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Subwoofer question.

Guys I am totally ignorant when it comes to stereo electronics. In order to install a floor subwoofer, what is actually needed to drive it. Additional amp? I don't have one but am considering getting something. Thank you.


Depending on the sub woofer you going with. watts etc.. that will determine what size amp you will need. And yes you will need and amp to drive it.

Are you just trying to add some sub to what you have now are what is the plans?
 
I am working on my sound system right now if you want to get some idea on what you want to do with your sound :wink:
 
Right now I have zero clue. I've never had much audio in the car but really cared less about audio. Now that I'm a bit bored, I figure thats my cue to do something.
 
Right now I have zero clue. I've never had much audio in the car but really cared less about audio. Now that I'm a bit bored, I figure thats my cue to do something.

Maybe you should invest in a nice sound system :biggrin:. It'll be worth it and the NSX deserve it :wink:
 
Maybe you should invest in a nice sound system.
Many people consider the OEM sound system to be crap but it's usually because the BOSE amps have started to fail so the audio quality is not what it should be. I'd encourage you to search out a Prime'r near you that has recently replaced the amps and listen to the sound system as its best. Best if you find someone who has also added the SOS ipod adapter too. I find that today's songs tend to have a lot more base than songs of just 10 years ago.

Then, if you don't think the sound is good enough for you .. and you're determined to spend some (more) hard earned cash, let's consider the sub you just bought. That sub enclosure is intended to replace the existing one which is a combo amp and speaker ... there's no real way to keep the existing sub amp and use it to drive the new sub .. and it wouldn't have the power to do it anyway.

So, the next logical, cheapest step is to go to a central amp design; keep the OEM head unit; bypass and make do with the existing speakers; and use the new amp to power your sub. This is going to probably be at least $500-600 if you buy an installation kit and do the work yourself. Again, one misconception is that the door speakers are probably blown but it's almost always the BOSE amps that are in the integrated door unit. So, by using your new central amp and bypassing the BOSE amps, you should be ok with postponing door speaker upgrades until later. Your biggest budget cost will be the amp and the cost will depend on brand; number of channels; watts per channel; etc. Simplest place to put it will be behind the drivers seat on the bulkhead .. short wiring runs and only the power wire needs to go through the bulkhead but the fuse box in the engine compartment is close.

The above suggestions get you going with power for your new sub and will also allow you to bypass the cost of upgrading any of the BOSE amps. However, if you're one of the small percentage of people whose head unit is starting to fail, you can send it to BrianK and have him fix the bad capacitors or if you still have some money burning a hole in your pocket, the next investment people seem to make is to upgrade to one of the current designs which has integrated video, audio, gps, etc. These can also add probably at least another $500 for the unit plus you'll need to replace your console with one that will accommodate the 'double DIN' (ie. larger size) so that will add cost as well .. even more if you decide to do something in carbon fiber. Plus you'll need adapters to make it fit, etc.

If you've been on Prime for a while, you may have heard the performance junkies talking about the 'go fast crack pipe' but I maintain that there's also a 'sound system crack pipe' as well. And there are always those who ask the question why you'd want to spend a lot of money on something that interferes with .. or can't be heard well over the engine/exhaust. So you be the judge.
 
The amp for the subwoofer and center channel are in the sub box. You would need to do away with the center channel that is not that big a deal. I recomennd you get a Zetoolman sub box, and get a 10" flat sub made by Tang Band as it is one of the tightest and also lightest in terms of weight. This is a very small enclosure so air volume is precious. You want a sub with a small neodymium magnet, not one with a big magnet that takes up all the airspace.

You will need a mono amp that can take a speaker level input, preferably one with an external gain adjustment knob you can mount some place handy. Space will be an issue, you need a class D amplifier that is small and runs cool.
 
The amp for the subwoofer and center channel are in the sub box. You would need to do away with the center channel that is not that big a deal.

You will need a mono amp that can take a speaker level input, preferably one with an external gain adjustment knob you can mount some place handy. Space will be an issue, you need a class D amplifier that is small and runs cool.
Turbo2GO is correct that the amp for the subwoofer and center channel are in the [OEM] sub box .. and, as I said earlier, there's no real way to keep the existing sub amp even if you wanted to (and you don't). But you don't need to do away with the center channel that powers the rear speaker depending on your implementation choice. The typical choice for powering a sub is to use a high power mono sub amp .. but the alternative that I proposed earlier was to spend that money on a multichannel amp instead.

When shopping for a multi-channel amp, obviously you need a left channel and a right channel and some subs offer an additional channel specifically for a sub or allow you to bridge two channels together to get extra power for the sub. I used a 5 channel Alpine amp which had 4 normal channels and a separate sub channel all in the same amp. There was a setting that allowed the L & R input for ch 1 & 2 to also be input to ch 3 & 4 and I used bridged those outputs to run the rear channel. The OEM design was to merge L & R first and then amplify it but either works. And if you don't care about the center rear channel, then you might be able to get away with a 3 or 4 channel amp. And, if you're going to put it behind the driver seat, you'll have lots of room and won't need to spend the extra dollars on a smaller class D amp.

If you do decide to go with the single mono sub amp, Turbo2Go is wrong about needing speaker level inputs because the inputs from the head unit are normal pre-amp inputs ... but there's a L and a R input so you'll either have to look for an amp that can handle a L & R input or you'll have to pick up a two into one adapter.
 
Ian I think you went way over the OP's head with your post, but yes you are correct. I had a brain fart. The output from the radio is low level preamp signal.

Any amp that bridges will handle his need to go stereo to mono. My guess is all this sounds too complicated to him and he will forget about it. As he said, he is far from an audio guy.
 
What size is the floor speaker in the passenger kick panel OEM?

Around 3-4 inch and it is located in a plastic box under the passenger side carpet. Same in the door speakers. I used the factory plastic box in the doors, cut off the front, replaced with 3/4 MDF, mount 6.5 woofers in an aperiodic design, didn't really spend too much time tuning the cabinet.
 
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