CERWIN-VEGA! Vega 12" Powered Spare Tire Subwoofer 2Ω - VPAS12ST

I'm so surprised how great this sounds

This is a great sub for my Prius. It is not competition sub, but it does add decent punch and bass to my factory stereo. I am happy with how it sounds.

The technology on this thing is impressive. I’m still wondering how a subwoofer with a hole in the center can be so loud. It gives a nice bass accent and sometimes a big punch, especially in hip hop music. I use it in mid gain, almost zero boost and the whole car rattles.I installed the Cerwin Vega in the spare tire of a 2019 Toyota Yaris sedan. Installation was simple once I got the power and signal cables into the trunk. I had difficulties bringing the (recommended) gauge 8 oxygen-free copper (OCF) power cable because the only spot I found feasible to cross the firewall from the car battery was through the rubber grommet behind the battery and the ECU. I had to (suffering) poke a hole in the thick rubber being careful to avoid damage to the other massive amount of angel hair cables. It was a big pain…Getting the signal from the radio was the easiest part. I used the PAC AOEM-MAZ2 (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001715RQS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1) to avoid cutting cables. This thing is incredible, just plug and play. It provides decent low signal for the subwoofer’s internal amplifier. The Cerwin Vega also can be used with high signal from the car speakers, but I prefer the low signal. Also getting the low signal would be easier.Installation of the subwoofer took a bit more time than expected. The threaded rod that came with the subwoofer is very long. So, with the help of a Dremel I cut it to perfectly fit the Yaris. Nonetheless, once the speaker is in place, it remains an inch above the surrounding trunk floor (see picture). Then, if you care about the bump in the cover mat, you have to install sort of spacers below the mat.In regards the sound, I had a hard time trying to balance or equalize the bass. It has happened that, when I asked the subwoofer for power what I get was a trashy sound. Getting upset about that I noticed that the peculiar distorted sound was like metal-to-metal vibration. A few rags between the spare tire and the car’s metal and the spare tire and the subwoofer solved the problem. After that the bass was clearer and more sound, incredible by the way.Is this product similar or better than a traditional subwoofer mounted on a sealed, ported or bandpass enclosure with an external amplifier? I would say no, but it is not far of being. I found the enclosure-mounted subwoofer has a deeper and cleaner sound, and more punchy. However, this doesn’t mean the Cerwin Vega VPAS12ST is bad, on the contrary, this is the best product to satisfy performance and convenience at the same time. It is really outstanding.Would I recommend this product? The answer is definitely yes, if you are looking for an upgrade to your factory installed sound system, and also want the convenience of keeping the same cargo space.Hope this would be helpful mostly for Yaris owners. I'm not being compensated for this honest review.

Sub sounds great and really fills in the lows. Just don't expect to rattle the windows(that wasn't my goal). My only complaint is the remote has to be hooked up for the sub to work. I have full control of the sub out on my aftermarket head unit so don't need the controls on the sub itself. The remote is just another wire and part I had to hide now.

I'd read numerous reviews claiming this to be a good product and I'm happy with it so far.I wasn't looking for something to blow out the windows & I wasn't willing to sacrifice cargo space or my spare tire, I just wanted to extend the lower range of my sound system and this works on all accounts.I have a RAV4 so I can't speak to how well it will do closed off in the trunk of a car but I can't imagine it would suffer too much as powerful as it is. I was a bit skeptical how well this would work with the lack of enclosure and the wattage being on the low side for a sub but with this running at 2ohms, you're getting more output than you might think. This sub plays down to some low frequencies and hits surprisingly hard.It's pretty amazing how far technology has come. I've only had it installed for around 24 hours so I can't speak to its longevity/reliability but I don't anticipate any issues. Cerwin Vega has been around for a while and seems to have a good reputation.One thing I'll suggest to potentially save some people time, make sure you have the appropriate butt-end connectors for the power and ground wires. You'll have 10ga coming from the sub and 8ga coming from the battery and ground source. These aren't as common connectors as 12ga and smaller (at least in typical local stores). I was so used to hooking up power / ground cables to an amp terminal, I forgot I needed butt-end connectors for this setup.As well and very importantly, use oxygen free copper wire as opposed to copper clad aluminum for your power and ground sources. OFC has less resistance compared to CCA; offering you more power for the same gauge wire & resulting in the amp & wires running cooler. The manual for the sub even states you should use OFC or you may damage the amp and it will void any warranty claims. Spend more for quality cables now to save more money in the long run. Also, why not get the most out of your sub?I hope these tips will save you some time and headache. Again, I'm really enjoying this sub. It's such a good sounding and discretely hidden sub that it's well worth the price point.