QuestionQUESTION: I'd liek to install my just recently bought Bazooka tube in my boat. Mind you, I will do some modifying in order to protect it. I'll also probably "split" the box so that I can put one speaker in one place and another in another place. The good news is that with a bazooka tube, both 10" subs are already wired up to the built in amp. Therefore, I'll just need to reconnect everything the same way. However, here's the catch. I currently already have a 12" Kicker sub installed and hooked up to a Kicker amp. I want to keep all that the way it is and just add the Bazooka tube. Can you offer step by step instructions? A diagram would even be best! Do I need to install a crossover (if so, how, etc.). I'm not all that familair with stereo stuff but with instructions, would have no problem following directions. I just need to know what I need to do this and how everything is wired up and to what terminals, etc. Thanks.
ANSWER: I must have exact model numbers of all Kickers and amplifiers and the feeding receiver/head unit. It makes a total difference in how the system goes together. Not all kickers are the same nor receivers.
What do you mean by "split" the box? Please explain it to me.
First you are talking about one Bazooka sub; then you are talking about a Kicker sub. Do you have two sub systems? One with built in amp and one without?
And how about the full range speakers? How are you connecting them to the system and how are you driving them?
Yes, you need a crossover, but many amps have them built into the amplifier input or output. Check your equipment specifications.
Let me know what you got and we'll add in some technical details for you.
C
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: Thanks for the quick reply. To answer your questions; I already have a system in my boat (bought it that way) and I'd like to upgrade it. It currently consists of an Alpine CDE-9842 head unit, Kicker KX-350.2 amp, Kicker 12" sub, and of course the 4 full range speakers. I want to add in my Bazooka sub. As you know, the Bazooka sub has an amp already wired up into the 2 - 10" subs. By split the box I mean cut it down the middle and re-seal it to make 2 separate 10" boxes. The full box won't fit anywhere (where I'd like it anyway). As for powering the full range speakers, I don't know. Like I said, everything was all wired up when I bought the boat. I can tell you that the sub doesn't sound anywhere near what it should sound like. There's no power or bass to it what-so-ever which is why I'd like to add my Bazooka tube. I just have no clue how. Thanks.
AnswerThanks for the explanation.
ONE: It helped some, but I still don't know what the full range speaker systems are comprised of. And, the kicker sub; what is the model and is it mounted in a proper enclosure? Since you claim they don's sound good, especially in the bass area, it may be indicative of a problem in the installation or just weak sound from the original design. Therefore, I must assume the Kicker amp and sub speakers are not performing up to par. Kicker stuff is really pretty strong performing and you should get some gut-pumping bass sound out of it.
TWO: Thus, I don't have a good understanding of what the Kicker is or is not doing. If the sub is mounted in a box and the amp is working you should be able to adjust the gain control on the Kicker KX-350.2 and immediately hear bass sounds roaring out of it. So, you must determine if it is working right or has a problem. Is the amp working and is the audio power getting to the speaker? Does the cone move in and out, visibly, when fed a good music signal with bass sound? If this problem is not solved you may end up with the same problem when you add another sub such as the Bazooka.
THREE: You SHOULD solve the problem with the Kicker system before adding the Bazooka system. Once you have that underway you can merely add an audio feed using rca cables to the input of the Bazooka amplifier (assuming it is a model, you did not give me the model number and they have many, many models, all different, that DOES have the built-in amplifier) and check it out for proper working performance.
FOUR: For "splitting" the Bazooka box you will seriously affect the bass reproduction performance by doing this. These units are design to the acoustic properties of the volumetric space of the inside of the box. If you split the box it means the each speaker is now loaded into a volume of 1/2 the cubic space. It will still work and it may be ok for your purposes, but it will cause a deterioration in the overall low frequency (bass sound) performance.
FIVE: To "split" the box you can merely do as you suggest. The wires that are connected to the speaker that does not have the amp will have to be run and connected exactly as they were before you cut the box in half. Everything else should remain the same. But, without the model number I cannot verify the what you want to do.
NOW - IMPORTANT: HOWEVER, I cannot find a Bazooka with 2 10" speaker drivers built in as you mention. There is a model, a marine model, too, that has an active driver on one end and a passive driver on the other; from the outside appearance it would look like a second driver but the passive driver has no voice coil; it is a drone cone for acoustic purposes only. If this is the speaker that you have it cannot be "split". You could cut the passive woofer end off and hope that it would still provide some bass output that would help, but changing the box design this dramatically would have extreme reduction of performance.
Hope this helps you in figuring out how to crank up the system!
C
