Subwoofer replacement

BigBoomer · February 26, 2019

Ok, so my Sub has died, and it looks like LexusSparesDirect no longer have any of their replacement Subs for the ML equipped LS430s.
I found out that several people on the US Forum have used a Dayton Audio SD215A-88 speaker to replace the OEM one to great effect and it seems to be reliable too.
You can get this here in the UK from https://wallofsound.co.uk/p/sd215a-88-dvc-subwoofer/ and it's substantially cheaper than the £140 LexusSparesDirect were charging via eBay, although this will require more effort to fit it into the frame that mounts it to the LS.
It's a dual coil 8ohm+8ohm speaker so can be wired in series to give the 16ohms needed for the ML amp.

I've just ordered mine and it came to £56 delivered.
Now to wait and see how long it takes to be delivered, and then pray that it was just the Sub that died and not the Sub output of the Amp. 😊

The-Acre · February 26, 2019

It's a good price for sure. Will you fit it yourself, bearing in mind removal of the rear seat?

GrahamG · February 26, 2019

I would be tempted to leave the rear seat in place and Dremel an opening under the cover to allow access..

DaKa · February 26, 2019

I will check the details (I think I either create or added to an existing post on the same subject) but for me about a year ago now I replaced my subwoofer with a 'POLK' USA sourced import costing only circa £50 including import taxes. The quality was 3-4 better than the standard and is still great.

It was difficult to fit for 3 reasons.

1. It was difficult to remove the back seats, but for me only made hard because the base of the rear seats on one side didn't want to pop up. The plastic push fittings were doubled and took a long large screwdriver to wedge it up.

2. The replacement subwoofer needed a little trim of 2 x small sections of the rm so that it fitted flush into the existing bracket (no big deal 2 mins with hacksaw but a little worrying if you're doing it right?)

3. You needed to follow the wiring instructions carefully with some spare speaker wire and crimps to double the AMPs (again 5 minute task easy).

I will dig out my purchase and post the link.

DaKa · February 26, 2019

Pretty sure this is the one I got and it is excellent

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Polk-Audio-DB-8-Inch-750-Watt-4-Ohm-SVC-Marine-ATV-Car-Subwoofer-DB842SVC/302764766359?epid=5020319796&hash=item467e2fb497:g:t6gAAOSwo8BbGr~E:rk:3:pf:0

DaKa · February 26, 2019

There are instructions on how to wire to make this 8 OHM

MLW · February 26, 2019

Mine has gone all 'distorted and woozy'.

I want to replace it, but looking on You tube it looked like 2 days work!

Can anyone help?

The-Acre · February 26, 2019

2 hours ago, GrahamG said:

I would be tempted to leave the rear seat in place and Dremel an opening under the cover to allow access..

According to Paul Frost who emailed me about rear suspension access, it's possible to get the rear shelf out with the seat in place. Apparently you recline the seat as far as it goes, and if you know where they're located you can just get to the plastic poppers that hold it in place. I questioned him on it but he said he's done it himself a few times. Having said that, the guy who replaced one of my rear struts took the seat out and said it's not difficult.

The-Acre · February 26, 2019

1 minute ago, MLW said:

Mine has gone all 'distorted and woozy'.

I want to replace it, but looking on You tube it looked like 2 days work!

Can anyone help?

Although you can't remove the speaker that way, the sub cover does just pull off so you can easily check the foam to see if its deteriorated. If so you can cheat and use silicone around the edge. I have done it in the past, not the right way but it does work.

MLW · February 26, 2019

Interesting.......what does this mean in practice?

the sub cover does just pull off so you can easily check the foam to see if its deteriorated

The-Acre · February 26, 2019

8 hours ago, MLW said:

Interesting.......what does this mean in practice?

the sub cover does just pull off so you can easily check the foam to see if its deteriorated

Yes, exactly that. It's just held down with clips. Pull it up evenly and it should come off easily. That'll expose the cone. Mine was deteriorated around the edge so I just resealed it with silicone, took 10 mins. Some purists would frown on the idea but if the speaker's kaput anyway what's to loose?

BigBoomer · February 27, 2019

I'm going to cut around the Sub under the cover and get the old speaker out that way. Details are on the US forum here.
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-3rd-gen-2001-2006/883244-diy-3rd-gen-ls430-subwoofer-repair-without-rear-seat-removal.html
The Polk 842 is 8ohm (4+4) whereas the ML amp needs 16ohm, so be wary if you crank up the volume as the 8ohm sub will cause the ML Amp to overheat and blow.
The Dayton Audio is 16ohm (8+8) and the power rating exceeds the output of the ML amp (70W), so yer not going to blow the amp or the speaker.
Be aware that on both speakers you MUST wire the 2 speaker coils in series to get the 16ohms.

PJD · February 27, 2019

Are you sure your subwoofer has died?

Mine started "blowing" - but I fixed it by using "rubber glue" around the cone edge. It sounds excellent now after that cheap quick fix.

BigBoomer · February 28, 2019

21 hours ago, PJD said:

Are you sure your subwoofer has died?

Mine started "blowing" - but I fixed it by using "rubber glue" around the cone edge. It sounds excellent now after that cheap quick fix.

Yup, the cone is not moving at all even with the volume at the level of starting to be painful.
On some speakers when the support goes, the cone can push too far out and break the wires that connect to the voice coil.
I'm hoping it's that, and not a dead sub channel on the amp. I'll be taking it out this weekend, so I guess we will see 😎

RgrWynne · February 28, 2019

2 hours ago, BigBoomer said:

Yup, the cone is not moving at all even with the volume at the level of starting to be painful.
On some speakers when the support goes, the cone can push too far out and break the wires that connect to the voice coil.
I'm hoping it's that, and not a dead sub channel on the amp. I'll be taking it out this weekend, so I guess we will see 😎

Good luck 👍

The-Acre · February 28, 2019

9 hours ago, BigBoomer said:

Yup, the cone is not moving at all even with the volume at the level of starting to be painful.
On some speakers when the support goes, the cone can push too far out and break the wires that connect to the voice coil.
I'm hoping it's that, and not a dead sub channel on the amp. I'll be taking it out this weekend, so I guess we will see 😎

Looking at the info for cutting around the shelf I think I'd be happy to do that, keep us posted.

BigBoomer · March 2, 2019

Just removed my Sub using the cut method and whilst not easy, much easier than disassembling the back seat.
Getting it back in is gonna be FUN!!

My sub died from a broken wire where the suspension wire joins the coil wire, so pretty much irreparable.☹️
On the plus side the amp appears to be fine, so now to wait for the replacement Dayton Audio SD215-88 DVC Sub to arrive.

Watch this space. 😎

MLW · March 7, 2019

On ‎2‎/‎27‎/‎2019 at 9:48 AM, BigBoomer said:

I'm going to cut around the Sub under the cover and get the old speaker out that way. Details are on the US forum here.
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-3rd-gen-2001-2006/883244-diy-3rd-gen-ls430-subwoofer-repair-without-rear-seat-removal.html
The Polk 842 is 8ohm (4+4) whereas the ML amp needs 16ohm, so be wary if you crank up the volume as the 8ohm sub will cause the ML Amp to overheat and blow.
The Dayton Audio is 16ohm (8+8) and the power rating exceeds the output of the ML amp (70W), so yer not going to blow the amp or the speaker.
Be aware that on both speakers you MUST wire the 2 speaker coils in series to get the 16ohms.

This video certainly shows it well. A real 'idiots guide'.

This is also good.

Is this the correct one for a LS 430 with a Mark Levinson system? https://www.simplyspeakers.com/lexus-mark-levinson-speaker-foam-edge-repair-kit-fsk-10m.html

$25 = $18.25 postage to Suffolk = $43.25 = about £33 all in. Not bad, for what looks like a really good permanent repair, using the original speaker.

I wonder if heat on the back parcel shelf is what degrades and destroys the surround?

The-Acre · March 7, 2019

32 minutes ago, MLW said:

This video certainly shows it well. A real 'idiots guide'.

This is also good.

Is this the correct one for a LS 430 with a Mark Levinson system? https://www.simplyspeakers.com/lexus-mark-levinson-speaker-foam-edge-repair-kit-fsk-10m.html

$25 = $18.25 postage to Suffolk = $43.25 = about £33 all in. Not bad, for what looks like a really good permanent repair, using the original speaker.

I wonder if heat on the back parcel shelf is what degrades and destroys the surround?

Unfortunately I think it's just poor materials. Ridiculous when you consider ML wouldn't put their system in a car until one quiet enough came along, and when they do it's sub standard. It's like they were saying "no car's good enough for our system" And now we discover their system isn't good enough for our cars! There's even much talk about how poor the quality is on the US forums.

MLW · March 7, 2019

I must say when my car came with a Mark Levinson system I expected it to sound superb, especially as it cost thousands. But I am rather underwhelmed. The radio is difficult to lock onto stations and I think any £150 Pioneer or Sony from Halfords would perform better. In 50 years driving, never had a speaker go until now.

The-Acre · March 7, 2019

1 hour ago, MLW said:

I must say when my car came with a Mark Levinson system I expected it to sound superb, especially as it cost thousands. But I am rather underwhelmed. The radio is difficult to lock onto stations and I think any £150 Pioneer or Sony from Halfords would perform better. In 50 years driving, never had a speaker go until now.

I've got no idea which system mine has, it just says "Celsior super live sound system" Yesterday I turned the volume to max (playing ELO) and there was no distortion but my ears hurt like in a rock concert so I'm not sure how ML would trump that.

BigBoomer · March 16, 2019

Sub done. Working and sounds awesome. I actually had to turn the bass down one notch as it's actually a bit more efficient than the OEM sub.
I had to cut away some of the plastic on the U pieces where the screws go through, and also had to grind away a bit of the rim of the speaker to be able to get the screws in to fit it all back together. Added some new draught excluder to finish the job off right.
Both coils are wired in series giving 16ohm (measured with multimeter at 12.7ohm) so matches what the ML amp is expecting.

Am very happy with that, but less happy with my parking sensor. I have one sensor that is duff (front left) but after an hour of faff getting it out and replacing it with a new one, still the same. It may be the next sensor in that is duff but that will need the whole damned bumper off so :mad2: to that.