Just installed the SAS Bazooka 8" Amplified Subwoofer model BTA8100 yesterday behind the passenger's seat. It has an 8" DVC 2 ohm speaker that is pretty effecient at 105db and built in 100RMS Sub. I have it firing into the corner just as SAS recommended, which turns out fires it directly into the right rear speaker. The results are pretty good, I am very pleased with the output. Plenty of deep bass, and it's exactly what I wanted to fill out the bottom end of the music. I have 4 Infinity Kappa 682.7CF 5x7/6x8s in the stock locations that put out plenty of highs, but not a lot of deep base.
Install went pretty straight forward. Wired up a 10 gauge wire from the battery terminal, down under the truck to the rubber grommet under the passenger door sill, then back under the door sill/carpet to the tube. SAS recommended at least 16 gauge, but I used 10 in case I ever upgrade. For the ground, I tried using the big cab hold down bolt, but it didn't work, not sure what kind of allow that bolt is, but it doesn't ground well. Ended up drilling a hole for the supplied ground screw dead center of the cab at the very back.
The BTAx100 series tubes don't need a remote turn on wire, they will come on when they sense the car is running, and off after it shuts off, so you don't need to run a remote turn on wire. Sense our stock radio doesn't have a power ant wire, it doesn't matter anyway. The only bad thing about this is the amp in the tube is on all the time when the truck is running or in ACC, whether the radio is on or off. But, at 100Watts RMS and no load, I don't think it is a problem. If I really want to shut it off, there is a little plastic jumper Auto On/Off connector on the wiring harness that is easy to reach from the driver's seat, and can be unplugged in about a few seconds, so no big deal. If you really want to hook up the remote turn on wire, fuse 8 is the radio's power fuse that allows the radio to power up under "run" or "acc" and will do the same thing, but to kill the tube amp, you'll have to pull the wire or put a switch in the path, which would be really easy and I might do that anyway, so killing the tube would just be the flip of a switch. I already ran the wire while I had all the panels pulled apart.
Speaking of pulling panels, what a PITA. Here are some lessons learned. When removing the panel pins, try not to push the centers all the way through, just in about 1/4". Any further than that and you'll have to push them ALL the way through to get the pin out. I popped one all the way through, and it took my over an hour to find it as it ended up through the channel to the FAR side of the truck. And the metal clips in the back hold on like a vise grips, and you have rip the plastic out. The front metal clips can be reached with a flat head screwdriver if you fold the big thick door gasket out of the way, and make popping them out really easy. I took off the 17MM seat belt nut first, then the top panel, then the door sill, then the lower panel.
Speakers came out pretty easy. I found a wiring diagram on here with a search, which was great, since I never would have thought a tan or brown wire was positive while a red/orange wire was negative, and wiring both sides of the sub in phase is pretty important. As SAS recommended I used the high/speaker level inputs. I was going to get a line converter to use the low level/RCA inputs, but SAS recommended using the high level inputs over the RCA inputs unless you had an aftermarket head unit with true (higher watt level) RCA level outputs. So I saved a few bucks and wired it up with just the speaker level inputs like they recommended, which sounds pretty good.
Since I was going to have to tear everything apart to get to the speaker wires, I figured I might as well swap the rear speakers out. I read on here over and over to not bother with rear speakers, and it's so true. I have exactly the same speakers in the front as the back, but the back speakers still sound like total dog crap from behind the seats, and aren't any louder than they sounded stock. So don't waste your time, unless, like me, you just "have" to upgrade the crappy stock speakers. I'm sure they'll sound better with an amp, but maybe later.
Overall I'm very please with the results, but there are some things I would have done different. I would have had some more Dynomat on hand, to deaden some of the road/exhaust noise, but I only had a few square feet on hand. I would have gotten the BTA8200 which comes with a 200watt RMS amp and most important, an adjustable crossover. The 8100 has a fixed 85hz crossover, but it would be nice to adjust it down a little, sounds a LOT higher than 85hz, so I'm guess the internal crossover slope is not very steep or very good. Not to mention, if I'm running all these wires, and using 10gauge anyway, might as well have twice the amp/sub for only 30-40 bucks more (paid 130 shipped off fleabay for the 8100).
But, like I said, pretty happy with the set up. I'm sure the girlfriend well hate it, especially since the sub is behind her seat. Oh, and speaking of that, fit is perfect! Doesn't hit the swinging arm rest console, 4"s of space between the woofer end and the corner of the cab (as SAS recommends), and with the seat ALL the way back and leaned all the way back, it doesn't touch the tube at all with about 1/4" to spare at the closest point.
Hope this helps some one, some day.
Install went pretty straight forward. Wired up a 10 gauge wire from the battery terminal, down under the truck to the rubber grommet under the passenger door sill, then back under the door sill/carpet to the tube. SAS recommended at least 16 gauge, but I used 10 in case I ever upgrade. For the ground, I tried using the big cab hold down bolt, but it didn't work, not sure what kind of allow that bolt is, but it doesn't ground well. Ended up drilling a hole for the supplied ground screw dead center of the cab at the very back.
The BTAx100 series tubes don't need a remote turn on wire, they will come on when they sense the car is running, and off after it shuts off, so you don't need to run a remote turn on wire. Sense our stock radio doesn't have a power ant wire, it doesn't matter anyway. The only bad thing about this is the amp in the tube is on all the time when the truck is running or in ACC, whether the radio is on or off. But, at 100Watts RMS and no load, I don't think it is a problem. If I really want to shut it off, there is a little plastic jumper Auto On/Off connector on the wiring harness that is easy to reach from the driver's seat, and can be unplugged in about a few seconds, so no big deal. If you really want to hook up the remote turn on wire, fuse 8 is the radio's power fuse that allows the radio to power up under "run" or "acc" and will do the same thing, but to kill the tube amp, you'll have to pull the wire or put a switch in the path, which would be really easy and I might do that anyway, so killing the tube would just be the flip of a switch. I already ran the wire while I had all the panels pulled apart.
Speaking of pulling panels, what a PITA. Here are some lessons learned. When removing the panel pins, try not to push the centers all the way through, just in about 1/4". Any further than that and you'll have to push them ALL the way through to get the pin out. I popped one all the way through, and it took my over an hour to find it as it ended up through the channel to the FAR side of the truck. And the metal clips in the back hold on like a vise grips, and you have rip the plastic out. The front metal clips can be reached with a flat head screwdriver if you fold the big thick door gasket out of the way, and make popping them out really easy. I took off the 17MM seat belt nut first, then the top panel, then the door sill, then the lower panel.
Speakers came out pretty easy. I found a wiring diagram on here with a search, which was great, since I never would have thought a tan or brown wire was positive while a red/orange wire was negative, and wiring both sides of the sub in phase is pretty important. As SAS recommended I used the high/speaker level inputs. I was going to get a line converter to use the low level/RCA inputs, but SAS recommended using the high level inputs over the RCA inputs unless you had an aftermarket head unit with true (higher watt level) RCA level outputs. So I saved a few bucks and wired it up with just the speaker level inputs like they recommended, which sounds pretty good.
Since I was going to have to tear everything apart to get to the speaker wires, I figured I might as well swap the rear speakers out. I read on here over and over to not bother with rear speakers, and it's so true. I have exactly the same speakers in the front as the back, but the back speakers still sound like total dog crap from behind the seats, and aren't any louder than they sounded stock. So don't waste your time, unless, like me, you just "have" to upgrade the crappy stock speakers. I'm sure they'll sound better with an amp, but maybe later.
Overall I'm very please with the results, but there are some things I would have done different. I would have had some more Dynomat on hand, to deaden some of the road/exhaust noise, but I only had a few square feet on hand. I would have gotten the BTA8200 which comes with a 200watt RMS amp and most important, an adjustable crossover. The 8100 has a fixed 85hz crossover, but it would be nice to adjust it down a little, sounds a LOT higher than 85hz, so I'm guess the internal crossover slope is not very steep or very good. Not to mention, if I'm running all these wires, and using 10gauge anyway, might as well have twice the amp/sub for only 30-40 bucks more (paid 130 shipped off fleabay for the 8100).
But, like I said, pretty happy with the set up. I'm sure the girlfriend well hate it, especially since the sub is behind her seat. Oh, and speaking of that, fit is perfect! Doesn't hit the swinging arm rest console, 4"s of space between the woofer end and the corner of the cab (as SAS recommends), and with the seat ALL the way back and leaned all the way back, it doesn't touch the tube at all with about 1/4" to spare at the closest point.
Hope this helps some one, some day.
epper: Did you have any pics of your install? Thanks.
