ok i am only going to explain how to hook up the amp to the audio system and what settings the amp must be on.
I figure most who are attempting to do this know how to wire the subs to the amp and the power wires to the car.

ALSO I AM Not sure if this will work for all amplifiers. I have an 2 channel Eclipse amp with one set of inputs. The amp has a switch that allows you to choose between stereo and mono. Logic tells me that for this to work your amp needs to have the switch.

Also my system has two subwoofers so i have not tested it with one sub.

I may be wrong.
It is not a time consuming hook up so if you do not have the switch, but have time try it and see if it works.

Note: YOU CAN NOT USE THE STOCK SUB WITH THE AFTERMARKET SUBS AND AMP IF YOU USE THIS METHOD!!!!!!!!!!!!

An RCA Wire for car audio is usually two wires connected together with red and white ends so for the sake of instructions i am going to refer to the wire with red ends as wire 1 and the white ends as wire 2.

Personally i like to peel the RCA wires apart so I have two wires anyway. I find there much easy to work with this way.

First take a RCA wire and cut the red and white plugs off one end.


Now if you look at end of wire 1(red) you will see that an the wire is actually composed of 2 wires(Its a Coax Cable)

one wire encases another rubber coated wire.
In the case of the wire1(red) you want to use only the middle insulated wire. So make sure you have enough of the middle exposed then cut away the wrapping wire.

Now Strip the middle wire.
you are done with the Wire1(red)


Now take wire2(white) and strip also. this time though you want to keep the middle wire sheathed. I put some hot glue on the end oth the middle sheathing to insure that it never contacts the other wire.

twist the outer wire so that its no longer frayed.



now your on your red cable only the pin will transmit a signal
and on the white cable only the sheathing will transmit a signal.



now for a source to the wire.


The subwoofer in the Acura Tl is located in the trunk.
The terminals on the sub are exposed in the open.


pull the each wire off the terminals. this disconnects the subwoofer.

you will have two wires one with a big clip and one with a small clip.

connect the red RCA cable to the wire with the big clip.
connect the white RCA to the wire with small clip.

next connect the plug ends of both wires to the amp.
Match the colors here.


now before you turn on the system make sure the gain on the amp is as low as it can go. In other words make sure there is no gain.

Next this is where the switch comes in. Ensure that the switch is set to mono. if its not your subs will not emit any sound.


now power up the amp and the head unit.

And your car should be bouncing.


you can control the amount of bass through the head unit by using the bass adjuster.




Thats it it will probably take most people a half hour to do maybe less.

It took me three weeks of tinkering to figure it out. So i really hope this helps atleast one other person


Good Luck.

 

hello, welcome to the forum. i would also post this in the audio video section.

 

Why didn't you just use a LOC? Easier than stripping wires, plus you can adjust attenuation on the LOC if you need to (most have level trim controls). It's cool that you posted the results of your work here in an effort to help others, but a LOC seems to me to be a slightly easier solution.

 

I didn't use a line out converter because I wanted to do it the cheapest way possible.

I used one on a buddy's system and it was great, but he had no knowedge of this stuff and it confused the hell out of him.

I figured that using existing RCA wires is as easy as it gets.

Also I had a old high quality monster cable that was damaged in about three spots. So cutting it down to about a three foot piece was practical ande kept me from feeling like I had wasted money. HAHA


Basically I wanted to post a set up where you did not have to go out and try to find sometimes hard to find or expensive parts.

I already had recieved the subs and amp for free so I wanted to keep the whole project Free.

And to be honest with this setup It is one of the best qualitity systems i've heard.

It seems the Bose systems bass crossovers are superb to others I've heard, the sub the have just suck and is not powered enough.


All in all I wanted to do it for me as easy as possible.


I know I said it took 3 weeks to figure out, but once I figured out what I had to do the set up took under 20 mins. Mostly the time was spent stripping the rca cable with a Razor Knife. I had lost my coax stripper.

 

you also open the window for distortion and unwanted noises with this method but hey if it sounds good and no problems.. what the hell. why not.

 

actually.. you connected your rca's to the high level output running to the factory sub?

I HIGHLY RECOMEND USING A LINE-OUPUT-CONVERTER! (safe and effective)- turns that high level ouput that you are using as an input, to a low level output, wich is then connected to the amp via rca's

doing this to an amp is a big NO NO, it might work but for how long is the question..


where the power wire entering the car from? the door jam?

 

Ok I appreciate the information.

Can you explain to me exactly how to set up a line out converter?

it would be very much appreciated.


I was not sure I could use a LOC because it always says to connect it to the rear speakers and I don't want to take the car apart.

If you have a way to connect to the sub.

Please Let me Know.

Thanks for the feedback.

 

Depending on the quality and materials in your amplifier, this method can be used as an alternative to add a simple system to your car. For more information please seek the forums over at www.the12volt.com - They have any, and all information for the beginning DIY'er, or shortcut tips for the advanced installer.

I did a similar method of this with my Power Acoustik amp in my old car until I got a converter box. The RCA inputs can take up to 16 volts on the amp I have - meaning 12 volts into a low level input can, and will be alright, no matter how they're wired.

This means if you have voltage stackable components (most of them are nowadays) then you should be fine. For everyone that doesn't understand, we'll take this into consideration:

If your Dash Unit has a 4 volt pre-out, and you have an Equalizer that has a set of 8 volt pre-outs, and then you have an epicenter that adds another 4 volts, you can safely say that an amplifier that can accept up to 16 volts RCA input will be alright. Take note that the length of the wire to each component can lose some of the power, so it's most acceptable to assume that: Following current from the Dash Unit you lose 1v to the Equalizer, and then to the back of the car where the Epicenter is, you can lose up to 3v. This translates in a loss of 4 volts of power, thus you have 12 volts.

Confused? Sorry, I've been doing this for about 10 years now.

 

So in other words 02Acura your saying my setup should be ok?

 

I'm using your setup right now. Stripped RCAs except I tapped at the OEM amp behind the seats rather than at the factory sub. You'd really want to have a LOC. My amp has high-level inputs, thereby eliminating the need for a LOC cuz the LOC circuitry is built into the amp. With the way the BOSE equalizer is setup, I got a weird resonance when using the RCAs directly into the low-level input - eg: a low humming/thumping from the sub even when there was no bass from the music.

 

Yankeeman, depending on what maximum voltage your RCA's can accept, anything over 12v should be ok.

However, it would be advisable to pick up a converter box (You can get a basic level one by Scosche from Walmart for 15 bucks) as that's where I got mine, though I'm not using it now - I may use it later on for something. It's a good idea to get your book/box out and check what it says in there, if there's nothing, you can contact the manufacturer. They will tell you it's best to use a converter as it cuts down on unnecessary distortion which can, and will keep you from tweaking everything optimally, but you should be alright for a little while.

I haven't messed much with the system in my 02 because it does sound pretty good, and, as far as I can tell, the stock speakers aren't that bad - although a new dash unit is in my future, as I can't stand the 6 cd changer's weak FM pick-up. That, and I'm working solely on gathering funds for the exterior first because I got used to having a car that was lowered on after market wheels.

 

Thanks A lot for the Info 02Actls it helps a lot. Believe it or not that was the LOC I was considering purchasing having used it on a friends system. I was very satisfied with it.
Thanks

 

No problem, glad I could help. Car audio is a passion of mine, and if I had more cash right now, you'd see what I could do with the TL's trunk; but alas, all my fundage is being put away for the 105k maintenance schedule and getting the car into a better running order right now.

 

Using this method, you are getting an amplified RCA signal from the sub amp. I might be wrong but I think this will mess with sound quality. If you take out your back seat, you can splice your RCAs in to the input wire that goes to the factory sub amp There is a guide in the A/V Section

 

You Have a point. The sound quality may improve if I used the inputs to the amp, but two things. One I wanted to make it as easy as possible and two my amp has know built in crossover so i am using the cars crossover this way.

 

I would have tapped into the signal before the amp. Its far safer for your amp if not using a LOC