Rockville RockGhost Active Powered 8" Hidden Car Subwoofer Sub For 15"/16"/17" Full Size Spare Tire

Needed to add some more bass to the wife's new 2017 Tucson. It has the upgraded Infinity system in it w/factory 8in sub. The sub was not giving adequate levels of bass that I have grown used to with my tastes in audio systems. In my own car (2014 Fusion) I went the route of adding a sub/amp/line converter/power cables/etc and that was it. It sounds great, but was a lot more work and money, and takes up trunk space. I knew my wife was not going to like that, so I was researching replacing the factory sub... when I came across this Rockville spare tire sub.After looking at many reviews and videos and blogs about how great this little all-in-one sub was, I decided to try one.I was not disappointed. The install took maybe an hour and a half (removed rear bench seat, removed rear side panels was the hardest part). The factory amp was located in the rear, so I tapped all my power and high level inputs into that. A quick test to make sure it worked, and I put it all back together and buttoned everything back up. The only modification I had to do was cut the bolt holding it down to the frame about an inch, and I used a larger washer for the top (not shown in photo). It fits snug. I ran all the wires through the spare tire rim's holes too for even more stealth. If I need to take the spare out, I'll have to remove the speaker anyway, and when I unplug the wiring harness, it will easily slip back through the spare tire rim holes.It takes up no space at all, all wires are hidden, the trunk deck fits over it perfectly. It's completely hidden.I believe on the Tuscon, the trunk deck would fit on the lower level if you replaced the tie down bolt with something else more low profile. With the bolt that it came with, the thumb screw and nut under it make it stick up enough that i am using the higher level for the trunk deck. But that's OK, we were using the higher level already anyway. Just note that if you are using the lower level position in your vehicle, it may not fit.Sound quality is ... not bad. I am impressed that it does shake the car a bit for only an 8in speaker if you push it. Its not going to be life changing or win any sound competitions, but I think for a totally hidden, small completely self contained sub/amp combo, this is a huge winner.The remote controls are a nice touch. I tuned it a bit from the front seat, then just tucked the whole remote unit and wire up next to the sub and out of the way. It's not like I need to be adjusting it on the fly. I set it to about 60% gain, 80ish% boost, and around 80HZ for the crossover frequency. Phase was set to 0deg.I can now turn the bass down on the head unit to preserve the rest of the speakers from taking max bass, and then turned the sub up more to compensate. It sounds crystal clear for a factory system at high volume levels. I did this in my Fusion as well, turned the head unit bass down, and then compensated with the sub. The factory speakers will get longer life out of them if you push them all the time.All in all, I'll see how this lasts over time and write back if it fails in less than an acceptable time.Really happy with this unit. I would consider getting one for my Fusion too, and replacing the sub box/amp combo, but will need to drive her Tucson some to see if the bass is OK for my personal tastes or not.

Since most don't put the make of their car for comparison, I have a 2013 Toyota RAV4. I hope this helps someone else who is on the fence. I'll start with, "just buy it, already!" You will not have any regrets! For the price, two in one and out of the way! Its virtually invisible! Don't fall for the added stuff that they recommend that you buy, you don't need it! It comes with everything that you need. I kept my head unit mainly because I have xm radio, HD Radio, bluetooth, cd (yes I still use it and still the cleanest sound to me), most of those are extra on a new unit! That's ok, I'll rock with this for now. I replaced all six speakers but I kind of wish I could've heard what this sub would've sounded like with the older ones, still no regrets as they don't distort and play plenty loud for me. I drive them about 65-70% of what I use to with the old ones. I went with infinity purposely because they have a lower ohm rating which doesn't steal a lot of power from the head unit and the clarity is so much better! Everything sounds so much better and this sub was the last piece of the puzzle and it really brings it all together! As good as the Infinity's are they just can't produce what the sub can. I listen to everything from salsa, merengue, rap, rock, jazz, vocals, classical, techno, metal, reggae...all of it! Some on here have said you won't be shaking the windows in the cars next to you, but you will yours and that's fine with me! Bass is tight and clean! The way it should be! And you can control every aspect of it right at the controls, all for $150, are you kidding me! I can't speak for the life of this thing yet and I hope it does last. I will say, what you do need if you're installing it yourself, I forget what they are called, basically to tap the speaker for your +/-, my head unit didn't have rca outs as an option so I went to the enclosures near the foot on both sides of the front doors. You'll want the "taps" so that you don't have to cut the wire like I did or make a space w/o cutting the wire, then stripping it while leaving the wire intact. Still worked! That's all I have, ENJOY, I KNOW I WILL!

***update*** Decided to try out the JBL Basspro Hub since I was impressed with the Rockghost. If you've got the extra money, get the JBL. It's louder, deeper, and more powerful than this one. ***end update***I've been customizing the stereos in my cars for over 30 years, so I've got some experience under my belt. The install was pretty easy- I like that the speaker signal inputs also turn the amp on. Then you just need power and ground, and off you go. If you need some additional bass to fill out the sound in your car, this is a pretty good choice. It adds the deeper tones that regular speakers can't hit. You'll want to play with all the settings on the remote to get it sounding just right for your music. Just don't ask it to do anything more than round out the sound. This will NOT hit like 12" subs in ported boxes pushing 500 watts RMS. I'm using this to replace a 10" sealed sub getting 300 watts, and the Rockville doesn't hit nearly as hard as that. So it's probably not the best choice for rap or hip hop music. But if want to get a ton of trunk space back from taking those big subs out, but still have an adequate amount bass, you might like this unit. I have mine in a VW GTI set to about 40% gain, 65% bass boost, and about 1/2 way on the crossover. That makes late 90's/early 2000's rock sound pretty good IMO.