Good for a little punch

Author's Rating:

Pros: Compact, Well Engineered, Low price, Good sound

Cons: Not as loud as a "normal" sized subwoofer

The Bottom Line: 
Can't lose room/cash to a big subwoofer, box, and amp, but still want decent bass? This system may be the answer to your problem.

Author's Review
I just installed the Kenwood wOOx in my Jeep Wrangler. I wanted something that could mount under the driver's seat so that would-be thieves couldn't spot it. The wOOx seemed to fit the bill. While I wanted some bass in my stereo, I'm not someone that enjoys rattling the fillings out of my teeth, nor do I care if the car next to me can feel my subwoofer. I play my stereo for me and don't need something huge to play it for everyone else. I also wanted something inexpensive. That being said, I got what I wanted in the wOOx. It's small package (15-1/8"W x 4-3/8"H x 8-3/16"D ) means it can mount almost anywhere, although it's really meant for small cabin spaces.

The sub comes with a remote that let's you control phase, frequency crossover points, and gain. To be honest though, the only adjustment you'll ever make is the gain. To my ears the phase control did abolutely nothing...and while the crossover control has settings at 60Hz, 80Hz, 120Hz, or 160Hz, anything above 60hz makes the sub work harder than it was intended to and the resulting sound is boomy, muddled, and pretty irritating. So mine will stay at 60hz. The gain control is very nice however, allowing you to adjust the subwoofer level in an instant.

The sound quality is good, but once turned up too loud, the built in amplifier begins to clip. However this isn't an issue for me since that level is so loud that I won't need to turn it up to that point anyway. I'm satisfied with the amount of bass and volume that you can get from such a small package. It compares to a sealed 8" subwoofer. It won't be enough bass for many others out there, but everything's a tradeoff right? I chose to sacrifice some bass for keeping space, not worrying about how to wire the amp to the sub, and a great price. In my epinion, the only tradeoff is the amount of bass. But if you don't need a 10" subwoofer, and just want something to fill out the bottom end and provide a little thump, this unit should do just fine.

The case design is very sleek and nice to look at, and it has a red LED built into the Kenwood logo to let you know it's turned on. Installation was a cinch, and took a total of 3 hours...most of that time was spend making a mounting plate to mount the unit to my uneven floor, and running the wires under the carpet. It's got a power wire with a built in fuse (plus a power wire extension in case you need to run it all the way to the battery). I also comes with a very long remote turn on wire that you hook up to your head unit so that the wOOx only comes on when your stereo is on. There are a pair of RCA cables that hook up to your head unit, or you can use your head unit's speaker wire outputs.

The instructions include several easy to read wiring diagrams that encompass several ways to wire things up. The mounting brackets supplied are sturdy steel, and you get brackets that allow you to either mount it flat to the floor, or on its side against a wall. It's a very well made and well designed unit that will make a lot of people happy with its space saving design, and potent bass.