This was a very good and concise review, and I'm now thinking of getting this to round out the sound in my daily driver 2006 Mazda Tribute. I have a basic by modern standards Kenwood Excelon DPX-395MBT double-din stereo, all buttons and dials, no touch or Carplay/Android Auto, but I kind of prefer that, and it looks period to the car with its segmented LED display. What is nice about it being in the Excelon line is that it does have 4 amp RCA sub pre-outs so it would feed something like this little powered sub to its fullest. I also like the esthetics, which also kind of fit the mid-2000s custom vibe with the clear acrylic window and LED lights. They have long been stocking the updated version that you mentioned in the description, which among other things has a one-plug connection for power and RCAs instead of separate power and RCA connections on the box, so if for example I wanted to temporarily take it out to fit more cargo in the vehicle it is just as simple as unplugging that one harness. I don't need absolutely obnoxious thumping bass that can be heard outside the vehicle, but I do listen to quite a bit if bass-heavy electronic genres that could use something to just fill in the low end and and so I can give my poor door speakers a break in that department. The stock ones actually still sound really crisp on the mids and highs, so I'm in no hurry to replace them, but I may down the road at some point even just to gain the discreet tweeters that most of them come with now.
You won't regret it, especially if your Kenwood has 4 amps of sub RCA like my Alpine. I've since got rid of that car and moved it into a 2016 Acura and it's sounding better than ever, this time it's running off the factory sub speaker wire and is even louder than the last vehicle via RCAs.
Here trying to find out what to put in my 2005 xc70 since I blew everything on the drivers side, oddly enough, even with no sub and half my speakers working, my mirrors can still shake enough to not see out of them! Excited to get a sub and get back to full speaker strength!
Very good review of this sub. It needs more views. I’m considering this sub for my Cruze just to add a little more beat than what the factory speaker can provide. I have a question for you though; How old is your unit? If you go on Crutchfield’s website and look at the pictures it doesn’t show the switch on the back of the amplifier to turn the unit on and off but the instruction manual says there is a switch. It seems like the older models had the switch but the newer units don’t. I just like some input on this before I buy one. Thank you.
Thank you. My sub is about 8 mo old. The switch only controls the LED lights nothing else. If you call Crutchfield their tech support is pretty awesome, someone may be able to tell if the current ones have that switch. This a Crutchfield manufactured brand.
@@KeithBlade Thanks for your reply. I've delt with Crutchfield many times and their customer service is awesome, however even they couldn't tell me if certain units have a switch or not. What they did say though is if the unit does have a switch not only does it control the lighting but it keeps the unit in a stand by mode so you don't need a remote input wire to turn the amp on. Once it sees a signal input via RCA the unit turns on automatically. That feature is more for factory systems that don't use a remote input wire though. But I did end up ordering one so now I wait 2 days for it to get to me.
Thanks! I purchased and returned the Crutchfield Sound Ordnance B-8PTD compact sealed powered sub. It did NOT play low at all. Most sound was 90 Hz or higher. Does this play good lows? I dont crank my music super loud and dont care how hard it thumps. I just was good lows...
I've had the same compact sub for years and it is only rated down to 40Hz. In a no bass system, it was great and fit under a seat. I tried it in my new car with a better system and the better system made better lows. Unfortunately the bandpass sub in this video is sold out everywhere or it would have been perfect.
Hi do you need a separate amp to power the B8p subwoofer? I have the same kind, plugged in the power and RCA cables remote cable and ground and still have nothing.. I have power running but the sub isn’t turning on, does the sub itself need its own power/negative lines? It’s currently plugged into that same kind of circuit board, I thought that would of provided it power. Please get back to me, thanks.
You always need a separate power line, ground, and remote turn on wire anytime you add an amp or sub. What you don't need is a separate amp because this unit has a built in amp. You may want watch some install videos on subs and amps to better understand the process to help guide you.
hey thanks for your quick reply, i do have positive/negative/rem and RCA all plugged into the same kind of circuit board you have, it also has positive and negative wires that run from the subwoofer to the same circuitboard and i still cant get it to function.. do i need to add another positive/negative cable to the subwoofer? is the built in amp power not suitable enough? Thanks @@KeithBlade
Hi, not sure what you mean by circuit board. The power wire has to run from the car battery with an inline fuse near battery. The ground is always shorter: 24 inches roughly. These wires are thick! Get an amp wiring kit, its the best way. The remote turn on wire should go to your stereo remote wire, or you have to properly wire it to the fuse box (see videos or ask an installer, dont guess about this as doing it wrong can be dangerous), if you've done all this and it won't turn on you've either got a bad sub/amp or there's a break in one of your connections or wires.
Hi, I've got an Alpine BT-172, great headunit. See review.. And yes I have a separate amp for the other speakers. It's an Infinity class D and it rocks. You can see it in the trunk in the video.
If I have a stock radio in my car do I need an RCA converter for this sub. Ps. I am extremely new to this so I know pretty much nothing so any help would be appreciated
Hi, no because this one you can run off of high level inputs, that's a fancy way of saying inputs from the speaker leads. You might want to check some tutorials about connecting an amp with high level inputs it would be the same thing here.
