When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Anyone recommend a certain type of headunit, or will any aftermarket unit work well with this conversion. Also, any recommendation on the best harness/dash frame to purchase?
Looking to replace my headunit on my 03 tl-s w/navi.
i have a 99 tl and i have the pioneer deh150 stereo and connected stereo harness to the metra 70 1721. So in order for me to turn on the amp and the factory sub, what wirings do i need to do?? Any visuals will be apprieciated
I did this last night and it worked perfect! Lucky that the previous owner kept all the harness and rca's still hooked up in the car. We just spliced into the factory amp wires and spliced the rca wire and connected them both and the factory sub came right on! Thanks for this thread!!
Originally Posted by StreetEffectz
I've gotten a lot of requests asking how you do this since the wire harness and aftermarket headunit lose the control over the factory sub. The solution is quite simple actually.
If you pop out the back seat to gain access to the factory sub amp, you'll see a connector going into the amp and 2 of the wires will be as follows:
blue with a green trace (+)
-and-
orange with a blue trace (-)
All you need to do is run an RCA cable from your aftermarket headunits subwoofer output and connect it to the above two wires accordingly. For those who don't quite understand, you basically cut the end off the RCA cable that you've just run to the factory subwoofer amp and the center leg of this cable will connect to the blue/green wire and the shield to the orange/blue wire.
You could do this right behind the headunit at the EQ unit, but, there are a couple blue/green and a couple orange/blue and I didn't want to confuse anyone
Nice thing about this is with an aftermarket headunit w/subwoofer out, you'll now have seperate volume control over the factory sub.
I have the radio out and there is no green plug any where in the dash.
Is there different plugs for eq no eq?
Car has NO eq.
Please ignore my idiotic post. I ASSUMED the EQ was on on the factory radio, not a box behind it (NOT my car, it's my nephew's and today was the first time I looked at it) Found the green plug and everything is working. Sub not as loud as I wanted even after numerous adjustments to the settings. We'll see how he likes it, if not enough bass we'll add an amp and aftermarket sub for his Bday.
THANKS.
Lots of good information in these articles, but too much information so it gets a little confusing. So let me try to simplify.
All you need to do is to connect THREE WIRES from your aftermarket head unit directly to the stock Bose Subwoofer/Amp (bypassing the stock Bose Equalizer).
1. Two lines connect the line level sound outputs from the RCA connectors on your aftermarket head unit (positive and negative leads).
-- Sotter paper clips to the wires that are connected to a male RCA connector. See Post 193 of this thread for illustration. You may want to used some heat-shrink insulation to insulate the wires instead of electrical tape because it can get messy.
--Disconnect the green connector from the stock equalizer and connect the sottered paper clips to the appropriate cavity. The positive lead goes into Cavity 3 (male part of the RCA connector); and the negative lead goes into Cavity 10. These two wires are connected to the subwoofer's amplifier inputs. See post 45 (first picture).
(Cavity 3 is the Blue/Green striped wire circled on the right; Cavity 10 is the Orange/Blue striped wire.)
You do not need a low pass filter since a crossover is built into the subwoofer.
2. The third line is the power lead. Connect the external power lead (positive) from head unit. This is most commonly a Blue wire or a Blue/White wire. This lead provides power to another device such as a power antenna or an amp.
See post 45 (second picture). The wires that have not been connected in the picture are the ones you need to connect together.
3. (Optional: Test Subwoofer) - Connect another sound source to the RCA Cable that is connected to the green harness such as an MP3 player. Turn on the new headunit with the sound down to power the subwoofer on. If you hear sound from the subwoofer, it works.
----------
The perfectionist and stubbornness in me forces me to make use of something that is already there so I spent a lot of time trying to figure this out (too much confusing information). For what it's worth, it wasn't worth the time and effort I spent. I don't hear much difference with the subwoofer.
which cable is the "remote" wire that i need to connect to the antenna on the metra harness? I know one says remote control on it but i want to be sure.
Dang, there's so many conflicting options in here, not sure what to follow. Can the mods clean this up at all or is there a completed and final DIY out there? If not, I think I'll get it figured out and make a DIY myself.
Hey Kris9884 i am having the same issue and its bugging me lol. i have the harness connected properly, just spliced the rca cables and attached paper clips to the end. i am going through the equalizer behind the dash. head unit is pioneer avh-1400dvd. from previous posts i got a little lost. not sure if orange to orange and blue to blue is the correct connection.
This was very easy and took about an hour from start to finish. I took a couple pictures along the way to help others see exactly what to do. Grab a "RCA to spade tongue" at Radio Shack or Amazon, I got a 12 feet long cord and was the perfect length. It was $3 and will be the only thing you'll have to buy.
Take the back seat out and set them aside, there's a couple 10mm screws between the upper and lower pads right where the seatbelt buckles are.
Locate the factory Bose amp behind the seat and remove the two 10mm screws to gain better access.
Notice the black wires with the open ends? That's the cable from Radio Shack. The RCA end is plugged into the back of my head unit to the "R/SW" or subwoofer out signal, pictured below. Your head unit may be labeled something different so just check your manual.
Now, back at the AMP, splice the black wires to the blue/green and orange/blue. It doesn't matter which combination of colors are connected, they both ohm out the same and sound exactly the same, I tested both combinations with a volt meter. I didn't get a picture of the solder and shrink wrap but just took this picture to be clear and obvious of how to do it. Do it right for the best sound. If you use electrical tape and have a ground loop sound or your car burns to the ground, that's your own fault.
This is where you test your work, as long as the sub is bumping, you're all done. Bolt the AMP back to that metal frame with the two 10mm screws and tuck the wires away. Install the seats the same way you took them out and enjoy!
@ Kris9884: I have been researching this topic for quite some time and your solution appeared to be straight forward and the easiest. It worked perfect! Thank you so much!!
Ok first of all I’m sorry to bring up an old thread. But I do need some help. I just got a 03 TL type S Aspec it’s all stock. First thing I went to do was put in a double din deck. When I did I found out the stock sub wasn’t kicking on. So I came here and read all the info but it got me super confused. I’m not an idiot I work on Honda’s a lot I did a lot of tucking wires and such in my RHD delsol. but this isn’t making to mich since to me since I’m new to wiring stereos and subs. So I hooked up the deck, I hooked up the powered antenna to the blue and white wire, I took the two wires in the picture and hooked up rca cables to them but I’m super lost is there anyone that can explain this to me. Is there only one rca male that plugs into the back of the HU if so what happens to the other RCA cable? Does anyone happen to have a step by step picture or could take a picture of there setup please? I have the wiring diagrams and looked through imthis thread but it’s confusing as hell
Ok first of all I’m sorry to bring up an old thread. But I do need some help. I just got a 03 TL type S Aspec it’s all stock. First thing I went to do was put in a double din deck. When I did I found out the stock sub wasn’t kicking on. So I came here and read all the info but it got me super confused. I’m not an idiot I work on Honda’s a lot I did a lot of tucking wires and such in my RHD delsol. but this isn’t making to mich since to me since I’m new to wiring stereos and subs. So I hooked up the deck, I hooked up the powered antenna to the blue and white wire, I took the two wires in the picture and hooked up rca cables to them but I’m super lost is there anyone that can explain this to me. Is there only one rca male that plugs into the back of the HU if so what happens to the other RCA cable? Does anyone happen to have a step by step picture or could take a picture of there setup please? I have the wiring diagrams and looked through imthis thread but it’s confusing as hell
It sure looks that way from the pic posted. The subwoofer low level signal is a mono signal (not stereo) so it may not need the other plug depending on your radio but if it does just buy a Y-splitter so you can have correct amount of plugs for allocated spots in the back of the HU. Test it and see if it works bro.
It sure looks that way from the pic posted. The subwoofer low level signal is a mono signal (not stereo) so it may not need the other plug depending on your radio but if it does just buy a Y-splitter so you can have correct amount of plugs for allocated spots in the back of the HU. Test it and see if it works bro.
It probably takes in the signal from both left and right channels, either of which may have some (and possibly not the same) bass component depending on the music selected?
After many years of listening to really heavy bass (through my separately wired amp & sub combo) I decided to go back to the sound of the stock sub with my latest head unit install. the post helped tremendously, thank you to those who helped with pictures of the green connector that goes into the EQ. That coupled with some handy T-Tap connectors and the wiring diagram in the manual made the job very.
This is the correct answer! That orange wire off the EQ harness was the difference for me. I too had the problem of having it all wired right but no sound out of the sub. I back tracked to this post after hours of thinking and I started looking at the wiring diagrams again then it hit me... The sub amp was getting POWER thru the Metra and stock harness, but no trigger signal. And I had already cut the EQ harness connector off. Had the right sub amp wires from that harness done already (gold plated butt-connectors and 33+ taped tight) and heard the clicks when I cycled between functions on the new head unit which is a Pioneer AVH-1500 NEX 2019 model (so far it is fantastic). Once I added that orange power switched wire off that same harness to the connection (it is a parallel power feed at that point) the sub came to life! Aftersome fine tuning I cannot believe my ears with the stock speakers AND the sub system!!! Would NOT have figured this out without your post I am replying to and the wiring diagram someone (forget who) on page 6 of this thread. Notice where it says orange switched power wire on that diagram? That is the wire mentioned here. And hook to these wires and you don't have to keep it plugged into the old EQ, although I didn't remove it because it physically holds the two brackets together and aligned proper and IMO retains structural strength under the dashboard.
Also I am having a small ground loop noise issue but will ground more including the grey wires off the old EQ harness. At the very WORST I may have to pull the seat but I doubt it.
This is the correct answer! That orange wire off the EQ harness was the difference for me. I too had the problem of having it all wired right but no sound out of the sub. I back tracked to this post after hours of thinking and I started looking at the wiring diagrams again then it hit me... The sub amp was getting POWER thru the Metra and stock harness, but no trigger signal. And I had already cut the EQ harness connector off. Had the right sub amp wires from that harness done already (gold plated butt-connectors and 33+ taped tight) and heard the clicks when I cycled between functions on the new head unit which is a Pioneer AVH-1500 NEX 2019 model (so far it is fantastic). Once I added that orange power switched wire off that same harness to the connection (it is a parallel power feed at that point) the sub came to life! Aftersome fine tuning I cannot believe my ears with the stock speakers AND the sub system!!! Would NOT have figured this out without your post I am replying to and the wiring diagram someone (forget who) on page 6 of this thread. Notice where it says orange switched power wire on that diagram? That is the wire mentioned here. And hook to these wires and you don't have to keep it plugged into the old EQ, although I didn't remove it because it physically holds the two brackets together and aligned proper and IMO retains structural strength under the dashboard.
Also I am having a small ground loop noise issue but will ground more including the grey wires off the old EQ harness. At the very WORST I may have to pull the seat but I doubt it.
EXCELLENT THREAD!!!!
It was thenickksterr that had the one diagram I needed to confirm! Thank you to that poster!!!
Ok. I just did this process today. Unfortunately this thread is very long and sometimes gives conflicting information. After a lot of trial and error I finally got this to work properly. The RCA connection is straight forward. Just connect two RCA cables together, shielded and non shielded, from both Left and Right sub outputs and run them to the amp harness behind the rear seat. Connect the combined shielded and shielded to the orange/blue (pin 10) wire and the blue/green (pin 3) in the vehicle side of the harness which connects to the amp. Run a wire (I used a 20 gauge wire I had left over from a previous amp install) from what would typically be a blue/white wire in the radio harness to the BLUE wire (pin 2) in the amp harness. A lot of prior posts said connect to the orange wire, of which there are two in the amp harness but the schematics for the harness clearly states the blue wire is the amp turn on. After I did that, everything worked fine.
04-07-2015, 03:09 PM
