Stereo & Electronics - Pioneer Shallow 8" Subs in Sail Panels?

I was wondering if anyone has tried them shallow mount 8inch subs in the sail panels of your cars yet. I am looking to upgrde my sail panels and have heard of a few people putting 8" subs instead of 6.5". I guess I am just wondering how they fit and what modifications you have to make to get them to fit. I will probably be running them of the factory amp for now cause I dont have the money for all that right now. So if anyone has an info for me I would really appreciate it, Thanks Ben

If you want to go 8" for some reason, might as well make the work worth it and use another sub. Worst you'll need is a spacer of .5" probably.. Pioneer's larger shallow subs aren't the best - so I can't imagine the 8" ones being any better..

Do you think it would be better to just go with a real good set of 6.5's. I hear a lot bout those CDT 6.5's, would I just be better off going with them. I am just not looking for a whole sub set up in the back of my car, I kind of want to keep the room I have now but still want to get as much bass as possible out of it using the factory speaker positions. Thanx

Do you think it would be better to just go with a real good set of 6.5's. I hear a lot bout those CDT 6.5's, would I just be better off going with them. I am just not looking for a whole sub set up in the back of my car, I kind of want to keep the room I have now but still want to get as much bass as possible out of it using the factory speaker positions. Thanx
I still believe that on Pontiac versions of Monsoon, due to the DVC "subs" back there currently, that there isn't a better replacement than Elemental Designs eu700s.

The upgrade may or may not be significant off of the factory amp, depending on the current condition of your sail panel speakers -- so think of them more as an "improved replacement" as opposed to an upgrade.

I see, So they will sound about like a new pair of factory speakers when hooked up to the factory amp?

Ya but keep in mind that the stock amp only puts out 200-250 max rms if you lucky and thats not all to the speakers in sail panels.. goes to the others too but if you use the elemental designs you will have room to grow later because those little 6.5 subs can handle 200rms each so if you finally redo your system you won't have to worry about getting a weak amp to power the cdt but they again those are good for mid bass and the elemental designs are good for bass only.. I have some coming in on tuesday... pm me and I will tell you how they sound where there installed, 484 rms from a rockford fosgate amp is going to be power the little beasts... should be fun!

The nice thing about the CDT's is no mods are necessary to make them fit!! Some require a mounting spacer. The ED's are a very nice sub!! I run the CDT's CL-6 but I also have 2 W3's for my lower frequency bass. Either would do you right!!! I was gonna do 8's but I decided that it was too much modification. Using the stock system to get decent mid bass is tough. Your lucky to get 50 clean watts of power going to the sail subs. At least with a speaker upgrade it will sound better but the stock Monsoon system at higher volume is a distortion box at best. Best upgrades in my opinion using the stock amp/harness is a head unit upgrade and a speaker upgrade. The HU upgrade gives you better sound quality...the Monsoon amplifies this and then with the speaker upgrade..this is now translated into much better sound. Good luck!!

I see, So they will sound about like a new pair of factory speakers when hooked up to the factory amp?
They will sound better than stock (hard to notice though), slightly louder than stock, and are much better quality than stock and will open the doors for amping later if so desired.


The nice thing about the CDT's is no mods are necessary to make them fit!! Some require a mounting spacer. The ED's are a very nice sub!! I run the CDT's CL-6 but I also have 2 W3's for my lower frequency bass. Either would do you right!!! I was gonna do 8's but I decided that it was too much modification. Using the stock system to get decent mid bass is tough. Your lucky to get 50 clean watts of power going to the sail subs. At least with a speaker upgrade it will sound better but the stock Monsoon system at higher volume is a distortion box at best. Best upgrades in my opinion using the stock amp/harness is a head unit upgrade and a speaker upgrade. The HU upgrade gives you better sound quality...the Monsoon amplifies this and then with the speaker upgrade..this is now translated into much better sound. Good luck!!
yea..the eu700s definitely require a spacer (not difficult....can do this with a large variety of materials), but as far as DVC replacements to take full advantage of the factory amp, the eu700s are the best that I know of in Pontiacs. I would think there would be a significant drop in volume using just one pair of wires per side on a SVC midbass that is a little bit more sensitive.

Not trying to hijack, I also want to replace the factory sail subs with after market. based on what I read in this thread you either use all four wires or only two per sub depending on which ones your choose? I just want to get all of my facts straight. I also want to still use my factory amp with perfect fit replacement aftermarket subs. Thanks for any info.

Not trying to hijack, I also want to replace the factory sail subs with after market. based on what I read in this thread you either use all four wires or only two per sub depending on which ones your choose? I just want to get all of my facts straight. I also want to still use my factory amp with perfect fit replacement aftermarket subs. Thanks for any info.
You will not find perfect fit as far as physical attributes and wiring goes (someone PLEASE CORRECT ME if I am wrong) -- oh, besides factory. You subs are DVC (dual voice-coil) subs, so if you choose a 6.5 driver that has one voice coil (like most all 6.5" subs) then you can only use one pair of wires, which will dramatically reduce the performance since each pair of wires comes from a separate channel on the amp.

So, IMO -- pick up a pair of Elemental Designs eu700s, make a spacer or I have heard black plastic ones can be had from Circuit City and work well -- and then it will fit fine. Wiring will be identical to stock, just be sure to not separate the pairs (e.x. two "positive" wires on the same voice coil, etc).

Thanks this helps alot. I will get a spacer and will cut the pigtail off of my factory subs wire all four wires (two + to one side of the voice coil and two - to the other side of the voice coil) and then I will just plug into factory harness, right. Please let me know if I misunderstood you. Thanks for the help fredmr39.

Thanks this helps alot. I will get a spacer and will cut the pigtail off of my factory subs wire all four wires (two + to one side of the voice coil and two - to the other side of the voice coil) and then I will just plug into factory harness, right. Please let me know if I misunderstood you. Thanks for the help fredmr39.

They do make speaker harness adapters so you don't have to cut anything off. They are available on ebay and sometimes Best Buys/Circuitcity/HiFi Buys....etc. carries stuff like that. Heres an example:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Metra-72-4565-GM-Chrysler-Speaker-Harness-Pair_W0QQitemZ330103091005QQihZ014QQcategoryZ32812 QQrdZ1QQssPageNameZWD1VQQcmdZViewItem
This way you keep your factory harness intact.

Thanks this helps alot. I will get a spacer and will cut the pigtail off of my factory subs wire all four wires (two + to one side of the voice coil and two - to the other side of the voice coil) and then I will just plug into factory harness, right. Please let me know if I misunderstood you. Thanks for the help fredmr39.
you can see how the terminals are labeled on the eu700s here http://www.ls1tech.com/forums/showthread.php?t=639901

-just ignore the wiring - as I only have a Camaro diagram since the wiring is exactly the same as factory for Pontiac versions.

If you want the harness to remain the same in case you want to convert back to factory when you sell the car, etc -- you don't have to cut it off as mentioned - could buy a harness adapter, or just splice into the 4 wires.

Everything will make sense once you have them in hand and you are looking at the factory setup -- refer to the wiring chat if you are unsure of +/- and just be sure to keep the pairs together.