BazookaVSE-SCI-TC-04 Vehicle Specific Enclosure

This is my first subwoofer unit. I am an audiophile... not that I know how the systems work, in fact I went into this not knowing squat about sub systems but I know what kind of sound I want. It sucks to be an audiophile on a budget since a good system can cost you over a thousand dollars but this little unit looked like a good start. Since buying this product I've done a little reading and have a simple understanding of how sub systems work. Usually you have an amplifier, a driver (speaker), and a box or enclosure. Some setups have additional equipment but that's your basic setup. This little unit provides all three in one for a great price. As a friend of mine pointed out, the enclosure alone is worth the money, being custom-fit for a Scion tC, even if you wanted to add your own amp and driver. I may do this in the future but this review will be based on the stock Bazooka Scion tC enclosure as is plugged into the factory Pioneer head unit, factory speakers, and no additional equipment.Installation was a breeze. While installing this you will remove all side panels from the passenger side of your tC, the trunk floor, the back seats, and center dash "waterfall" including shifter knob, climate controls, and of course stereo head unit. Having never taken my car apart before, installation took me about four hours after all was said and done. Someone knowing what they're doing could probably go faster. Scion made this car to be easy to take apart. This brings me to my next point which is that the instructions leave a lot to be desired, but if you take your time and study them you should be OK. My biggest problem was removing the cargo net hook, which holds the rear trunk panel in place. It should also be noted that Bazooka's claim of no drilling is not entirely true. Scion does have a mount under the side panel for a subwoofer to attach, and Bazooka uses it, but the bolt that attaches to the mount goes through the panel for the enclosure to adhere to. This requires drilling or cutting a hole for it to go through (they recommended 5/8" I'm assuming just for extra wiggle room if it's not perfectly lined up but I used a 1/4" with no problems). The wiring was as easy as could be, plugging directly into the back of the stock stereo, and stock speaker wiring then plugging into the Bazooka harness. I don't think there shouldn't be any problem plugging into an aftermarket wiring harness made for Scion. After installation I can say IT LOOKS GREAT. It takes up minimal trunk space (crucial to me) and has a very factory-installed look. It actually sits about a half-inch above the trunk floor (it hangs on two side-mounting brackets) so the spare tire is still accessible by sliding the trunk carpeting to the left, then up and out. Back seats are still able to fully recline.But how does it sound?! First song that happened to come on the radio post-install was Sublime's "What I Got". AWESOME BASS LINE, sounded GREAT. Once the initial glee wore off I started tinkering to get the sound I was looking for (as stated above I am VERY picky about my sound). This is where I first realized where I got what I paid for. The only adjustment that can be made to the amp is Gain, with a knob right next to the driver underneath the grill. I can't figure out why they didn't allow you to run the gain control along with the sound wiring up to the front of the vehicle so you could adjust it on the fly. I still may add this myself because as it is, I have to get out of the car, open the trunk, and remove the grill cover to adjust it. Using the Gain control in combination with Head unit EQ settings, I was able to get a sound I was happy with... for a few songs, then a song that was mixed differently would come on and I'd have to fiddle around again. The biggest limitation of this amp is that it only amplifies frequencies between 35Hz-150Hz and that is non-adjustable. I listen to a little of everything, but mostly country rock and alternative rock. What this means is that as you're listening to the bassline of a song, especially in a good classic rock bass solo, it's all nice and powerful until the notes get too high and then you're just hearing it through the car speakers - MUCH LESS powerful. I have also noticed that even bass notes within the frequency range have certain notes that come out more powerfully than others - not sure why this happens. I believe having a better amp would alleviate most if not all of these problems. Bass drum kicks ("the beat" as people like to call it) are always nice and powerful with no distortion but that's because bass drum frequencies don't change much between songs for the most part. I couldn't believe with how nice and powerful the sound was, that you can't even tell there is anything different from outside of the car. I turned everything on, cranked up Imagine Dragons' "Radioactive" to about Volume 45, got out of the car, and it simply sounds like someone has the radio on. No trunk rattle, license plate rattle, or anything other than muffled music coming through the doors as you would expect.The setup I've mostly stuck with is Gain at factory setting (noted by a white dot), SSP set for Vehicle xB (hold SSP to access hidden Vehicle menu... now you realize that the tC setting sounds like garbage... you're welcome), SSP set to Hear, Bass +2 and Treble +5. I tried combinations of less bass/more gain which gives the sound more of a kick (feel it in your seat) but to the demise of sound clarity. The setup I've mostly stuck with gives me a good amount of feel to the bass while maintaining clarity, and I have a few steps in either direction to give more or less bass depending on the song that comes on. I've listened to nearly everything on here from classical music to dubstep, rap to country, and the Bazooka performs well.Bottom line: Could it be better? Yes. But for the price, I am completely happy with my purchase and love the added lows to my music experiences each day. This takes up minimal trunk space, remaining discrete but powerful. I would recommend this to any tC owner.

Update (April 30th, 2013): This thing is still incredible for my needs. I highly recommend holding down the "SSP" button (not pressing, holding, it will bring up a secret menu) on the head unit and turning to xB setting. The sound quality is much better because it is equalized better. I also press "SSP" to Hear, not Feel. Bass at 0 unless you want more, and the Treble at 2. I am very happy with it. It kicks but doesn't sound bad like many "tuners" out there. I recommend taking the plastic covers off the hitch on the back and applying a sound proofing material. Not only does it help for vibration but removes the infamous rattle Scions have in the rear hatch.Original:After owning our(wife and I) Scion tC since day one and zero miles, literally, for the past seven years or so now,we always griped about the lack of bass in the car but never did much about it. We had a far too large dual 12" box in the hatch area that left zero room for anything else some time back but got rid of that pretty quickly. So forth until now, we didn't have an adequate subwoofer that considered size and function. When I came across this during the recent search, I honestly had forgotten about it. Anyone who has had this car for a while knows these subwoofers came out with a large price tag and larger install bill as most manufacturer specific items typically do and we figured it was too much to pay. After seeing the price, it was a no brainer as to my choice but would it be solid?Skip ahead two days and the subwoofer had arrived. Box was in good shape although it had probably been on the shelf for some time, hence the price being low perhaps in order to clear it out. Everything was safe and accounted for inside the package. I proceeded to check out the instructions, which are honestly mediocre. If you are not comfortable with your tC in taking stuff apart and such without strong pictures and guidelines, this is NOT for you... go to an installer. I'm not trying to scare anyone out of an install but if you can't improv a bit, it could get ugly.It is the standard tear the back end of the interior out including passenger parts and the radio of course. On a side note which I find important, I went to Home Depot and purchased a thick rubber self adhesive typically for roofing repair called USeal and Lowes has a similar one as well. This is nothing more than an alternative to Dynamat sound deadening products which blocks road notice and enhances audio. If I had known how much this would lower the sound level of the road, I would had done from day one. Anyone who owns this car knows the back hatch area is infamous for vibration and rattling. I can proudly say it is silent, what a relief. It adheres right to the car sheet metal and you can cut to size, very easy. Check out some guides on a search. Back to the subwoofer...The harness routes easily enough through the car and connects to the radio straight forward minus the lack of direction in the manual . The large pin on the new harness plugs directly into the radio and the original one plugs into a splice from the new harness. The blue wire plugs into the blue remote wire as well. Now for the annoying part.The sub is well built and getting the grill off can be very difficult. Be careful using a metal screwdriver to remove as the grill will bend. Once off, carefully remove screws so speaker is loose. Do yourself a favor and mark one set of wires inside the sub before disconnecting so you hook them the way you got it, whether that matters or not. When mounting the box, double check all connectors are safe and secure with no bind ups. I slightly crimped the speaker tab connectors again so that there was a tight connection on the speaker terminals with so much bass.The sub we received had an issue with the female plug on the back of it. It looks like two prongs on it were melted somewhat or bent and in order to secure the plug, I had to carefully bend the plastic without breaking it to get the connector on. Luckily, it worked first try although securing the box to the car is a little tricky, just take your time. It sounds, and just as importantly, looks great. I will provide an update in a month or so. If anyone has any questions, feel free and I will try to help.

I have it hooked up to the stock head unit. The bass that came out of it was too...I don't know how to describe it. Too much echo? I don't think they needed the port the box so much so I actually stuck a ball inside the port to mostly plug it. Now the bass seems much more clean when it hits.Other notes for FYI:Only has a gain control, no frequency bandwidth adjustment. Still sounds descent. I turned my gain down 3/4 way to blend it with the other speakers so it still has plenty of power.Remember is you get this you have to tear your car apart (backseat and all) to install it. Don't be alarmed though, I followed instructions and never took my car apart like that before and I did just fine. Your car may also run funny afterwards from unplugging the battery until the computer adjusts itself again.It is bolted to the car so if you need to get to your spare tire, it may be just a little difficult to remove the trunk floor cover.Bottom line, I would give it a five if they would have had a frequency response adjustment. Other than that, I plan on keeping my stock unit in there. I had the whole aftermarket get up to put in my car, but the stock is setup for the car is more precise, a few minor adjustments and it sounded great.