My subwoofer sucks - '06 SAN 220..?'s about replacing

[flaudia402]

So I've got an '06 SAN 220, with the factory polk audio tower and boat speakers with the factory (10, or 12?) inch sub. Powered by the two factory Clarion amps. Problem is though, the Polk Audio sub thats stock, sucks. It sounds flat as ****, and just rattles really bad. The only way to solve the problem is to turn the music down, or change the bass settings to negative. This sucks, because if you're listening to the music and want the rider or anyone in the rear to hear the music, you have to change these settings. Of course, I don't expect any bass to reach the rider, but the bass should be satisfying for the individuals in the boat as well.

So, my dilemma...I'd like to replace this subwoofer. I'm not sure how powerful the stock Clarion amplifier powering the sub is, but I'd like to put a JL Audio W - series sub in its place, since it's an extremely versatile subwoofer, and can run quite efficiently. I'm almost certain the stock amplifier will be mere peas for the sub, in either a 10 or 13 inch. If, I bring another amplifier in, and have it hooked up to the subwoofer, can I use the stock connections? Or is this set up not going to be a simple plug and play from the systems stock wiring.

If, this isn't a simple plug and play, how do I go about replacing it? I'm a complete newb when it comes to doing my own systems. I've had each one in my cars done professionally, but I don't have a trailer with my boat to take it to an audio shop to have done. Plus, I don't know, should I trust an audio shop to do the install properly? Anyway, any ideas, thanks!

[AuMDLST]

RE: My subwoofer sucks -

Check out what I've got if you are out this weekend at the Island - might give you some ideas.

[Laketexoma]

RE: My subwoofer sucks -

The reason your sub sounds so bad its that the back of the box is made out of 1/4" plastic. That is what it giving it such a bad rattle. Before I replaced mine I took the back off and replaced it with mdf. It made a ton of difference!! The plastic that is on it now is heald in with about 2 tubes of silicone. Just a thought if you want to keep the polk sub

[SuperSquirt]

I had the same problem that you had. I hated my factory Polk sub and box in my 08 210. I'm not sure which Clarion amps your 06 came with, but I'm sure they are not powerful enough for a new sub. Correct Craft wired my factory 10" into a four channel amp along with four interior speakers, and it absolutely sounded horrible.

I think you should stick with the JL sub selection, you won't go wrong. If you can fork out the dough, get the 13" W7 and push it with an Alpine PDX 1.1000. This was my original system plan before my wife saw the checkout total. Checkout my pics for more ideas

[CradGen2]

Sucks is an understatement. I hear cc is redoing their system in 09. I have 3 fiberglassed boxes in my garage. I won't sell them because i'd feel bad to give them to someone.

[nauty220]

I am trying to sell a JL Audio A1400 Class D monoblock subwoofer amplifier as well as a 12" Rockford Fosgate P2. I have a box but it was built for 210. Probably would want another one. I am about to put on craigslist so let me know if interested

[MUSHEZ]

I have the first 220 ever built (2006) - and agree the team edition 10" sub box sucks and not sure why Nautique use such a thing. I quickly made up a box out of MDF for it out of a sheet of 1800x300x12mm. PVA glue, few screws - sealed and is 400% better.

I also tweeked the amps because the sub can handle more in a new box, as I started to have the tower speakers craping out.

The two amps, between them all - run all 10 speakers and sub in the boat, and think the sub is off half of the larger amp?

[bchesley]

The factory boxes are just way to big. If you read the specs on a momo 10" sub it only requires like .70 cubic feet of space. The factory CC boxes way exceed that. I am using a Audioformz.com box and love it. They are sized for the momo subs and are much better looking also. I also like the fact that its fiberglass and not MDF that if it gets wet is toast. The sub is a great speaker if its put in the right box so dont buy another sub thinking that will fix the problem.

[Fast351]

Here's my little story about my factory setup in my 07 211.

I am not a huge stereo guy when I'm out boating. I don't need the rider to be able to rock out to tunes but I do like the stereo in the boat to sound halfway decent. The factory setup without the tower speakers fits the bill perfectly for me...

So I get the boat home and noticed the sub was performing sub-par. I crawl into the locker and take a look at how the amp is set up and "WTF, the sub filter is set on HIGH PASS!!" Anyway, it was obvious that this amp was never properly dialed in by the install team. So I set it up correctly so that the amp and the head unit which drives the front speakers ran out of gas at the same volume level, so I didn't have to worry about smoking the fronts because of the headunit and not being able to hear the distortion in the main cabin. I knew at this point I could run the volume up to 24-26, depending on the source material without any distortion. I was happy. It doesn't sound anywhere near as good as my home theater NAD/Polk setup, but the components probably cost 10% of what I have into that setup, so that's easy to understand.

Fast forward to this year, and I noticed the sub is rattling an aweful lot, at volumes WAY below my max (at 18-20, the sub is rattling). At first I thought the screws holding the enclosure rattled loose, but after some further investigation, I could feel behind the sub and realized the back panel was rattling. So I pull the sub and look at the back of the enclosure, and I'm like WTF!! :evil:

The enclosure is made of fiberglass, but the back is this ****ty plastic 1/4" sheet that flexes like mad. It's held in with silicone caulk (which is not glue, btw), and what's worse ONLY THREE SIDES ARE SUPPORTED!!

Well crap, no wonder the back was rattling. They have a piece of flexible plastic butt-jointed to fiberglass, using silicone caulk. On top of that, the wires that came off the sub had a butt-splice in the wire with a fabric shield around it, that had a sharp edge poking through. It was only a matter of time before that shorted to the other splice.

So I used PL Premium Construction adhesive, and glued a 1x4 into the inside of the enclosure to provide a solid backing for the 4th side of the back plate, then cut a duplicate of the cheesy plastic plate out of 1/2" plywood, and glued it in place with more construction adhesive. Needless to say, the enclosure is now rock solid. I replaced the wire with some black/red 14GA wire, and stuffed the sub back in. WHAT A DIFFERENCE. It's no Jay El setup, but it sounds 100% better than the stock enclosure.

Anyway, if you're too cheap, like me, to replace something that should work just fine, tear that enclosure out and sturdy it up.

[2gofaster]

I did the same as Fast351. I pulled the bottoms out of the stock box and glassed in a 3/4 thick MDF bottom and added stuffing to the box. Actually, I have two of these factory boxes and subs done this way under the nose of my 196 now in parrallel being driven by a Kicker mx700.5. With one factory sub I had to keep the gain on the sub channel almost all the way up and the gain on the full ranges at half way. Now with two of the modified sub enclosures, I can have the gain about equal.