Need subwoofer installation help

Clarythedrill

Clarythedrill

Member
Joined
Jul 2, 2019
Messages
89
Location
Ft. Worth, Texas
To all, I am in the middle of a complete interior update of my 2001 TJ, to include speakers. My question is with the subwoofer. The original subwoofer has four wire hook ups, two on opposing sides of the speaker, with different sizes of hook ups. My replacement subwoofer only has two total, both on one side, and is a 300 watt speaker. So, do I only use one set of hook ups (one of each size) or do I splice the wires so that the two small hook ups go on one and the two larger on the other? I am completely dumb with regards to radios and speakers, so any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
 
Get a decent amp or that sub will sound worse than a blown stock one. The stock amp doesn't have nearly enough power for a good sub.
p.s. I used to work at Crutchfield.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Airjunky
Boogieman, I have no doubt that you are correct, but I am not trying to get GREAT sound, just a little better than the 20 year old stuff I currently have. Would it just be better to wire it in like a regular speaker and just forget about the amp?
 
TheBoogieman said:
Get a decent amp or that sub will sound worse than a blown stock one. The stock amp doesn't have nearly enough power for a good sub.
p.s. I used to work at Crutchfield.
Click to expand...
Yes and at Crutchfield your job was to sell stuff. I am using the Kicker dual coil sub often recommended with factory amp and I think it sounds fantastic. The best stereo in any vehicle I have ever owned.
 
I bought this: Pyle PLPW6D
Googled the wiring, there's a lot of good info in the internet.
1606691248758.png
 
Viking Jeeper said:
Yes and at Crutchfield your job was to sell stuff. I am using the Kicker dual coil sub often recommended with factory amp and I think it sounds fantastic. The best stereo in any vehicle I have ever owned.
Click to expand...
I installed them at Crutchfield and this was my best sounding stereo (10" subs) in a TJ. 300w RMS per channel amp
SPEAKER BOX (2).jpg
.
 
To address the PO's original post, the four hookups are for a dual voice coil speaker. Many subwoofers have dual voice coils. Not sure why but I'm sure @TheBoogieman could explain. With a dual voice coil there are two positives and two negatives. If you have a single voice coil sub you could wire up just two of the leads to the sub and see how it works. If you like it you like it. There are certainly "better" ways to develop a sound system for the TJ but some people like me are fine with something that sounds great.
 
  • Like
Reactions: GaTechTJ
And just so the PO knows. You could go to Crutchfield and pick up a nice headunit and 4 speakers for around $300. Yoive already maybe got a good enough headunit. My point is the good enough stuff is pretty cheap these days.

But i fully understand budgets and priorities. My own build thread isn't called "budget" for nothing. Lol.

Mine came with a pretty standard Kenwood head unit. $100 unit new. I bought 4 polk 5.25 speakers for around $150?. And im happy with good enough.

I am in the process of adding an amp, sub and tweeters on the cheap. Some generous members have helped me out with some of the parts. We'll see how it turns out.

There are some major audiophiles on here that help alot though. When you pull your headunit maybe u can find a serial number on the back. If you can post all your comoonents and or their specs. I've seen guys design complete systems on the cheap or better around here.
 
TheBoogieman said:
I installed them at Crutchfield and this was my best sounding stereo (10" subs) in a TJ. 300w RMS per channel ampView attachment 206604.
Click to expand...

Dual 10"s are awesome. I love mine, and I have a quick disconnect to remove the box for when I need the rear cargo.

Clarythedrill said:
Thank you to all for the comments. I will try plugging in the single set of leads and see what happens. Thanks again.
Click to expand...

You can get a cheap amplifier to power a kicker DVC and it will give you some nice sound. This is not great, but it will be a cheap way to get good bass. @TheBoogieman was correct, regardless if he worked at Crutchfield, not that it should matter or not.
 
  • Like
Reactions: TheBoogieman
The four wires are for the dual voice coils inside the subwoofer. They are to wired together to create the correct impedance for the amplifier to work into. 2 Ohms, 4 Ohms, etc. Wiring the voice coils in series, the + and - together doubles their individual impedances. Wiring them in parallel, + to + and - to -, halves their individual impedances.

The resulting impedance must match the output impedance of the amplifier to avoid loss of power or overheating of the amplifier.

What does your speaker information sheet say about the impedance of the subwoofer? Is the output impedance of your amplifier adjustable? Most are by moving a jumper or plug.
 
  • Like
Reactions: GaTechTJ
TheBoogieman said:
Get a decent amp or that sub will sound worse than a blown stock one. The stock amp doesn't have nearly enough power for a good sub.
p.s. I used to work at Crutchfield.
Click to expand...
Hey BoogieMan! I recently paid a visit to both stores looking to upgrade the sound in my (newly acquired TJ). The Charlottesville store was ok so we hiked on over to Harrisonburg and spent some money. I ended up with Polk MM speakers, the foam enclosures, an Alpine power pack, and the Kicker HS10 subwoofer (The Jeep already has a great Alpine head unit). It all gets installed and tuned next month!
 
  • Love
Reactions: TheBoogieman
Top Bottom
Back