JL amp and sub in OEM JBL box - DONE

I got a lot of great info from this forum for the install so I thought I would provide some feedback. No pics since others have posted already.

Taking the seats and components out is pretty easy. Maybe 1 hour. Laid down killmat for vibration/sound dampening. Removed the enclosure and took inside to easily take the factory 8 out, dremel the interior plastic webbing to support the new speaker, and install killmat in places on the enclosure.

Shop did the install on an AC LC1i Line Out Converter between the sub box and the inverter that powers the rear ac plug. This covers up fine later. They took speaker level outputs from factore amp. They ran RCA to under the passenger seat to a JL JD500/1. Mounted this on a plexiglass board to give it a little height for spill resistance. Speaker wire back to the OEM enclosure and through the old grommet. RBC-1 bass knob from amp to console in one of the blanks behind cup holder (i have ltd so these are blanks, i think they're set heat button in other trim levels). This was all around $500 (I bought the LOC and RBC form them, I bought the amp and speaker myself from JL).

Enclosure is .415 cubic feet, the specs on the JL 8w3v3-4 are for .30. JL rep said "Your target is .33 cubic ft. Net airspace plus woofer displacement. You want to typically stay within 10 to 15 percent of our recommended spec". I didn't displace inside the cabinet and it has a slight over-flex that you can hear in deep bass notes. These should "punch" a bit more and i think it's due to the volume. I would probably reduce the volume in the enclosure slightly if doing again.

Amp and speaker are a good pairing, although it appears to be at the top of what the speaker can handle. The JL rep said "At 4 ohms, the JD500/1 would deliver 250 watts RMS which would be perfect. If you plan on adding another 8w3v3-4 in the future, you can wire them both in parallel to 2 ohms and get 250 watts to each subwoofer, 500 total".

It sounds really really good. There is certainly a sweet spot that sounds AMAZING. For example Bandit by Don Toliver is right in the zone (random but I just listened to this today). DJ Magic Mike from the old days sounds good, but this setup isn't really for that kind of bass (still fun though for those of you who know that guy!). Kick drum sounds awesome, Sublime for example. To me it sounds more like a single 10 or 12 than an 8.

Stage 2 is to replace the JBL amp with a JL VXi that has DSP and amp, then the speakers (maybe JL C3). That one's going to be expensive though.

 

Sounds awesome!!! Pun intended.

Def on my to do list after I get through a bunch of honey-dos and my own self imposed projects.