The S2000 is my first experience in car and electronic mods. The JL Audio Stealthbox I just had installed yesterday is my first subwoofer (other than the stock sub on my '93 Prelude VTEC.) I'm not sure I know how to do fine tune all the settings and I'm looking for a second opinion on what my installer did. The install looks great and sounds great, by the way.

First, the installer said my Alpine MRV-T407 amp may not be up to the JL Audio Stealthbox, since the Stealthbox calls for up to 250 watts 3 ohms and the amp, the installer said, sees 1.5 ohms since it runs "bridged" in mono. This sounds like mumbo jumbo to me. Alpine rated the amp as 150 watts rms x 1 channel bridged. I assume in the "bridged" setup, the amp sees 3 ohms from the Stealthbox and should be happy.

Second, I am running an Alpine CDA 7876 head which has subwoofer output and selectively set cross-over. Similarly the amp has a selectively set low pass filter. What settings are reasonable? What frequencies should I be expecting to send out the subwoofer leads of the head to the amp and onto the subwoofer?

My main speakers are a pair of Kenwood excelon xr600 speakers in front and a pair of Polk (Lucid) ex403 (model number?) speakers in the rear.

The subwoofer amp is the only amp I'm running. It is wedged on a carpeted wooden platter inside the spare tire and looks great. Everything is hidden in the install. The only hint is the false floor/ grille in the otherwise empty trunk. The CDA-7876 has its own power direct from the battery and is rated at 27 watts rms per channel. I think it is pretty much up to powering the front and rear speakers. I am assuming that relieving the CDA-7876 from having to supply much bass energy to the front speakers will help balance out everything.

Thanks in advance for the help.

 

Barry,

The problem (if any) with your sub/amp combination is that the sub is 3 ohms and the amp is 4 ohms bridged. This may cause the amp to overheat, but if it does not then don't worry about it as long and you're happy with how it sounds.

As for the crossovers in the HU and amp. Start with the crossover in the HU turned off and set the crossover on the amp to the frequency you like (use your ears to judge when it sounds the best). Anything between 50 and 80 should be ok for a low pass filter, but some like is even higher. Since you already have the rear speakers, I'd suggest setting it to 60 or even 50. Once again, try and go with what sounds good to your ears. The crossover in the HU will depend on how good it is. Theoretically you only need one crossover but i've seen with my Sony HU that setting it to 60 helps clear out the sub a bit, even though the amp is already crossed over at 60.

Hope this helps.


[QUOTE]Originally posted by Barry WY Silver/Black '01
[B]The S2000 is my first experience in car and electronic mods.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by mas
[B]Barry,
The problem (if any) with your sub/amp combination is that the sub is 3 ohms and the amp is 4 ohms bridged. This may cause the amp to overheat, but if it does not then don't worry about it as long and you're happy with how it sounds.

 

Barry....any updates on this? I'm interested in your setup and would like your opinion. Thanks!

 

Barry,

Did you install your JL 250/1 amp underneath the stealthbox?

Are you hearing any distortion from your your front speakers without using a separate amp?

I have an '02 S2k and have Infinity CS605 (2s?) component speakers in front and am not happy with the brightness of the tweeters - have the treble all the way down on the factory deck and am driving them through a MTS 4542 (4245?) amp rated at 37.5 x 4, crossed at 85hz, but still have issues with the sound at 80-90mph with the top down - albeit it's kicking loud with the top up! Oh, using an old Bazooka T62 (dual 6" sub) in the trunk but thinking of upgrading to the Stealthbox instead.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Barry WY Silver/Black '01
[B]Well.........

 

I am completely pleased with my current setup.
The Alpine CDA-7876 "60 watts x 4" (27watts rms/channel one channel driven) is completely adequate for driving my door speakers (Kenwood xr600 speakers) and my my Lucid rear speakers (Polk 403ex or something like that.) I get no distortion at loud volume settings as far as I can tell.

I use the high pass filter on the CDA-7876 at 120 hz and the high cutoff on the JL Audio 250/1 at 120 hz. I have the "subaudio" set to "on" on the the JL Audio 250/1. So I'm using the JL Audio for low woofer and subwoofer and it works GREAT!!!!!!

 

The stealthbox was designed to be bolted to the bottom of the tool well, you cannot mount an amp underneath it. Even if you did, how would the amp keep cool?

 

I put the JL Audio 250/1 on a wooden tray cut to fit inside the spare tire. I have the spare tire wedged in its usual space. I have the spare tire bolt in my "extra S2000 parts bin" along with my now defunct keytray (replaced by the hardtop's defroster switch) along with the OEM dead pedal along with the yet unstalled Rick's windscreen along with the extra Coastal Metals grill along with the aluminum shift knob along with the OEM speakers ... etc. etc. etc....

 

Your setup seems excellent. Can you comment on the difference between running the system with the fader only to the fronts (rears basically shut off) and the sub fully driven to having all 4 speakers driven?

btw, had someone said they installed it under the stealthbox, I would've been curious how it remained cool, but no one did.

I read the installation manual for the s'box and was wondering what gets displaced in the well where it goes - tools? Where did you move those things to?

Looking for a JL 500/5 now...