Date: Fri, 26 Jul 2002 15:16:31 EDT
Reply-To: EUROMOG@AOL.COM
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: John Wessels <EUROMOG@AOL.COM>
Subject: Re: Amplified Subwoofer question
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"
I just installed the 8" Bazooka and a 200 watt per (2) channel amp in my
Syncro. The Bazooka fits nice under the left side of the back seat. I
installed the amp under the drivers seat and ran the wires under the carpet.
I used a 6ft RCA cable from the in dash unit to the amp and it was the
perfect length. The Bazooka is rated at 125 watts and one channel of the amp
is 100. Keep this in mind when using a sub woofer as it only runs off one
channel. The price varies greatly for the Bazooka so shop around. I didn't
shop enough and paid a little more than I should but that is OK. I paid $100
for a Kenwood amp and it works great with the Bazooka. I admit that a bigger
amp along with a 10" speaker in a bigger box would sound better but where
could you put it and be out of the way? The Bazooka can easily be moved and
is pretty rugged in it's casing. It definitely gives the bass thump that was
missing.
I also installed some Rockford Fosgate 5 1/4" speakers in the front door
panels. I moved the center of them towards the rear and they just barely miss
the sides of the dash when the doors are closed. After installing these
speakers I now know that the 6" speakers would also fit as long as the grill
face doesn't stick out too far and hit the sides of the dash. If you have
hand crank windows I don't think they would clear. The style that I used have
separate 1" tweeters. Since the door panels I used were from a Van that had
hand crank windows and mine has power windows I used the tweeters to fill
hose holes. I had to hand cut the speaker and tweeter holes with a dremel
tool. I also had to cut a bigger hole where the window winder mechanism came
through the metal part of the door to clear the depth of the tweeters. The
tweeter did come with a surface mount that would have made the install easier
but I wanted them flush. These speakers sound fantastic! I think well worth
the $150 I spent for them. I also installed some Rockford Fosgate 6x9
speakers in small boxes in the rear. I mounted them in the same area as the
factory speakers but mounted them to the side walls instead of the ceiling. I
used through bolts and removed the rear air intake grills to fit the nuts and
washers. I used silicon caulk to water proof the bolt holes. They are now
high and out of the way for any cargo usage. It was about $130 for the
speakers and the boxes. For my in dash CD player I bought an Audiovox unit on
sale for $80. It is a 25 watt x 4 channel unit that has a removable face. I
know it is a cheapie but if it is stolen so what? I have a total of $650 in
the entire system and it sounds great for the money. I also bought an amp
wiring kit from Monster Cable and that made the wiring for it much easier
than trying to scrounge up all the little connectors and cable. I had to buy
a new antennae too as the DPO tried to splice the coax cable...arrgh. The
Audiovox unit does have a large heat sync at the back and it did hit the
plastic air duct. A heat gun and some gentle pushing took care of that.
Now I can play my Nirvana CD's cranked up as I bash over boulders on the
trail...:)
John Wessels '87 SyncroMog
European Motorsport
Livermore, CA 94551
http://www.euromog.com
