05passion

if they will has anyone done this and how do they sound ?and or will the factory amp push them ?

RRRoamer

The short answer is "yes" and "yes". There are some modifications required to the door inner structure to fit the 8W3V2s and I bet the 8W1s are not that much smaller. And I KNOW they are a LOT bigger than that tiny magnet on the stock speaker! Take a look at this thread that I started that documented what I had to do to install the 8W3V2s in my car: JL Audio 8W3V2 installation thread

If you can get the 8W1 in a dual voice coil, 2 ohm per coil speaker, the factory amp will push them just fine. They can handle more power than the factory amp can put out, but the amp does a pretty good job none the less. And the 8W3V2s sound SO much better than stock it isn't even funny!

05passion

i have seen your install and it looks great but i am not talented enough to do that myself but i was told the w1 subs are desighned for very tight spaces but no one has been able to confirm wheather they will fit without mods!i have a local audio shop that said they would check if i would be willing to pay for the labor i guess that would be the way to go it cant take more that an hour or so!

Mxyzptlk

I have not been able to find anywhere that sells dual voice coil versions of the 8W1s

RRRoamer

That dual voice coil is going to be the killer. The factory amp is two channels per sub and the stock sub is rated at 1.2 ohms per coil. Thankfully, it actually ohms out around 1.7 ohms per coil (vs. the 1.8 ohms per coil that I measured on my 8W3V2), so the factory amp is able to drive the 8W3V2 pretty much with it's (the amps) full power. Of course, the 8W3V2 could easily handle 2 to 3 times the power.

But! If you can only get the 8W1s in single coil configuration, you are hosed without figuring out how to bridge the factory amps and drive a 4 ohm speaker. I wouldn't botter personally. If you have to run a single voice coil sub, go ahead and install an aftermarket amp while you are at it. You have all the signals you need going to the factory amp so the only hard part will be findind space for the amp. And I think it is safe to say that the subs will really wake up if you can send them a full power signal.

RRRoamer

Oh, one more thing. I have seen the 8W1s next to the 8W3s. The W1s are a smaller, but they are still a lot larger than the factory sub. The issue is the width of the magnet on the W1s, not the depth (my W3s were only about 1/4" too deep and that was only were the magnet had that dimple in the center IF you cut out that 1" tall raised support in the bottom of the enclosure!).

The stock speakers are almost triangle shaped. The "magnet" is only about 1.5" in diameter. Versus almost 6" for the 8W3s... I bet the 8W1 are in the 4 to 5 inch range at least:



Notice just how small the magnet is and triangle shapped? Here is a photo of the speakers side by side:



Just notice how much wider the 8W3 speaker is than the factory speaker. This is a problem because the stock enclosure is almost triangle shaped at the top rear. It really slopes down hard and will be in the way of the motor on the JL speaker.

You might be able to find some shallow, narrow motored subs that will fit, but I have to wonder how much better they would sound than the stock sub given they have the same handicaps.

Good luck!

05passion

excellent ,i see exactly what you are saying now !thank you for the great insight looks like i would be better off modifying the enclosure to fit the w3s .when done is it enough sub too keep from doing anything in the trunk ?and is the enclosure big enough to handle w6s ? i am parcial to jl or rf so i would like to make one fit guess i will have to practice on doing some fiber work !!sorry for all the q's but you seem to be da man with da plan !!!

Infinity

The enclosures are .41 cubic feet, and you can mount a 3 5/8" depth with no modification. Like RRR said, though, it is the width of most aftermarket speakers' motors that will be a hassle. You could go with many "slimline" models, or look for those with Neodymium magnet structures. I wonder what the factory 8's would sound like with some real powewr tossed their way?

RRRoamer

Given how much better the JL 8W3s sounded than the factory subs WITH the factory amps, I have a feeling they won't sound any better with more power. Just louder. And loud crap is still crap.

Is the 8W3s enough so you won't need trunk subs? That is ENTIRELY up to your ears (and pocket book). It improved the sound enough for me that I have not started the rear sub project yet. But I will. Why? Because a pair of 8" subs can't produce the low sub frequencies that a 12 or even 10" sub can produce with ease. Pure physics. But they sure do fill in the mid bass very well! If you just want the mid bass and are not too interested in the true sub bass, then you will probably be VERY happy after installing the 8W3s. If you want that bass that you can feel, I bet you will eventually be installing a trunk sub. But either way, you car will sound better with 8W3s in the door if you go with a trunk sub or not. It makes a huge difference.

As for the 8W6 fitting, I have no idea. You should be able to get the dimensions (length and diameter) for these subs and compare them. there is still a bit of room around the 8W3s, but it would be hard to go much deeper. Ok, any deeper. You would end up having to do a lot more work to rework the enclosure to fit.

One thing you might want to look into: someone posted that it is possible to use a heat gun (not a hair dryer!) to heat up the soft plastic that makes enclosure and then stretch the plastic to fit around a larger sub without requiring fiberglass work. If you can stretch the plastic far enough, this would definitely be the cleanest way of installing the larger subs. If I was doing it again, I would try this method before I started cutting. If it fails, you can always pull out the cutting tools and go at it!

thestoogeo

I used a heat gun to install the 8w3's. It worked well. Work has been insane this week. I plan on getting everything together this weekend for the website. I'll post back when I have my full writeup and photos online.

Jon

RRRoamer

Jon,

I definitely look forward to a good, detailed writeup! I'm happy with how the cut+fiberglass came out, but heating and stretching it is DEFINITELY a lot more elegant solution. And probably is more durable in the long run as well.

So let's see how you did it! And don't forget the pictures. Lots of them. Please?

Mxyzptlk

Second the motion for a write up here