version. I paired it with the new Rockford Fosgate PBR300X1, a tiny mono subwoofer amp that was thin enough to fit nicely in the small storage area under the floor of my cargo space. Into 2-oms it is rated at 150W, though the test sheet that came with it claimed 180W.

There is no comparison to the Crutchfield Sound Ordnance powered sub under the front seat. The Kicker box extends lower and moves a lot more air. As I mentioned before, the Crutchfield box has decent output down to 60Hz and then drops off rapidly. There's little left at 50Hz and nothing at all at 40Hz.

The Kicker extends a bit lower than I calculated, down to almost 50Hz before it begins to dropoff, but the rolloff is much more gradual. With some EQ, it can still move air at 40Hz. It is audible down to 30Hz, though really putting minimal sound pressure level there. At all frequencies, it will play much louder than the Crutchfield. While it doesn't fit under my seat, the Kicker box can be wedged to barely fit at the side of the third row seat in the Cargo area. It also fits quite nicely in front of the unused third row seat on the floor and is narrow enough that it doesn't keep the third row seat from folding forward. Not as ideal as being under the seat, but better than any other pre-made option I've seen so far.

The Kicker isn't gonna shake the surrounding cars like multiple 12" drivers in large boxes, but it seems pretty well made and has no vibrations or rattles. Plus, for $100 and $140 for the RF amp at Amazon (and a $25 wiring kit if you need one), it's not much more than the Crutchfield solution. I'm currently running them both, but will be playing with the pair more over the next couple weeks. At least now, I have the setup to run a bigger, more efficient box if I want to do so in the future, but this sounds pretty good for what I want. Thanks for the tip, kmkremer!

 

How was it wired in?

L & R channels spliced from the rear doors, or, a tap directly at the radio?

When I had my sub installed in my previous G2 Prius, they spliced from the two rear doors.
So I could control from the front how much "signal" hitting the sub by setting the R-1,2,3,4,5 setting.

The only mistake I did was getting the 16" because it was "only" 50$ more than a 10 or 12 inch speaker. The box was huge and vibrated the car like crazy. I ended up buying a "tiny" 8" instead.

The 16" with enclosure uses up HALF my space in the back. It was so badass my two kids hated it, which made it even better.

Now I have two powered subs and no wiring yet in my G3. Just because the G3 sounds so much better than the G2.

 

If anyone could comment, this would be nice. To those of you who have an amp under the rear crargo area: Does your amp get hot to the touch? Mine does, and it doesn't seem like there is very much airflow down there. I am running a 300 watt amp though, so I would expect it to get pretty warm, but not hot to the touch. It hasn't shut down due to thermal protection - but it is a little too hot for my taste. I have it elevated off of the plastic so it has an inch of "breathing" room below it. Still, on hot summer days it sure gets toasty. Anyone else with this issue? Thanks!

 

If you meant mine, it was done on the front channel. I had door speakers installed at the same time, so that was probably easiest.

Problem is if I had it on the rear channel, I still have factory speakers in the second row doors. Plus, both woofers have a wired control that is mounted under the dash so I can adjust it as necessary that way.

My Rockford Fosgate PBR300X1 is somewhat warm to the touch when I've been running it a while at high volume. The Highlander under floor cargo space is pretty narrow. The amp is mounted to a fiberboard carpeted liner and has about 1" clearance on the top and sides. Definitely not ideal but so far no issues. Maybe once it gets warmer, but it doesn't seem like it will be a problem. Granted, mine is only a sub amp and rated at 150W into the 2 ohm sub I have and I'd be surprised if it puts out a fraction of that most of the time.

 

Looks good. I guess since most prius owners are older than myself you guys don't care for big powerful bass, just want well-balanced sound. I went with a 10" type R in a ported box powered by a 500W alpine Amp. It is quite loud when turned up but I can turn it down and have it fill out the low-end without shaking the whole car. I also have alpine components in the front doors to bring out the mids and highs. When I have time im gonna install the stock front JBL speakers in the rear doors.