I finally finished my little experiment of installing some Tang Band 5.25" subwoofers in the lower dash enclosures. This applies to 2015 and up Wranglers only as they can accept 3.5" co-ax speakers in the upper dash locations to cover the remainder of the audio spectrum up front.
One thing I've always enjoyed with both car and home audio is to see just how much I can 'get away with'. It's easy to get good bass in any vehicle by simply tossing a pair of quality 10" subs into a decent enclosure and feeding them a lot of power. I find it more fun to try and get good sound out of unconventional designs and to do it as inexpensively as possible. I used to compete in and win autosound comps way back in the late 80's early 90's in the lowest amp class possible (I think it might have been under 90 watts but it could have been under 100...it's been a LONG time).
My requirements for this project were pretty simple. Everything had to look bone stock and I wasn't going to mount anything on the floorboards...it's a jeep and subject to water/mud/etc. Once I realized I could mount 3.5" co-axials in the upper dash and we have sealed speaker pods in the lower dash, I knew I was going to try to find some subs to fit. Enter the Tang Band W5-1138SMF 5.25" sub. I probably could have fit the 6.5" TB W6-1139SI because it's neodymium magnet would have allowed it to fit, but $40/speaker is a lot easier to swallow than $90/speaker .
I used the stock 6.5" speakers as a template to make MDF mounting rings. I knew from test fitting the TB's a couple of weeks ago that I would have to offset the speaker to get them to fit. I used #8x1/4" tee-nuts to mount the TB's to the rings and the stock screws to mount the rings to the enclosures. There is foam weatherstripping btw each for a good seal. I also cut the molex connectors off the stock speakers so I could reuse them to make things more plug and play. The enclosures were peel-n-sealed (poor man's dynamat) and stuffed with dacron.
Since I am sticking with the stock 130 HU I new I would have to use a LOC. Yes, I could have used a high quality DSP unit; but, the goal was to do this as inexpensively as possible. I chose the Scosche LOC90 because it has both a remote turn on to feed to the amp along with a remote bass control. The remote bass control is paramount as the bass in Wranglers is dramatically different when open air as opposed to when buttoned up. The last thing you want to have to do is monkey with your Amp's gain every time you take on/off the top. Anyway, the LOC 90 is only $20 at Walmart and is working as it should; turning my amp on/off whenever it senses a signal to its inputs. It is simply velcro'ed to the top of the amp (not the best idea for the amp's heat dissipation but I'm willing to risk it).
Now the amp. I knew that I wanted it as hidden as possible and NOT on the floorboards. Investigation of possible spots led me to the kick panel area on the driver's side. There is a very small space btw/behind an aluminum bracket that I figured I would be able to mount a tiny amp. I figured I would start with something dirt cheap as this was kind of a proof of concept experiment. So I found the SSL SMCM 200 amp. It's a piece of crap I'm sure but for $30 it meets the requirements: small enough to fit, could handle 2 ohms, and had a low pass xover. It claims to put out 100 watts rms into 2ohms and the TB's are rated at 40watts rms each so it should suffice. When it bites the dust I'll replace with the NVX MVPA1.
So, how does everything sound; pretty freaking great. When installing, I did the passenger side first and listened a bit with just a single sub. It was at that point that I knew this was going to work. With just a single TB sub playing it was obvious a true sub was now in the mix. Mind you this is with my Jeep wide open but in a garage. After installing the driver side I was pretty blown away my just how much bass I could get out of the TB's. I'm still playing around with the xover setting but it generally takes me a week or two to settle on what sounds best.
TB sub vs stock 6.5":
TB sub mounted in passenger side enclosure:
4 wire carrying signal to LOC and then back to speaker:
Amp/LOC mounted in driver's side kick panel area...I need to clean up that wire mess :
Remote bass control mounted under steering wheel:
One thing I've always enjoyed with both car and home audio is to see just how much I can 'get away with'. It's easy to get good bass in any vehicle by simply tossing a pair of quality 10" subs into a decent enclosure and feeding them a lot of power. I find it more fun to try and get good sound out of unconventional designs and to do it as inexpensively as possible. I used to compete in and win autosound comps way back in the late 80's early 90's in the lowest amp class possible (I think it might have been under 90 watts but it could have been under 100...it's been a LONG time).
My requirements for this project were pretty simple. Everything had to look bone stock and I wasn't going to mount anything on the floorboards...it's a jeep and subject to water/mud/etc. Once I realized I could mount 3.5" co-axials in the upper dash and we have sealed speaker pods in the lower dash, I knew I was going to try to find some subs to fit. Enter the Tang Band W5-1138SMF 5.25" sub. I probably could have fit the 6.5" TB W6-1139SI because it's neodymium magnet would have allowed it to fit, but $40/speaker is a lot easier to swallow than $90/speaker .
I used the stock 6.5" speakers as a template to make MDF mounting rings. I knew from test fitting the TB's a couple of weeks ago that I would have to offset the speaker to get them to fit. I used #8x1/4" tee-nuts to mount the TB's to the rings and the stock screws to mount the rings to the enclosures. There is foam weatherstripping btw each for a good seal. I also cut the molex connectors off the stock speakers so I could reuse them to make things more plug and play. The enclosures were peel-n-sealed (poor man's dynamat) and stuffed with dacron.
Since I am sticking with the stock 130 HU I new I would have to use a LOC. Yes, I could have used a high quality DSP unit; but, the goal was to do this as inexpensively as possible. I chose the Scosche LOC90 because it has both a remote turn on to feed to the amp along with a remote bass control. The remote bass control is paramount as the bass in Wranglers is dramatically different when open air as opposed to when buttoned up. The last thing you want to have to do is monkey with your Amp's gain every time you take on/off the top. Anyway, the LOC 90 is only $20 at Walmart and is working as it should; turning my amp on/off whenever it senses a signal to its inputs. It is simply velcro'ed to the top of the amp (not the best idea for the amp's heat dissipation but I'm willing to risk it).
Now the amp. I knew that I wanted it as hidden as possible and NOT on the floorboards. Investigation of possible spots led me to the kick panel area on the driver's side. There is a very small space btw/behind an aluminum bracket that I figured I would be able to mount a tiny amp. I figured I would start with something dirt cheap as this was kind of a proof of concept experiment. So I found the SSL SMCM 200 amp. It's a piece of crap I'm sure but for $30 it meets the requirements: small enough to fit, could handle 2 ohms, and had a low pass xover. It claims to put out 100 watts rms into 2ohms and the TB's are rated at 40watts rms each so it should suffice. When it bites the dust I'll replace with the NVX MVPA1.
So, how does everything sound; pretty freaking great. When installing, I did the passenger side first and listened a bit with just a single sub. It was at that point that I knew this was going to work. With just a single TB sub playing it was obvious a true sub was now in the mix. Mind you this is with my Jeep wide open but in a garage. After installing the driver side I was pretty blown away my just how much bass I could get out of the TB's. I'm still playing around with the xover setting but it generally takes me a week or two to settle on what sounds best.
TB sub vs stock 6.5":
TB sub mounted in passenger side enclosure:
4 wire carrying signal to LOC and then back to speaker:
Amp/LOC mounted in driver's side kick panel area...I need to clean up that wire mess :
Remote bass control mounted under steering wheel: