bass shakers

[GOVEHIX]

bought a pair of Aura pro bass shakers and plan to have them install under the font seats. and came up with couple questions,
do i need an amplifier for them or can just connect them directly to the stock cd player?
and it seems there weren't that much space underneth, anyone has an idea should i install them at the back of the seats? the plastic area i mean.
thank you.

[VehiGAZ]

Govehix,

Free advice from strangers is worth what you paid for it, but here's mine anyway...

Do yourself a favor - return those bass shakers and get yourself a good 8" subwoofer, a simple enclosure, and a decent amp. You will get what you are looking for - I promise. Those bass shakers are not really speakers - more like butt vibrators. They don't produce sound, they produce vibrations that you're supposed to feel in your seat. But if there's no real low-end sound to accompany them, they will "sound" pretty strange and awkward. They are marketed as a cheap alternative to a subwoofer setup, but you get what you pay for. There's only one way to get good sound - with amplifiers and speakers. There are no short-cuts, unfortunately.

Anyway, to answer your questions, if you were to wire them into the stock stereo, you would have to run a speaker-level (i.e., amplified) signal to them. The easiest way to do that is to connect them to the wires running to the rear speakers. However, if you do, you will be changing the rear channel loads on the stock amplifier (I won't go into the physics, the math, or the different ways they can be connected), and the amplifier will probably not handle that for long as it is almost certainly not designed to handle a load lower than 4 ohms. You need quality aftermarket audio products for that. SO the answer is, yes, you should get a separate amplifier for them if that's how you decide to proceed.

Furthermore, while there may be enough room under the driver's seat to mount the shakers, the TOD controller is under the passenger seat, so there may not be room to mount one on that side. And to make the situation worse, the seat has all manner of springs, levers, and rails running under it, and you will probably not find a solid flat surface to mount the shakers to. If they are not in contact with a solid surface, they will not transmit any vibrations, and you will have paid a bunch of money for nothing. Mounting them to the back of the seats will be a very inelegant solution, I think. They will cut into rear-seat footroom, and the rear seat passengers will likely end up kicking the wires off of them sooner or later.

When I got my VX, I was impressed with the clarity and dynamic range of the stock stereo, but the lack of low end was a problem for me. I bought a $130 Alpine 140W amp and an audiophile-quality Focal 8" subwoofer in a factory enclosure. That particular Focal sub and box run about $500 new, but I found mine on eBay for $200. The same amp and a JL Audio 8W3 subwoofer in a $100 enclosure would do the trick nicely. You can pull left-and-right speaker-level signals off the rear speaker wires WITHOUT affecting the stock stereo's amplifier load and run them into the speaker-level inputs on the amp. Contrary to what many car-stereo-buffs might believe, you will not be able to hear the difference in the sound quality by using the high-level input on the amp, especially in a subwoofer application.

With that setup, you will get what you are looking for, I promise you. You won't be blowing out the windows, but you won't be blowing out your eardrums, either, and the sound quality and bass "shake" will be there. The interior of the VX is pretty small in subwoofer terms, so you don't need much to get a good, strong, full sound. You will also be surpised by how much you can affect the feel and sound of the bass by changing the orientation of the speaker... face front for a dryer, tighter sound, face sideways or rearward for a louder, boomier sound.

It's obvious that you've put a lot of time and money into your VX, judging by your list of mods. Don't cheap out on the sound system - do it right with a sub and amp.

[GOVEHIX]

thank you very much for your detail response, it helps me a lot.
but i still want to give it a shot to try how these bass shakers works. (since i bought it on ebay, there's no returning). your opinion is right, getting a sub woofer can definely get me the sound quality i want. but considering the space inside the vx is so limit, i really don't want to waste any inch of the space. so i am going with these bass shakers.
you mentioned the TOD system is right underneth the front seats, so if i want to install there, how can i avoid damaging it? or how can i know where it exactly locates? is this the main problem i need to consider due installation? or are there some other places i need to pay special attention to? Thank you.

[MZ-N10]

well teh tod computer is under the passenger seat....i dont remember exactly where and how big it is. but im pretty sure u can place it off to a side of the seat and not damage it. u probably want to just take out the passenger seat just to make sure.

[psychos2]

you can fit an JL Audio 8w3 in a sealed enclosure inside the spare tire.does not waste any space.here are some pics of the one i made for James. shawn

http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/data/500/medium/64sub_box.jpg
http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/data/500/medium/64sub1.jpg
http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/data/500/6464rear_cover.jpg

[pbkid]

oh just so you know i took my seats out the other day. the comp for the TOD is about 1foot by 8inches or so. not too big or delicate, just a solid chunk of metal pretty much.
pbkid

[GOVEHIX]

you can fit an JL Audio 8w3 in a sealed enclosure inside the spare tire.does not waste any space.here are some pics of the one i made for James. shawn

http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/data/500/medium/64sub_box.jpg
http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/data/500/medium/64sub1.jpg
http://www.vehicross.info/gallery/data/500/6464rear_cover.jpg

that looks very nice.
is 8" the maximum fit for such a mod? is a 12" sub going to fit if i remove the spare tire? since i had the 20" wheels replaced, i don't think the spare tire is useful to me. and also i heard people were complaining about the rear door vibration after they install the sub, will this happen to this mod too? those low frequency vibration sounds are really annoying. also, what kind of amp do you recommend in a economic way? sorry i am tatally a newbie to car audios.
thank you.
and thank all for the useful infomation.

[Swordy]

The shakers that I have used are just speaker magnets and speaker coils attached to rods instead of cones. The bass vibrations they reproduced were exatly the same as the subs. I thought they were pretty intense myself.

[psychos2]

if you remove the spare you can fit a jl audio 12" sub. i have not measured for any other brand so i am not sure if others will fit.with a sealed enclosure there should not be any door vibration.there was none with the 8" sub.as far as an amp i have a 400 watt US AMP.i will be building one soon for mine with the jl audio 12w6. shawn

[VehiGAZ]

Dynamat and good seals and attachments shoudl keep any rattling to a minimum. I would definitely consider lining the back of the spare tire compartment with Dynamat (expensive as it is) to keep the boominess down to a minimum. A little foam behind your license plate will keep that from buzzing as you roll down the road.

A JL 8W3 won't need 400 watts of amp. Not that it's a bad thing, but you can get plenty of sound from 150 watts (depending on how you wire them - those speakers have dual voice coils, which allows you to adjust the load on the amp - but never mind that - have your installer figure it out) Good luck!

Swordy... you like the bass shakers? As much as the sound from a sub?

[psychos2]

VehiGAZ, the 400 watt amp is pushing the 12w3v2, soon to be 12w6 . the 8w3v2 is rated at 125 watts continous.and yes it has dual vc.in 2,4,or 6 ohm depening on what amp configuration you use.and as far as the rattle of the door with the 8 it was not an issue ,with a 12 maybe some dynamat or foam.with the 12w3 in a sealed enclosure behind the seat there are a few rattles. but not like 3 12w6 in the back of a ford escort.that thing would rattle.i will hopefully have the 12 in the door soon. shawn