VE Premium Sound - Easy Improvements by reverse wiring the subs

[Calais57]

Hi everyone,
I am surprised I haven't seen this mentioned here before and apologies if it has (in which case just ignore my thread).

On a couple of the USA G8 forums it is a regularly posted topic, so its not my own idea. I must admit I have been sceptical and have not done it to my Calais but will now do so after a friend did it to his VE SSV over the weekend.

The first improvements are well known:
1. disconnect centre dash speaker
2. turn up the gain on the small amp in boot.

But the biggy is:
3. reverse the +ve and -ve wires on each of the two subs in the rear shelf. This can be done easily with a soldering iron in the boot under the parcel shelf (just dont drop solder in your eye!! lol).

This makes the two subs pump the wrong way (ie down, not up into the cabin). But the theory goes something along the lines that the subs with normal wiring seem to "counter" or cancel out some of the other speaker sound. With this mod they no longer do so.

I have almost zero knowledge of sound system theory and this seems weird but it really does work!!

It would still not be good enough for the big sound system boys and girls, but does make a very big (seriously) improvement.

I wish I knew about this before replacing my door speakers and the subs with 8" kickers!! Anyway I will now reverse the wiring on the kickers just for fun to see if it also makes such a big improvement to aftermarket shelf subs.

Hopefull combined with my better quality door speakers and the Dynamat I have used around the rear shelf, it will add up to something better than acceptable.

It will be a couple of weeks before I can do this, but will let you know how I go.

Cheers
Calais57

 

[Nic92]

I reverse wired subs once by accident, all they did was move air and no sound .

 

[dipz93]

Nice Post Man, Very Informative! Just one thing with your subs, which kind of subs did you replace the original ones with, and are you happy with the bass? Cheers

 

[Timmos]

Yep, i reversed the positive and negatives on my subs and i was astonished at the sound quality difference... i had no idea it would make that much of a difference - and now without that silly little speaker in the center dash the stereo goes so much louder without distorting.

 

[Calais57]

Nice Post Man, Very Informative! Just one thing with your subs, which kind of subs did you replace the original ones with, and are you happy with the bass? Cheers

Thanks mate, my subs are Kicker 8" and are the 2 Ohm variety. I went with those because they had spec numbers that suggested they should operate OK (just) in free air although not advertised as such, and also because the stock ones are also 2 Ohm and I didn't want to get into changing amps etc. I will need to check the model number when home tonight.

They were a definite improvement for my needs but still not fantastic. Note that I also covered lots of holes in the shelf and rear bulk head with Dynamat.

 

[davey g-force]

Yeah, I've heard about this trick too, but tbh I was sceptical.

Maybe I'll give it a go...

 

[dipz93]

Thanks mate, my subs are Kicker 8" and are the 2 Ohm variety. I went with those because they had spec numbers that suggested they should operate OK (just) in free air although not advertised as such, and also because the stock ones are also 2 Ohm and I didn't want to get into changing amps etc. I will need to check the model number when home tonight.

They were a definite improvement for my needs but still not fantastic. Note that I also covered lots of holes in the shelf and rear bulk head with Dynamat.

Thanks, would be very much appreciated. I was looking at the DLS performance OA8 subs which are meant for free air and the reviews I have read on them seem to be good, otherwise i was looking at the kickers or even the polk audio ones. I have a Alpine MPXF30 amp, which pumps out 75rms at 2 ohms which i figured shouldn't be too bad.

Basically I'm looking for some bass in my music, nothing earth shattering. I have been in VE's with factory subs and the bass they create i'm happy with so something along those lines.

 

[Calais57]

Thanks, would be very much appreciated. I was looking at the DLS performance OA8 subs which are meant for free air and the reviews I have read on them seem to be good, otherwise i was looking at the kickers or even the polk audio ones. I have a Alpine MPXF30 amp, which pumps out 75rms at 2 ohms which i figured shouldn't be too bad.

Basically I'm looking for some bass in my music, nothing earth shattering. I have been in VE's with factory subs and the bass they create i'm happy with so something along those lines.

Dipz,
This is a bit off topic about reversing the subs wiring - which I suggest you try before going to the trouble of replacing the stock subs.

Anyway, here is some info that might help:
I have heard that the DLS OA8 is really good in the VE, but were a lot more $ when I was looking a year or so ago.

Mine are Kicker CVT82. They were relatively cheap from the USA.

Without being an expert at all on this my reading suggested that there are a few specs to look for when using subs in Free-Air (or open baffle) but the main one suggested was Qts. I don't really know what this is but I read that this should be at a minimum above 5.0 but even better is higher than 6.0. The CVT8's have a Qts of 5.65.

Also note that my Kickers did require a small cut out expansion of one side of the hole in the metal shelf. There are some that I am told fit straight in but can't remember which ones.

Some other 8" subs Qts figures that I found are:
Kicker CVR8 has a Qts of 0.831 (Note these are bigger than the CVT8's in the body at the back and will be harder to fit)
Polk db840 DVC has a Qts of 0.7
MTX T5508-44 has a Qts of 0.656
Boston Acoustics G10844 has a Qts of 0.6
DLS AO8 are always written up as great in free-air but I am not sure of the Qts.

Hope it goes well and maybe some others will have better advice about the technical stuff than me.

Be careful to locate and fix rattles in and around the metal shelf and bulk head by tapping all over ot with a padded mallet of your closed hand. I used foam ribber, rubber washers and dynamat to cushion things such as plastic clips etc.

 

[dipz93]

Dipz,
This is a bit off topic about reversing the subs wiring - which I suggest you try before going to the trouble of replacing the stock subs.

Anyway, here is some info that might help:
I have heard that the DLS OA8 is really good in the VE, but were a lot more $ when I was looking a year or so ago.

Mine are Kicker CVT82. They were relatively cheap from the USA.

Without being an expert at all on this my reading suggested that there are a few specs to look for when using subs in Free-Air (or open baffle) but the main one suggested was Qts. I don't really know what this is but I read that this should be at a minimum above 5.0 but even better is higher than 6.0. The CVT8's have a Qts of 5.65.

Also note that my Kickers did require a small cut out expansion of one side of the hole in the metal shelf. There are some that I am told fit straight in but can't remember which ones.

Some other 8" subs Qts figures that I found are:
Kicker CVR8 has a Qts of 0.831 (Note these are bigger than the CVT8's in the body at the back and will be harder to fit)
Polk db840 DVC has a Qts of 0.7
MTX T5508-44 has a Qts of 0.656
Boston Acoustics G10844 has a Qts of 0.6
DLS AO8 are always written up as great in free-air but I am not sure of the Qts.

Hope it goes well and maybe some others will have better advice about the technical stuff than me.

Be careful to locate and fix rattles in and around the metal shelf and bulk head by tapping all over ot with a padded mallet of your closed hand. I used foam ribber, rubber washers and dynamat to cushion things such as plastic clips etc.

Thanks for the information, helps alot! Unfortunately I don't have the luxury of having the stock subs as mine is an omega

BTW sorry for the post hijacking, back to the topic

 

[Calais57]

Ah yes, sorry missed that bit! The AO8's are probably a good choice. They are 8 ohms so would need a reasonable amp (compared to the hopeless stock one) anyway.

Cheers.