Having recently added an excellent powered subwoofer to my home system, when I upgraded my ancient cassette car stereo with a decent MP3/CD headunit, and replaced the disintegrating factory speakers, I began to think a little low-frequency punch might help there too. Hmmmm. Me with a subwoofer in my car? It seemed unlikely for several reasons, namely,

a) I didn't want my little hatchback filled up with audio equipment that would slow it down, take up trunk space, and tempt thieves,

b) separate amps and subs can be very expensive, and

c) I hate it when some clown decides the whole neighborhood wants a free concert at 3 a.m. and cruises around rattling the windows with his "system." (thump, Thump, THUMP!! Whee!!). I wasn't about to become one of those. With all due respect to Tigra and Bunny of the classic 80's rap video, I did *not* want my car to go "BOOM."

Was there such a thing as a sub for people who just wanted bass, not BASS? Was it possible to add some bottom end to a basically factory system without spending a fortune, filling the trunk with giant amps and carpeted boxes, and vibrating the leaves off of nearby shrubbery? I'm not knocking people who like that kind of stuff (as long as they close the windows, see above) but it's not for me. I started looking at smaller, self-powered subs because I had heard Bazooka's small tube-shaped subs were good, and started checking prices online. That's how I heard about the Kenwood KSC-WA62RC, aka the "wOOx." I found a new one at an online auction site for a stupefyingly-cheap $57, as compared to the retail price of about $200. I did a little quick research and then grabbed it, hoping it would do the job.

What is it?
The "wOOx" is an unusual-looking little unit, with a very small 5 1/4" active woofer cone mounted side-by-side with a passive 6 1/2" "radiator," which looks just like another speaker cone, but receives no power, and supposedly works something like a bass port. The whole thing is only 15 3/16" x 4 5/8" x 8 1/4," and comes with its own built-in amp that Kenwood rates at 100 watts. It looks cool, with the dual silver-colored cones packaged neatly under separate metal grilles in a flat, compact black plastic cabinet, rounded at the sides and edges like a flattened vitamin pill. It's nearly cute. Nevertheless, it's fairly heavy and has a solid, well-built feel to it.

What comes with it?
The wOOx came with a number of different brackets for mounting it in different positions, and a nice little wired remote with an adjustable crossover, level control, and an in/out phase selector switch. Like the sub, the remote feels sturdy and unlikely to break. It also came with some ordinary speaker wire, which was a little disappointing, because the input connectors have RCA jacks, which are superior, but require RCA cables rather than regular wire.

Installation
The manual has detailed installation instructions, repeated in several languages (Did you know that "connection" in German is "Anschluss?" I thought that was what they did to Austria in WWII ...). Oops, my mind is wandering again. Anyway, by now I'd had more than enough fun putting in the head unit and four door-panel speakers, and had a local shop do the install. I had to pay another few bucks for some mid-grade RCA cables, bringing the grand total to about $160 installed.

When I picked up the car, the tech guys were very pleased with themselves. They'd never seen a subwoofer like that before, and it took them a few hours to install, but they assured me that after they replaced my wimpy CD with some "real" bass music, the little wOOx sounded "just like a 10-inch sub." I had hoped to install it under a seat to maximize its impact, but found that the seats in my Acura Integra were too low. Happily, the little sub fit fine in my second-favorite spot, mounted flush to the side wall of the hatch, where it's completely out of the way and takes up practically no room. The shop guys ran the wired remote up to the cockpit under the radio so I can fiddle with it on the fly. The whole thing is so neat and unobtrusive it looks like it might have come from the factory that way.

Impressions
It's only been a few days, but so far I am *very* pleased. At least in a hatchback, this little thing packs a real punch. I not only hear it, but actually feel it, even at reasonable volumes, where the music calls for it. The bass is tight, with no boxiness or unwanted vibration, and blends nicely with the rest of the speakers. Incredibly, Kenwood claims the pygmy sub's frequency response bottoms out at a respectably deep 35hz. I believe it. The deep bass in elements in rap and hard rock/metal music pound impressively. Having said that, this unit is not to be confused with a big box sub (or subs) with a separate amp/amps. It will not blow small objects out of the trunk, set off nearby car alarms, or kill passing birds. It will NOT impress Tigra OR Bunny. Then again, it also will not annoy other drivers or get you a ticket, although you can definitely hear it from outside the car if you get carried away with the volume knob. Everyone who has heard it so far has liked it, from a friend who used to drive a show truck packed with amps and subs to even (!) my Dad.

The Bottom End (Line)
Overall, the wOOx is a well-made, musical little sub with surprising guts. With its compact, flat shape, it will fit almost anywhere, and should add significant depth to the sound of any average-to-good car stereo. Because it carries its own amp, it should also take a load off the smaller amps built into most head units, thus improving mid-to-high frequency sounds as well. I wouldn't recommend it for the trunk of larger vehicles, where you might not hear it well. But in a hatchback, or probably even better, under the taller seat of a pickup, it's just right, again assuming you're not trying to pick up Tigra and Bunny to take them to a car audio "Sound Pressure Level Competition." I'm not, and I couldn't be happier. It all depends on what you want.


Update
I've received some inquires re: where I purchased my unit at that ridiculous price. The auction site was www.ubid.com, and the item was sold directly by Ubid. They initially had 500 units and set a reserve price around $150 each. I noticed they were only managing to sell a couple of units at a time at that price, and lay in wait until they removed the reserve. Unfortunately, a recent check showed Ubid was no longer carrying the "wOOx," but interested buyers might want to keep checking, as I've found they often "re-stock" on popular items. - J.

Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): 57