Part 6: Best Way to Install Kicker 6.75” Sub into the OEM Enclosure

[Mav_Owner]

This is the sixth of six long posts; on the B&O sound system upgrade of my 2024 Ford Maverick with Lariat trim. Here are the titles of the 6 posts:

Part 1: Introduction and Conclusion of B&O Sound System Upgrade

Part 2: B&O Front Door, Tweeter and Rear Speaker Replacement

Part 3: B&O Center Speaker Replacement with a 4 inch Speaker

Part 4: B&O Subwoofer Replacement

Part 5: B&O Upgrade, Subwoofer Amp Installation

Part 6: Best Way to Install Kicker 6.75” Sub into the OEM Enclosure

In Part 4, I showed how I installed a KICKER 48CWRT672 CompRT 6.75" Subwoofer into the OEM enclosure. Since then I have been exchanging messages with forum member Ryan2366. He devised the best way to install this Kicker subwoofer into the OEM enclosure. Using what he believes to be ¾” plywood he made an adapter that spaces the subwoofer in the enclosure to the point where the enclosure does not to be cut. The solution is genius and I wish I had thought of it. I am kicking myself because I had to purchase a pair of Door Speaker Adapters Fit for Dodge/Chrysler/Jeep 6X9 to 6.5 Inch Black. Each adapter is 3/8” thick, so by using both adapters I could have installed the KICKER 48CWRT672 CompRT 6.75" Subwoofer into the OEM enclosure without modification to the enclosure.

So if you are going to install a KICKER 48CWRT672 CompRT 6.75" subwoofer into your truck, do this way. Either make the adapter out of wood or purchase 2 plastic 3/8” thick 6x9 to 6.5 inch adapters.

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[Maverick123]

Do you think it would be worth changing the sub without upgrading the factory amp?

 

[Mav_Owner]

Swapping out the OEM subwoofer with a new subwoofer and an additional amp is a great upgrade. Please look at Part 4 and Part 5.

You need to add an amp to drive an aftermarket subwoofer. You do not need to change out the OEM amp. You need to connect the subwoofer output of the OEM B&O amp to the input of the aftermarket subwoofer amp. I have seen posts where others tap into the standard rear speaker wiring to serve as the input to the new subwoofer amp. The OEM B&O amp lacks the power to drive an aftermarket subwoofer.

This picture might help, be advised it is specific to my application:

 

[Ryom]

Do you think it would be worth changing the sub without upgrading the factory amp?

I did a swap of the B&O stock sub with the highest efficiency aftermarket 6x9 I could find. The difference was minimal as the stock subwoofer is actually QUITE well built for the task. So no, it's not worth it.

I strongly believe that the B&O system was designed with the aim of having a very smooth frequency curve delivered in the cabin. They used an infinite baffle subwoofer design because that has an extremely smooth frequency roll-off and will blend with the mid-drivers seamlessly. The downside is that it's very easy to bottom out a IB subwoofer since there is no air cushion to push back on, so IB subs generally use a lower power amplifier and a somewhat high frequency cut-off to protect the driver. This works against having powerful chest-thumping bass, but it does make for a very pleasant and balanced overall tone.

However, we're kind of setup for success if we want to improve on this. The battery is RIGHT THERE. The amp (and therefore wiring harness) is RIGHT THERE. We can very easily tap into the wiring harness to drive a SECOND sub (keeping the B&O IB sub active), which would be my recommendation. Why? Because running two subs in different locations drastically reduces dead spots and eliminates frequency peaks in the cabin. The stock IB sub will do what it does best, and you can dedicate the amplifier power going to the additional sub to the very lowest frequencies... 60Hz and below is what I'd start testing at if I were doing this right now.

This saves a bit of fabrication and gets around the limitations of the IB enclosure while keeping the vehicle mostly stock. I'm not a fan of bandpass enclosures, but a BP might actually be IDEAL for this use case given their narrow response range and extremely high efficiency... the only serious problem is having the necessary cubic-footage.

 

[Mav_Owner]

I agree, you lose sound replacing the existing B&O subwoofer with just a larger subwoofer, like the HS8 or HS10. Since the rear of the Maverick does not have bass providing door speakers there is a need to add bass to the system. Just relying on the front door speakers just does not do it for me. Sound is missing from the rear of the truck.

Found this on https://www.sameskydevices.com
It provides an idea of what sounds emanate from what frequencies.

Here is info on some aftermarket subwoofers:

6x9” Subwoofers
MMATS MBW690 $249.00
Frequency Response: 28Hz to 250Hz

PowerBass OE-690D $95.99 pair
Frequency Response: 50-5,500 Hz

Rockville RVL69W 2-Pack Sale price $109.95 pair
Frequency Response: 50Hz–8kHz

Round Subwoofers
Kicker HS8 and HS10
Frequency response: 25-120 Hz

Kicker CWRT67
Frequency Response: 30-500 Hz

I am going to assume the Frequency Response of the OEM B&O subwoofer is something like 50-5000 Hz. So adding the Kicker HS8 or HS10 does cover the lower bass range. What precautions are necessary when connecting an aftermarket subwoofer with the OEM B&O subwoofer? I would be concerned with over driving the OEM amp to supply current to both the OEM B&O subwoofer and the amp for the aftermarket subwoofer. Maybe you have long term experience with this setup and can share your configuration? I assume a balance can be achieved where OEM B&O subwoofer supplies enough sound to be heard with the aftermarket powered subwoofer.

I am very pleased with the Kicker CWRT67 installed in the OEM subwoofer enclosure. No modification is required to the OEM subwoofer enclosure. It takes advantage of the Maverick baffle design and provides both the lower bass, 30 Hz and lower midrange, up to 500 Hz. Aftermarket 4" rear speakers help provide sound beginning at the lower midrange. I doubt this set up will provide chest pounding bass. But I was not looking for chest pounding bass. The truck is filled with balanced smooth sound and you can rarely hear sound from a specific speaker, eventhough sound is from all the speakers.

 

[Ryom]

I would be concerned with over driving the OEM amp to supply current to both the OEM B&O subwoofer and the amp for the aftermarket subwoofer.

I haven't done this myself, but that's how I would go about it after experimenting with replacing the B&O driver previously. Keep the B&O live and add a 2nd subwoofer to fill in the missing low end.

Ideally you'd tap the sub line-ins at the wiring harness prior to the amp and just pigtail those sub leads to a 2nd amp. Any voltage loss causing reduced output via a simple tap would likely be easily covered up by the second sub filling in those missing sub-bass frequencies. If you wanted to get fancy I suppose you could put a voltage regulator into your tap circuit to prevent voltage drop, but I'd doubt it's really necessary and it'd be an easy way to introduce unwanted noise.

I miss the days when it was dead easy to just replace the entire audio stack in a vehicle

Manufacturers, just give us a SUB-OUT from the stock system that we can use without any drama!

 

[pasando]

Swapping out the OEM subwoofer with a new subwoofer and an additional amp is a great upgrade. Please look at Part 4 and Part 5.

You need to add an amp to drive an aftermarket subwoofer. You do not need to change out the OEM amp. You need to connect the subwoofer output of the OEM B&O amp to the input of the aftermarket subwoofer amp. I have seen posts where others tap into the standard rear speaker wiring to serve as the input to the new subwoofer amp. The OEM B&O amp lacks the power to drive an aftermarket subwoofer.

This picture might help, be advised it is specific to my application:

Did you use any type of aftermarket harness to pick off the low/sub signal & remote signals going into the Factory Amplifier so you could then input those signals into the new after market amp?

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