GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

I just bought a used 2003 Vibe on Saturday. I'm very pleased with my purchase. The Vibe I got is even more pimped out than I had expected. Since it's used though, I don't know for sure what I have. It has the moonroof. It has the tweeters in the upper corners of the doors. There is some sort of metal box with wire harnesses under the passenger seat, but it doesn't look how I would expect an amp to look (though, I guess I shouldn't expect it to look as fancy as an aftermarket amp). It does not have a 6-disc changer. So do I have the M&T package? What's the tell-tale sign?The sound in the Vibe is decent, but definitely not on the same level as the setup I had in my Civic that I traded. I had a (cheaper) Alpine CD deck with Alpine Type-S speakers and a V-Power 200W amp w/ a 12" Type-E sub. Nothing too fancy, but certainly above and beyond what's expected of a factory system. I pulled the deck and amp/sub out of the Civic before trading it, so I could theoretically put them into the Vibe. But the whole point of getting the Vibe was for the cargo room (I have to fit my drums in there!). So, I'm reluctant to put that 12" Q-Logic sub box into the Vibe. Besides, it really was overkill. I'm not nearly as concerned about rattling my mirrors as just getting a nice, punchy bottom end (that's still audible at highway speeds!).So my question is, what can I do to fill out the sound without using up hardly any cargo room? The Kenwood wOOx sounds interesting, but only if it can fit under a seat or something. I don't think it's quite small enough for that, is it? The Infinity BassLink looks nice too, but even that might take up too much room unless I can put it on a long leash and move it around as necessary. If a sub is out of the question, what full range speakers might be acceptable? And if I do in fact have the M&T package, how does that affect aftermarket installation? I've ascertained that the M&T amp runs at 2 ohms, but virtually all aftermarket speakers and decks run at 4 ohms. What can be done about all this?Thank you for your help!

well it appears you do have the m&t package. the 6 disc changer was an additional option to it. if you are concerned about cargo space, then i would suggest taking a look at the new 05 M&T package that has a nice integrated subwoofer that replaces the rear inner wheel molding on the passenger side. i'm sure it wouldn't be cheap to do it, but not a bad idea. otherwise, i'd say, take out the spare and make a custom box? i would also suggest you change out the stock paper speakers and replace them with some good quality units. also, the factory amp is not that great imo, only 200 watts. but take a look at some of those truck boxes or smaller subs that can fit under the drivers seat too. might work as well. if you want some good sound (ha ha ha!) advice, jahntassa and ragingfish have a lot of info on these kinds of things. oh, and welcome to genvibe.

I'm definitely considering replacing the factory speakers (although, for all I know, the previous owner already did... I'll have to take a really close look). But what about the 2 ohm amp / 4 ohm speakers problem? Also, the auto fit guides (Crutchfield, Circuit City) say the doors use 5.25" speakers, but others in this forum swear up and down you can get a 6" in there. What size are the factory speakers?

Stock front's are 6 1/2, back are 5 1/4, but if you do replace the speakers, 6 1/2 or 6 3/4 will fit in all 4 doors. I think you'd be cheating yourself by putting small 5 1/4's in the rear. To see if the prior owner has already put different speakers in, take a look at this thread to see what the stock speaker looks like, and it would only take about 5 minutes to take a few screws out to pull out the bottom of your door shell to see. You wouldn't even have to pull it all the way off just to look up from the bottom once you had it pulled away from the door (after the screws and the small plastic pocket is removed). http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=785

I have installed the wOOx. I think with your previous system, you would be disappointed with it. It does provide some bottom end, but not anything to compare with a true sub. I could not fit mine under the seat, so it is mounted on the rear seatbacks. Please understand that I am still pleased with the wOOx, mostly because of its small size and its relative punch. Note: You should be able to search for my post with pics if you are still interested. Keyword "wOOx".BTW, welcome!Hope this helps.

Quote, originally posted by lazytiger »I just bought a used 2003 Vibe on Saturday. I'm very pleased with my purchase. The Vibe I got is even more pimped out than I had expected. Since it's used though, I don't know for sure what I have. inside the glove box there is a sticker with a bunch of three character codes. These codes list what equipment the car had when it left the factory. You can see what the codes mean at http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=6558welcome to genvibe

Thanks for all the info, everyone. Very friendly community. I'll have to check out the speakers and codes and such tomorrow. All these codes beg another intriguing question when considering a used vehicle: is there any way of determining where the vehicle was originally delivered/sold?

Quote, originally posted by lazytiger »Thanks for all the info, everyone. Very friendly community. I'll have to check out the speakers and codes and such tomorrow. All these codes beg another intriguing question when considering a used vehicle: is there any way of determining where the vehicle was originally delivered/sold?I believe CARFAX is the only way to get that kinda info...

Not to be a nag, but no one yet has addressed the impedance issue... If the M&T amp runs at 2 ohms, what happens if you run 4 ohm speakers? Except for a brief period after earning my electricity merit badge in Boy Scouts (my memory of that is long gone now), I've never understood how electricity works.

The speakers run at a quieter volume. Having the impedence go up (2 to 4 ohm) is not bad for the amp, but it'll make it heat up a little more, because it has to do more work to push 4 Ohm speakers, but generally, it'll just get quieter, though it'll sound 'cleaner'

Does anyone know what the thing is under the driver's seat? It's a little metal box with a wire harness coming out of it. It's only about a quarter of the size of the amp under the passenger's seat. I wonder if it could be moved, because otherwise there's actually quite a bit of room under the driver's seat, which could theoretically hold a subwoofer or something.BTW, where could I find an under-seat subwoofer? I haven't seen any aftermarket ones.

Quote, originally posted by lazytiger »Does anyone know what the thing is under the driver's seat? It's a little metal box with a wire harness coming out of it. It's only about a quarter of the size of the amp under the passenger's seat.Power inverter for the dash outlet.Quote »I wonder if it could be moved, because otherwise there's actually quite a bit of room under the driver's seat, which could theoretically hold a subwoofer or something.Ehhh. Not a lot of slack int eh wire, not sure how you would move it...But I suppose it might be doable.Quote »BTW, where could I find an under-seat subwoofer? I haven't seen any aftermarket ones.Never heard of this, but quite intrigued

I just found this ultra-compact sub from Clarion:http://www.clarion.com/usa/pro...RV303Has anyone ever seen or bought one of these? Please give some insight.

Quote, originally posted by lazytiger »Does anyone know what the thing is under the driver's seat? .That should be the 120v AC invertor.

Haven't seen that. But..i'm not impressed with Clarion the past few years. What're you trying to accomplish? That Clarion piece might put out as much power as the sub from a set of mid-range computer speakers. It'll rumble the seat, sure...but for that much money..?Granted, I could be wrong. But without seeing or hearing it, I can't say. Also, it doesn't give any dimensions. It might be too large to fit under the seat.

Not to say that buying from an "unauthorized" source is a good thing, but you can get that sucker online for as low as $139. The dimensions of it are: 13" x 2 7/8" x 9 1/16", so it ought to fit under a seat pretty easily.But what does it accomplish? I don't know. I'm missing my old 12" Alpine. Obviously, this ain't gonna fill that gap. And even if you can "feel" it, I'd have to imagine that the seat vibrating isn't even close to the same as moving some serious air in terms of sound quality. Sigh... it was just a thought.I think the only good option for what I want to accomplish is the '05 woofer, but I'm shuddering at the expense. And I assume it's not nearly as good for the money as could be had with aftermarket stuff. But that's the price to be paid for looking pretty, I guess.

I think those've that installed the wOOx have the best "nice looking" sub setup, it's small, and apparently pretty good. Beyond that, there's the Basslink..but that might be a bit larger than what you want. I'd say for smallest space, something like an Alpine Type S 10" is probably the best/cheapest you might get..but that's just coming from what I know.. That Clarion from an unauthorized place might work out..