skpyle

Hello All!

In 2022, I purchased a used Sharkwoofer for my Red Witch. It had an incorrect single channel amplifier installed.

I have been on an ever-failing hunt for a replacement for the original Kenwood Excelon XR-5S 5-channel amplifier. This amp has been NLA for sometime. Since the Sharkwoofer was designed specifically for this amp, mounting room is limited.

Here is my question for those of you with Sharkwoofers that still have the Kenwood amp mounted: how much wiggle room is there for amp mounting?
The Kenwood XR-5S is 235mm(9-1/4") long X 192mm(7-9/16") wide. I have found the Kenwood Excelon X802-5 is 249mm(9-13/16") long X 172mm(6-3/4") wide.
Is the extra 14mm(9/16") of length going to be a deal breaker?

My Sharkwoofer is still mounted in the spare tire well in the Red Witch. I need to pull it out and remove the incorrect amp for a better look at what I have.

For another question: have any of you successfully replaced the Kenwood XR-5S with something else that fit in your Sharkwoofer?


Thanks for your time!

The Forgotten On

How are you running your wiring? That will determine if a 1 channel amp or a 2 channel amp with both channels bridged can be a good replacement.

You can run the other 4 channels from the stock amp location and run a set of RCAs from the head unit to the sharkwoofer's amp.

This will be easier to integrate as you will have to run fresh wire to all 4 other channels that the 5 channel powers if you plan on installing one.

Tom. M

I measured the sharkwoofer I had sitting out and the area for the amp is 9 x 11 x 5 in total. Less depth due to the fan and the mounting bosses (about 1.5 inches, so pretty tight.
I can get any dimension you need if you let me know what you want measured.

Tom. M

I just propped the amp in there and there is about 3/4 of an inch room on the inside assuming the amp can't go past the outer edge due to the tire well.

Petza914

In the Spyder that has a Sharkwoofer, it's powered from bridged channels 5&6 from my 1,000 watt 6-channel amp. That amp fits inside the rear AC console I modified to hold it since the car doesn't have rear AC. The front 2 channels power the 3-way component Focals in the front doors and channels 3 & 4 power the 2 way Focal composites in the rear seat.









In my 997, I replaced the stock 6" subs inside the Bose sub enclosure with Focal Utopias and upgraded the amp to a compact Rockford Fosgate that has external bass boost control which works great.

skpyle

The Forgotten On: As she sits now, the door and rear speakers were powered by the head unit, and I had a Bazooka Tube in the rear hatch area. I have a Rockford Fosgate Punch PBR300X4 4-channel amp that I have mounted in the glove box between the rear seats. I was going to power the door and rear speakers with it. Then keep the Bazooka Tube in the rear hatch area.





I have gotten hung up on finding the correct Kenwood 5-channel amp that it never occurred to me to just look for a mono amp to put under the Sharkwoofer.
The mono amp that came with my Sharkwoofer is unsuitable, as it is a little too big. The Sharkwoofer does not sit properly. Hans looked at it at SITM 2022, and was not pleased.

I will start looking at mono amps.
Thanks!



Tom M.: Thank you so very much for that information and measurements!!! I really appreciate it. That gives me a much better idea of what I am getting into.



Petza914: I had forgotten about your setup in the Spyder. As of right now, the Fosgate amp fits in my rear storage compartment. I will keep in mind looking for a rear AC storage compartment and using your setup as an inspiration.
Thanks!

bureau13

I was having issues with the Kenwood that I bought used, and so I replaced it with an Alpine I had lying around. It doesn't mount, it's just sitting under it, and Hans wouldn't be pleased with me either! Plus, I'm having some of the same problems. Starting to suspect the head unit is my actual problem. One of these days I will do something about it...

The Forgotten On

Diamond Audio makes some great amps that would fit. Not cheap but they pack a serious punch for their size.

https://diamondaudio.com/micro1v2-mi...-sub-amplifier

skpyle

I understand. Things usually never work out the way I want them to. But, I always find a work around of some kind.



Thank you for that! I will check them out.

Michael Benno

+1 on the Diamond Audio. I used the 4-channel amp in my 1988 MY and was extremely happy with the power, quality, and tunability.

skpyle

Today, I pulled the Sharkwoofer out of the Red Witch for a good look-see.






Turns out the incorrect amp is a Kenwood eXeclon X500-1 single channel amp. That should do nicely, as the PO said it sounded quite good. I will continue with my install of the Rockford Fosgate amp in the reae glove box.






Looking at the Sharkwoofer, I think I can fab up an adapter plate that will mount to the original mounts in the correct locations, and then mount the amp to that.







Looking further, the sub is the original 10” Dayton NS270-44. That makes me happy!









I believe the cooling fan is original, though it still works. Should I leave it alone, or preemptively replace it?

skpyle

For giggles, I moved the amp so it lined up with the ‘inboard’ mounts.


Distance from the amp to the ‘inside’ wall with the amp lining up on the ‘outboard’ mounts. Approximately 1 5/16”.



Distance from the amp to the ‘inside’ wall with the amp lining up on the ‘inboard’ mounts. Approximately 3/4”.



Amp nowhere near lines up with ‘outboard’ mount.




The ‘outboard’ mounts are nowhere near lining up, as expected. I ran some zipties through the slots in the plate to secure the amp.
I test fit the Sharkwoofer back into the Red Witch.
Success! It fits!


Sharkwoofer correctly seated in the spare tire well.



Now, I either make adapters for the mounts, or redrill and counter bore the outboard mounts.
I will have to think about it a bit.