Took delivery of my car about 2 weeks ago and very impressed with everything but…. The shaker 500. Its decently loud and clear but there is little or no base (without significant distortion). Id like to keep the head unit stock. My question is, can I just go to a car stereo place and get another amp and sub box hooked up for the trunk? Im not looking for super quality sounds, just some more serious bass.

My other car has 2 MTX 10’’ subs in the trunk running off of a kenwood 500w amp and its does the job. Assuming I can add a box to the trunk with a new amp still running the Shaker:

1) Will it compromise the shakers performance?
2) Any recommendations on a set-up? Would going to circuit city and picking an amp/box combo be the wrong choice (see sony xplod etc…)? I recognize these are fairly low-end options but Im just looking for some serious bass to add to the shaker.

 

You can use a line level converter off of the rear channel speakers in order to hook up an amp in the trunk. As for the box...... get creative. There are aftermarket options available. I have built a custom box and it sounds great.

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Im a bit of a novice with car stereos. Why couldnt I just run an amp from the head unit? I assume there is another preamp output correct?

 

Although th HU is the same for the Shaker500 and the 1000, the factory pre-programs the output channels. The pre-amp for the rear amp is not functional on the 500.

Crutchfield sells a harness that will give you pre-amps out of the HU but it cuts out the 2 front amps and gives you 1 mono plug for the front and 1 for the rear.

 

You lost me on that one. Can I just bring it to have a shop and have them throw in an amp and a box in the trunk with out cutting out any of the factory performance?

 

yes

 

Thanks

 

If you have a box built, fire the subs towards the trunk, not towards the front. I made a box that fired into the car and it didn't sound good so I built one that fired to the rear of the car and it sounds a whole lot better.. Just my 2 cents

 

for something easy check out the infinity bass link. It hooks up to the stereo and gives a remote volume ****. CC sells them.