I have a 96 850 wagon and the existing radio is ok but it has no bass which is what i love. I bought subwoofers already and i need all the space in the back for my hunting and fishing gear so im trying to figure out if it is possible to hook up the subs under the fold down seats if i take out the seats. Thanx, matt

 

Huh? If you have NO BASS your problem is likely NO POWER. Which radio do you have? SC-710 audio system only has 20 watts per channel. The SC-810 isn't much better, only 25 watts per channel. I have swapped a premium sound system into our S70 with good results.

Old door speakers don't help. My wagon has never door speakers. I think they are only about 5 years old. As you know, they are not woofers so subs will do the kick trick. Where you put them is up to you. I don't think removing a seat is a good idea but if that's the route you want to go it's your call. Some have tried to fit them under the floor panel just behind the seat.

Try to google "850 wagon sub woofers" and see what comes up.

 

Lose your spare tire and your good. As long as you find a sub that will clear you can install it down there. Best to fiberglass an enclosure though to get the most out of it.

 

Unless you have the factory amp and wire a crossover into the lines, you'll need a separate amp for the subs. If you have 6 inch woofers, the headunit probably won't have enough power to drive them and it'd be best to install them in the rear doors. Anything larger and you'll need an enclosure to provide the proper back pressure.

The rear door speakers provide a large amount of the low end in the car, so you may want to check if they're actually working. The magnets may have fallen off since they used glue to secure the magnet and that glue fails over the years. It's also possible that the paper cone has fallen apart and not creating any pressure.

If you take out the seats, there's not much space to hold the amp, let alone woofers in a box.

Boxpin has a good idea. I saw a post at VS where someone cut a few circles out of plywood to buildup a round tube-like sub box. He took some time to make sure it had the right dimensions for the particular sub he had.

I just placed an order for a 10-inch sub and an enclosure that'll fit the space behind the rear seat. I plan on incorporating a quick release plug so I can remove the whole system when I need to fold down the seats and get maximum space.

 

They are all over the internet, search for pictures: 'fiberglass spare tire enclosure'

Here are a couple I did about 15 years ago. Man I am getting old.

 

I thought all 4 door speakers were the same?

Also, I had speakers that were torn apart in my sedan. So I know what you mean about them falling apart.

 

Thanks guys i wrote that question wrong at first but you answered my question anyways. How much work is it to put the subs into the spare tire compartment Verses the normal box style?

 

I don't remember if they matched when I replaced them over the summer, but the rear doors have a lot more resonance space to produce additional low end - at least that's how it sounds to me


Yeah, it's a lot harder. There's plenty of prefab boxes you can get where you can drop a speaker in it, run it to an amp and you're done. Nobody makes a box that'll fit in the spare's wheel well of an 850, so you'd have to build it yourself. Boxpin is showing off a some sweet setups, but they cost a lot more than a prefab you can get at Best Buy.

 

If it wasn't on clearance I didn't buy it. It does have base though !!
1 X AM/FM/CD/USB
2 X Jensen A46XP 2 chl amps - bridged mono 115 watts one L / one R
1 X DAB4754 4 Chl amp - Subs only, bridged to 2 channel 250 watts per
4 X Speaker boxes 6.5" mid and tweeter
2 X sub boxes 2 X 12" ea
Plus car speakers