Originally Posted by MaloCS

When I added my Kicker S8L7 and a properly ported enclosure to the Infinity stock amp I immediately noticed an increase in bass output over the stock sub woofer. Please keep in mind that even though I was satisfied with just the addition of an after market sub woofer in a properly built ported enclosure you may not be. It really depends on how much punch you want. If you like bass notes that vibrate your sternum then this setup may not satisfy you and leave unhappy with your purchase. If this is the case, then this setup is still a great middle of the road solution because you can just pony up for the sub woofer and box right now and then in a few months or so you can always add an amplifier to get even more bass.


Good luck.

Originally Posted by MaloCS

You should use APPROXIMATELY one pound of polyfill per cubic foot of enclosure space. Again, this figure is subjective and should be taken with a grain of salt. The best procedure is to start out with one pound of polyfill per cubic foot of enclosure space and remove some if needed.

It is possible to over stuff your enclosure with material which will reduce speaker efficiency so some trial and error is necessary. There really is no way to accurately apply the material so if the results are not what you're expecting just remove some material and go from there. You may find that the woofer/enclosure combination actually performs better without any polyfill inside the box.

I tried stuffing my front speaker pods with polyfill in the hopes it would increase bass output but after playing around with different amounts I came to the conclusion that it really didn't do much. For testing purposes I just filled one pod and then played with the balance control so I could hear the empty pod versus the stuffed pod. From this simple test I concluded that for my individual tastes the stuffing didn't do anything as I couldn't hear a difference between the two pods. As a result, I removed the stuffing and left the pods empty.

What I noticed with the front pods during the above test was that the enclosures were resonating like an S.O.B. I went down to the local Car Toys and picked up some Dynamat Extreme and proceeded to apply two layers to the front passenger pod. I then hooked up the speaker and performed the same test as I did for the polyfill. This time I noticed a huge increase in performance when playing with the balance controls. The dampened pod did not resonate and not only played without distortion but louder and lower as well. I then applied two layers of Dynamat Extreme to the driver's side pod and called it good.

In my opinion, it's probably better to spend your money on eliminating the resonance of every enclosure over buying after market speakers, the sub woofer being the one speaker that is excluded. An aftermarket sub woofer in a more efficient enclosure will net you better results then trying to put band aids on the stock unit. If this can't be done then maybe a few coats of dampening material could help extract more efficiency from the stock unit.



My S8L7 is a 2 ohm, dual voice coil sub woofer. Make sure you get a 2 ohm, dual voice coil so you don't alter the overall impedance of the stock amplifier. To hook it up you would just attach sub woofer channel one to the first voice coil and sub woofer channel two to the second voice coil. If you look behind the stock sub you will see 4 wires coming out of the carpet. These are the sub woofer channels, two wires per channel.





It is possible to add polyfill to a ported enclosure but from everything I've read it is not recommended. A ported enclosure is utilizing the woofer's back wave to enhance the output of it's front wave so interfering with it can produce mixed results. The rule of thumb is to not stuff a ported enclosure but I have read about people that have done it.

Again, this is one of those situations where trial and error comes into play. If you do attempt to stuff a ported enclosure then you will want to prevent the stuffing from coming out of the port by applying some sort of screen material to the inside. This will allow the air pressure to exit the port but will prevent the material from coming out.

Good luck.

Originally Posted by MaloCS

I didn't take the time to Dynamat the sound bar because even at extreme volumes the sound bar was pretty solid and did not resonate. I think this has to do with the decrease in amp gain set by the factory.

Originally Posted by MaloCS

Inside or outside? It really doesn't matter since the results are the same. The only difference will be the amount of effort and the visual aesthetic.

Since the resonance is gone your stereo should sound clearer, fully and louder. Again, this will be subjective as my interpretation will be different then yours or anyone elses but you should clearly hear the benefit of the Dynamat.

If you still want to replace your speakers don't feel bad about the Dynamat. The deadening of the pods will only benefit the new speakers if you go that route.

Good luck.