Swapping sub... again

[Hilfloskind]

I recently installed an RF Punch 8" sub in the factory Shaker Pro enclosure. I went through the RF recommended break-in period before turning up the bass. Now that the break-in period is over, I'm finding the RF to be pretty lackluster. At higher volumes, it distorts and almost farts as it hits bass notes. Barely an improvement over stock at normal volumes, plus the flappy farting type action at higher bass levels is definitely not acceptable.

Suffice to say, I'm in the process of returning the sub and replacing it with a Pioneer TS-SW2002D2 8" 2 ohm DVC sub from Sonic Electronix. With the RF Punch, I added polyfill which definitely seemed to help, but I'm wondering if I should take it a step further when I do the Pioneer swap.

My thought was to either Dynamat the exterior of the enclosure, the interior, or both. Has anyone tried doing so with the factory enclosure? I have a fair amount of it left over after doing speaker swaps. I wouldn't imagine this would serve any benefit with an MDF/fiberglass enclosure, but perhaps with a plastic one like ours it might.

Thoughts?

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[trusaleen1]

Just look for a used JL Audio Stealthbox, you’ll never be happy with the factory enclosure.

 

[Hilfloskind]

Just look for a used JL Audio Stealthbox, you’ll never be happy with the factory enclosure.

Doesn't fix a convertible, unfortunately.

 

[FreePenguin]

Make it fit.

I don’t see why you can’t trim the box section that doesn’t fit.

Then reseal the box

It’s just fiberglass, you can just refibeeglass it

 

[Hilfloskind]

Fair point. Not familiar with working with fiberglass though, so I'd be a bit worried about messing up. At this point, just getting some decent bass SQ to match the speaker swaps for the rest of the car (which really woke the factory 12 speaker system up immensely) will satisfy me. The bass from the interior 6.5s is really improving over time due to the break in period being past 2 weeks now, with only short drives for essentials, so I'm expecting it to continue to improve over time. Swapping the factory sub and eventually the stock sub amp to match the upgraded woofer should really be a nice finishing touch.

 

[FreePenguin]

adding jl box is involving though, because then you need dedicated amp, and running wires etc. lc2i probably, so for you. you got 2 options, toss a new sub in the box, or get that bo box you want. if its plug and play.

I didn't have an sub, so for me, it was ideal to get the best version I could, but if you already have all the wiring etc, id try and stay oem I guess.


but. before you do any of this, id try one more thing. buy a forescan dongle, and disable the factory EQ- makes the music signal flat and gets rid of the bass roll off, and disables false engine noise.

your music will play louder, cleaner, and have more bass, without you doing a darn thing other than changing 2 numbers. I was all bout swapping speakers, a massive system etc..

I hated stock bass/speakers, I changed the 1 code, and bam. it brought an entirely new life to my cars audio. sounded so much better, and it actually had bass (before I added JL box) I got the box for 400 bucks, so I saw zero reason to not do it.

 

[Hilfloskind]

@FreePenguin already did the FORScan EQ change and removed the ANC module from the dome light. I removed the ANC before doing my muffler delete, which I noticed helped SQ all by itself. The FORScan EQ change was also a huge help. I drove it once after doing the speaker upgrades prior to doing the EQ change so I could hear the before and after...huge difference!

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