Subwoofer options for an FJ Cruiser

[Frederic]

13 minutes ago, Niki Patel said:

@Frederic thank you for sharing your experience and as someone who had competition setups, that's a lot of quality advice!  removing the software EQ and sound controls from the phone as a source has made a huge difference to the setup so far.  It leaves me much happier and buys me some time to research and plan and future spend - i want to get the Amp right (am glad i added 8" mids as they deliver a decent level of bass even without a sub so for now, i have it much better than the stock and can not be tempted to buy so quickly future upgrades).

@Frederic did you consider (and dismiss quickly) the idea of an underseat sub (ultimate space saver but i suspect No Sub is better than poor quality for an audiophile) 

@Alexander Alcala now you getting me in trouble with the marshals and crew!!  ... as a disclaimer, the begining of my post, i mentioned this was to make the trip to and from the start points more pleasant .. lol (if i am caught pumping my poor taste in music during drives i will hang my head in shame!)

@Ahab Shamaa come on now!! you have the 'pin up FJ' - i stopped looking at mine now i have seen your queen!  Extreme, roof rack with the treads, a WINCH! and i bet the list is going on! ps my knowledge is due to the vast experience with google & 'copy-paste' - a whole days worth of knowledge is what i have  

 

Agree, EQ should be kept minimal and is only there to slightly alter your personal taste. In IASCA testing the scope tests should return flat level throughout the frequency spectrum. 

The 8" mids are a perfect option to give you some kickbass in the 80-350 Hz range.

With regards to an underseat sub, i think that's not easy to achieve and/or install. What you could do is install a Subwoofer enclosure in the back of the car that has a quick-coupling to easily disconnect the wires when you need to remove the enclosure. I did this in the past where the boot of the car was taken by Subwoofers but occasionally needed the space to put the stroller  

 

[Niki]

8 minutes ago, Frederic said:

With regards to an underseat sub, i think that's not easy to achieve and/or install. 

https://www.crutchfield.com/S-HQg9uVlbF7x/learn/q-a-about-compact-powered-subwoofers.html 

check out the ones listed here - they have a whole class of pre-built (sub, amp, enclosure, controls etc) under-seat subs and the install is supposedly done in 2 hours or less.  they are extremely shallow so the bass may be a let down for someone that had a dedicated one in the trunk but as an option for space saving it could work.  if i go this path i will share my experience.  that said, the option of a removable sub is tempting - the store showed me exactly such a pre-built box taking minimal space (as per @Heisem unit).  

 

ps @Ahab Shamaa the site above is a gift for any newbie to learn from and they make it super easy to look at options car specific etc.  dust off your wallet - i think its about to get some action! 

[Frederic]

4 minutes ago, Niki Patel said:

https://www.crutchfield.com/S-HQg9uVlbF7x/learn/q-a-about-compact-powered-subwoofers.html 

check out the ones listed here - they have a whole class of pre-built (sub, amp, enclosure, controls etc) under-seat subs and the install is supposedly done in 2 hours or less.  they are extremely shallow so the bass may be a let down for someone that had a dedicated one in the trunk but as an option for space saving it could work.  if i go this path i will share my experience.  that said, the option of a removable sub is tempting - the store showed me exactly such a pre-built box taking minimal space (as per @Heisem unit).  

 

ps @Ahab Shamaa the site above is a gift for any newbie to learn from and they make it super easy to look at options car specific etc.  dust off your wallet - i think its about to get some action! 

Ooh yes Crutchfield is amazing, even after all these years !

[Ahab Shamaa]

Hahahahah! Ok @Niki Patel 😀 I agree; Google does come in handy. My issue now is that I’ve become so lazy, I don’t even wanna consult it. Imm waiting for Alexa to be smart enough to read my threads and answer on my behalf (making me look smart of course) 😂

[Niki]

@Frederic @Gaurav - starting back this thread to continue the discussion and collect further advice. 

i mentioned having completed my stage 1 work (sound proofing and upgraded speakers) my next step was to add an Amp.  well i have been advised by the store that installed my speakers & sound proofing that my head-unit (Dealer fitted 12.3" Android with custom software ... by Belsee) is such a weak link that adding an Amp would increase volume but not benefit the sound quality.  (a sincere recommendation as they could easily have sold me an amp :)) 

What are your thoughts and more so recommended options - @Gaurav once covid restriction loosen i really want to take up the offer to listen to your setup without the sub as it will likely give me the reassurance to stop my pursuit of a dedicated Sub.

I am also struggling with the poor quality built in Mic  and the head-unit supposedly doesn't have a terminal at the rear to attach a dedicated/external Mic. 

i love the 12.3" screen for its size but have thought about going down a size but up in quality (however that cost is significant as i would also have to source trim etc) ... if i can improve the performance whilst keeping the current head-unit - that would be ideal. 

I feed music via Apple Music or Spotify (hard wired to the Phone) - i download the music offline at the highest bitrate (just to try and give the best quality source) 

thanks in advance

 

[Frederic]

8 minutes ago, Niki Patel said:

@Frederic @Gaurav - starting back this thread to continue the discussion and collect further advice. 

i mentioned having completed my stage 1 work (sound proofing and upgraded speakers) my next step was to add an Amp.  well i have been advised by the store that installed my speakers & sound proofing that my head-unit (Dealer fitted 12.3" Android with custom software ... by Belsee) is such a weak link that adding an Amp would increase volume but not benefit the sound quality.  (a sincere recommendation as they could easily have sold me an amp :)) 

What are your thoughts and more so recommended options - @Gaurav once covid restriction loosen i really want to take up the offer to listen to your setup without the sub as it will likely give me the reassurance to stop my pursuit of a dedicated Sub.

I am also struggling with the poor quality built in Mic  and the head-unit supposedly doesn't have a terminal at the rear to attach a dedicated/external Mic. 

i love the 12.3" screen for its size but have thought about going down a size but up in quality (however that cost is significant as i would also have to source trim etc) ... if i can improve the performance whilst keeping the current head-unit - that would be ideal. 

I feed music via Apple Music or Spotify (hard wired to the Phone) - i download the music offline at the highest bitrate (just to try and give the best quality source) 

thanks in advance

 

I don't tend to agree with that store. If you use the RCA output of that Belsee Headunit it will just transfer the sound directly to your amp, so it would not be a weak link at all.

So my conclusion:

Get a decent amp to power your upgraded speakers, well fine-tuned and installed and connect the amp to your Belsee and keep the EQ levels a bit neutral on that headunit to avoid too much messing around with the original sound.

 

[Niki]

Stage 2 of my install complete! 🎉

I decided to stay with one family of product and have added a ground zero amp (and also changed the rear speakers at the same time)

Amp: 4 way Ground Zero https://www.ground-zero-audio.com/en/produkt/gzta-4125x-b/

Rear : 2 way 4” Ground Zero (plus sound deadening) https://www.ground-zero-audio.com/en/produkt/gzrf-4-0sq/

The Amp is Being calibrated and sitting at a low gain whilst wearing in for 20-40 hours

So far the addition of a decent rear 2 way has really filled the car.  The amp has definitely brought an immediate improvement being able to power the speakers easily at lower volumes (thank you @Frederic for the encouragement)

The low end is still disappointing however I suspect some further tuning and wearing in will help.  The store is still adamant that my headunit is the limiting factor here! 

Doing incremental improvements has really made me appreciate every enhancement (similar to how you are advising we approach Offroad upgrades)!  

They attempted to replace the Mic however the 12.3” Chinese headunit has a proprietary mic harness vs a simple 3.5mm so I am currently stuck with the poor mic performance.  

Massive thanks to all that provided their guidance on this thread!  I am looking forward to paying this forward! 

[Frederic]

6 minutes ago, Niki Patel said:

Stage 2 of my install complete! 🎉

I decided to stay with one family of product and have added a ground zero amp (and also changed the rear speakers at the same time)

Amp: 4 way Ground Zero https://www.ground-zero-audio.com/en/produkt/gzta-4125x-b/

Rear : 2 way 4” Ground Zero (plus sound deadening) https://www.ground-zero-audio.com/en/produkt/gzrf-4-0sq/

The Amp is Being calibrated and sitting at a low gain whilst wearing in for 20-40 hours

So far the addition of a decent rear 2 way has really filled the car.  The amp has definitely brought an immediate improvement being able to power the speakers easily at lower volumes (thank you @Frederic for the encouragement)

The low end is still disappointing however I suspect some further tuning and wearing in will help.  The store is still adamant that my headunit is the limiting factor here! 

Doing incremental improvements has really made me appreciate every enhancement (similar to how you are advising we approach Offroad upgrades)!  

They attempted to replace the Mic however the 12.3” Chinese headunit has a proprietary mic harness vs a simple 3.5mm so I am currently stuck with the poor mic performance.  

Massive thanks to all that provided their guidance on this thread!  I am looking forward to paying this forward! 

Well done @Niki Patel !

The rear speakers will have their limitations in terms of low end. They are made to play anything above 80Hz, so if you want to feel your bones rattle while playing your favorite Hiphop tunes 😁 you’ll be needing a subwoofer that can do its magic in the 25-80Hz range. A ported enclosure with a 10 or 12 inch sub does wonders, but all this stuff takes up some space of course (and money).

4 minutes ago, Frederic said:

Well done @Niki Patel !

The rear speakers will have their limitations in terms of low end. They are made to play anything above 80Hz, so if you want to feel your bones rattle while playing your favorite Hiphop tunes 😁 you’ll be needing a subwoofer that can do its magic in the 25-80Hz range. A ported enclosure with a 10 or 12 inch sub does wonders, but all this stuff takes up some space of course (and money).

https://www.ground-zero-audio.com/en/produkt/gzub-1000xactii/

[Niki]

Lol @Frederic ... I have a worrying feeling the sub is going to arrive as my bass obsession seems obvious  (at least you called out hip hop and not 80’s power ballads as my listening preference) 

I was just hoping a little more from the 8” in the front via the amp however I had some horrible eq setting without the amp so need to re-educate my ears to a well tuned set up.  
 

thanks again for the guidance here... 100% the right choice to add the amp! 

[Niki]

11 minutes ago, Frederic said:

Well done @Niki Patel !

The rear speakers will have their limitations in terms of low end. They are made to play anything above 80Hz, so if you want to feel your bones rattle while playing your favorite Hiphop tunes 😁 you’ll be needing a subwoofer that can do its magic in the 25-80Hz range. A ported enclosure with a 10 or 12 inch sub does wonders, but all this stuff takes up some space of course (and money).

https://www.ground-zero-audio.com/en/produkt/gzub-1000xactii/

😂 what are you doing @Frederic ... a link to the sub is like dangling a chocolate covered carrot!!!  😳