| xcel |
Hi All:
___Purdue1 and I spent a short afternoon installing Polk GNX104’s along with the Parts Express purchased 100 Hz Low Pass Filter 4 Ohm Crossover’s into his 03 Premium and my 03 Touring.
___I hope the pics that follow help out somewhat for the install of the Polk Sub’s into any 01/02/03 X trim.
___As far as improvements are concerned, there was a tremendous improvement in the Bose based Touring! If you don’t believe me, place a Rap disc in the non-upgraded Touring’s head unit and play it for 10 seconds. You will quickly find out that the Bose Sub is simply put, garbage! Purdue1 had a demo disc of Omni and Otherwize – Hammer Dance. The Bose sub sounded like it was completely blown with listening levels at just 3/8 of full volume. When I say completely blown, think of a $10.00 10 W speaker driven to max volume by a 100 W + amp. You simply could not listen to it with all the distortion! With the Polk Sub and Low Pass filter installed, there was a decent thump (seats were shaking ;)) and it sounded good and tight all the way up to at least ¾ max volume. I did not go any further since this was a brand new install. I disconnected the Bose based Touring Sub and Amp completely and played the same track with just the Infinity 6002i’s. It sounded so much better than the distorted mess coming from the Bose Sub! Bose’s setup is so messed up out of the box that I still cannot believe it. Why Acura ever let those yahoos touch the X let alone design the entire sound system for this expensive an automobile is beyond me :8:
___Another important item to consider. Purdue1 has (4) Infiniti 652’s installed into the front and rear doors powered from his Premium’s Alpine Head Unit. They actually sounded better than the Touring’s head unit and amp powering the 6002i’s! In other words, the Premium’s Alpine based head unit and amp sound better than the Bose based setup of the Touring out of the box irregardless of the speakers used! I say this thinking the 652’s vs. the 6002i’s are very similarly constructed. I probably only have 3 to 4 hours of sound on the 6002i’s so there will be an improvement in another 10 to 20 hours of use … In the Touring w/ the Polk Sub/Low Pass Filter installed and powered from the Bose based Amp, bass was slightly tighter w/ a bit more Oomph/Punch then in the Premium w/ Polk Sub/Low Pass Filter installed which is a small consolation.
___We also played that Rap disc with the Polk Sub without the Low Pass Filter installed in the Touring to see if the Filter made an improvement. With this config, the midrange was slightly muddy and sounded worse than the Premium with the Polk sub and Low Pass Filter installed. Simply put, purchase the Low Pass Filter. It works.
___If you have any more questions, feel free to ask. I supplied the wire to wire and wire to speaker connectors. Purdue1 supplied the ¾” veneered plywood/pressboard ring adapter blank, some of the wire to speaker connectors, 3M double sided tape, a length of Blue 16 gauge wire, tools, adapter ring and speaker screws. You will see more on the 16 Gauge wire later.
___Good Luck
___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Hunt Club Farms Landscaping Ltd.
___Waynegerdes@earthlink.net |
|
|
| xcel |
___From left to right: The Alpine from the Premium, Polk GNX104, and the Touring’s Bose along with an adapter blank ….
___Good Luck
___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Hunt Club Farms Landscaping Ltd.
___Waynegerdes@earthlink.net |
|
|
| xcel |
___To make the adapter blank, take your Bose or Alpine Subwoofer out of the X, place it up against a square blank piece of ½ or ¾” plywood of sufficient size to cover the entire sub opening. Trace out the 4 mounting holes and free hand the exterior so that the opening will be completely covered but with very little overlap so that it is not too big. To make the interior trace, follow along the edge of the subs circular exterior. The pic below of the Bose Sub placed up against the blank should give you an idea of how big to make the blank’s exterior. Hopefully you get an idea from this pic with the interior blank already removed.
___Good Luck
___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Hunt Club Farms Landscaping Ltd.
___Waynegerdes@earthlink.net |
|
|
| xcel |
___To make the interior circular cut; drill a hole into the center of the blank. From that hole, use a jig saw and cut from the hole to the interior trace. Make sure you start to curve the jig saw cut as you approach the inner trace because you can’t make 90 degree cuts with a jig saw. Afterwards, follow the trace of the inner circle you created from the sub itself until the interior is completely cut away. If you look closely, you can just see the penciled in trace on the blank being cut.
___Good Luck
___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Hunt Club Farms Landscaping Ltd.
___Waynegerdes@earthlink.net |
|
|
| xcel |
___You only need to make Pilot Holes in the Adapter ring for the Sub to wood connection. The adapter ring holes to attach the ring to the Sub opening in the X needs to be drilled all the way through. A bit of tape around the drill bit will keep you from driving all the way through. Since you are using oversized wood screws in comparison to the pilot holes, you can drill all the way through if you would like.
___Good Luck
___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Hunt Club Farms Landscaping Ltd.
___Waynegerdes@earthlink.net |
|
|
| xcel |
___Place a strip of single sided 3M tape around the X’s Subwoofer opening for a good seal as shown.
___Good Luck
___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Hunt Club Farms Landscaping Ltd.
___Waynegerdes@earthlink.net |
|
|
| xcel |
___Verify your Adapter rings (4) Subwoofer opening holes are cut precisely and that the entire adapter fits properly by placing the adapter ring inside the opening and attach just to make sure … You do not need to countersink the holes as there is plenty of room if you are using a ½ or ¾” adapter ring blank.
___Good Luck
___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Hunt Club Farms Landscaping Ltd.
___Waynegerdes@earthlink.net |
|
|
| xcel |
___If you were to consider installing the Polk into a Premium without the Low Pass Filter, all you need to do is use a Honda-Acura 72-7800 speaker connection adapter. This speaker connection adapter is the same one you would use for the Infinity Front and Rear door installs. See the “6002i Infinity Speaker Install” thread as linked for information on where to purchase this adapter (Best Buy).
___Good Luck
___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Hunt Club Farms Landscaping Ltd.
___Waynegerdes@earthlink.net |
|
|
| xcel |
___To install the Low Pass Filter on the Premium, you will need to use the 72-7800 adapter and lengthen the wiring from the Low Pass Filter to the speaker connectors because of where the Low Pass Filter will attach to in the bottom of the X’s sheet metal behind and under the Sub Opening. You will see more Low Pass Filter attachment tricks below … The Touring’s OEM speaker wiring is slightly different. I will show what is needed for the Touring’s install a few posts down …
___Good Luck
___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Hunt Club Farms Landscaping Ltd.
___Waynegerdes@earthlink.net |
|
|
| xcel |
___The pic below shows us creating wire extensions from the Low Pass Filter to the Subs connectors. The Low Pass Filter comes with 16 Gauge bare wiring on both the input and output ground and powered connectors. It is also wrapped in a weather resistant red plastic wrap that should be left alone. The Ground (-) wire to the Sub is being extended as shown. The Powered (+) wire to the sub needs to be extended as well. You should make both of these extensions > 1’ due to how far down the Low Pass Filter actually lye’s behind and below the Sub Opening. If you will notice, we used 16 Gauge blue wire since we didn’t have any other color 16 Gauge twisted and insulated wire available to us at the time. Just wrap a small piece of black electrical tape around the wire connected to the Ground (-) Black wire so you know which is the ground (-) and which is the Powered (+) wire hanging out of the opening once you install the Low Pass Filter. That is if you run into a similar situation.
___Good Luck
___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Hunt Club Farms Landscaping Ltd.
___Waynegerdes@earthlink.net |
|
|
| xcel |
___Install the double stick 3M tape to the back of the Low Pass Filter. We used some Hydrogen Peroxide although Isopropyl Alcohol would be a better choice to clean both the filters plastic wrap underside and the X’s metal sill that the filter lye’s on for a good solid mate. Since it lye’s on a flat portion of metal behind and below the sub opening, the tape only holds the filter from sliding side to side.
___Good Luck
___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Hunt Club Farms Landscaping Ltd.
___Waynegerdes@earthlink.net |
|
|
| xcel |
___Here is an attempt at explaining why the Premium and Touring installs differ. The Premium uses the 72-7800 Honda-Acura adapters as pictured above. With the Touring, you will use the stock OEM Bose Sub wiring without the Honda-Acura adapter but the Powered (+) wire female connector and the Ground (-) wire female connector are slightly different widths than each other? We purchased 16 - 18 gauge .250” tabbed male connectors from the local Ace Hardware because we didn’t have anything large enough in our bin of various electrical connectors. The (+) female terminal to the Ace purchased male connector was an exact fit but the negative female terminal was to thin. We used a dremel tool to trim the .250” male connector width down to ~ .225” and it fit like a glove ;) The pic below shows how we used the dremel tool for this purpose.
___Good Luck
___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Hunt Club Farms Landscaping Ltd.
___Waynegerdes@earthlink.net |
|
|
| xcel |
___Here is the Touring’s OEM Sub female connectors hanging out of the Sub’s opening. The Red (+) wire and the male connector we purchased was not touched other than mating the two. We did wrap electrical tape around it to insulate the connection after the pic was taken. The Black (-) wire and the modded male connector is shown already attached and insulated with electrical tape. If we had more time, we would have acquired completely insulated connectors for the install as was the case for every other wire to wire, female/male connector, and Sub/Low Pass Filter wiring that was created and or modded. The connections were solid after the crimps of course but it would have been nice if I had the proper sized completely insulated connectors from the start. Ace Hardware does not carry everything in this case :(
___Good Luck
___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Hunt Club Farms Landscaping Ltd.
___Waynegerdes@earthlink.net |
|
|
| xcel |
___Here is what the Polk Sub looks like just before you install the Sub into its final resting place in the Premium. The Low Pass Filter connected to the Honda-Acura wiring adapter to the OEM wiring are all hidden as it should be :) The Touring install looks exactly the same.
___Did anyone notice the black electrical tape we wrapped on the ground wire in the pic? It is only to make sure that we did not wire the sub backwards and get an out of phase setup given the blue wire we used for both the (+) and (-) connections/extensions …
___Good Luck
___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Hunt Club Farms Landscaping Ltd.
___Waynegerdes@earthlink.net |
|
|
| xcel |
___And here is a pic of the Sub being mounted into the OEM opening. The improvement of the Polk over the Bose/Alpine is definitely worth the trouble of installation.
___Good Luck
___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Hunt Club Farms Landscaping Ltd.
___Waynegerdes@earthlink.net |
|
|
| xcel |
___The tools used included a small jig saw for cutting the exterior/interior traces in the wood blank, small drill for the adapter ring holes, small dremel tool although you shouldn’t need it if you have that proper male connector with a 2.0 – 2.25” tab (** Touring only ** as explained above), Philips head screw drivers for the speaker and adapter screws, regular screw driver for popping the speaker grilles off, wire cutters for a few wire trims, wire stripper/cutter/crimper for the various wire strips/crimps to be made, and a scissors to cut electrical and 3M tape with.
___As for the mounting screws, Purdue1 informed me that they consisted of the following: To mount the Ring Adapter to the frame of the X, you will need (4) M5x35mm screws. If you go thicker than ¾” on the adapter ring, purchase screws even longer. For a ½” thick Adapter Ring, M5x30mm would be sufficient. To attach the Polk Subwoofer to Adapter Ring, you will need (8) #8x1/2” wood screws. We also used thin lock and std. washers for the (4) mounting screws.
___For the Touring and Premium Trim electrical connectors, you will need the following:
Premium: (4) 16 Ga. wire to wire connectors, (2) 16 Ga. Female w/ .250” tab connectors, and ~ 4’ of 16 Ga. Insulated twisted wire. Try and acquire insulated connectors from a supply house if at all possible. The final result will look much more professional and cleaner looking with the insulated connectors vs. electrical taped open connectors as you can well imagine.
Touring: (4) 16 Ga. wire to wire connectors, (2) 16 Ga. Male w/ .250” tab connectors, (2) 16 Ga. Female w/ .250” tab connectors, and ~ 4’ of 16 Ga. Insulated twisted wire. I suggest insulated connectors for the Touring as with the Premium.
___Always purchase a few extra electrical connectors, screws, washers, lock washers etc. because you never know if you will drop one or more in the grass never to be seen again ;)
___Good Luck
___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Hunt Club Farms Landscaping Ltd.
___Waynegerdes@earthlink.net |
|
|
| xcel |
___And finally, two AcuraMDX.org members that are now good friends :29:
PS: My X hasn’t been washed in over 2 weeks whereas Purdue1’s was just Zaino’ed and looked absolutely pristine … I was slightly embarrassed ;)
___Good Luck
___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Hunt Club Farms Landscaping Ltd.
___Waynegerdes@earthlink.net |
|
|
| mdxxxx |
Outstanding work... Nice job xcel and Purdue
:claphead: |
|
|
| EXCALIBUR |
xcel,
Great step-by-step instructions and nice pics to follow along with. I'm glad your project went well and made an improvement in the enjoyment of your stereo system.:29: |
|
|
| BaldEagle |
Great job and post Wayne and Purdue.:29:
This thread will be a great help for anyone doing this modification in the future.
Can the same upgrade be done to the touring Bose system? |
|
|
| hammermdx |
| Great job guys and excellent pictures with detailed instructions! |
|
|
| xcel |
Hi BaldEagle:
___You certainly can. The Quartz interior pics are from my Touring w/ the Polk Sub upgrade being installed. The Ebony interior pics are Purdue1’s Premium w/ the Polk Sub upgrade being installed.
___Now that I have had time to sleep on it, the entire 6002i’s Front/Rear w/ Polk sub and LP Filter upgrade still only meets 70% of where a competition or even a professionally designed and installed system needs to be. What it does help with however is from being embarrassed whenever you run into music that outputs any kind of serious low frequency sound … The bass distortion produced by the Touring’s Bose based sound system during the RAP music track was really eye opening as well as embarrassing. Embarrassing is a kind description given Purdue1 and myself actually owned the X’s!
___I believe what Bose did was take an extremely minimalist Honda/Acura MDX OEM budget (probably around $250.00 for the amps, speakers, head unit, and harness) and tune the output for proper equalization across the band at low listening levels. It is just so sad that the entire system sounds so poor given what we pay for the X and the upgraded Touring w/ Bose setup vs. what just about every other automobile manufacturer offers with a Premium Sound based system :( The ~ $200.00 in total - Polk Sub, Parts Express - Low Pass Filter, Honda/Acura speaker wiring adapters, and (4) Infinity 6002i’s brought the X up to the $250.00 upgraded JBL system in my friends Taurus but that is about all. Why Honda/Acura didn’t give us this simple upgrade in a Premium priced Bose setup to begin with is simply astonishing.
___What’s next? An Alpine 5-channel MRV-F450 Amp to fix the sound once and for all. To get the Sub to thump, you really have to crank the head unit to > 50% which is well beyond my normal listening levels … I will remove the 100 Hz low pass when I install it. After that, some kind of separate tweeter install for an image from the stock tweeter locations possibly.
___Good Luck
___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Hunt Club Farms Landscaping Ltd.
___Waynegerdes@earthlink.net |
|
|
| phins2rt |
xcel,
Will you be doing the amp install yourself (if you go that route)? I would love to see pics and a description of that. That is my next addition to the sound system if it isn't too difficult. Thanks.
Great pics by the way of the sub install.:29: |
|
|
| duffin |
For those looking for a pre-cut acryllic installation ring, I have two left that are slightly less than perfect that I will sell cheap.
One has all the mounting holes pre-drilled. The one exception is a hole that is used to mount the ring to the MDX is slightly off. You will need to re-drill the hole. Once done, this area will look like something like a binocular view. $25
The second one has all the holes drilled, but there is a crack running through one of the holes where it mounts to the MDX. A little caulk should mend it find during installation. $20.
Shipping for either will range between $6.5 to $10 depending on where you are.
If you are looking for a newly manufactured ring, I can produce them for $50, plus shipping.
Email me if interested: markus@duffin.com
Thanks!
Markus |
|
|
| F1 Tech |
| You make it look so easy!! I might just have to give it a try! |
|
|
| X_Tucker |
Having lurked through this thread and Markable's 6002i speaker install thread, I too have sequentially swapped out the front speakers, rear speakers, added base blockers and lastly the Polk sub. While each change brought marginal improvement, it was not until the entire "system" was in place that one could conclude that the modifications resulted in a significant improvement. Now that the project is completed (and the speakers broken in), it was a very worthwhile investment.
When researching SUVs, this board was a great resource. In fact the supportive nature of the participants went a long way toward convincing me that the "brand image" of the MDX reflected my family's values. Take a look at the X5 boards for some psychopathic interchanges.
Many thanks for the good work. |
|
|
| duffin |
Is anyone with me that the bass blockers in the doors are too much unless the aftermarket sub is amplified by something other than the factory Bose amp?
I took out the base blockers and now hear more mid-range and some base in the doors. Before it was like a Jamacian tin can band.
Next step for me is to figure out how to amp just the Polk sub. |
|
|
| koolkat1973 |
I jsut ordered the Audiocontrol EQS Series II off of Ebay to add to my existing system. It should really help the dynamics of the sound greatly in my X. For those who dont already know, I have already swapped out all the speakers and the sub in my X. I have an Alpine 4 channel amp... two channels running the front speakers, and the other two bridged to run the Polk sub. The rear speakers is still being run by the bose amp. I will let you know how it sounds with after the Audiocontrol EQS is install.
Kiet |
|
|
| csimo |
OK I've completed my audio upgrade... or at least what I had planned as being completed. I put the Infinity 6002i speakers in all four doors, and a Polk GNX10DVC sub in the back with a second order filter.
I like the door speakers... they're doing the best they can. No complaints at all there.
The Polk sub has the proper filtering (I put in a butterworth)... no highs or mids make it to the sub at all, but the little Bose amp just doesn't have enough power to drive the Polk. I tried the Polk at both 4 and 2 ohms and it is much better at 2 ohms, but it's still very weak. Needs about 100 - 125 more watts to make it come to life. I would estimate the Bose amp at 20 real life watts.
My next step will be to add an amp. I'm dreading running a power cable all the way back. I'm wondering if there's a power cable already running toward the back that the trailer wiring harness would connect to. I have not seen this wire harness and don't know if it goes all the way up front or connects toward the back or not. Just an idea. |
|
|
| shootist |
quote:
Originally posted by csimo
.... I'm dreading running a power cable all the way back. I'm wondering if there's a power cable already running toward the back that the trailer wiring harness would connect to. I have not seen this wire harness and don't know if it goes all the way up front or connects toward the back or not. Just an idea.
Sure- you could use the trailer harness, but then you'd only turn the amp on when you stepped on the brakes, turned on the turn signals, or lit up the parking lights!
When you're putting in an amp, you want a nice fat wire to conduct those 15 or 20 amps, anyway. That's the disadvantage of 12 volts. |
|
|
| jj2 |
| Is that Polk sub a free air model or sealed? If its a sealed model, how does it sound in an open enclosure. The reason is that I have a Boston Pro 10.5 sub but it requires a sealed enclosure, just wondering if its worth my while putting it in the stock location. Not sure if it will sound good in an open enclosure. |
|
|
| R Stevens |
jj2,
I replied to your question in the other thread. I was told by my installer that if the Boston Pro 10.5 is used in an open (rather than sealed) enclosure it will destroy itself. |
|
|
| jj2 |
xcel,
What kind of foam padding did you put behind the sub? Where can you get that stuff.
thanks |
|
|
| pacpal1 |
FYI, I've been using a Boston Acoustics 10.5LF for a few months now. I did not manufacture a custom enclosure. However, I did take the time to plug the few holes I could find in the MDX's stock subwoofer cavity...you'll have to remove the interior panel to locate them...there's just a few and they're not very large...I used liberal amounts of Dynamat to plug the holes. Since the subwoofer cavity is larger than the 0.75 cubic feet recomended for the 10.5LF, I also tightly stuffed the cavity with LOTS of fiberfill. I'm powering the subwoofer with a 2 x 110 watt amplifier bridged to mono...so, per the manufacturer's specs (which are reputed to be conservative), i'm putting out 370 watts into one channel bridged mono.
This approach was recomended to me by two installers (both focus on very high end systems). The woofer sounds great...all of my equipment is very high end and I am a critical listener. However, I don't listen to rap music, but that doesn't mean the music I listen to lacks bass! Anyway, just for fun, I know someone who I can borrow a couple rap discs from...I'll give them a listen and let you know how the woofer holds up. |
|
|
| jj2 |
pacpal1,
I'm going to try that with my boston pro. Just a couple of questions if you don't mind. Where can I get Dynamat to? Also, are you still using the factory headunit?
thanks |
|
|
| pacpal1 |
You can get Dynamat at any car stereo store. I've also seen discussion on this website regarding low cost alternatives designed for construction use that may be available at Home Depot or Lowes.
I'm using an aftermarket head unit (Alpine 9813) and an Alpine G ERE 180 11 band graphic equalizer mounted in the dash. See a post of my dashboard install under the thread that discusses the Metra dash faceplate kit.
FYI, I strongly beleive that you (and all other MDX owners who have removed BOTH Bose amps) should reverse the phasing of your subwoofer (i.e., reverse the polarity of your subwoofer speaker wires relative to all the door mounted speakers). I've tested this on my system...reversing the phasing signifcantly improves and smoothes out bass response.
The theory behind this is that if a subwoofer is mounted far away from all the other speakers in a car stereo system, its sound waves arrive in your ears at a different point in the wavelength. With low frequency sound arriving from the subwoofer and all the other door mounted midrange woofers at various points in the wavelength, they can effectively cancel each other out, depending on the distances involved and the car interior acoustics. Since we're all playing with MDXs, I beleive that if reversing the polarity on my subwoofer improves bass response, this should be the case for all MDX owners. In the event there are any Alpine owners out there, I'll acknowledge that my Alpine head unit incorporates some unique time delay features designed to accomplish the same thing, however, because I'm running my signal through an in dash Alpine G ERE180 11 band graphic equalizer, I can't utilize some of the time delay functions of my Alpine 9813 head unit.
In addition, this reverse polarity issue should even apply to those who have retained the Bose head unit and replaced both Bose amplifiers. I'm stating this now in the event someone posts a reply proposing that the highly engineered Bose system may possess design features that adjust the phasing of the woofer's output, given the advanced state of circuitry used by Bose engineers. I've removed and examined all the factory installed stereo equipment from my MDX, and my guess is that the head unit that comes with the Bose option (mfg. by Panasonic) is an off-the shelf Panasonic unit that doesn't incorporate any proprietary Bose circuitry. I beleive that any proprietary Bose circuitry is located only in the two Bose amplifiers. However, if you're only replacing the subwoofer amp, then I advise you compare your system's bass response with the subwoofer in regular and reverse phasing, since it's possible, but in my opinion, highly unlikely, that Bose has actually included some time delay features in one, or both of its amps.
Let me know how things go for you. |
|
|
| RonH |
This may have been asked somewhere before (provided it's not a stupid question) but I didn't see it. Anyway, I just purchased the 6002i's for the doors and I'm now looking at the GNX104.
That said, I'm also seriously thinking about putting a mono amp on it. I was looking at the electrical schematics of the OEM Bose setup and was curious if I can use the trigger wire (the White/Red one on pin 1-1) coming off the "Rear Stereo Amplifier Relay" to turn an aftermarket on and off with the radio? This would keep me front having to put in some kind of manual switch.
If not, any other suggestions? I've been out of the car audio scene for a good while so I'm pretty out of touch.
Thanks!! |
|
|
| alluu |
Great thread. I just did the polk gnx install and this thread was very helpful. Although the guys at circuitcity didn't really know too much cause I asked them if they had the crossover filter and they were like what. I even showed them the picture and they were like we never seen that before. Picked up the sub at circuitcity for $60 on sale.
I just suprised at the quality of the Bose sub. That sub/speaker probably cost $10 or less. I have noticed a small improvement with the sub replacement although an amp would really do the trick. Doing the 6002i replacement this week once the speakers come in.
My friend who is a shop guy made the donut for me and since he is architect everything had to be measured out precisely and it took a little longer than I wanted to but it fits and works great. He made a bunch of donuts if anyone is interested. Just send me an email. |
|
|
| DaleB |
quote:
Originally posted by alluu
Great thread. I just did the polk gnx install and this thread was very helpful. Although the guys at circuitcity didn't really know too much cause I asked them if they had the crossover filter and they were like what. I even showed them the picture and they were like we never seen that before. Picked up the sub at circuitcity for $60 on sale.
I just suprised at the quality of the Bose sub. That sub/speaker probably cost $10 or less. I have noticed a small improvement with the sub replacement although an amp would really do the trick. Doing the 6002i replacement this week once the speakers come in.
My friend who is a shop guy made the donut for me and since he is architect everything had to be measured out precisely and it took a little longer than I to but it fits and works great. He made a bunch of donuts if anyone is interested. Just send me an email.
I had my adapter made at a plastic fab shop. Your offer is most generous for those looking for this mod.
I agree, an amp would really make it pump. I doubt a dog would chase the Bose if you could throw it as a frisbee.
The 6002i will really make you a believer. Not that the Infinity is the only good replacement, but replacing the stock ones is a huge leap.
Let us know what you decide on the amp. Considering the same myself.
If you get an amp, and want to find an installer I think you could do better than CC. It is too dependent on the experience of the particular installer they have employed. Better to pay even a little more and go to a custom shop where you can see all the bimmers and Mercedes being worked on, as well as the 'kids' with the competition road thunder. Find recommendations through friends, etc....are you not in the Bay Area? jeezzz put your location. :4: |
|
|
| RonH |
Having put the 6002s in last w/e, I spent this afternoon putting in the Polk 10. Yeesh! All I can say is that without an amp, it's almost as useless as the bose. If you ask me, it's actually worse. Figure it's becuase I went from 2ohm to 4ohm. Oh well, the amp is on order and should be here this week sometime. Guess I'll spend next w/e installing that. :)
FYI - apparently the GNX line has been retired by Polk. It's all but impossible to find the 10 around here ... had to drive 50 miles out to get one ... even Crutchfield dropped (or sold out of) them. All the new model Polk's are too deep to install ... and of the replacements I found that would fit, none matched the specs of the GNX. Bottom line ... if you're thinking about it, get to it. :D |
|
|
| JMT2003 |
Thanks to xcel and this site, my wife persuaded me (like I really needed any persuasion) to attempt the Polk GNX upgrade. She also convinced me to install some infinity’s. I feel like that child during Christmas, just can’t wait to play with the new toys. The install will take place in the next day or two.
Thanks to this thread, I feel confident my install will be flawless.
But, of course, there is one question I have concerning the complimentary low pass filter the salesman granted me.
I will post a few pics…
Have you ever seen a low pass like this, one that only connects to the positive side? This thing is very heavy and is about the size of a small spool of speaker wire. My gut feeling is to purchase an alternative from radio shack.
Any additional input will be appreciated.
:) |
|
|
| RonH |
WOW! :eek: I haven't seen a coil like that for over a decade. Think the last time I used one like that was in my 87 GTA.
I remember mounting them by removing that center bolt, and using a longer one to screw it onto the PB mount.
At least the price was right. |
|
|
| phins2rt |
JMT2003,
I have a left over I would be willing to sell you that I got from Parts Express. It would include the 400 ferad(?) resistor as well. This will essentially produce a 140hz low pass filter. PM me if interested. |
|
|
| JMT2003 |
phins2rt, thanks for the offer, but I’ll adjust to the new sound for now before any more changes. I went ahead with the install after chatting with an installer from Premier Auto Sound. He assured me that it wasn’t needed; that Acura had that taken care of. He also mentioned that anything added to the line would rob the unit of power.
First impressions… Overall, an enhanced sound system with clear highs and thumping bass. :D
Installed the woofer on a ¾ inch particleboard without low pass filter. Woofer install time was about 45 minutes with most of that time spent on the jigsaw.
Each infinity speaker took an amazing 3 minutes.
I would like to thank all of you who contribute to this forum. I would never have attempted this without your input. |
|
|
| bbalestier |
quote:
Originally posted by xcel
Hi All:
___Purdue1 and I spent a short afternoon installing Polk GNX104’s along with the Parts Express purchased 100 Hz Low Pass Filter 4 Ohm Crossover’s into his 03 Premium and my 03 Touring.
___I hope the pics that follow help out somewhat for the install of the Polk Sub’s into any 01/02/03 X trim.
___As far as improvements are concerned, there was a tremendous improvement in the Bose based Touring! If you don’t believe me, place a Rap disc in the non-upgraded Touring’s head unit and play it for 10 seconds. You will quickly find out that the Bose Sub is simply put, garbage! Purdue1 had a demo disc of Omni and Otherwize – Hammer Dance. The Bose sub sounded like it was completely blown with listening levels at just 3/8 of full volume. When I say completely blown, think of a $10.00 10 W speaker driven to max volume by a 100 W + amp. You simply could not listen to it with all the distortion! With the Polk Sub and Low Pass filter installed, there was a decent thump (seats were shaking ;)) and it sounded good and tight all the way up to at least ¾ max volume. I did not go any further since this was a brand new install. I disconnected the Bose based Touring Sub and Amp completely and played the same track with just the Infinity 6002i’s. It sounded so much better than the distorted mess coming from the Bose Sub! Bose’s setup is so messed up out of the box that I still cannot believe it. Why Acura ever let those yahoos touch the X let alone design the entire sound system for this expensive an automobile is beyond me :8:
___Another important item to consider. Purdue1 has (4) Infiniti 652’s installed into the front and rear doors powered from his Premium’s Alpine Head Unit. They actually sounded better than the Touring’s head unit and amp powering the 6002i’s! In other words, the Premium’s Alpine based head unit and amp sound better than the Bose based setup of the Touring out of the box irregardless of the speakers used! I say this thinking the 652’s vs. the 6002i’s are very similarly constructed. I probably only have 3 to 4 hours of sound on the 6002i’s so there will be an improvement in another 10 to 20 hours of use … In the Touring w/ the Polk Sub/Low Pass Filter installed and powered from the Bose based Amp, bass was slightly tighter w/ a bit more Oomph/Punch then in the Premium w/ Polk Sub/Low Pass Filter installed which is a small consolation.
___We also played that Rap disc with the Polk Sub without the Low Pass Filter installed in the Touring to see if the Filter made an improvement. With this config, the midrange was slightly muddy and sounded worse than the Premium with the Polk sub and Low Pass Filter installed. Simply put, purchase the Low Pass Filter. It works.
___If you have any more questions, feel free to ask. I supplied the wire to wire and wire to speaker connectors. Purdue1 supplied the ¾” veneered plywood/pressboard ring adapter blank, some of the wire to speaker connectors, 3M double sided tape, a length of Blue 16 gauge wire, tools, adapter ring and speaker screws. You will see more on the 16 Gauge wire later.
___Good Luck
___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Hunt Club Farms Landscaping Ltd.
___Waynegerdes@earthlink.net
:12: :29: Thank you.
Is there any aftermarket mounting rings that I can purchase anywhere?
Your info was a great help to me.:6: |
|
|
| xcel |
Hi Bbalestier:
___Just make sure you consider a real amp for this … I said it made a heck of an improvement because when listening to that Rap disc of Purdue1’s with the stock BOZO sub, it sounded absolutely un-listenable. After the Polk Sub swap, you could listen to it but to get any bass, you really need to be up the volume scale quite a bit. Far beyond normal listening levels imho.
___Good Luck
___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Hunt Club Farms Landscaping Ltd.
___Waynegerdes@earthlink.net |
|
|
| bbalestier |
I have Single CD not BOZO.
Does this matter?:awais: |
|
|
| crs051767 |
Hi guys! I am fairly new to the forum, but I've been busy reading the threads on the Polk sub and Infiniti's. After all that reading I do have a couple of questions:
1. Given the case that the sub comes in both 2 and 4 ohm flavors, which one would you recommend?
2. I know that everybody else is going for the 10-incher, but I think I can fit a 12-inch in there if I make a different adapter ring, given the case that both Polk subs have the same specs. Any comments on this?
3. I've heard a lot of people complain about the bass response on the Infiniti's (both in here and in CarDomain.com). I was thinking maybe I could fit some 6 3/4" in there instead of the factory 6 1/2". I am looking at the Pioneer REV TS-D170R, the Pioneer TS-A1780R and the Polk DB Series DB675. What do you guys think?
Thanks in advance... |
|
|
| bbalestier |
:awais:
Wait Stick with a 10" and read my post on this site.
Save your money.
Peace. |
|
|
| papester |
Okay,
I'm about ready to install my Polk DVC sub and have a question regarding what others are doing.
If you use the Low Pass filter and it is a 4 ohm version, I would think that you would want to use the Polk configured for 4 ohms also so the net result would be 2 ohms. Is my thinking correct, or doe the filters impedance not matter and I should configure the Polk as a 2 ohm sub?
If I add an external amp on my Bose system, has anybody used the speaker level as inputs to their new amp?
Judd |
|
|
| phins2rt |
papester,
You are right. If you are using the 4 ohm sub use a 4 ohm filter. If you are wiring it to be 2 ohm, make a 2 ohm filter. The filter does not do anything to the impedence but you have to match the filter to the impedence.
IMHO, I would bypass the Bose amps if you are going to use an external amp. I think you will get a cleaner signal using a low level signal instead of a high level signal from the speaker wires. Just my $.02. Good luck. |
|
|
| dhorter |
Is the Bose Amp for the subwoofer out of the head unit or is it external, i.e. easy to get to without having to rip off the dash :D
Has anyone upgraded and put an external amp in? I have a Pioneer Amp with a 10" boxed subwoofer that I had in my previous car and was thinking about trying to use the speaker leads as the input for the amp. It has a built in crossover. But I was wondering if anyone else has done this and if there is an easy way to get power to it without running a 16g from the battery back.
Thanks!
Dennis |
|
|
| degoon |
The Blose amp is separate from the Head unit. It's at the bottom of the center console next to the passenger seat, so remove that panel and your ready go. Lot's of pics of this on this forum.
As for your other question...
SUBWOOFER - I've got an Xtant A1044 10" sub in the factory location. It has a mounting dept of 5 1/8" if I remember correctly and fit without a problem. I chose this sub because it had relatively high Qts (0.73), decent power handling, and the limited mounting depth that the factory location provides. In my opinion, it sounded more accurate throught the low frequency range than the popular Polk GNX.
SPEAKERS - I also had the Blose speakers in the front doors replaced with the Dynaudio System 240GT set. They fit in factory location very well. Dynamat was applied on the door only around the speaker area, but I think it's sufficient for me. Chose these components because they fit my taste. Clear, smooth, warm, detailed, blah, blah, you get the point.
AMPLIFIER - To run all the new speakers, I've got my trusty Soundstream Reference 705s. It is actually a 5 channel amp that I'm running in 3 channel mode. Has built in low-pass x-over for the sub and high-pass x-over for the front components. Chose this amp 4 years ago for another vehicle, but its working great in this application as well. Very musical, yet delivers plenty of power.
As for the wiring... new all around. Power was 4ga all the way from the battery to the rear storage compartment. I don't think there's any other way if you need the juice to power any decent amp.
Factory rear speakers are still running off of the factory amps. With the gains on the Soundstream set properly, the rear speakers provide just enough ambience, but don't attract attention to themselves (unless you're sitting in the rear seat).
Sorry no pics as I left the car with my installer for 2 days while I was out of town. |
|
|
| degoon |
| Oops forgot to mention... I've got some serious rattles coming from the back side panels in the trunk area, especially near the sub. The metal that our spacers mount the sub to is really flimsy and does flex quite a bit when the sub is pumpin. If you can give up the space and go with a box, I think it's the best option. |
|
|
| phins2rt |
quote:
Originally posted by dhorter
Is the Bose Amp for the subwoofer out of the head unit or is it external, i.e. easy to get to without having to rip off the dash :D
Has anyone upgraded and put an external amp in? I have a Pioneer Amp with a 10" boxed subwoofer that I had in my previous car and was thinking about trying to use the speaker leads as the input for the amp. It has a built in crossover. But I was wondering if anyone else has done this and if there is an easy way to get power to it without running a 16g from the battery back.
Thanks!
Dennis
dhorter,
The amp for the sub is in the rear in the sub's compartment. It's about the size of a deck of cards. I would agree with degoon and replace at least the fronts and sub and run an external amp to all of them. Good luck. |
|
|
| dhorter |
Thanks for all the great help! You guys are the best! Still haven't decided if I'm going to put just a 10" sub in or if I'm going to put my box in. It sure would be nice to have the extra room, it was always a pain in the but to take it out everytime I needed to haul something.
I'll get some digital pictures when I tackle this and post it to the group. Probably next weekend at the soonest.
Thanks!
Dennis
-------
'04 MDX Sagebrush Touring w/ Nav, '04 BSM, Moonroof Visor |
|
|
|
