I recently replaced all 4 of my door speakers with some alpine two way which did greatly improve the sound but I am missing a good bass tone in the car. I do still have (and want to keep) the original radio head unit. I noticed I could get a nice rear deck speaker grill that came in the premium models from ebay, which got me thinking how hard would it be to find a shallow mount 6x9 sub, and cut a hole in the rear deck so that it looks just like the premium audio versions. I suppose I would need an amp as well as whatever mounting brackets/screws and cables went there. What I would like to keep is all of this hidden and more or less factory looking. Has anyone done this or have any ideas? Not sure where to tap into the audio signal in the trunk. Guessing around the CD player?

 

What year is the XJ8 as there was some changes in the stereo through the production years

 

1999 XJ8L

 

So it looks like I can just cut the rubber insert out and put in a 6x9 sub? Wonder where I might find the bracket it was suppose to have?



Does anyone know what this unused cable near my CD change is? Maybe audio output ? Would be real nice.

 

See page 81 and 82

http://www.jagrepair.com/images/Auto.../jagxj1999.pdf

The speaker is shallow in depth to not hit the fuel tank

 

Did you put type S or type R Alpine?

 

I"m not sure what you mean? I just bought some alpine speakers from crutchfield that fit

 

Thanks but I have already looked at schematics and they don't answer any of the questions I have above.

 

The Alpine R series has more bass. The Alpine S series doesn't have much bass has a clear, nice sound.

 

You can also get more bass from the door speakers by adding some sound deadening and making sure they're mounted solidly, that all the trip clips are intact etc etc
Adding a 6x9 in the back isn't going to be great either. You can't power it from the original headunit, so you'll need an amp, and it is so shallow it's basically just like adding a cheap door speaker. It's not a real sub.
Another option to look at is adding a small slimline 10" sub and amp in the side of the boot/trunk, and opening up the hole in the parcel shelf to let the sound through. That is more likely to give you the deep notes you're looking for.

Another option is to amp your front speakers. Any small amp will still be markedly better than the factory headunit

 

Thanks I am taking your advice on this. My progress thus far. I really wish I could find a nice rear deck with the speaker grill already installed factory but I gave up and just bought a grill off ebay and cut a hole. I'm not sure how the grill is suppose to be mounted as I Couldn't find any close up photos so I guessed something like this. Now to find a good powered subwoofer for the trunk.

 

Make sure you cut & run a flexible gasket IE rubber,silicone etc. behind the shelf where the grill screws into to help eliminate rattle/vibrations. I've found w/ older cars the shelve are so UV exposed they have minimal elasticity & will render unwanted noise.

 

So if you want to tap into the rear right speaker you can do it from the passenger rear floor just remove the cover and find the pink/green wire that is twirled with the black and white wire

this is the wires you need

Then just tap them here and run this to the trunk.

This is my 300 watt Rockford Fosgate powered 12 inch sub. Its OK. But I need more bass I think