Dayton Audio SD215A-88 8" DVC Subwoofer

UPDATE [Nine Year's later 3/2025]: This will probably be my last update but yes, the subwoofer is still working well, and the amplifier is still working fine with it too. I have nothing to add but to say that im completely satisfied with this subwoofer. Although as of this 2025 update it is listed as unavailable. Hopefully its not discontinued, or if it is then i hope its replaced with a similar model that can do 8/8 dual voice coil capability. UPDATE [Four Year's later 7/2020]: Still going strong, still using almost every day, OEM amp doing just fine; nothing has changed! UPDATE [Two Year's later 7/2018]: I have had this Dayton subwoofer installed for nearly two full years, and its been smooth sailing. Very happy with the purchase, as well as its performance. Still sounds as great as the day I installed iy, and the old Mark Levinson amplifier seems to still kick butt when playing at any volume. Keep it low for general background music when going grocery shopping with your mother, or crank it up loud enough you have to almost yell to talk to your buddies riding in the back. It'll do its job aplomb with no sweat. Yes, if you jack up the "Bass" EQ on the stereo too much it will distort by reaching its maximum excursion. Otherwise if you're mildly sane about your listening habits it should be perfectly adequate. Heck the dummy writing this review in his twenties who listens to generic bass-y EDM all the time finds it perfectly suitable. Doesn't even matter if its Buffalo Springfield, Eurythmics, Lil Jon, or Avicii, it will perform as well as the original speaker will. You will not go wrong installing this if your previous subwoofer is acting up in your LS 430. I have attached a rudimentary dBa / Frequency Response graph of the performance of the SD215AA-88 in the LS 430. Take this with a grain of salt since it wasn't using any scientific equipment ( Sound Meter, COLEMETER Decibel Meter Digital Noise Meter Tester Range 30-130dB(A) with LCD Display(Batteries included) ). But it should give a very rough estimate to its capability. UPDATE [8 months+ later]: It's been almost eight months since i replaced the old subwoofer in my vehicle with this Dayton model. That and i've put about 15,000 miles in my LS 430 (i drive lots). Again, it has been flawless in sound reproduction and more importantly (to me at this point) the stock decade-plus old Mark Levinson amplifier in my vehicle has never cracked under the pressure of me turning it up loudly. And i do listen to my stuff at above average volumes. Seriously, if you have a broken LS 430 subwoofer you could either a- spend about 10 bux to fix it with glue (which honestly will probably go bad again since it's still beating beat down by the sun when you drive) or b- spend the $30 to get this and replace it with one as good as the one that came with the vehicle and not worry about it. Or heaven forbid c- pay the ridiculous prices for a new Mark Levinson subwoofer on eBay. [ORIGINAL REVIEW]: Purchased to replace a blown subwoofer in my vehicles rear deck. I purchased this specifically over the recommended Polk db840DVC because the Dayton had the capability to wire for 16 ohm impedance, of which the OEM was rated for as well. Versus the Polk which could only manage 8 ohms with it's dual 4 ohm coils. For about thirty bucks or so it's so far met and exceeded my expectations. It's not quite as musical as an HSU subwoofer for example and exhibits a one-note-wonder type of sound, but I'm willing to forgive that as it's installed in a less-then-ideal place (under the rear window in a small metal cavity completely undampened) than for what it's originally intended for (a properly made and designed subwoofer enclosure). All in all im satisfied with its performance. It gets QUITE loud even for my tastes, and thankfully the stock amplifier (of over 13 years) seems to be able to power it without breaking much of a sweat. Enough to rattle my center mirror at least. PS: while not a 100% drop in replacement for the LS 430 subwoofer, you can install this without cutting, drilling, or otherwise modifying anything to the car beyond the stock two-piece plastic frame that houses the OEM subwoofer. The difference being that the two plastic frame assemblies that are used to hold the OEM sub is configured differently. I didn't take note of how it was originally oriented, but right now both frames are above the subwoofer opening, pushing down on the Dayton subwoofer frame. This also means that the screw mounts are higher above than original. But they are still long enough to screw down the plastic frame and hold the Dayton sub in place without much issue. No gluing, no cutting or anything (i didnt have any silicone or material to do so, but i might have done so if i did just to be safe). Also basic soldering skills are required to connect fresh new wires to the OEM power connector as well as to wire the sub correctly.

I purchased this subwoofer for a factory replacement in my 2001 Suburban. It is not a direct fit for the factory subwoofer box, but I did some fabrication and made it work. Product quality is very good, sounds decent and well worth what I paid for it. Recommend to anyone

Worked perfect on my LS430 with the ML system, make sure u wire it up correctly for 16 ohm and then mount it directly to the deck with a little padding maybe and some self tapping screws, no need to reuse the casing of the original sub. Works fantastic and is very loud! So worth it

If you can get the box right and a semi-powerful amp this thing works really well. Can get deep notes and very musical. Put it in a ported enclosure. Worked it out to fit in the space not what the spec sheet said. 0.35 cu. ft. tuned to 38 hz. Spec sheet would have been nice to build to compare, but maybe some other time. I will likely purchase this again and try that.

Works perfectly in my LS430. The packaging was very poor. The subwoofer was shipped thousands of kilometers in nothing more than a standard retail box. As a result, it arrived with some damage. Fortunately, the damage was only cosmetic and did not affect its functionality, but it still ruined the overall experience of receiving the product. Keep in mind that you may not be as lucky. In your case, the damage could be much more serious. I would strongly recommend asking the seller to package the item properly, although this should really be obvious for such a heavy and fragile product.

Good fit for Lexus LS430 01-06, not exactly drop in replacement but easy enough. Remove the speaker grille, cut away the rear trim to expose the mounting bolts, undo the four bolts, disconnect the speaker connector and remove the original. Snip off the connector wires from the original speaker, extend them each about 12 inches and then crimp on spade connectors. This speaker does not fit the original mounting brackets so lay the foam disc around the perimeter of the new speaker. Connect one of the positives to one of the negatives on the new speaker to get it to the correct Ohm setting. Drill a hole approx 10mm in the rear shelf body to route your harness through. Connect up your speaker, locate it in the rear shelf frame and then bolt it in place using 3 number 8 self tapping screws (you will not be able to get access to all 5 mounting holes). That's it.

This isn't better than the stock mark Levinson sub but it works.

It was a good quality subwooker. Unfortunately the holes were a 5 point star pattern vice a 4 or 8 hole. The Tabs for the windings are not labeled (+ or -), however there's a subtle red dot from a permanent marker closer to one tab on the shared insulated board for each coil. Install instructions are non-existent.

Very good sound ideal replacement for Lexus LS430

Used them as a replacement for my aged woofers in my home theater system 3 ways. They handle the bass well and sound excellent.

Es un buen woofer. Tiene muy buen acabado y el sonido es bueno. Funciona bien hasta una gama de frecuencias de 70~80Hz, más allá de esta frecuencia rebervera y hace un ruido molesto. Se nota al conectar la segunda bobina que aumenta el rendimiento. Aunque solo conectando un bobinado, funciona muy bien. El interior del imán por su parte central es hueco, por lo que también suena por la parte trasera. Esto Se puede aprovechar para canalizar la caja donde se aloje el altavoz y obtener más rendimiento. Como inconvenientes, tiene mucho más fondo que otros altavoces de graves de 8".

Had to use a claw hammer to tap it back into shape, the driver has a low Fs and a fair amount of xmax so in a small sealed enclosure can hit pretty low, overall I'm happy but would have been happier if it wasn't damaged on arrival.

Not sure of the unit was defective or quality is bad but this stopped working after one month or so. Tested it on a different amp and it did not work at all so it went to the bin. Disappointed with my purchase.