The Upstate Life

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

Sounds Issues Resolved

After weeks of having our car stereo's bass setting turned down to a horrific -5, we were finally able to turn the knob back to the right as of last Friday. If you recall, the factory subwoofer in the Upstate-mobile unexpectedly blew despite the fact that we take the utmost care in our personal/mobile electronics (I still have the plastic on my iPod wheel despite its 1+ year old use. Yeah, it's that bad). Anyway, after performing some research on a replacement part, we acquired a new 8" Kicker that was deemed an appropriate substitute for the damaged factory speaker for around $50.

Circuit City was dubious about the installation since they were replacing a factory sub with an aftermarket one as they were afraid the stock amp wouldn't have enough power to drive the speaker, but I told them that other people with this exact problem have had success stories if you use the proper model (8", 4-ohm, free-air). For only $30 to have it installed, it was worth throwing the dice. When the technician took out the old speaker, he showed me how cheaply made the original subwoofer actually was. Not only was the speaker cone made of a cardboard-like material, but it was also incredibly corrugated (they are supposed to be smooth). The Kicker model was of course constructed from much higher quality material which consisted of rubber and plastic. I'm just dumbfounded at how a quality brand such as JBL could produce such a POS subwoofer. The installer said JBL's aftermarket/retail products were top-notch, but the stuff they make for Toyota/OEM is pure garbage. So, um yeah, it's a good thing I didn't drop $200 at the dealership for an identical factory replacement part (not to mention how much more it would cost for installation). I'm just glad my car doesn't have the acoustics of a coffee can anymore.

Posted by Brett at 1:55 PM |