"Box system" upgrade

[Z06killinsbf]

I have one of those cheap 5.1 box systems, Phillips HTS3410D to be exact. I changed out the center channel and front satelites because they were damaged with some older Kenwood bookshelf speakers and center. Needless to say it sounds MUCH better (how good can a $150 surround sound be right?) but now the sub is being washed out (6" passive), even though the speakers are all rated close to the same.

Here's my question, the current sub is powered by a 130w amp in the receiver and the sub is rated at 3ohms. Can I: 1) build a box for a car style sub and hook it up or 2) get a powered home style sub and have the amp basically controls be like a high level in? Or will that cause issues?

Eventually I want to upgrade the receiver/amp to a more modern unit so a powered sub would be needed but I could always change it out later. Ideas?

[BP]

The simple answer is yes, you can run a car audio type sub. However those HTIB systems use some pretty heavy equalization to keep their components from catching on fire. If you can find or borrow something small and relatively efficient hook it up and try, if it sounds good to you and doesn't start smoking great.

The problem is that the circuitry is designed to work with that specific enclosure and driver, which is designed to work with those other speakers. The crossovers and any equalization are going to be completely off when you start changing components and since it's all proprietary you can't adjust anything other than maybe some gains.

Before doing so I'd recommend trying to work on improving what you have. If it's ported try moving the port to within 3" of a wall or into a corner. You can double the output in some cases by corner loading a subwoofer. If it downfires on to carpet try moving it to a hard floor.