P1000m5 Swamp Donkey Install/Review

[Robobrainiac]

I am starting this thread now and I plan to update it as time goes by. Currently I have swamp donkey, Rockford prime sub, and Rockville marine amp to install. I was able to test the swamp donkey yesterday and I was very impressed by it. It exceeded my expectations for sound depth and has a very good volume with low distortion. Today I attempted to remove the radio from the case and was a little irritated with it. I need to run some remote wire and RCA plugs for the subwoofer setup. They give you the tools to remove the radio however I did not realize they tape the thing together on the inside. At first I thought it was stuck, it felt as if the interior pins of the bezel were dragging the radio so I pried pretty hard with the tools until it buggered the thing up and made me mad. So I took the screws out of the cover and removed the radio and found the stupid thing was taped into its bezel. I was upset enough I had to take a breather before messing with it again. It was nice to see the inside of the swamp donkey case filled with polyfill. I was a little put off that so much polyfill existed that it was surrounding the radio in such a fashion I did not like the thought of heat not being able to escape the rear of the radio. Maybe I am being skeptical. But I pushed all the polyfill to the sides away from the radio. Lastly I noticed the "bars" used to lock the bezel into the case were very crudely assembled. The wire crimps were done nicely. A nice rubber sticky cover was used to secure the internal wire harness. The dome lights seem nice. The radio cover is a nice addition as well. That is my rant for now. I will update as the install goes along.

 

[CMB]

I am starting this thread now and I plan to update it as time goes by. Currently I have swamp donkey, Rockford prime sub, and Rockville marine amp to install. I was able to test the swamp donkey yesterday and I was very impressed by it. It exceeded my expectations for sound depth and has a very good volume with low distortion. Today I attempted to remove the radio from the case and was a little irritated with it. I need to run some remote wire and RCA plugs for the subwoofer setup. They give you the tools to remove the radio however I did not realize they tape the thing together on the inside. At first I thought it was stuck, it felt as if the interior pins of the bezel were dragging the radio so I pried pretty hard with the tools until it buggered the thing up and made me mad. So I took the screws out of the cover and removed the radio and found the stupid thing was taped into its bezel. I was upset enough I had to take a breather before messing with it again. It was nice to see the inside of the swamp donkey case filled with polyfill. I was a little put off that so much polyfill existed that it was surrounding the radio in such a fashion I did not like the thought of heat not being able to escape the rear of the radio. Maybe I am being skeptical. But I pushed all the polyfill to the sides away from the radio. Lastly I noticed the "bars" used to lock the bezel into the case were very crudely assembled. The wire crimps were done nicely. A nice rubber sticky cover was used to secure the internal wire harness. The dome lights seem nice. The radio cover is a nice addition as well. That is my rant for now. I will update as the install goes along.

View attachment 299840 View attachment 299841 View attachment 299842 View attachment 299843 View attachment 299844 View attachment 299845

I have the same system. I put a Sirius/XM receiver on mine and small amp.

 

[Robobrainiac]

To add another complaint; I took the roof off for my installation and realized you can't re-install the roof after the swamp donkey is up there. I did not see anywhere in the instructions about this and that was kind of frustrating.

I also purchased an additional insulated clamp. I was given 4 in the packaging. 2 slightly smaller than the other 2. I was under the impression that the smaller ones went to the front and the larger ones were at the sides. For some reason I could not get all the clamps to reach. The unit was so tight against the roof clamps. So I have larger insulated clamps towards the front and everything seems to be fitting now.

Last gripe, the power wire on the left is directly smashed into the roof clamp. There is little clearance here and seems it could have been manufactured differently to clear that spot.

I am getting in some real listening time here and then I can make my final review.

These are the longer clamps I used towards the front to make the swamp donkey reach properly for me:

https://amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07Y2ZRZ4D?tag=sxsweb24-20

2" insulated clamps

 

[Robobrainiac]

Alright here is my final review. At the end of the day I really like the swamp donkey, although it has some shortcomings that I will address.

During our search for sound my wife and I visited some local audio businesses and listened to some different options. I am not sure if listening to the products in store changes their sound output because we were not able to hear the swamp donkey to compare prior to purchase. We were able to listen to some wet sounds, JBL, and kicker tower pods. The JBL and wet sounds were 8" pods. Both were very loud and had tremendous projection. The kickers were 6" pods and had decent volume and projection. We decided pods were too large for what we wanted and would consume too much headspace.

We then were able to test a wet sounds bar. It was an Ultra 10. Very good sound and good projection. It did not have alot of depth. Overall it was really nice. Price was steep for something that seemed to be universal however and would require some mounting hurdles for our build.

Next we were able to listen to a Powerbass XL-1000. It was nice. The wet sounds may have had just a tad better sound qualtiy and volume however there is not much depth to a sound bar. The price seemed alot more reasonable and there is a larger XL-1200 system that we did not get to hear.

After doing some research online we decided to give the swamp donkey a try. It was a direct fit, price is reasonable when compared to name brand bar systems, and with a standard radio we had options for outputs and intputs.

Initial thoughts on the swamp donkey: The build was decent, the fitment was tight, and the sound was good. I would compare the products using my opinionated ear that may be different than others, that we were able to test as follows.

Sound Quality:
Wet Sounds 9
PowerBass 8
Swamp Donkey 10

Volume:
Wet Sounds 10
PowerBass 9
Swamp Donkey 8

Bass:
Wet Sounds 9
PowerBass 8
Swamp Donkey 10

My gripes are as follows:
I feel the foam used internally as previously stated in a post above should not be against the rear of the radio.
The instructions should have a caution stating that removal of the radio USING THE TOOLS GIVEN IN THE PACKAGE cannot be done.
The bluetooth SUCKS. I have a Oneplus 9 PRO, my wife had a Galaxy S10+, my wife then upgraded to a S21 Ultra, and my sister in-law has a galaxy S20. ALL of these phones seem to struggle to connect to the radio. The initial setup takes a few refreshes and retries to get it to make connection. After using the radio, the next time I want to use it again I often have to remove the radio from my Bluetooth list and start with a new connection. The range is terrible. With any of the previously mentioned phones if you step outside of the pioneer past 10 ft you are disconnected.
Lastly, the wire that comes out of the unit directly impacts the bracket on my SuperATV flip up windshield. It litterally smashes the wires up against it. I had to purchase longer insulated clamps to hang the swamp donkey.

To finalize our listening setup we added some 4" kicker pods to the rear of the ROPS and tapped them into the swamp donkey speakers. No additional wattage was supplied in using these and they seem to work really well together. We added a Rockville amp under the hood and a Rockford Fosgate slim subwoofer overhead. Our price came in a little under $1100 with wiring and paint. For the investment made I dont think you can do better without a full DIY setup.

 

[Robobrainiac]

This is the SuperATV flip up windshield bracket that the swamp donkey power wire hits.
It is the black coated non wrapped wire. The farthest to the right in both pictures of the 3 wire sets.

 

[trigger]

we added some 4" kicker pods to the rear of the ROPS and tapped them into the swamp donkey speakers.

Don't know exactly how you tapped them in (series/parallel) but depending on the ohm rating of the speakers, wiring them in parallel could put too much load on the amp and possibly cook it that way.

 

[Robobrainiac]

Don't know exactly how you tapped them in (series/parallel) but depending on the ohm rating of the speakers, wiring them in parallel could put too much load on the amp and possibly cook it that way.

My speakers are wired in parallel. I am not too worried about it. Others should wire them in series if they are concerned about the load created on the head unit.

EDIT: I am almost 2 years in with hours of radio time. The machine is typically parked near the garden or chickens while my wife listens to the radio cranked to at least 3/4 max volume. The radio is used every trail ride we attend. The pods are working perfectly.

 

[Michiganboy]

To add another complaint; I took the roof off for my installation and realized you can't re-install the roof after the swamp donkey is up there. I did not see anywhere in the instructions about this and that was kind of frustrating.

I also purchased an additional insulated clamp. I was given 4 in the packaging. 2 slightly smaller than the other 2. I was under the impression that the smaller ones went to the front and the larger ones were at the sides. For some reason I could not get all the clamps to reach. The unit was so tight against the roof clamps. So I have a larger insulated clamp on the right front and everything seems to be fitting now.

Last gripe, the power wire on the left is directly smashed into the roof clamp. There is little clearance here and seems it could have been manufactured differently to clear that spot.

I am getting in some real listening time here and then I can make my final review.

I just moved the corner roof clip on each side back about 12”. No movement towing at 70mph Factory hard top Is still solid.

 

[Michiganboy]

Alright here is my final review. At the end of the day I really like the swamp donkey, although it has some shortcomings that I will address.

During our search for sound my wife and I visited some local audio businesses and listened to some different options. I am not sure if listening to the products in store changes their sound output because we were not able to hear the swamp donkey to compare prior to purchase. We were able to listen to some wet sounds, JBL, and kicker tower pods. The JBL and wet sounds were 8" pods. Both were very loud and had tremendous projection. The kickers were 6" pods and had decent volume and projection. We decided pods were too large for what we wanted and would consume too much headspace.

We then were able to test a wet sounds bar. It was an Ultra 10. Very good sound and good projection. It did not have alot of depth. Overall it was really nice. Price was steep for something that seemed to be universal however and would require some mounting hurdles for our build.

Next we were able to listen to a Powerbass XL-1000. It was nice. The wet sounds may have had just a tad better sound qualtiy and volume however there is not much depth to a sound bar. The price seemed alot more reasonable and there is a larger XL-1200 system that we did not get to hear.

After doing some research online we decided to give the swamp donkey a try. It was a direct fit, price is reasonable when compared to name brand bar systems, and with a standard radio we had options for outputs and intputs.

Initial thoughts on the swamp donkey: The build was decent, the fitment was tight, and the sound was good. I would compare the products using my opinionated ear that may be different than others, that we were able to test as follows.

Sound Quality:
Wet Sounds 9
PowerBass 8
Swamp Donkey 10

Volume:
Wet Sounds 10
PowerBass 9
Swamp Donkey 8

Bass:
Wet Sounds 9
PowerBass 8
Swamp Donkey 10

My gripes are as follows:
I feel the foam used internally as previously stated in a post above should not be against the rear of the radio.
The instructions should have a caution stating that removal of the radio USING THE TOOLS GIVEN IN THE PACKAGE cannot be done.
The bluetooth SUCKS. I have a Oneplus 9 PRO, my wife had a Galaxy S10+, my wife then upgraded to a S21 Ultra, and my sister in-law has a galaxy S20. ALL of these phones seem to struggle to connect to the radio. The initial setup takes a few refreshes and retries to get it to make connection. Once setup they seem to connect immediately. The range is terrible. With any of the previously mentioned phones if you step outside of the pioneer past 10 ft you are disconnected.
Lastly, the wire that comes out of the unit directly impacts the bracket on my SuperATV flip up windshield. It litterally smashes the wires up against it. I had to purchase longer insulated clamps to hang the swamp donkey.

To finalize our listening setup we added some 4" kicker pods to the rear of the ROPS and tapped them into the swamp donkey speakers. No additional wattage was supplied in using these and they seem to work really well together. We added a Rockville amp under the hood and a Rockford Fosgate slim subwoofer overhead. Our price came in a little under $1100 with wiring and paint. For the investment made I dont think you can do better without a full DIY setup.

iPhone 11 hooks up great.

 

[Chunks21pioneer]

Can you post pic of the sun and 4” speakers? Thanks

 

[Robobrainiac]

Can you post pic of the sun and 4” speakers? Thanks

Post 61 and 62 in my build thread

P1000m5 - The Robo Build

The Sound: 11/10/21 I finally got around to posting about my sound system. I installed a Swamp Donkey overhead stereo. In additon I installed a Rockville Marine Amp, Rockford Fosgate Sub, and Kicker PODS as well. The rear Kicker speakers are ran to the headunit and connected in parrallel to the...

hondasxs.com

 

[Robobrainiac]

As a followup everything is still working great. Everyone who gets to hear this system really enjoys it. My dual battery setup is lasting hours for my wife to listen to in the garden. The initial Bluetooth connection still sucks. If you select it from your Bluetooth list it will not connect the first try. My original phone was a oneplus 6t and my current is oneplus 9 pro. I have found some buttons to press in a certain order to make it connect. My wife has the S21 ultra and removes the device from her Bluetooth list and makes a new connection each time she uses it.

 

[Remington]

If you select it from your Bluetooth list it will not connect the first try.

Yup! Mine is the same way! Sucks Chef‘s salty balls!

 

[Wellzy]

I'm happy with the bluetooth connections with an iPhone 6S (oldskool). Once I initially had paired them, now when I switch the unit source to BT AUDIO it waits about a minute, then the phone and Donkey find each other and automatically connect. The BT AUDIO is my SiriusXM go to for daily use. Once I loose the phone signal in a valley I switch to USB with my mini flash drive loaded with my own music. TUNER is almost never used as the lack of the external antenna can only get me very local stations in my rural area.

I can hear a little buzz in one of the passenger side Kickers, that is annoying but I turn the mega bass to 0 and seems to keep it away.

 

[Robobrainiac]

When I first got the radio I really considered contacting swamp donkey for an exchange and I just never did it. Multiple family members of mine with brands from iPhone, Samsung, LG, and oneplus all have the same problem. The initial connection takes a few attempts with "error" or "failed" connections until it just decides on its own its ready. Once connected it never drops, or disconnects. Unless you move more than 10ft from the outside of the machine. After the initial setup process when it's time to reconnect after a power cycle it either takes absolutely forever, or the phones act like they time out and you have to click the device again from your Bluetooth list. After a few attempts it connects when it wants to.

The best solution so far is to remove it from my Bluetooth list and make a new connection everytime I want to use the radio. That seems to be the quickest way to establish a connection. I have messed with settings multiple times and toggled many things on and off. The auto connect is active on the radio, as well as the phone. I have multiple vehicles with multiple Bluetooth radios that have never acted this way to me.



With my phone I activate a "call" on the radio and get a " no device" message on the radio display and that is when I select the radio from my phone Bluetooth device list and it usually connects the first try.

I have read thru the instructions to make sure I have done everything needed for a connection. I have Bluetooth aftermarket radios in both of my trucks. My wife has 3 company cars with different Bluetooth FM transmitters, and 2 company cars with OE Bluetooth radio. My phone and my wife's phone connect to these vehicles perfectly the first time. Some of the vehicles auto connect as soon as the car is started. The other vehicles you simply select the device from your phone Bluetooth list. I feel as tho with all my resources it is not user or phone error.

 

[DawgU]

Alright here is my final review. At the end of the day I really like the swamp donkey, although it has some shortcomings that I will address.

During our search for sound my wife and I visited some local audio businesses and listened to some different options. I am not sure if listening to the products in store changes their sound output because we were not able to hear the swamp donkey to compare prior to purchase. We were able to listen to some wet sounds, JBL, and kicker tower pods. The JBL and wet sounds were 8" pods. Both were very loud and had tremendous projection. The kickers were 6" pods and had decent volume and projection. We decided pods were too large for what we wanted and would consume too much headspace.

We then were able to test a wet sounds bar. It was an Ultra 10. Very good sound and good projection. It did not have alot of depth. Overall it was really nice. Price was steep for something that seemed to be universal however and would require some mounting hurdles for our build.

Next we were able to listen to a Powerbass XL-1000. It was nice. The wet sounds may have had just a tad better sound qualtiy and volume however there is not much depth to a sound bar. The price seemed alot more reasonable and there is a larger XL-1200 system that we did not get to hear.

After doing some research online we decided to give the swamp donkey a try. It was a direct fit, price is reasonable when compared to name brand bar systems, and with a standard radio we had options for outputs and intputs.

Initial thoughts on the swamp donkey: The build was decent, the fitment was tight, and the sound was good. I would compare the products using my opinionated ear that may be different than others, that we were able to test as follows.

Sound Quality:
Wet Sounds 9
PowerBass 8
Swamp Donkey 10

Volume:
Wet Sounds 10
PowerBass 9
Swamp Donkey 8

Bass:
Wet Sounds 9
PowerBass 8
Swamp Donkey 10

My gripes are as follows:
I feel the foam used internally as previously stated in a post above should not be against the rear of the radio.
The instructions should have a caution stating that removal of the radio USING THE TOOLS GIVEN IN THE PACKAGE cannot be done.
The bluetooth SUCKS. I have a Oneplus 9 PRO, my wife had a Galaxy S10+, my wife then upgraded to a S21 Ultra, and my sister in-law has a galaxy S20. ALL of these phones seem to struggle to connect to the radio. The initial setup takes a few refreshes and retries to get it to make connection. Once setup they seem to connect immediately. The range is terrible. With any of the previously mentioned phones if you step outside of the pioneer past 10 ft you are disconnected.
Lastly, the wire that comes out of the unit directly impacts the bracket on my SuperATV flip up windshield. It litterally smashes the wires up against it. I had to purchase longer insulated clamps to hang the swamp donkey.

To finalize our listening setup we added some 4" kicker pods to the rear of the ROPS and tapped them into the swamp donkey speakers. No additional wattage was supplied in using these and they seem to work really well together. We added a Rockville amp under the hood and a Rockford Fosgate slim subwoofer overhead. Our price came in a little under $1100 with wiring and paint. For the investment made I dont think you can do better without a full DIY setup.

Can you provide links to the sub, amp, and pods?

 

[Robobrainiac]

Can you provide links to the sub, amp, and pods?

Post #61 & #62 is my sound system.

P1000m5 - The Robo Build

The Sound: 11/10/21 I finally got around to posting about my sound system. I installed a Swamp Donkey overhead stereo. In additon I installed a Rockville Marine Amp, Rockford Fosgate Sub, and Kicker PODS as well. The rear Kicker speakers are ran to the headunit and connected in parrallel to the...

hondasxs.com

Feel free to ask any questions anytime.

 

[DawgU]

Post #61 & #62 is my sound system.

P1000m5 - The Robo Build

The Sound: 11/10/21 I finally got around to posting about my sound system. I installed a Swamp Donkey overhead stereo. In additon I installed a Rockville Marine Amp, Rockford Fosgate Sub, and Kicker PODS as well. The rear Kicker speakers are ran to the headunit and connected in parrallel to the...

hondasxs.com

Feel free to ask any questions anytime.

Thank you! Was your initial review of the Swamp Donkey alone, or was the review with the pods and the sub?

 

[Robobrainiac]

Thank you! Was your initial review of the Swamp Donkey alone, or was the review with the pods and the sub?

The review was with subwoofer and pods. I cannot hear the pods from the rear because of the distance from the driver seat. I did those specifically to target any passengers in the rear. The subwoofer I can toggle on and off with a switch. Sometimes I use it and sometimes I don't.

 

[DawgU]

The review was with subwoofer and pods. I cannot hear the pods from the rear because of the distance from the driver seat. I did those specifically to target any passengers in the rear. The subwoofer I can toggle on and off with a switch. Sometimes I use it and sometimes I don't.

thanks!!!