Cool Bass Upgrade - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

savoir-faire · 07-24-2005, 08:14 AM

I have been considering the Kenwood KSC-SW1 (http://www.crutchfield.com/S-beJu64CMegu/cgi-bin/ProdView.asp?g=51000&I=113KSCSW1&id=review) for an upgrade to my "hi-fi" system. Seems simple to install, is unobtrusive, and cost-effective. Does anyone have any experience with this one? If not, I will report back with my findings. There seem to be no permenant mods. Meaning, I can remove and sell this thing, or move it to a new car if I sell this box.

Jeph · 07-24-2005, 10:10 AM

I myself am not a car stereo guru but that unit seems pretty cool. The price is tolerable as well. I don't listen to my stereo that much, but when I do, it would be nice to have more bass.

Where were you thinking of installing it on your car?

savoir-faire · 07-24-2005, 11:53 AM

I actually ordered one for $183 including tax and shipping. I believe it may work either under the seat or behind the seat. I ordered it to see if it was dimensionally feasible. I just wondered if anyone else had tried something like this.

I have been looking into options for upgrade as the stereo sounds terrible IMHO. I went to a couple of shops who had scary technicians that quoted me even scarrier prices ($2,000 to 3,000). I am trying this in combination with the rear speakers to see how that goes (about $400).

RandallNeighbour · 07-24-2005, 06:35 PM

I can't put anything behind my seats nor under them, not even a light jacket or sweater!. If you get this to work do take pix.

rctboxsters · 07-25-2005, 12:19 AM

In my old Eclipse, I just put an 10" bazooka sub in the trunk and was able to feel the bass, somewhat. Has anyone ever attempted to put a powered sub in the front or rear trunk? I thought that the bass can be placed anywhere and you still can feel it. I do not know if because of the mid-engine which might affect this bass theory. Just a thought!

Richard

Perfectlap · 07-25-2005, 06:02 PM

check cardomain.com there's a yellow boxster there with some ridiculus amount of audio work. Drop the guy and email.

savoir-faire · 08-01-2005, 07:13 PM

I got everything installed, but the subwoofer is giving poor response. I think it may be because I tapped the rear speaker wires for the inputs. Does anyone know whether the rears are supplied only high frequencies? In otherwords, is there a crossover at the amp?

If this is the case, does anyone have experience with tapping the door speakers? I assume those are fed with lower frequencies. Is it possible to easily find these wires in the main cabin? Even better, does anyone know whether it is possible to get left and right RCA type feeds from the factory head unit?

Thanks in advance if you can assist.

carmos · 08-02-2005, 10:56 AM

hi savoir-faire,where did you mount the subwoofer box? and did it dramaticlly change how the passenger sits in the car....thanks

bigislandboxster · 08-02-2005, 12:19 PM

I'm not familiar with the rear speakers, as I do not have any and have not worked with them...The door speakers are supposed to be subwoofers/woofers and are only supposed to emit low frequencies, tho I don't know the cutoff.....Either the stock amp or the head unit probably has the low pass frequency for the doors built in and at a set point(Probably the head unit). As far as the door speakers wiring, the left door I believe is the green wires, and the right door the purple wires. If you check your head unit plug you should be able to see these easily.....The wires with the brown going thru them is the negative in case you didn't know

Lou

savoir-faire · 08-02-2005, 04:01 PM

Thanks Lou. I will try to tap the door speaker wires just behind the head unit and see how that works out. Carmos, I have the speaker just in front of the passenger seat on the floor for now. At that location, it does not impact the passenger's seating whatsoever, but is visible. It is just under 4" thick, so I found it unacceptable behind the passenger seat. I will report back once installed properly with pictures and sound report.

scoobyrex27 · 08-03-2005, 12:59 PM

I have all my speakers running through an amp in the front. With regards to bass, I have tried a 10" in the front but you can barely hear it. the only thing i can do is put a bass tube in the passenger footwell and mount it to the bottom of the dash. It is VERY loud inside but it does take up space. I have it on a quick release kinda strap so when the wife is riding shotgun her knees aren't in her throat.

Joji · 09-10-2005, 02:06 PM

I just installed the Kenwood Subwoofer KSC-SW1. If you don't have the rear speaker or the compartment behind the headrest. The Subwoofer fits perfectly on either side. Driver or Passenger. It sounds very good. Not amazing. But for a 3 3/4 inch tall Sub-woofer. I think it suits the Boxster very well. It gives me a lot of bass with pretty good low end. I will take some pictures. It definetly worth the price.

RandallNeighbour · 09-10-2005, 08:55 PM

Hey Joji, glad to hear you finally got it working. What was the solution?

Joji · 09-11-2005, 10:54 AM

Randall,
thanks. The ground wire from the Subwoofer I had hooked up to the roll bar. Because it had paint the unit was not grounded which did allow sound to come through. Now that it is working, I still have to figure how to get the ignition wire tapped into the back of the fuse box. Tell me if this is right. I want to take a femal adapter and attach my Blue iginition wrie from the subwoofer and pu**************** in the back of an empyt fuse slot. The bottom wire is already there from the battery. The top slot is empyt. Then I will place a fuse in the front 7.5 amps. I hope this works. Let me know if this is correct
thanks
joji

RandallNeighbour · 09-11-2005, 04:33 PM

I think someone more "electronically ept" should answer this question for you. I've never done what you're asking about, althought it sounds right!

insite · 09-14-2005, 09:00 AM

FYI, Clarion makes a unit (SRV303) that is a special 7" sub with a concentric magnet (in the middle of the speaker) paired with a built in 120W amp and adjustable crossover. I have it mounted behind the passenger seat; it's only about 3" thick. It's size lets it tuck in behind the seat in such a way that the passenger only loses about 1" of legroom (seat goes almost all the way back). Sounds really good.

insite · 09-14-2005, 09:11 AM

Joji -

You are right about the ignition wire; just make sure you choose an empty fuse slot that is only powered when the car is on, otherwise your amp will never turn off. If you don't have heated seats, that fuse's spot a good choice.

MNBoxster · 09-15-2005, 09:33 PM

@Joji,

The best way to tap into the fuse box is to use a Blade-Type Fuse Tap. These are available from Radio Shack for about $1.25. The part # is 270-1204. You can probably find it on their website. You then have a female spade connector on the wire you want to attach. It's easy, reliable and removable.

Happy Motoring!...Jim'99

jpcolin · 09-26-2005, 01:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by insite

FYI, Clarion makes a unit (SRV303) that is a special 7" sub with a concentric magnet (in the middle of the speaker) paired with a built in 120W amp and adjustable crossover. I have it mounted behind the passenger seat; it's only about 3" thick. It's size lets it tuck in behind the seat in such a way that the passenger only loses about 1" of legroom (seat goes almost all the way back). Sounds really good.

Hi

could you post some pictures of this system please?

thx