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Introduction
Looking to upgrade your sound system?
Need some extra bass? Well a subwoofer is an easy addition to just about any
car or truck. Most people think a subwoofer is just for kids, after all there
is always at least one kid in the neighborhood with a hard hitting sub you can
hear from miles away. Guess what, subs aren't just for kids, they improve the
sound quality of just about any style of music. Just because you can crank your
sub up, roll down the windows and terrorize the block it doesn't mean you need
to. Even at average sound levels the improved bass response response is a delight.
Most subwoofers
are enclosed in a box. Enclosure boxes vary in size from small to cavernous,
I've seen some engulf the entire cargo space in the rear. Most boxes really
chew into the cargo space of your Grand Cherokee. The picture to the right
shows my previous setup. The relatively small box while not highly obtrusive
really ate into my cargo space and tempted thieves. |
My previous sub-par
subwoofer which was stolen |
Decisions...Decisions
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When surfing the net one day I came across
the JL Audio Stealthbox. I was familiar with JL Audio as they
are a very popular subwoofer company but I never saw a Stealthbox
before. Basically, the Stealthbox is a 10" subwoofer
mounted in a fiberglass enclosure covered with carpeting to
match your interior. The unorthodox enclosure wraps the wheel
well hump taking advantage of rarely used space. Hmmm, the
Stealthbox hardly takes up any cargo space and it has top
quality JL Audio 10" subwoofer in it.... yes please!
So I ordered the Stealthbox and it arrived a week later.
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The unveiling
I tore apart the UPS
package like a 6 year old on Christmas and gazed at the piece of work.
A heavy
duty carpeted removable steel mesh grille completely hides the sub
and offers it protection from any shifting cargo in the rear.
The box is custom molded to fit snugly and take advantage of any and all available
space. The attention to detail is apparent. The speaker terminals are top notch,
none of those spring loaded terminals on this baby. The Stealthbox is on the
heavy side and very solid.
Installation
Typically, sub installations
aren't brain surgery but due to the design and nature of this box, the drill
and tools had to be broken out.
Step number one is to permanently
remove the netting and the plastic frame which holds it there. It was tough
to get this off without breaking some of the plastic tabs which held it in place,
however there are still plenty to put it back in place if need be.
With the netting out of the way,
you place the supplied wax sheets as shown below. Then screw the bolts into
the box temporarily and place the box in position. Once the box is in all the
way and snug, press down firmly so the bolt heads make impressions on the wax
sheets.
Mark the impressions in the wax,
this will be your drilling locations. Remove the wax sheets and drill a 1/2
inch hole in the two locations. The hole on the wheel well needs further drilling
to open the plastic opening up to 3/4 of an inch.
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Run the speaker wires from the amp to the
bottom right of the opening. Now remove the bolts from the
box, connect the wires to the sub and place the sub into position.
You might want to check the operation of the sub at this point
before bolting it down. Next put the locknut on a bolt, then
the washer and thread the bolts from the underside of the
Jeep into the sub. It might help to have someone else move
the sub around for you to find the hole. Once you've got both
bolts started, apply a bead a silicone caulk between the flat
washer and the Jeep. Now tighten everything up and spray the
bolt heads with some undercoating to prevent any rust.
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That is it, you are
done. The sub fills the spot nicely. Notice how little actual usable
space is taken up. Honestly, I have opened up the tailgate and asked
people if they noticed anything different, they did not even notice
the sub, they thought it was just a part of the Jeep.
Performance
The Stealthbox is being
used in conjunction with the factory Infiniti Gold System and a Kenwood KAC-718
mono subwoofer amp which drives the Stealthbox. The Kenwood amp is dialed in
for a low pass crossover of 90 Hz, for those not familiar with these terms,
it means that the subwoofer is only fed bass not the whole spectrum of sound.
The bass on the head unit was set to a low setting to reduce the load on the
full range speakers in the doors. Why make a 6" x 9" speaker in the
door struggle when you have got all the bass you need in the back. With the
bass turned back, I then turned up the gain on the sub amp to get back the bass.
The full range speakers then became capable of higher volume levels before distorting
and it also reduced the load on the puny Infiniti amp.
The 125 watt 10" sub kicked with very tight controlled bass.
The bass output is more than sufficient for most people. It is capable
of high output levels, but if you demand 130 decibel bass and wish
to shake things off the neighbor's shelf, this sub isn't for you,
in fact no 10" sub will satisfy that craving. The bass is very
clean, this sealed enclosure sub, while not quite as efficient as
ported boxes, really shows off on short bass notes reproducing them
with remarkable tightness, accuracy, and clarity. I listened to
a variety of music and the Stealthbox performed well on all of them.
I of course listened to some bass heavy tracks (Firestarter - Prodigy,
Shake Your Rump - Beasties, 1812 Overture, To Forgive - Smashing
Pumpkins) to really give the sub a workout. The sub pumped it all
out nicely and don't get me wrong, you could hear the bass clearly
outside the car and maybe half way down the block, but it just wasn't
fracturing any sidewalks like some dual 18" subs can. It performed
much better than my previous subwoofer. A few times I was amazed
it was only a 10" sub back there and I am always amazed when
I open the tailgate and don't even notice it is there.
Conclusion
The box
performed excellent. The sub filled out the sound and blended well
into the system. Unless you were sitting right next to it, you can't
even tell where that hard hitting bass is coming from. The fit and
finish was also tremendous. Once installed it melted right into
the interior which has one big advantage over other subs. Thieves
won't notice it and even if they do, they better bring a good flashlight,
their socket set, and instructions because with two caulked and
rubber coated 3/8 inch steel bolts attaching the sub to Jeep, forget
about it. I have had two subs stolen in the past five years, one
was stolen out of my Grand Cherokee. When thieves see a sub, they
always grab the amp with it, so consider that if the moderate price
of the Stealthbox has you on the fence. While they are there cheaper
solutions to getting more bass in your Grand Cherokee just about
all of them sacrifice sound quality or cargo space. The JL Audio
Stealthbox is the no compromise solution. It doesn't really take
up much useable cargo space, it looks perfect, it's really hard
to steal, JL Audio designed it just for the Grand Cherokee, all
the components are top notch, and it sounds great. What more could
you ask for?
www.jlaudio.com
10369 North Commerce
Pkwy
Miramar, FL 33025
954-443-1100
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