# Replacing Stock Sub



## Jlee (Jun 30, 2004)

Hi all. New to the board. I would like to replace the stock sub in my 2001 Sentra SE. I would like to put in an amp and 1 or 2 subs. I was looking for some recommendations. I want to keep the stock head unit. My questions are: What are all the wires on the plug for the stock sub for? Can I use some/all of these to hook up an amp? Do I need to use high/low converters on these wires for the amp input? Should I put in 1 sub or 2? Do I need to build a box? I am just looking for decent sound since the stock sub sucks. I don't want to spend a lot of money. Thanks in advance!

Jeff


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## sr20dem0n (Mar 19, 2003)

*What are all the wires on the plug for the stock sub for?*
Power, ground, signal, remote turn on for the amp...I think that's it

*Can I use some/all of these to hook up an amp?*
You can use the remote turn on, that's about it though

*Do I need to use high/low converters on these wires for the amp input?*
Yes (also called a line output converter, www.davidnavone.com), I would use the signal going to the rear speakers to pick this up instead though. The stock sub is lowpassed somewhere, but I don't know at what frequency and I don't know where in the signal path it filters it, so it would be better to use the full range signal going to the rear speakers and just use the lowpass filter built into the amp that you buy

*Should I put in 1 sub or 2?*
It's up to you, I'm a fan of one sub personally because you can get just as loud (just buy one a size larger, so 1 15 instead of 2 12's, or 1 12 instead of 2 10's), it costs nearly half as much for the subs themselves, you need half as much power which costs even less, and it takes up less room.

*Do I need to build a box?*
Yes, if you're handy with a saw it's very easy though

What kind of music do you listen to and what kind of budget are we looking at here?


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## Bumpin (Feb 18, 2003)

I would have to disagree with you my friend. Its not always better to get 1 15 instead of 2 12's. I would pick my 2 12 inch crystals over a 15 any day of the week. When the 15 inch sub has the same amount of power as the 12 inch version, you might as well go with the 12. Smaller box, less room to take up, with the same amount of boom, might not be as low as the 15, but it will be close.


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## sr20dem0n (Mar 19, 2003)

*When the 15 inch sub has the same amount of power as the 12 inch version, you might as well go with the 12*
why? The 12 will be quieter and can't dig as low. A pair of 12's will be slightly louder than a single 15, still can't play as deep normally (unless they're ported, but that's a whole other story), they will cost over twice as much for the subs themselves and for the power to push the pair well, and the box will be larger for 2 12's vs 1 15.

IMO you should always go with the largest sub you're willing to give up the space for (unless you only want something to fill in the low end, then something big would be overkill and a waste of money since you'd never use it). The only exceptions to this that I can think of are 1) if the sub you want is only offered in a 10 or 12, then you can double up to give yourself the displacement that you want, or 2) if you're doing an install in a show car, single subs just look retarded in show cars.

These are just my opinions and no one has to agree with me (my feelings won't be hurt ), it's just what I've decided from looking around, watching people, listening to various systems, etc. It's the same thing as buying 1 "supersub" that will both sound better and get almost as loud as a pair of inferior subs of the same size, even though the total cost and total power sent to the sub(s) stays the same. Or screwing rear speakers and putting that extra money into higher quality front speakers that will end up sounding better and louder than all 4 inferior speakers would.


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## Brandon (Jun 17, 2004)

Sealed boxes go deeper. Ported boxes usually get distored when the sub tries to play below the frequency the box is tuned to.


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## sr20dem0n (Mar 19, 2003)

Brandon said:


> Sealed boxes go deeper.



all depends on the tuning frequency


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