I posted in the audio section but I am hoping to get more input from the 2nd Gen TL crew. I think the problem might be 2nd Gen related. I have installed a Alpine HU running the stock speakers and it sounds pretty. Everything works as expected. This weekend I decided to install a 10" sub and amp. The amp powers up but the output from the sub is barely noticable. One thing I notice is on my Alpine HU at volume 6 it gets pretty loud already. My question is are the stock speakers amped in any way? Maybe at volume level 6 it is not enough to make the sub move? I am hoping 2nd gen guys that has installed aftermarket HU, Amp, Sub can chime in.

 

The stock speakers do have an "amp" its just 100w in total. Now to get your set up corrected here what you need to do.

-Completely BYPASS the factory amp and wire the speakers to run up the Alpine HU internal Amp.

-Now run your sub's amp via RCA from the HU to the Amp.

On the Alpine amp, dont turn on Boost or powerful EQ or anything of that crap, the stocks cant handle that much power try to tone down the speakers as much as possible.

Set your HPF (highpass filter) on the HU, to 80hz or 125hz.
At 80 you still have slight bass coming from the speakers which give you a more 'fuller" sound. But at max volume you risk blowing your speakers.
Set it to 125 if you wanna be safe No bass will come out of the speakers only the sub will provide bass, so you can turn at up at max without blowing the speakers.

 

Thanks MOBB for the reply. I had a feeling the speakers were amped because my Alpine HU at volume 5-6 was loud to me. What a PITA. Acura/Bose does not make anything easy. Any suggestions on bypassing the amp? Do I have to completely remove the door panels to get to each set of speaker wires?

 

No, I just used a 2006+ HONDA UNIVERSAL Metra wiring harness. I hope someone can chime in more into detail how to bypass the amp. I just got mine by fluke. When I was using the 99-03TL Metra harness I had no sound just subs. I had a 06+ Universal honda harness and tried it out and it sounds great.

My Pioneer AVHP-5700 puts out double the volume the stock HU did, along with mainitng clarity like the stock deck!!

 

I am not sure what wiring harness was used to install the radio. A local audio shop did the install on the radio. All I know is the harness is light blue in color. Can anyone help on how to bypass the amp?

 

With a aftermarket Headunit The stock speakers are NOT being amplified any more by the factory system. The factory amp for the speakers is in the OEM Headunit!

 

When you install an aftermarket HU, All speakers are no longer amped and are running off the HU's power now.


I have an Alpine HU as well iDA-x305, you sure you don't have it set on "loudness" or something similar to it? Mines use to do the samthing but it was on the loudness setting. Or is the sub turned on? (Sub On or Off somewhere in the HU's menus)

I have everything on default right now and i have my HPF at 125hz with my sub doing all the work for the bass. My amp is set at half way, and im using the "sub volume" on the HU to boost it up so it sounds good.

Your sub is on, but not noticeable. First, is the amp strong enough to power the sub? If it is, try playing around with the gains on the amp until the sub becomes more noticeable to you

 

thanks. i turned my loudness off. Sub is set to on. HPF set at 120hz. It helped with the voume on my HU so I am able to turn the volume up to 10. My gain is at 50%. Tried to use the sub boost on the HU but it made no difference. you can barely hear the sub. The amp is on and the sub is hardly moving though. It seems like the sub isnt getting enough watts. The sub needs 500w rms and it is a DVC 4 ohm so i wired it at 2ohm. My amp is running 750w rms at 2 ohm. Any way to test how much actual watts is going to the sub?

 

Sounds like something isnt hooked up properly. Who did the install? Where did you get the power from for the Amp? Where did you ground it? Are you sure you are using the correct RCAs from the HU?

 

The HU was installed at a local shop. I am doing the install on the amp/sub. The power for the amp is a 4g wire ran through the firewall to the battery. The ground is in the trunk where the hook is. I am getting 14.5v. The HU has 3 sets of RCA. Front, Rear, and Sub. I am pretty sure my RCA is hooked to the SUB. Any ideas? Please?

 

Does the HU have a subwoofer volume control? If so, mess with that; if you see no difference in volume, RCAs are probably connected to the wrong jacks.

Burn a CD with a 50hz sine wave at 0dBFS and go to town with the multi-meter.

 

Make sure its hooked up to the sub rcas. And like above, does the HU have a sub volume control (most do) maybe adjust that.

 

WOW I was going crazy looking for the factory amp... Tore up my back seat, floor and trunk looking for that thing. Go figure I couldn't find it!

 

Alright guys. I give up. I checked the RCA cable and it is hooked up properly to the HU subwoofer RCA. Turned on the HU and get very low subwoofer movement. I adjust the HU sub control to 15+ (max) and it gets slight better but still very low. It is as if no sub existed. So disappointing. I am going to take my car to an audio shop to see if they can help. My amp is brand new 1500.1w RMS at 1 ohm. So I know my amp is capable. As for the subs, they are 8 years old. I used it for two years and then it sat in my garage for 6 years. It was working the last time I used it. I have always fed it clean power. Do you think my sub is bad? This is the only thing I can think of....

 

1. Are you sure your subs are wired correctly for 2ohm. Measure the resistance and if you get at least 1.3ish ohm, it's ok.

2. If you have more than one sub, with each wired to the amp individually, are they both in phase?

3. Have you set the gains on the amp correctly?

4. Is your box sealed or ported? Are there any leaks?

5. Does your music actually have any sub-bass?

Like I said, a multi-meter will definitely help. Set it to AC voltage and throw it on the RCAs directly on the HU (establish the HU is sending stuff), connect the amp's RCA's to the HU's RCAs and establish the signal is reaching the amp (sub disconnected), and then on the output speaker terminals of the amp to establish the amp is putting out amped up voltage. Some sine wave test tones recorded on a CD will help you out. Grab some sub-bass tones (under 50Hz), mid-bass (up to 100Hz), and some midrange (500Hz). See who likes what. If your sub is playing that 500Hz tone at the same level as the sub-bass tone, your filters are incorrect / wrong signals are sent to sub. But of course don't blast 500Hz in your sub for extended periods of time at high volume.