Ok, first I have to say that I am satisfied with the overall results of my solution. I was shooting for a "premium factory" upgrade for the Clarity and I think I hit 95% of my goals but for the total price I am very happy. I am also VERY happy with the fact that I lost almost no trunk space with my solution.
Woofer install, total price $210 (since I did the labor, that's parts all in, wire too). Yes, this was cheap, and a brand that, well... but for the price and fit for my install I just couldn't pass up giving it a shot.
Speaker replacements, $260 add in a few bucks misc parts and tools and I got my "new" system for under $500!
If you remove the time spent "figuring" access points, and best placement for things etc I could have done the whole project in a full day, but it took me 4 half days as that is what I had to work with. It has been a long time since I installed aftermarket stereo equipment, and I haven't been to IASCA for SQL/SPL comps since the mid 90's....
What I got out of this was a system that I will call a premium factory system similar in sound to a Bose, ELS (Acura) or other premium 10 driver 300-500 watt setup. It is not what I would call an "aftermarket" system in bass response, but I am happy and stopping here for now. The woofer solution was wired such that later upgrades in the <500 watt class would be possible if I wanted to try it. For now, my wife is giving me that look when it is time to stop playing with the new car....
Parts: JL Audio C1-650's for front and rear replacements of the factory drivers (see earlier post).
Wire wrap:
http://a.co/d/3oyR9PE
The wire was from Car Toys (8awg by the foot) plus an amp install "kit" that included the remote and fuse hardware I paid about $65 for it.
This is a cool solution for the remote patch, worked great:
http://a.co/d/3GhADPf
Now to reveal the woofer/amp compact combo (I know, but it's in the pictures soooo...)
Not Rockford Fosgate... Rockville!


http://a.co/d/7OLg4jC
It does hit low bass and has respectable output when you consider its SIZE and design limitations. My review on this would be that it reminds me more of the old Mass Drivers of the old days when you attached a coneless driver to chairs to help you "feel" the low bass without it actually moving air. I can feel the low notes in the seats and steering wheel almost more than hear them. It does add the low end I was missing and I think that once I spend some time tuning and tweaking it it will get better. The real issue is this, the trunk is actually pretty well isolated from the cabin, you need to displace a lot of air to get that "woofer" bass to penetrate into the cabin from the trunk. Without dual woofers or big ones with lots of moving air you are left with the "in the trunk" sound. However, for me this was enough and I am happy. It does not rattle anything in the trunk so far, and will not disturb the neighbors. It fills in the sub 120hz range I was missing (and though I need to test and don't have an RTA, seems to hit well in the low 40-60 range surprisingly). It helps that this is a sealed unit so the "range" is there even if the DBs are not. The install is very subtle and that is what I was going for. Here are the photos, feel free to ask any questions. I was able to attach the woofer so that I can still open and close the rear seat pass through without issue (both sides). Yes, it does sound more impressive with the seats forward, but...
I chose to pull the high level signal from the rear doors. This was an amazing amount of work going back in after the initial install. Wish I had done it all at once as it would have saved a lot of time. I can say that this is the harder part for running the speaker wire as to pull it back though the grommet and door to car rubber wire guide is not easy. You have to use a nylon wire-snake for audio or get creative. I have a few more photos but this should cover most of it. Again, only lost 3 inches of truck depth in a place it was less than useful in the first place.
* Oh, and yes - I ran out of wire wrap when I got to the trunk so I have a bit more to add to cover up the exposed wires you see next to the sub... tomorrow.
