Stock 8" sub vs Aftermarket Setup

[AH64Medic]

Now before I get hit with the "comparing apples to oranges" I'm just asking for some subjective opinions. Here goes. The factory sub in my 00 NBS suburban starting sounded like crap although it never was that great. So I went to a local sound place and confirmed my sub was blown. I like a little boom in my truck and I listen to mostly country. I'm in Texas for training for 6 more weeks and then my wife is flying up here and we are gonna road trip home so I'd like to upgrade the sound system. I have new 6.5s for the doors on the way and plan a double din Pioneer install in a week or so. So here's the question.... Should or can I upgrade the factory subwoofer with a better 8" sub and amp or should I spend that money on a decent subwoofer, box and amp? I have 2 kids that I carry sometimes and I also use the third row bench. I was thinking a small box with maybe a 10 or 12" sub and amp. I'm not trying to win any awards but I'd like to add a little lows to the new speakers I ordered and to improve our 1200+ mile road trip home. Thanks for any suggestions.

 

[coolchuck]

I would say upgrade the stock sub in the stock location. That way your space is availabe and you dont have to worry about moving a box when you need the 3rd row area....
now that I think about it more, you could go with a10inch box under the 2nd row, if you have a bench seat. That will give you more bump and still be out of the way.

 

[AH64Medic]

Hey thanks for the advice. I just finished swapping the rear bench for captains chairs today and thought about the possibility of having sub boxes mounted under each seat with a 10" sub and mounting an amp somewhere (perhaps under the center console). It's been quite a number of years since I've built a system from the ground up and I'm getting kinda excited about the possibilities. Since I am far away from home (garage and tools) I think I may just find two 10" subs that would work and mount them in a box behind the seat until I can get home and start working on a new design. I really just want some sound right now and for my road trip home with the wife. Thanks again for the idea. I'll be sure to post what I come up with.

 

[ccapehartusarmyINF.(ret)]

that stock jbl 8 inch sub is a piece of garbage at least swap it out with an aftermarket 8

 

[AH64Medic]

I decided to ditch the idea of replacing the stock sub for now. I went ahead and bought some 10" Rockford Fosgate subs and a box and mounted the amp on top. I just swapped out the bench seat for captains chairs so I'm going to see if I can have two boxes made to fit under each seat. Not sure where I'd mount the amp though. Since I don't have many tools this seemed like the easiest route for now and since I'm riding around with a set of Tahoe captains chairs I bought by mistake my cargo area is pretty full with those and the bench seat. If anyone has mounted subs under the captains chairs I'd love some info on them. Thanks for the help.

 

[coolchuck]

Never seen subs mounted under the captains chairs. I doubt your box will have the airspace. Maybe a Thundeform in the stock space. You can fit a 10inch sub into that. Look for one used on Craigslist or Ebay because they are stupid expensive new.

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[tjd3004]

Bringing up an old post here, but I always wondered if the Thunderforms would rattle. Seems to me it would since its mounted directly under the plastic trim.

 

[YukonXL04]

Nothing a little foam weather stripping couldn't handle.

 

[MRS.Z-56_Hoe]

Michael replaced mine with a 8" kicker and it sounds great

 

[coolchuck]

Bringing up an old post here, but I always wondered if the Thunderforms would rattle. Seems to me it would since its mounted directly under the plastic trim.

Nope, no rattles for me.

 

[Justplayinn]

I have the thunderform in my 01 Denali sounds great! I also have the 10" under the seat sub box in my garage that iam not using anymore. I only have the org jl 250x1 amp pushing it with a Polk 10"

 

[casey.2]

How tough is it to get the rear panel off to access the Sub?

 

[01TX_Tahoe]

Not hard at all. I replaced my stock sub with a JL 8" in the stock enclosure and it sounds pretty bad ***! I also have the JL 250/1 amp pushing it, more than enough power.

 

[Mudfrog]

Not hard at all. I replaced my stock sub with a JL 8" in the stock enclosure and it sounds pretty bad ***! I also have the JL 250/1 amp pushing it, more than enough power.

Do you know what model number JL sub you used? I didn't see where they offered a slim fit version.

 

[01TX_Tahoe]

Do you know what model number JL sub you used? I didn't see where they offered a slim fit version.

It's not the slim fit, just the 8w3 they have. Fits perfect and sounds really impressive. Gets mistaken for a pair of 10s or 12s at times.

 

[Mudfrog]

It's not the slim fit, just the 8w3 they have. Fits perfect and sounds really impressive. Gets mistaken for a pair of 10s or 12s at times.

Really? and no modifications were needed to the box? Aside from possibly different mounting holes? Sounds like a winner to me. I've been debating on which sub to pick up but I honestly did not like any of the choices when it comes to slim fit subs.

 

[YukonXL04]

Gets mistaken for a pair of 10s or 12s at times.

LOL come on man...

 

[01TX_Tahoe]

The only thing I did was cut the face off the stock enclosure and made a new one out of 1/2" mdf for the JL.

Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk

---------- Post added at 02:06 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:05 PM ----------

For real. You'd be surprised how good it sounds.

Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk

 

[AH64Medic]

Sorry to bring up an old thread. So I got tired of removing the sub box (with 2x 10" RF subs) everytime I needed to remove the 3rd row and carry something. After reading what everyone suggested I thought about the factory sub location. I found several shallow 8" subs on Amazon and I'm kinda leaning toward the Polk Audio db840DVC 8-Inch Dual Voice Coil Subwoofer to go in place of the factory sub. It appears several people have chosen and wrote some reviews about replacing the factory sub with any of the shallow mount subs on amazon. So my question since I'm not a electronics novice, would the factory amp power this subwoofer? I have a 2000 NBS Suburban with the non-bose system. Some of the reviews on Amazon say there are instructions on wiring the sub to run 2 Ohm and wanted some advice from you awesome electronics experts. BTW when I first made this post I mentioned the thought of making a box to fit under the captains chairs which I later found out was dumb and probably impossible but it's the perfect size to fit my overly stuffed tool bag. Thanks everyone.

 

[YukonXL04]

While you can wire that polk to the factory amp, I wouldn't recommend it. the factory amp isnt going to put enough power to it IMO. You could however try it out first, if satisfied keep it. if not add a amp later on.

I agree with you on the moving the sub box around all of the time. I am in the process of building a center console to house mine. I realized I wasnt going to get enough bass from the stock location.