Have any of you tried the Kenwood compact powered subwoofer, KSC-SW10? It has very small dimensions about 14" X 9" X 4". There is one powered and one passive speaker each only 5 X 7 but they claim 150W of peak power. It has speaker level inputs so I'm thinking it would be easy to wire to the rear speakers and perhaps locate under one of the front seats. If anyone has tried out this unit, I would greatly appreciate hearing what you think of it.

 

That's interesting. On the german website the product is called KSC-SW1 and has a little different design.

Additionally they offer a set of two 6x9 woofers with a separate amplifier (with high level input). This could be an option for a replacement of the rear speakers:
http://www.kenwood.de/products/car/l...o/KFC-WDA69RC/

 

Good timing in asking the question - I just got my SW10 installed a few hours ago. I should say at the offset that I have an aftermarket head unit with the preouts, so I didn't wire the sub to the rear speaker inputs (although it does come with a wire harness if you want to do that).

Overall, I'm not very impressed - and I'm not even an audiophile! That's actually why I'm on this forum - I'm looking into new speakers now. To be fair, I didn't really get the SW10 for a lot of bass - I just wanted to pipe the bass to the sub so the factory speakers would be dedicated to mid and high levels (and therefore sound better, and I wouldn't worry about blowing them out), but apparently my head unit still makes the main speakers play bass even with this new guy in there. So, that's my head unit's fault, and not the sub's.

So, to the sub itself. It's not very 'punchy', and you can kind of tell it's working hard to produce the sound. However, if you just want to add a little bit of bass to you car, I'd still recommend this unit. Primarily because of the space - it does fit underneath the seat (I have an '02 if that matters, but I think seat clearances are the same). Now, it only fits if the seat is about 1/3rd to halfway raised up from the floor. So it didn't fit under my seat as I usually like it, so I raised the passenger seat a few clicks and now it's fine. I've since sat in the passenger seat and lowered it as far as it'll go before hitting the sub, and it's not that high, so I still consider it a 'fit'. My girlfriend hasn't ridden in it yet, but um, I know she'll be able to tell it's there - when it's under the seat, the speakers fire right up into it, so it vibrates like crazy when the volume is up!

The sub's remote is very nice and handy, so I do like that. Also note that there is a SW1 version, which is pretty much the same thing (slightly larger I think - Crutchfield.com will compare both for you).

Oh, and I don't know what prices you can find, but it's $107 on Amazon. Much better than the $250 retail

 

I have looked into a lot of these. I have pretty much decided on the JL Audio 13TW5 that just started shipping. I've had JL subs before and really liked them. Not to mention 12.98" x 2.5". Yes, I said 2.5" deep! It is optimized for an 0.80 cu.ft sealed box.

 

The SW1 is last years model, the SW10 is the one that replaced it.

 

I am going with one of these, I should have it next week.
http://www.crutchfield.com/App/Produ...3&tp=114&avf=N

The reviews on it are very good compared to the Kenwood, and hopefully it is small enough to go under the passenger seat. Based on the dimensions it should fit without a problem, but Im skeptical until its in. So, that is a project I will be attempting next weekend. I'll post pics and whatnot when I am done.

Another reason that I went with this over the Kenwood is at least this is an 8" sub, not a pair of non round oddball speakers.

 

Did you take out the foam under the carpet? There is supposedly a 2" thick piece of foam that sits in a dip in the floorboard that should give more room.

 

I've also thought about that Blaupunky unit, but it is ONLY 70 watts, that is very low for a sub.

 

sorry it took me so long to see this thread. I am running a KSC SW10, and I like it alot. It seems alot of your problem is with your HU. I am running on the stock unit, and when I turn off the ignition I dont hear any bass from my stock speakers. I have mine under my passengers seat firing into the empty space that is available if you take out the covering and the styrofoam. anyway just wanted to offer my .02

 

70 rms, 140 peak, its about the same as the rest of the small powered subs. I'll let you know how it sounds in about a week

Plus, Im hoping that the location of it being under the seat will help with the sound.

 

Hi would you mind posting a pic of how it looks under the pass. seat? would the backseat passsenger has enough feet room? how do you connect it, RCA input or speaker input? stock unit, you mean non hifi system, right, any RCA output ?

eager to get more bass....

thanks

 

people keep asking for pics of how it looks under the passengers seat, but I can't see it... Its actually on the rails of the passenger seat so the seat can still slide back and forth. I wouldn't say the rear passenger is able to have their feet under the seat (i removed my rear seats). I had it installed on my non hi-fi system. I'll have to go back and see how they wired it. I'll check after work.