Adding a real subwoofer w/amp to your Mach-E

[Mach1E]

The bass reflex enclosure betrays itself with that 50hz response peak. That’s probably the box tuning frequency. Shoulda got the sealed one for flatter response and more extension. ?

If you decide you must have that sealed box low end extension, I’ve included a link to the powered sub I use in the SS. There’s also a 10” version with the same amp/freq response range (down to 20Hz). More output than you’ll probably ever need with notable extension into the lower 30s.

https://rockfordfosgate.com/products/details/p300-12/

I wanted the sealed, but again, none in stock, no ETA.

Thats said, I listened more today and the drop off on the low notes isn’t as bad as I thought. I think it was just the particular song that sounded “boomy” around 50 hz.

I think I read that they tune this sub/box to 35 hz. At least that’s what it says in the ported box enclosure specs here:

https://www.jlaudio.com/collections...oducts/10tw1-2-car-audio-tw1-subwoofers-92188

I’m definitely happy overall. Even at half gain, half bass, half volume, it rattled the mirrors hard. I turned it down to 1/4 gain. Go figure a mono 400w rms amp has some juice.

The box also fits literally perfectly. I don’t think it could be a 1/4” larger in any direction. I would also be surprised if anyone made a 10” sub that sounded much better.

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[Kabish]

Went to get my dashcam installed today, and low and behold look what they had at the shop!! lol They actually have the 12" in stock too, but I'm not sure if I want to keep my floor up on the top all the time.

 

[markboris]

Went to get my dashcam installed today, and low and behold look what they had at the shop!! lol They actually have the 12" in stock too, but I'm not sure if I want to keep my floor up on the top all the time.

There are a couple of stores here in NorCal that have the 12" also, or at least they did a couple of weeks ago. The thing is, the 10" does a great job and works well with the B&O system in the car and some would say probably overkill for it. Using the 10" you have the flexibility to use the floor in either position. I have always said, try the 10" and if you aren't happy then get the 12". It's not like you cannot get rid of the 10" because they sell very fast on Craigslist or eBay if you can't find a friend that might want it.

 

[Polar]

My project started today…. Thanks for the guidance @markboris!!

I cheaped out though as I had BestBuy points - so I paid nothing for the highest rated sub-in-box they carried. I’m probably setting myself up for disappointment; but it can’t be worse than the factory select bass.

 

[mkhuffman]

My project started today…. Thanks for the guidance @markboris!!

I cheaped out though as I had BestBuy points - so I paid nothing for the highest rated sub-in-box they carried. I’m probably setting myself up for disappointment; but it can’t be worse than the factory select bass.

Let us know how it turns out.

 

[Polar]

Let us know how it turns out.

All hooked up and it sounding great. I even got the remote base control knob mounted where @markboris mentioned ?

One caveat though - that I’ll need to figure out (may be to how I hooked it up…)

12v switched amp turn works (as in I shove the turn on lead INTO the power connection)​

​

The DC Offset (speaker level offset turns on amp) will not turn on the amp - the guide says it needs a 6v differential to turn on the amp. I have only hooked up the left channel; wondering if both left AND right are required to trigger the differential?? Would think it’s just signal based, but that is not turning on the amp.​

 

[Polar]

It’s a bit MacGyver but could not get the darn DC offset to trigger turn on the amp. So, I tapped into the 12v switched power outlet in the back for the remote turn on signal. It’s a blue moon when I’m driving without the stereo anyway. All buttoned up and loving having the additional low end again!!

 

[CtsGTP]

WARNING: This is a long winded write up of my very simple, easy and fairly inexpensive upgrade for the sub bass of the Mach-E audio system. Once I started typing, I figured I would explain also why I did it not just how I did it.

A couple of days ago, I had no intentions on upgrading the lack of low end bass in the Mach-E. The sound inside this car is decent. Not great and not bad. I have upgraded many, many cars and trucks in the last 51 years I have been driving. I currently have three other vehicles that have much better sound systems that I have upgraded and I drive all of them about equally, except the GT500.

I was finishing up my sound deadening project on the Mach-E (one on of the first things I do to any vehicle besides changing wheels and tires) and in the last trim panel I removed, came across the pathetic, cheap, 6x9 paper cone subwoofer, if you can call it that. I thought to myself, this has got to go. Some cars I revamp the entire system and limit myself to between $5000-$8000 and others I just change out the sub and call it a day. The Mach-E is one of those. I’ve had all the door panels off and even the dash soundbar cover and the speakers in this car are not of the highest quality but they sound decent and get the job done especially if you don’t need to turn it up too loud. Speaking of volume, the amp in this car measures about 5”x5” and powers all the speakers. I am pretty sure it isn’t very powerful so the speakers are obviously very efficient.

My go to sub and sub amp manufacturer is JL Audio. I have been installing their equipment since the early 90’s. No, I have no affiliation with them but I’ve just been a happy customer for all these years. There are many good subs out there and JL is not the only one for sure but they have never let me down and make a quality product here in the US. I also use their subs for my home theaters. They start at $900 and go up to $16,500!!

Back to the Mach-E sub install, I could have gone all different routes. Small 8” with built in amp all the way up to dual 12” subs with a separate amp. This car does not warrant or need that much volume as it would certainly overpower the rest of the system and you are just wasting money. As it is, even the 8” lower powered sub JL makes would be 10x louder and have a lower range than the OEM sub.

While I had a lot of options, I also had a few requirements. 1. Wanted to be able to continue to use the cargo floor in both the upper and lower position in case I needed the extra space. I normally keep the cargo floor in the upper position so it is easier for me to take things in and out and it gives me the room under the floor to have quite a bit of air space for the bass sound to come out thorough the back seats. I can still store the charge cords, electrical air pump, portable battery charger/starter, rags, cleaners, polish, etc. 2. Ease of install. Really no need to install a sub and separate amp as there is more mounting and wiring to do and not really necessary for this system. 3. Cost. While I have no problem spending any amount of money on this project, again unless I were to revamp the entire system, it is not worth it.

JL makes all kinds and sizes of subs and you can usually find something that fits your application. I prefer a sub with a sealed enclosure because I like tight, accurate bass. While sealed enclosures are not as efficient, it will have more than enough volume for this system. Ported enclosures are much more efficient but at the expense of being a boomy and less accurate. This also depends on the type of music you listen to. Classical, Rock and Pop, you probably want a sealed enclosure. Rap and electronic music you might want the ported enclosure. I listen to mainly Rock, Pop and Country.

My sub of choice for the Mach-E was the JL Audio ACS110LG-TW1 Single 10” PowerWedge+ with built in 400 watt RMS amp. I chose this because of the requirements above. Height is only 5” so fits with the cargo floor to the lower position. It has a built in amp so all wiring (only four wires plus volume control cable) terminate at the sub. Cost is $520 for the sub/amp. I did buy the optional remote volume control which I always do with their subs so I can adjust the volume depending on the music I’m listening to. The RBC-1 remote volume control is $45. Total cost including wiring and power fuse was around $610.

Before I removed the OEM sub, I wanted to test the loudness and frequency that it added to the rest of the system. I was sure it was not much but it actually does add some, just not as much as I would like in the lower frequencies which is what the job of a SUBWOOFER is supposed to do. Adjusting the bass setting in the sound settings of the Mach-E actually is controlling more mid-bass and it is centered around 125 Hz. Now after the install I have two controls, the Mach-E mid bass setting and the JL sub bass setting which is centered around 50 Hz.

I set the volume at 15, all three eq settings flat and pumped some pink noise through the system via an app on my iPhone. The analyzer was set to 80db. I was surprised to see how nice and flat the midrange was and the high end looked good too (it is supposed to have a roll off like it shows). In the first two photos of the spectrum analyzer, the first one is without the OEM sub, second one with it. There is only a 2.5 db difference with and without. While it is something, that is not much. As I suspected, most of the bass in this system is coming from the four door speakers. Adding in the OEM sub, just adds a bit more volume to the bass and doesn’t add any more to the low frequencies. The third analyzer photo is after adding the JL sub. Now of course I have the remote volume control and can vary the output but what is more important is the low end frequency. 31.5 Hz is now much higher than it was before and there is also a little more at 63 Hz all with very little effect on the higher bass frequencies. The final analyzer photo is what I ended up with after setting the bass eq of the car up +2 to remove the dip at 250 Hz.

In the past I’ve taken many photos while doing mods on my cars but in the last few years have gotten lazy but mostly forget to do it. Below are a few photos I did take while working on this. Removed the panels and storage bin in the frunk to gain access to the positive terminal of the battery. Ran the blue 8 gauge wire from the terminal to a fuse that I zip tied to the negative battery wire. It was a good location for the fuse and if I ever need to access it I only have to remove the one panel across the back. In one of the large rubber boots in the firewall with a large bundle of wiring going into the interior, there was an area that looked like it was intended for more wires but closed off. I made a small cut in that rubber area and again made another one on the inside of the firewall under the dash to allow the wire to come through (it is a double wall boot). Ran the 12+V wire down behind the left side kick panel, under both front and rear kick plates and to the rear cargo area.

I removed the right trim panel in the cargo area in front of the OEM sub and disconnected the wires to the sub. Attached an 18 gauge speaker wire to the two wires that were going to the sub for my audio input to the JL amp. Green/Violet + and Gray -. Just above the OEM sub is the B&O amp and to the left of it is a ground to the metal wheel well. I also used this grounding point to attach my 8 gauge ground wire for the JL amp.

Next was mounting the remote bass volume control. There are several places in the Mach-E to do this but I generally like to mount the control where I can easily adjust it without reaching to the dash or taking my eyes off the road. I found the perfect spot at the front of the console. The console cover that has the shifter dial and parking brake switch just unsnaps and lifts up. I drilled a 3/8” hole and mounted the control. It is easily adjustable using just one finger and you cannot see the control while seated unless you move the seat all the way forward. Ran the 18' cable along under the left side of the console then under the driver’s carpet then along the underside of the kick panels to the back and popped through the hole I had made for the other wires in corner of the padded floor.

The sub box fits nicely in the area that was occupied by the styrofoam container that housed the air pump and charging cords. I did not bolt down the sub box as being 20 lbs. it is decently heavy and does not slide at all because of the carpeted box on top of the padded floor. The two materials together are like Velcro. It’s not going anywhere especially since there is a cargo floor and a very heavy Lloyds custom fitted carpet above it. I still have room for all the stuff I had below the floor and now there is a real subwoofer too. If I want to drop the cargo floor down to the lower level, I do have to remove the charge cords and roll of paper towels. On the lower level, the cargo floor actually sits on the grill of the subwoofer which sticks up about 3/4". I can remove the grill and then the floor would be flat as it was before but I'd rather keep the grill on the woofer.

How I have the levels and controls set up: The car’s EQ is set to plus 3 on the treble (I like it a bit brighter on the top end), left the midrange alone and bumped up the bass +2 to bring up the 250 Hz that was lacking a bit. On the sub amp I have the input level set half way, crossover frequency set at 50 Hz. The remote sub volume is set around ½ way which sounds about right for most tracks I listened to . That means since I have the input level on the amp 1/2 way up and the remote volume 1/2 way up, I am using about 1/4 of the volume the sub can put out to match the audio of the OEM system. Tons of volume in reserve if I wanted to produce some rap bass for everyone to hear down the block. The turn on power for the amp is set when it sees an audio signal. I may have to change this if it drains the battery. Have had that happen in the RS if the car supplies signal to the sub for various reasons even when the car isn’t on. I can pull and ignition wire from the B&O amp for the turn on if that is the case.

Ok, done boring everyone with something that could have probably been written in two paragraphs. ?

UPDATE: I posted if using the 12" JL Audio PowerWedge+ sub amp on this post. #14

I took your advise and installed , the same set up you have !! thanks a lot sounds waaaay better than it did with stock Sub!

 

[CtsGTP]

All hooked up and it sounding great. I even got the remote base control knob mounted where @markboris mentioned ?

One caveat though - that I’ll need to figure out (may be to how I hooked it up…)

12v switched amp turn works (as in I shove the turn on lead INTO the power connection)​

​

The DC Offset (speaker level offset turns on amp) will not turn on the amp - the guide says it needs a 6v differential to turn on the amp. I have only hooked up the left channel; wondering if both left AND right are required to trigger the differential?? Would think it’s just signal based, but that is not turning on the amp.​

Nice!

 

[Davedough]

@markboris

So, I'm finally getting around to installing it. 1. The firewall is stupid difficult to get through. Wasn't prepared for that. I'm not sure if the Premiums have the strut tower brace, but on the GT there is one and I can barely get my fat arms back there. Anyway, that's not what I'm writing about.

In the back, when you said you connected the Green/Violet + and Grey - to your speaker level input connector. Do you pair both the wires from the connector with the black stripe to your negative and both the wires without the stripe to your positive?

Also, I accidentally bought an RBC that's made by Harmann, not the RBC-1 made my JL. Do you think this will still work?

 

[markboris]

@markboris

So, I'm finally getting around to installing it. 1. The firewall is stupid difficult to get through. Wasn't prepared for that. I'm not sure if the Premiums have the strut tower brace, but on the GT there is one and I can barely get my fat arms back there. Anyway, that's not what I'm writing about.

In the back, when you said you connected the Green/Violet + and Grey - to your speaker level input connector. Do you pair both the wires from the connector with the black stripe to your negative and both the wires without the stripe to your positive?

Also, I accidentally bought an RBC that's made by Harmann, not the RBC-1 made my JL. Do you think this will still work?

Hey Dave, all Mach-E's have the strut tower brace so yes it is a pain to get around unless you take it out which is easy to do.

You do not pair both wires from the JL connector to the OEM sub wires. Just attach to one set of the wires. The JL input has two sets of wires for left and right sub inputs but we only have one OEM sub in the Mach-E.

Also, I disconnected the OEM sub. I did mention that in my write up. Some have left it connected but I personally don't like the boomy bass it produces and you can turn the crossover frequency of the JL amp up a bit to 80 or 100 hZ or wherever you like to bring back some of that mid bass.

I don't know if the Harmon remote volume control will work with the JL but I would guess it would not. Does it plug in to the JL amp with the same type connector? If so I guess you can try it but make sure to have your volume on the sync set low when you do in case the impedance of the control is a lot different and doesn't control the bass volume as it should.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

 

[Davedough]

Hey Dave, all Mach-E's have the strut tower brace so yes it is a pain to get around unless you take it out which is easy to do.

About the wiring, not sure what is going on with Ford but the last couple of installs that members have done, we have been discussing that the polarity is opposite of what you would think it should be. At least that is how it was in my GT and others. I used the White wires only on the JL input connector. I am sure you can use either the white or gray though. Connect the OEM Gray wire to the solid White and the Green/Violet to the White/Black JL connector. That is the reverse of what it should be but for some reason hooking it up + to + and - to - the JL sub amp will not turn on when set to Signal or DC turn on this way. After you get it up and working, change the polarity from 0 to 180 and the bass will be louder, deeper since it is being wired out of phase.

Also, I disconnected the OEM sub. I did mention that in my write up. Some have left it connected but I personally don't like the boomy bass it produces and you can turn the crossover frequency of the JL amp up a bit to 80 or 100 hZ or wherever you like to bring back some of that mid bass.

I don't know if the Harmon remote volume control will work with the JL but I would guess it would not. Does it plug in to the JL amp with the same type connector? If so I guess you can try it but make sure to have your volume on the sync set low when you do in case the impedance of the control is a lot different and doesn't control the bass volume as it should.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

Thanks Mark. I got it all hooked up. The RBC does NOT work with this amp so looks like I need to order the correct one. Also it sounds a little muddy but I’m wondering if that’s because I have no bass controller on it. Regular or out of phase both sound a bit too overdone. Gonna have to try the settings once the correct controller comes in.
Thanks for your help

 

[Mach1E]

Thanks Mark. I got it all hooked up. The RBC does NOT work with this amp so looks like I need to order the correct one. Also it sounds a little muddy but I’m wondering if that’s because I have no bass controller on it. Regular or out of phase both sound a bit too overdone. Gonna have to try the settings once the correct controller comes in.
Thanks for your help

If it sounds muddy and it’s the JL sub, something isn’t right.

The bass controller just makes it louder or quieter, won’t affect the sound quality.

I used the wires going to the factory sub for my signal and it’s a very clean sound. Bass set at half, crossover 80 hz.

 

[Davedough]

If it sounds muddy and it’s the JL sub, something isn’t right.

The bass controller just makes it louder or quieter, won’t affect the sound quality.

I used the wires going to the factory sub for my signal and it’s a very clean sound. Bass set at half, crossover 80 hz.

Yeah it turns out I was just being an idiot. Testing with the hatch open doesn’t make for good imaging. Buttoned everything up and tested it and I’m very pleased

 

[IamIA]

I have a JL Audio PowerWedge+ ACS110LG-TW1 mentioned here by several people as being an excellent choice for a subwoofer replacement in Mach-E. I want to sell it for the price i paid which is 583.70. The speaker is in the box and unopened.
I am willing to meet someone in-person to eliminate the shipping cost if that someone is within 50-mile radius from San Francisco.

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