[desertgoat]

I read various posts here and found that the instructions could be quite confusing without pics. I would like to thank certain members who tried their best to show me the way. Well I finally did and as a payback, I would like to make it easy for anyone else who wants to do this simple mod. It is only simple now that I have done it!

:gr_jest:

1. Open your trunk. Remove the liner covering your spare tire. Look at the liner to your left held by 4 or 5 plastic tabs. Remove the tabs and lift up the liner. You don't have to remove the liner directly in front of you covering the gas tank (as I did). The 4 red dots and the 2 screwdriver point to the approx location of where the amplifier is behind the metal wall....

2. You will now see 4 screws in 4 holes. Two of the screws may be partially hidden by wires. Loosen but do not completely remove the screws. Once loose, you can use your left hand to grab the black box behind the wall and lift it up to release out of the 4 holes.....

3. Now turn the box upside down. On the other side you will see a black knob with a + sign. I am assuming you will turn it up. I turned mine up about 2 or 3 notches below maximum level.

4. Turn on your CD player and adjust accordingly. Like gotzaGTO, I totally love the stock system now. That bass is now pretty serious.



Hope this helps!

Edit/Sxty8goats: Now that you have seen where it is, you can also loosen the carpet on the side that the amp sits and reach around underneath the carpet. Locate the Amp by feel and adjust the gain with your finger tips. If this doesn't work for you, then go through all the listed steps to locate the amp/gain.

 

[TSpeed]

Your'e the man DG!! :hail: THANKS

 

[Brains]

I just reached my hand back there, didn't have to pull carpet plugs or anything. Did it right before the drive home (45 mins ago)

 

[1BadAction]

i thought getting to that was pretty simple, now, replacing the rear subs with REAL subs is a totally different story (read: 5+ hours of work)

 

[notgetleft]

Do you ever run into the stock amp shutting down from overheating?

 

[gotzaGTO]

i havent and i bumped mine for a good 2 solid hours of driving tonight, felt it to be on the safe side, warm, but not hot, and the amp as a fuse in it too.... so ud blow the fuse before you blew the amp....

 

[DFWGTO]

You do know you can press the Volume knob and adjust tha bass that way?!
Is what your talking bout different?

 

[mlc]

You do know you can press the Volume knob and adjust tha bass that way?!
Is what your talking bout different?

I'm making an assumption here...

It is very likely that the freq roll-off is at a different point for the sub gain vs the base adjustment on the radio. My guess would be the the sub roll-off is lower so by turning that up you'll get more punch with out all the constant drone.

I might have to give this a try. :thumbs:

 

[straegen]

I'm making an assumption here...

It is very likely that the freq roll-off is at a different point for the sub gain vs the base adjustment on the radio. My guess would be the the sub roll-off is lower so by turning that up you'll get more punch with out all the constant drone.

I might have to give this a try. :thumbs:

Any chance of pinning this topic at the top? I can imaging a lot of people asking this question over time.

 

[Brains]

Anyone else notice the subs are piggybacked off the rear speakers? Kinda stinks, because I fade mine one notch to the front to help with staging, and it drops the sub level with it

 

[IBMgoat]

Now wouldnt turning the gain up on the amp just amplify the fact that the stock subs distort/bottom out when you push the system hard? Just wondering if this would actually help the sound quality at all.

-Brian

 

[desertgoat]

I doubt if it would help the sound quality. But you definitely will have more booming bass.

Once you experiment, you can always change it back to factory settings. I just wanted to share my experience and post detailed pics so it would be easier for guests and members to do the same mod without having to sift through so many threads that although provide worded explanations, sadly lack graphic representation.

Trust me, the bass is louder......

 

[josephra]

nice documentation DG. Godd of you to take the time and it will definately help folks out.

 

[DiSTuRBeDGTO]

On another note (no pun), raising the head unit bass tends to add a little distortion. Raising the gain from the amplifier keeps the other speakers at a normal level while driving the subs harder... now, maybe if a high bandpass filter is installed before the front speakers... :hail:

 

[CSiJason]

Nice, good info and pics...

BTW, that isnt REALLY the real spare tire is it? That is the coolest looking spare ever!

 

[BillTheCat]

First, thanks to DG for all the pics and the inspiration for this tweak. :hail:

However, if you don't want to pull all that carpet outand don't mind not seeing the knob on the amp you can do as Brains and I did. You can adjust it by reaching behind the carpet and turning the gain pot (knob, adjuster, do-hickey, what have you) with your fingers.

Additionally the gain pot (see do-hickey reference above) has a detent, or bump if you will at the mid point, so you'll be able to know how much gain you're dialing in. Although you won't be able to see what you're doing, you WILL be able to hear what you're doing.

I love the differernce it made on my stock system.

 

[Rob]

I just did this also. Nice difference. I just popped off the very top clip and pulled the cover back, reached behind and turned it until I liked what was coming out. Push clip back in and nobody knows you were ever back there

Thanks guys.

 

[RedThunder]

same here, but I didn't even have to take off the top clip -- I just pull the trunk lining out of the way a bit and reach my arm in! Works like a charm!

 

[gotzaGTO]

ah yes, but for my half hour of taking off carpet and removing the amp, i can say tat mine is exactly set on the second dot from highest!!!! urgh...... i should just have reached my damn hand back there..... oh well, i guess when you are one of the first ones to do it, you get all the BS extra work!

 

[straegen]

Now wouldnt turning the gain up on the amp just amplify the fact that the stock subs distort/bottom out when you push the system hard? Just wondering if this would actually help the sound quality at all.

The front door speakers are super cheap whizzer cones, the rear speakers are coaxial and at best a slight upgrade from the fronts, the rear deck speakers oddly enough are beefy for what they are. They likely can take a bit more power.

I would guess (and this is only a guess) that if you bought some cheap bass blockers and installed them on the front and rear speakers and turned up the gain a bit on the rear, the system would likely sound a lot better.