Speakers

[Bigws]

• Ok so as everyone knows this is a fantastic set of speakers, however the fallout of that is that they have been discontinued and if you happen to blow out the subwoofer like I did a few months back your out of luck for finding a new one for cheap.

 

• I did a bit of research after I blew it and found that JL audio has a nice 10inch Ohm sub that is rated 150-300 watts.
• This of course means that the it’s a perfect replacement for the old sub.

 

• The drawback is that it has a different sized surround than the original sub so here is a little guide to get this guy to fit to and allow you to turn your speakers up to boost  11 without any fear of your sub blowing.

 

• The first thing you need to do is pick up a few supplies.
•  
• 1x JL Audio 10W1v2-8 which is about $130 from multiple different places.
• 1x  A piece of 3/4" MDF wood (used to make subwoofer boxes) a sheet of this is around $30 bucks
• 1x box of 2-3 inch wood screws...you only need 12 of them (8 for the sub 4 to hold the wood to the old box.
• 1x tube of sealer...you can use gorilla glue or something like that if you wish but i used just some window sealer i had lying around.

 

• The first step is your going to have to pry the old screen off of the subwoofer (the metal mesh that covers the speaker).
• Once you get that off you will be able to see the 4 screws that are going thru the plastic piece that that cover was pressed into, take those out.
• Once you get those out you can pull that plastic off and reveal the 8 screws holding the subwoofer in, take them out and slowly pull the old sub out and disconnect the wires off of it.
• once you get this done go ahead and unbox the JL sub and cut the picture of it out of the top of the box (this is what you use to cut the MDF board).

 

• This part was slightly complicated when we did it since it was a late night and I just wanted to get it done.
• First take the Z-5500 box and flip it over on the corner of the MDF board and trace it onto the board so that you can cut out a piece that is the same size as the subwoofer side of the sub box.
• Once you have that piece of wood you will need to cut the hole for the subwoofer out of the sheet of MDF.
• It was mostly trial and error getting the size of the hole correct for it but once you get it figured out you can then drop the sub in and you should be able to rotate the sub without it making any odd scraping noises on the wood.
• After you get that accomplished take the tube of sealant and make a nice thick circle around the outside of the sub hole on the box.
• Once your satisfied with the ring take the piece of MDF and you’re going to put the 4 of the screws through both the MDF and into the old box (when you do this it will make the sealant ooze out the sides which is a good thing.) MAKE SURE NOT TO HIT THE TULROID COIL IN THE CORNER OF THE BOX
• Once you have the piece of MDF secured to the old box you can then cut the old terminals off the wires that are in the box and connect them to the connectors on the subwoofer itself.
• When you put the sub into the box you may want to rotate it a small amount to make sure that the screw holes on the box from the old sub.
• If you have one available use a very small drill bit just to make pilot holes so you don’t have to worry about it causing the old box to split.(when you’re putting the screws in they will make an awful screaming noise due to the sealant…don’t worry about it keep going till they are flush.)
• After you get it all installed you shouldn’t have any issue turning it up as loud as you want. The sub is rated steady to 150-160 watt range and the amp rarely will go up to the 188 max (or at least I haven’t been fearless enough to take it all the way up since it makes your face start to hurt when you blast it that loud)

You can see some pictures of the finished project...

Here: http://s191.photobucket.com/albums/z83/kmkoutkast/Sub/