best rockford fosgate amp for oem sub

[EdwardChen]

Lorez,

I think Audiophyle is referring to 4 more capable speakers as the 4 6.5" Polk drivers in the doors, each amplified by the amp.

I definitely agree that amplifying your door speakers are a better use of wattage than the sub, although I personally would probably do what you're saying, amplifying the fronts and using the last two channels for the sub.

Either way, the 4 channel amp gives you a lot more flexibility than a mono.

[Audiophyle]

Lol, yes what I mean is amplify the 4 new speakers in lieu of amplifying the sub.
Yes they will very easily overshadow the oem sub, which is the point
You would have 4 6.5" speakers vs 1 6.5" speaker playing much louder bass, because the Polks will play louder & lower than the OEM sub when amplified at 75w rms.

I think the big hangup is the fact its designated as a "subwoofer" and have a ported box people tend to forget its still only a 6.5". It will not play super low bass, and if you compare the oem sub to a polk 6.5" the sub will win because it has an enclosure (which makes a big difference) BUT if you compare that oem sub to FOUR Polk 6.5's, it has no chance in hell of competing. So you could replace the OEM sub by amplifying the other speakers and get more bass from the Polks than you can from the oem sub with more power.

You could also run the 4ch to the fronts & the rears to the sub like you mentioned, and isnt a terrible idea either. The 4ch amp cannot be bridged, but neither than the OEM amp. You would hook each rear channel to each of the sub's voice coils just like the OEM setup was done, and then run a summed (mono) signal into the amp's rear inputs.
That would actually get you the same power to the sub as the 300.1 (75w x2 vs 150w x1) but would also get more bass & volume out of the fronts by amping them with the other 2 75w channels. The rears wont be very loud, but they dont do anything anyway. (who cares about rear passengers, they can hear the fronts just fine too)

[Rob Dobbs]

What he said, the 6.5" sub is the same size as the door speakers, Mikes mod or not, there is no getting around that. Decent proper powered aftermarket door speakers will deem the wimpy OEM sub useless. Think of it as in old days terms where thin paper speakers were replaced with a good pair of 6x9's and it blew the doors off.

With the work on my own system and keeping the factory sub enclosure with an upgraded 6.5" sub receiving proper power, its still washed out by the proper door speakers even with the pair of 10" woofers stealth mounted in the spare tire cavity turned off. After all that work to get the 6.5" upgraded and running, I now know for fact it was a waste of time and money.

If your not looking for serious bass, invest in capable door speakers and an amp to power them and a head unit that will get the signal to the speakers that pleases your ear. In the end, for many thats the end goal. Some sealing of the cabin, dampening of the panels and such is a great way to improve the sound as well.

I hate seeing people invest time and money in a system then doing it again and again. A good friend did this for decades until realizing he was being stubborn. We set him up with a proper system, he was ecstatic, then he sold the car to lease an Audi, with a factory system. He gave up at that moment with upgrades, lol.

[LoRezSkyline]

Originally Posted by EdwardChen

I think Audiophyle is referring to 4 more capable speakers as the 4 6.5" Polk drivers in the doors, each amplified by the amp.

Bingo. Got it - my bad, misunderstood his post!

Man, I wish there weren't eight million different ways to set up a system!

I've got a decent head unit and door speakers I'm happy with, just wanted a little boost in sound (bass in particular) without dropping a ton of cash or giving up cargo space. I was thinking putting in that RF PBR300x1 and the OEM sub would be the best way to accomplish that, but now you all have me second-guessing things. It seems like the general consensus is that the best bang for my buck would be:

1) Not installing the OEM sub at all and using an RF PBR300x4 to drive all four Polks in the doors
2) Installing the OEM sub and using an RF PBR300x4 with one channel to drive each of the front Polks and two channels to drive the OEM sub

Either way, I wish I could just hear all the options and know what I'll end up with but that's not possible! I appreciate you guys chipping in your input, now just gotta decide which way to go with this thing

[SRLNCLT]

Being that this thread got way off topic, let get it back on topic.
I'm installing the oem ex sub in my 03 dx. I want the amp to fit where the stock amp goes. What is the best rf amp for this? What is the stock sub rated? Peak and rms. What are the measurements of the stock amp? Thanks!

[Rob Dobbs]

why are you so set on an Fosgate amp? Just curious.

For an idea of the size of the oem 7 speaker amp, there it is behind the oem head unit next to the oem 6.5" speakers.


and here is the oem 6.5" sub

[Audiophyle]

Originally Posted by SRLNCLT

Being that this thread got way off topic, let get it back on topic.
I'm installing the oem ex sub in my 03 dx. I want the amp to fit where the stock amp goes. What is the best rf amp for this? What is the stock sub rated? Peak and rms. What are the measurements of the stock amp? Thanks!

Originally Posted by Audiophyle

The Fosgate amp is very close in size to the OEM, and could very well fit in its location; however the Fosgate PBRs run very hot and I would not put it in such a cramped location.

Way off topic? Your question had been answered and the thread progressed onward. The PBR300.1 is their smallest option, it is VERY close in size to the OEM, but use in OEM location at your own risk. (again, they run hot)

The OEM sub doesnt really have a published power rating, nor does a power rating even really mean anything anyway. The OEM amp pushes around 22w rms to each voice coil, so roughly a 45w rms sub? You will be hard pressed to find a replacment amp that pushes less than that, so just get the smallest amp you can & call it a day.



Now to get back to the "off topic"
LoRezSkyline get the 300.4 & you will have the most options for testing.
Run it as is with 2ch from the 300.4 on the oem sub & the others off the deck (2ch unused on amp). That will be the same as if you had the 300.1 hooked up to it.
Then hook the fronts to the 300.4 so fronts & sub are amp'd.
Then unhook sub & just run all four speakers off the 300.4 and note all changes in the sound. Pick the best result you saw & report back to everyone on here.

[SRLNCLT]

Originally Posted by Audiophyle

Way off topic? Your question had been answered and the thread progressed onward. The PBR300.1 is their smallest option, it is VERY close in size to the OEM, but use in OEM location at your own risk. (again, they run hot)

The OEM sub doesnt really have a published power rating, nor does a power rating even really mean anything anyway. The OEM amp pushes around 22w rms to each voice coil, so roughly a 45w rms sub? You will be hard pressed to find a replacment amp that pushes less than that, so just get the smallest amp you can & call it a day.

Thanks! I appreciate the answers! Seriously!

[Rob Dobbs]

Originally Posted by SRLNCLT

Thanks! I appreciate the answers! Seriously!

Seriously, no joke, try good set of after market 6.5 door speakers and if that doesnt get to where you want to be THEN look into doing the sub. And then at that point if your after a place to mount an amp just put it under the passenger seat. It will be completely 100% out of the way.
Here is the amp powering an upgraded 6.5" sub in a factory enclosure in my E. The seats were removed to do a proper install, the next picture shows the seat all the way forward. Its not visible unless the seat is in that location. I should also add that the little blue light on the Alpine amp lights the passenger foot well just enough at night to see the outline of the floor.

[the_fourth]

As I am in the process of doing an audio system upgrade, I can attest to the futility of trying to add power to the stock sub.

I recently installed a RF R600-5 amp, and I had to disconnect the wires to my four aftermarket door speakers to detect the output from the sub. As stated above, four powered aftermarket door speakers simply overpower the output of the stock sub.

At this point I am looking at other options for some extra bass. I really like the idea and placement of the stealthbox but a 500W woofer under the dash seems like a recipe for vibrations, oh, and it's $500

At this point I'll entertain any suggestions.