Upgraded the sub in R1S with aftermarket Alpine SWR-T10 Subwoofer

[TypeR1S]

From some of the stuff I read online, it's better to have a more powerful amp than a weaker one. Just because it can handle 800 rms doesn't mean you have to push all that power. The amp will work less hard. I also don't plan on pushing the sub at peak 500 rms power.
4 gauge would be to the battery. That's the wire gauge calculation from crutchfield given the distance and power needed for the amp
From the JL JD500/1 amp install that is on this thread, I can see a pretty thick blue power wire. I'm assuming they're not getting any errors from the car. I may be wrong. @Vjarizpe can you confirm?

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[Ncmish]

Just finished the subwoofer install. Here are my thoughts....

I picked up a Kicker DVC 2ohm speaker to run at 1 ohm (or 4ohm). I picked up the Rockford Fosgate Amp (https://rockfordfosgate.com/products/details/r2-750x1/) which is ideal for several reasons:

1. Its small enough to place behind the subwoofer so I don't have to place it in the spare tire wheel
2. It has an auto on from the line level inputs so I didn't have to worry about tapping a remote wire
3. It can run down to 1 ohm (more on this in a sec)
4. It has a bass adjustment cord you can wire into the car so you can tune the amp without having to pull the entire panel and subwoofer off.

I had everything ready to install and then started second guessing running a 1 ohm speaker given the power needed, and was it really necessary??? I have set this up multiple times in regular cars, but somehow I got this feeling I was taking an unnecessary risk with an EV. I decided to switch at last minute, and ran the DVC in series creating a 4 ohm set up.

The benefit of running 4 ohms is I was less worried about running a giant 4 ga wire to the battery, and now could run an 8ga wire. Running a wire to the battery is a PITA. I only ran a 8ga wire, cant imagine trying to run a 4ga. The trick is the firewall -- there is only one place to push it through and its the center of the firewall right next to the cabin air filter. Couple notes on this:

There are (4) open rubber tubes you can push the wire through, but each of the other sides (about 4 inches inside the cabin) are totally sealed. You have to pop the giant rubber grommet out, cut the back off a tube off to open it, and then you can push the wire through. I ran a coat hanger through and it came down to the passenger's feet (you have to remove the panel with the light and the two torq screws).

The batteries are right in front of the cabin filter, pop the large red cap off to expose the several positive terminals. Make sure you put a fuse in line by the battery (if you are reading his -- you probably know to do this). This was straight forward.

I found a bolt to ground to in the back by the speaker, really any bolt will do. The line levels are tricky -- only one of the four wires (two red, two black) that attached to the OEM sub have voltage, so I split that live wire to both line level input channels of the amp (this took me a sec to figure out -- on the amp one input channel is for the auto power on, and one is for the mono wiring). Iran the remote bass controller back into the spare tire well to adjust if needed.

I put some Kilmat on the rear metal panel, put it back together, fired it up and Yes! 4 ohm with that amp hits hard. And then an issue - WAY TOO MUCH RATTLING. Pulled the whole thing apart and went absolutely crazy with the Kilmat. The entire right side of the car was covered, I covered the entire back of the woofer enclosure, I even covered the entire spare tire metal floor.

Put it all back together and PERFECT! Grabbed my 18yr old daughter to test it it out and she loved it and gave me the cool dad nod. Awesome.

 

[Progolfer82]

The speaker is 2x2 ohm (factory is 2x4 per OP), which is taxing the amp slightly more but sends more juice to that speaker. So yes, it produces slightly more bass, but the lack of adjustment ability doesn't make it much better. So after a little on the road testing, I have decided to go with a setup I have used in TM3:

https://www.amazon.com/NVX-Monoblock-Marine-Powersports-Amplifier/dp/B07N12LGKL/
combined with
https://www.amazon.com/NVX-SMW10D4-Shallow-Mount-4-ohm-Subwoofer/dp/B0946DF5VP/?th=1
This speaker is also slightly more sensitive (88dB) so it requires less input power. I was considering Infinity 92dB sub, but not sure if it would fit.

For 300W amp and sub, the 25A capable wiring should be enough.
Now to open the left side trim and get that 12V

Will update in next week or two once I have it all in.

Are you doing 2 ohm or 4 ohm with this amp? It says 180w @ 4 ohm. Thanks.

 

[Ncmish]

Are you doing 2 ohm or 4 ohm with this amp? It says 180w @ 4 ohm. Thanks.

4 ohm. It’s a 2 ohm DVC speaker so ran in series.

 

[Progolfer82]

4 ohm. It’s a 2 ohm DVC speaker so ran in series.

thank you! And from your other comments, the bass is much improved? I plan on doing this weekend, but that amp I can't get until Monday now lol.. So looking at other amps, that's why I was asking. Thanks again!

 

[Progolfer82]

Would you recommend this amp? I'm going with the Kicker CompRT

https://www.amazon.com/Dual-Subwoof...mzn1.fos.18ed3cb5-28d5-4975-8bc7-93deae8f9840

 

[Ncmish]

Would you recommend this amp? I'm going with the Kicker CompRT

https://www.amazon.com/Dual-Subwoofer-Package-CT-Sounds/dp/B01NAW3B6P/ref=sr_1_15?crid=2A8EW4FZHNNZF&dd=GrZL3qTd60pELeWWiZFI5Q,,&keywords=monoblock+micro+amplifier+1+channel&qid=1700600399&refinements=p_90:8308921011&rnid=8308919011&s=electronics&sprefix=monoblock+micro+amplifier+1+channel,electronics,145&sr=1-15&ufe=app_do:amzn1.fos.18ed3cb5-28d5-4975-8bc7-93deae8f9840

I probably wouldn’t recommend it. The amp is just as important as the speaker and I am not familiar with this brand. Plus it looks big so you would have to relocate this somewhere else in the Riv. They have some Kicker amps you can look at as well.

 

[Ncmish]

thank you! And from your other comments, the bass is much improved? I plan on doing this weekend, but that amp I can't get until Monday now lol.. So looking at other amps, that's why I was asking. Thanks again!

Yea. It’s crazy good the way I set it up.

 

[nkohlimd]

I was thinking of doing this with the Kicker Keyloc500 - small size, built in DSP, and easy to program. Any thoughts?

 

[Ncmish]

I was thinking of doing this with the Kicker Keyloc500 - small size, built in DSP, and easy to program. Any thoughts?

I dont have any experience with this amp. Not sure if you need DSP, Id just focus on function and reviews. I have always used Fosgate and JL Audio amps -- so naturally thats where I go when building systems. Kickers are good amps for the $$ so you probably cant go wrong.

 

[Ncmish]

Amazon reviews were better than majority of amps in this price and size range. It is very compacted - video here:

Its hard to keep up with brands these days. If the reviews are solid it might be worth a try.

 

[Progolfer82]

Ok, this is my first time replacing a factory sub using existing sub wires and tapping into the pink 12v power. Without using LOC, does this look correct? I got my sub, amp, kilmat today, but dont want to go prying away without having all the info. appreciate your help and Happy Thanksgiving!

 

[Ncmish]

Ok, this is my first time replacing a factory sub using existing sub wires and tapping into the pink 12v power. Without using LOC, does this look correct? I got my sub, amp, kilmat today, but dont want to go prying away without having all the info. appreciate your help and Happy Thanksgiving!

Im not entirely following what you are asking - Run your stock speaker wires into the amp as line level inputs, then run a new (better wire) from your amp to your sub. The wires that are currently in place to the stock sub are very very small and worthless in this case once you start pushing a much bigger sub.

Follow the image you just posted to run the wiring to take your Dual Voice Coil (DVC) 2ohm sub to make it a 4ohm sub (without your markings).

 

[PBRAZ]

As an aside, I was very close to pulling the trigger on an upgraded sub setup like the OP but ended up redoing my eq settings after fat fingering my original settings. I used to have a pronounced V shape, but now it's more of a shallow bowl. Gotta be honest, the system thumps now! Has me second guessing the idea. Some rock songs are a little flat, but most modern rap, edm, even TSwift (daughter) all have boomimg bass.

 

[Progolfer82]

Im not entirely following what you are asking - Run your stock speaker wires into the amp as line level inputs, then run a new (better wire) from your amp to your sub. The wires that are currently in place to the stock sub are very very small and worthless in this case once you start pushing a much bigger sub.

Follow the image you just posted to run the wiring to take your Dual Voice Coil (DVC) 2ohm sub to make it a 4ohm sub (without your markings).

Thank you! I figured the line level input needed to to go the amp. Sorry, a couple more questions - Can I add a fuse between the 12v (pink wire) to =12v on the amp? I wanted to add some type of backup. And with only one red (R) and one white (L) input on my amp (picture), do I splice the RCA and tap red+white for R & L or red+red and white+white for R&L from existing sub (line level inputs)? That part is confusing me because of my amp setup. Thank you again for your help!

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