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Just installed a Bazooka xB2 subwoofer :)!

39548 Views 52 Replies 16 Participants Last post by  BrickPig, 
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As I said, I just installed a Bazooka VSE-SCI-145L-07 subwoofer that's designed specifically for our cars. It form fits deep into the right rear corner with an aprox .5 cu-ft bass reflex cabinet with an internal 50/50W dual channel amp and dual VC 8" driver. Frequency response is 35 to 85Hz.



As is usual for me, I made some wiring mods :p, but it worked pretty darned good as is and includes a completely factory compatible wiring harness. The harness uses the front door speaker outputs from the head unit to detect the bass.

I find it provides easily more than enough bass to meld cleanly with my door speakers at normal listening levels. (However, if your intent is to attract the attention of passersby or vibrate the fasteners out of your car, look elsewhere.)
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My only disappointment is they sit just a tad too low to permit my cargo liner flap to slide underneath -- 'course, that's an accessory, so one can't expect too much. The especially nice thing about these is they keep the cargo area completely clear while providing very good sonic integration with the door speakers (IMO). Course, cool, everyone has their own likes and dislikes :p!
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The above two photos were intended to focus on the sub, but in light of Jack's remarks, perhaps this would be useful.


I agree, it's appearance is somewhat inconspicuous, whereas the typical rear sub installation is certainly not (the under seat installations being best for invisibility :))! My personal intent was to reasonably conveniently and inexpensively enjoy a low bass sonic upgrade without impacting my useful cargo capacity. I think the Bazooka does well with that! (Just something of a shame about that cargo liner flap :(.)
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TARDIS said:
I like them and think they're a great entry level option for low end sound for low end money.
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Although the sound can be somewhat upgraded via judicious mods to the supplied package, it delivers pretty good performance without any mods at all :)! In my view, it all depends on the goals of the owner. If what you're looking for is a cohesive sound within your vehicle, I'd say this works. However, if you desire to bring home trophies, then perhaps other options should be evaluated :p!
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quackPOT said:
Thanks for the info. I have both the cargo mat & top cover. I knew it conflicts with the cover edge support piece, but not the mat too. It's a bummer because I'd love to get the bass unit. Oh well...
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I just took another look at it and tried removing the upper mount to see if there was any vertical play at all, and came up with none (definitely none at the bottom right mount). Then I felt across the bottom rear and it feels firmly and evenly in contact with the tray corner. So, I guess that's the design. The mat would go under if just the rightmost portion of that corner flap were trimmed off, probably less than an inch since the cabinet rear is lower than the front -- will have to think about that.
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phobic said:
yeah, thats what I don't like, it blocks the cubby hole, but doesnt cover it completely, kinda weird.
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Actually, the corner tray is still pretty useable. The sub cabinet only extends over the outside corner of it.

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Just spent a couple hours nailing down the relative sub level with a selection of CD's. This is one very capable little subwoofer :eek:! Discs used were:

Ingenue -- K.D. Lang
Legend -- Bob Marley
Taj -- Taj Mahal
Suddenly -- Billy Ocean
Chicago -- Chicago
Reflections (live performance) -- Carly Simon
Spread Your Wings and Fly (live performance) -- Laura Nyro

Primary listening focus was accurate bass-line reproduction, as demonstrated by believable tonality -- no one-note bass nonsense, rather clear pitch distinction between notes. I heard natural sounding bass registers with the live performance acoustic piano, excellent electric and acoustic bass reproduction, tight and clean with easily enough wave front pressure to feel in the stomach, excellent integration with the door speakers -- very impressed! I had no idea adding a sub could make such a difference, an 8" sub no less :)!

As I mentioned earlier, I did mod the wiring and it did make a difference, but as supplied, the sub works very well.

My setup:
Kenwood KDC-X792 head unit
Alpine SPS-17C2 coax door speakers
OE "A"-pillar tweeters
Edead damping in all doors
Bazooka w/ 10 AWG power, 12AWG ground, RCA sub out to low-level sub inputs

Totally awesome and highly affordable (~$200) :cheers:!
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AJ_Gil said:
Thanks for the write-up and follow ups. I'm going to try to slip this under the wife's radar in the near future :p
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I never took the subwoofer idea that seriously until you mentioned the Bazooka and I saw the way it fit and the clean install. Then you pointed out that nice price and it became serious :)!

TartanJack said:
I got mine from ebay for about $90, if I recall correctly.
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Very nice! I'm guessing you must have got yours around the time of introduction. I get the impression an 8" sub is a good size for small cars.
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AJ_Gil said:
I just ordered the matching BA speakers for the rear doors and once I get past that the Bazooka will probably be next.

I too have a question on the hookup you used. You mentioned an optional hookup available to use the RCAs. Do you have a link or info? I assumed that since the Bazooks was made for the XB it yould use those but apparently not so I'm now curious which hookup offers the best sound options.
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The Bazooka was made to be xB2 factory head unit compatible, and it does a very good job of that regardless of year. If you want to do something a little different, then noodling and extra elbow grease is required :)! As mentioned in my SL thread, there is a shorty generic harness available that provides low-level access to the amplifier (Bazooka ELA-HP-AWK), however; deciding on and making the connections is up to you. (If you want one, I bought one, but as per my SL thread, never used it -- $10 shipped :)!) I used the original harness, but with mods! Without modding, the generic harness is most flexible.

PS. I've no idea if this input is useful, but I kept my OE tweeters and they work excellently with my aftermarket aimable coax door speakers (tweeters aimed toward the riders), just took Edead to damp the door panels to stop the diffraction interference that was screwing up the midrange (not a problem before the driver change). Also, I fade my sound a little toward the rear speakers and enjoy the greater sense of envelopment it provides. However, since the front seat backs are in the way of direct highs radiation, ambiance is limited -- though perhaps just as well since it helps keep the primary stage up front. Don't really want to smear the vocalists :)!

BrickPig said:
Hi TrevorS,

Just curious: you mentioned you did some rewiring on your setup. Your most recent post gave us a hint what you did. It sounds like the internal amp inside the VSE Bazooka enclosure has RCA inputs? If so:

- was it difficult to open the enclosure to gain access to the internal amp, and the RCA low-lovel inputs?
- can you post a pic of the internal amp, showing the wiring? Or did you use your own amp?
- did you retain the Bazooka wiring harness for the amp on/off or did you come up with your own solution?

I don't plan on altering my current sub setup, but I am curious what you did for your setup. Also it may help others on this site who are considering the VSE Bazooka. Thanks.
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Specifically, what I did was --

Spent time reading about Bazooka's products and drew conclusions about the internal amp and driver. Tried to access the apparent RCAs by opening the sub cabinet and failed miserably :( (so much for possible alternative amp considerations)! Asked questions on the Bazooka forum and learned of the alternative harness, but otherwise, they don't seem very communicative :(!

Tapped my main ACC feed with a fuse holder and ran 10AWG together with the Bazooka harness to the right rear of the car.

Disconnected the Bazooka harness speaker wire taps from the "T"-connector and made RCA pigtails to instead connect them to my HU sub outputs.

Settled on the "Remote Amp" control mode (depends on one's HU) and moved the single wire harness connector to the HU side of the "T"-connector, disconnected the Bazooka harness power connection, and removed the "T"-connector entirely.

Installed a 12AWG chassis ground wire at the right rear.

Trimmed the harness power and ground wires to roughly 8" from the sub connector and soldered my power and ground replacements.

Extracted the four high-level input contacts from the sub connector and moved them as a block to adjacent the power and remote connections (polarity must be preserved).

That's basically it. I chose not to drill through the rear pocket and instead run the wires under the lower edge of the "C"-pillar panel (hidden adjacent the taillight access panel) -- I really hate drilling holes in factory panels if avoidable :(!

Currently working on trimming the corner flap of my cargo liner to fit under the sub. In other words, I consider the sub a keeper :)!

Thinking of your own setup, I'm guessing your low frequency rolloff is roughly 30Hz instead of the Bazooka 35Hz. Bottom end extension isn't free and 30Hz is pretty darned good! I've no question you'll enjoy your install :)!
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TrevorS said:
Currently working on trimming the corner flap of my cargo liner to fit under the sub. In other words, I consider the sub a keeper :)!
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The overlap area was deeper than I realized and I had to remove roughly half the flap depth. I could probably have left another 1/4", but it's fine :).
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TrevorS said:
The especially nice thing about these is they keep the cargo area completely clear while providing very good sonic integration with the door speakers (IMO).
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Just want to clarify on the first of the two points. I was thinking in terms of the cargo area as the space between the two rear wheel liners on forward, but as you can see from the photos, the sub does, in fact, consume some space out of the right rear corner. I personally don't find it significant, especially in comparison to any other rear sub installation I've seen; however, my saying the cargo area is kept "completely clear", even with an IMO flag, is dubious -- sorry about that :p!
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TartanJack said:
As sold, the unit plugs right into the factory harness, plus a "tube crimp" connection to the head power wire. There is NO RCA wire connection at all (at least that exits the box).
The main reason is that the basic-factory radio (at least the original Pioneer units) did not have any RCA outputs at all. So, a sub-unit was devised that plugged direct into the basic headunit.
To fit a an RCA wire, one would need to crack open the Bazooka unit to get to the amp. I'll leave detail of that to those who have. I just used the unit as supplied.
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Actually, it's not necessary to open the cabinet to access the RCA inputs. However, it is necessary to remove the shrink cover from the provided OE subwoofer harness connector and connect to the four low-level contacts adjacent the power and remote. Another solution is to purchase the generic Bazooka harness. I chose to modify the provided harness :)!
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A little time has passed and I thought I'd make an update. Installing a subwoofer provided the opportunity to learn about my HU sub adjustments and that's helped improve the sound. Discovered I had the sub phase reversed (there's a reversal switch adjacent the sub connector), and so I've been able to set the level lower while achieving a more accurate sound :). I've also raised the sub roll-off at the head unit to 120 Hz to provide a more relaxed crossover between it (85Hz internal) and the door speakers. Finally, now the crossover region is smoother, I've set the bass boost frequency to 40Hz which gives a very effective bottom with just a couple dB of boost. NJ has a good golden oldie "Cruise'n'" station that's fun to listen to in the car and I never realized how much bottom those older tunes actually had! This little sub is turning out to be a very enjoyable upgrade :)!
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alfundo said:
Thanks to your input i flipped the switch in the back and the Bazooka has a much nicer punch to it now. in the other mode it seems to be too overpowering at times. Kudos! where at in NJ are you? i wotk in Hunterdon county.
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Thanks and glad it helped you :)! I'm actually in north Delaware, but I do get a kick out of 92.1 FM. I've been a fan for a long time :)!

AJ_Gil said:
I still want one of these to finish off my system.
Hello Christmas :cheers:
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Glad to learn you're still interested in the Bazooka :)! I really do think it's a great value/performer, and it's a very much do-it-yourself install if you're willing to take it on -- consider it a learning opportunity (together with a cash saver) :)! Just be sparing of other expenses for awhile :biggrin:!
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AJ_Gil said:
The one thing I'm still unable to sort out is that I'm thinking the best way to run this is off the RCA plugs on the rear of the 2012 HU. Seems like the HU is set up to operate a sub so why tap into the existing wires as opposed to using the HU sub controls? Then I go look at that adapter available from Bazooka and it looks like a universal with a zillion wires to figure out. I will install this myself but I need to sort this out before even considering proceeding.
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The wiring is no problem at all, I can tell you the color code of the three wires you care about (power, ground, remote). As I said, I have one of those harnesses available if you're interested. I opened the short piece of black shrink wrap to the connector so I could verify the RCA connections, but re-secured it with a couple pieces of electrical tape and it looks fine, 'course, it's invisible anyway with the sub installed :).

My guess is you'd want to use the supplied harness to pick off the power and remote at the radio, and just disconnect the four speaker level wires from the "T" connector. Then you could plug in a pair of long RCA audio cables and route them with the harness back to the right rear. Then you'd cut off the excess harness length, attach the power and remote wires to the universal harness, plug in the two RCA's, and attach the ground to the chassis.
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xbowner? said:
I have wondered what that switch does. Mine seems over powered too. Did you flip yours up or down?
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Just try the other position, it's either better or it isn't :)! Also, make sure you don't have the level control on the sub set too high. People have a tendency to over do it :)!
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Recently had to disconnect my HU and lost most of my settings :(!

Went through them tonight with appropriate sources and found my best settings for the Bazooka were 120Hz sub roll-off and 100Hz highs roll-on at the door drivers with sub-phase inverted. Obviously, the detail depends on HU flexibility, but I continue to feel the Bazooka is a capable and cost friendly add-on :)!
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alfundo said:
Trevor, what kind of wiring mods did you do? I have a Pioneer Avic D3 and using the factory harness. Any changes I make to the subwoofer settings don't carry over to the Bazooka because the HU doesnt detect a sub. Is that correct?
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Oops! Of course, you're right -- I was forgetting that slight detail :clown:.

alfundo said:
I assume you had to convert something to the RCA plugs?
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I converted the speaker C1 "T" connector wires to RCA at the HU and relocated their pin receptacles at the Bazooka harness plug. FWIW -- I also used heavier wiring for the Bazooka ground and hot (hot relocated to the interior relay panel), plus I moved the remote power-on connector to my aftermarket HU harness (which allowed me to remove the "T"-connector). However, according to Bazooka, using heavier wire will make little to no difference, just seemed like a good idea to me :p!
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TrevorS said:
Recently had to disconnect my HU and lost most of my settings :(!

Went through them tonight with appropriate sources and found my best settings for the Bazooka were 120Hz sub roll-off and 100Hz highs roll-on at the door drivers with sub-phase inverted. Obviously, the detail depends on HU flexibility, but I continue to feel the Bazooka is a capable and cost friendly add-on :)!
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Oops -- just remembered the sub roll-off is officially 85Hz, and so my door speaker roll-on of 100Hz should be too high and my original 80Hz should be correct, but will have to verify by listening!

TrevorS said:
I converted the speaker C1 "T" connector wires to RCA at the HU and relocated their pin receptacles at the Bazooka harness plug. FWIW -- I also used heavier wiring for the Bazooka ground and hot (hot relocated to the interior relay panel), plus I moved the remote power-on connector to my aftermarket HU harness (which allowed me to remove the "T"-connector). However, according to Bazooka, using heavier wire will make little to no difference, just seemed like a good idea to me :p!
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Here's the post where I describe my mods earlier in the thread.
http://www.newscionxb.com/131-audio...talled-bazooka-xb2-subwoofer-2.html#post83512
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TrevorS said:
Oops -- just remembered the sub roll-off is officially 85Hz, and so my door speaker roll-on of 100Hz should be too high and my original 80Hz should be correct, but will have to verify by listening!
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Sho-nuf, should be 80Hz corner for the door speakers!
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