Tips for Fitting SUB

Am thinking of fitting a small active sub. Just want alittle more kick of bass. I do have a good kenwood stereo 4x50w and all the out puts. Theres a small infinity active sub 8" about £145 with wiring kit and bass controler that I was looking at. Or does any one have any sugestions what to get. Dont want to take up to much room in my boot. Wheres best to run wires and is there a hole in bulkhead for a power cable to be run through? Or could I use the 12v plug all ready in boot? Thanks for any help.

Andrew - I'm sure LnL, Zimbo etc will be along with the full bhoona reply shortly but here's my version.

There is a grommet in the bulkhead on the drivers side below the windscreen wiper - might be the clutch cable if I remember right, where you can pass the cable through. I ran my cables up the sides tucked under the edge trim at the carpet - running the power up one side and the trigger lead up the other.

In the Boot i've got a 200W Kenwood Amp fitted to the back of the rear seats and a 10" sub tucked in the corner in a Blue Peter (home made) enclosure of sorts. It takes up minimal space in the boot - Mikeythemini makes a custom fibreglass sub enclosure too - but for a cheap install they can be a bit pricey - but very good i've heard.

Although if your are buying an active sub then you won't need any of that.

:)

Can't you just use the spare battery that lives in the boot, I got rid of mine to save a little weight, strange how the Aux socket in the boot gets its own battery.

:clown:

LOL - Sadly us poor Cooper drivers don't have such a luxury ;) and the fag lighter socket in the boot won't take the current draw from an amp!!

There a Right Nightmare to do..

Power Cable is the Main Problem. Throught the Bulk head. alright if your hands are like a 2 year olds But if not your going to need Double jointed Fingers hands and Wrists.....

If you look on the passenger side of the Bulkhead there is a grommit there that is the Best one to use. Best if you get a Probe and get your way through and then attach the Power Cable to the Probe and Pull it through that way. Total Skutter But worth it..

oh and Make sure you run the RCA leads down the Opposite side from the Power Cable. If you don't then You will end up with a Buzz that will do your nut In.

I remember seeing your car in Aberdeen couple times if your needing any assistance then I can easy Advise

I had mikeythemini's sub in my old S, fitted perfectly, was velcro'd in place for easy removal for carrying luggage if required.
Never actually took it out, just worked around it :p

Sorry Brizee - the one at the drivers side is soo much easier - simply stretch the grommet with a pencil and squirt some WD40 on it and the cable goes through easy-peasy: See pics below

Boot Install:
http://img91.imageshack.us/img91/6942/1be6.jpg
Location of Grommet:
http://img224.imageshack.us/img224/2316/2fc7.jpg
Close up:
http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/328/3ux3.jpg
Exit in drivers footwell:
http://img91.imageshack.us/img91/6340/4vh1.jpg

:)

aww bugga Thunder has been stollen..

I always seam to do things the hard way.

Thanks Wul for the Info..

Everyday is a school day..........

Wul, did you run the cable outside the car to avoid noise????
Did you consider just running the cable inside the car but away from [s]teh[/s] the power cable??

Alan - power cable runs inside down the drivers side trims; RCA's and activation cables run down the passenger side trims; earthed the amp to the chassis inside the left dookit - theres a handy stud on the chassis in there. Not a jot of noise. :)

So, if all the cables are run inside the car, what's the one your running through the bulkhead for :I:p
Ah, you've got a Cooper :) battery under the bonnet :approve:

Glad you got there in the end Alan :clown:

Rigth.. looks like my job has been made easy! :D:cool:
Pretty much what everybody else has said, there's a few ways to do it. I managed to get my cable through another grommet, somewhere under where Wul's is (smaller hands I suppose! lol). The power cable *will* fit under the plastic trim at the bottom of the doors, you can poke it in (VERY carefully) with a screwdriver to make it fit if you don't want to take all the trim off. Then along the bottom (side) of the rear seat, through the gap at the bottom outside corner between seat base and upright. It'll then fit under the carpet in the boot, and it'll fit up through the hole in the carpet for the luggage loops if you want to keep it tidy. The trigger wire (and Phono/ rca cables) will fit the same way up the passenger side of the car (or opposite to the power).
For the earth, if you pop out one of the cubby hole covers, you should see a nut attached to the body work (about 10mm I think), and there should be some brown cables attached (earthed). I've used that on both my cars, and it works just fine. you can then poke the cable under the bottm of the plastic trim - you might have to take a couple of trim screws out to do this, but they can be put back later. If (like my 03 Cooper) you have the hole, but no cigarette lighter socket in the boot, you can pop out this cover and have *all* the cables pop out there if you want to keep it tidy, and your sub / amp will be mounted close to it. I was lucky in that the size of my box (fnar) was level with this with the amp mounted on top of it :cool:
I got a gold plated connector with an Allen key type screw, which fits perfectly on the battery connector plate, and I drilled a wee hole in the black plastic cover for the amp cable to pop out. Make sure you tie wrap the cable safely in the engine bay too.

As Wul says, don't be tempted to use the 12v connector in the boot, unless you like the smell of burning Mini!

The Infinity kit sounds good, but just a wee 8"?? ;);):p:p

Before I got my amp and sub (thanks Fiona ;)) I was seriously considering this wee beasty - Only £145 the now too! :)

Linky

Wul thats the one am looking at. dont know why I said 8" when its 10". Do use think it would a good buy? thanks for tips. So with if fitted I'l have mid and high range sound from speakers in car and all the bass from sub?

earplugs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!

Quote:

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quote:Originally posted by AN03REW

Wul thats the one am looking at. dont know why I said 8" when its 10". Do use think it would a good buy? thanks for tips. So with if fitted I'l have mid and high range sound from speakers in car and all the bass from sub?

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yup! :cool::cool:

And another wee tip? If you have any spare cash... replace the rear 6x9s too! With your 50 Watts per channel from the Head Unit, it'll sound peachy! I got a set of infinitys for £50 on a special offer from Halfrauds.. makes it sound just soo much better :cool:
Another farily easy job too. If you can fit the amp.. you can do the rear speakers! :cool::cool:

PS... don't wire up the sub with the High level inputs.. you'll get a much more pure sound from the RCAs (low level) :D:cool: