Adding a subwoofer

[netsinah]

Patience...patience...then more patience, is required. I was on the verge of giving up trying to install several interior trim pieces (such as the one shown in gkrules' photo above), when they suddenly "just fell into place". In general, look for tabs sticking out on the piece itself or where it's going, before trying the install. Then if it's not going back in, periodically take the piece out and look again at those tabs, to ensure they're not on the verge of breaking or you haven't bent them the wrong way.

For the piece in gkrules' photo, you need to aggressively bend it in the middle, to make it work...jostling it up/down/sideways and sometimes using a screwdriver to slip it under edges, as required. I had it in/out several times, for speaker work or sound insulation or to access the manual trunk release, so that's what worked for me. The key is not to give up. Good luck!

 

[gkrules]

I was able to finally get it in with a lot of jostling and a little bending. Getting the 3 clips lined up first was key just like everyone said! Thanks for the encouragement that I wasn't been too aggressive initially. Still not very fun so hopefully won't have to do it again!

 

[robjamell]

Just wanted to share some subwoofer findings.

I measured the subwoofer amplifier output.
It is ~24 watts x 2 outputs. The woofer has dual 2-ohm voice coils.

This means for those who are looking for a quick improvement in bass response/sound quality, you can simply unplug the factory woofer and extend the wires to a pair of 2-ohm (or dual 4-ohm wired in parallel) woofers in an enclosure or to a single woofer with dual 2-ohm coils.

The key will be to use a very efficient woofer setup with the largest sealed enclosure you are able to tolerate (and fit). Please don't confuse efficiency for wattage. We are not looking for high power handling. While you cannot always trust the efficiency spec given by all manufactures, most are close. It is as simple as knowing how much SPL it provides a 1 watt at 1 meter away.

The Emira has a strong transfer function so you woofer/enclosure setup does not have to be the loudest at the lowest bass frequencies because the vehicle is going to naturally increase the deepest bass frequencies.

Of course, those of you who are not satisfied with just better sounding bass and are looking for considerably more output, you will need to add a high wattage external amplifier.