Hey folks. New here and not exactly audio inclined!
Whats the easiest and most cost effective way to improove the bass from the stock Audiophile Sub 2004 FX4 SCREW. Can I just add an aftermarket amp to the existing system? Does the stock Audiophile have built in amps that I would have to disconnect?
Thanks in advance.

 

I bet that sub in the stock audiofile box/tube is being pushed pretty well already. If you want more bass, I'd say rip out the audiofile sub/amp and put a new amp and maybe 2 subs (there's a box built for the F150) in there. You may be able to get signal from the wires that were running to the audiofile amp/sub, but if not, just use a line out converter attached to any of the speaker leads coming from the radio to get your RCA's.

This involves running some 8ga minimum wiring from the battery and an amp turn on lead. If you're going through all this trouble, buy another amp for the front speakers (maybe 75x2) and replace those too.

I had 2 Class A soundstream amps in my last vehicle (600W RMS to the 2 12s) and over 100W going to each of the 4 speakers in the car. It sounded great. I now have the Audiophile system and obviously it's not going to pound like my last car, but it's not horrible by any means.

I guess what I'm saying is, if you're going to run power/rca's for a sub amp, you may as well do it for another amp while you're at it (or get a 4 channel amp that you can bridge 2 of the channels for sub and use the other 2 for front stage), and get a new headunit and speakers... $$$$$$$$

 

Yup, what he said.... I had the audiophile, and wanted better..So I sold my box/amp combo and head unit on ebay for a total of $475 which funded most of the other gear... I went with the Pioneer dehp7600mp head unit ($219 shipped Ebay), Probox ($139 from the boxxman.com website) w/ 10" rockford punch 400w ($100 at my local audio store) Probox fits perfect under the rear seat, also went with a jl audio e1400d mono sub amp under the rear seat that was had brand new $269 from thats right, Ebay, Infinity kappas in all 4 doors $70 pair Ebay also...So for a total of about $400 after all was said and done...Plus I installed everything myself, so it saved some major $$ and it was a breeze. Right now it is absolutely perfect, not too loud, not too weak. The stock audiophile sounds great and part of me wishes I would have kept it, until I get in and turn it on...Then its a whole different story!
Pics of the system can be seen in my gallery...


MY GALLERY

 

Quickest way to improve the sound is change the door speakers and a new head unit. If that doesnt give you enough bass, then you should change out the sub and amp. The new head unit should also give you a little more punch out of your sub since the amp will have a stronger signal to amplify.

 

Cool! Thanks for the advice.

 

I have had two pioneer Head units in the past and they were great, don't get me wrong....but the stock headunit just looks better in the truck. I know that it makes for bette sound, but I have been considereing adding subs and amps and just keeping the regular CD player/headunit. My biggest issue with that is not being able to control the amount of bass coming out of the speakers and subwoofers seperately....

What size speakers does the SCAB have anyways?