zazen721

hey everyone... i was just cleaning out my basement and found my old bazooka tube with all the wires (i think). i searched the forums and it doesnt seem like anyone has put one in their tsx. i wouldnt mind throwing this in my trunk to just feel a little more bass. i do have an amp and a 10" sub but i dont want it in my tsx. i imagine it is possible to install this in the tsx but does anyone have any idea on how to do this? i had bestbuy (ugh) install it in my old car so i didnt do it myself the first time. any ideas and/or suggestions? thanks =)

elduderino

I have never installed a Bazzoka sub, but I know there are two kinds, the ones with an amp built-in and the ones without.

If yours has a bunch of wires yours must have the amp in it. You will need a fused power wire from the battery, just like an amp install. It has speaker-level inputs for the 6x9's in the trunk - you would need to tap into them.

Your wiring info might be here: http://bazooka.com/techInfo_manuals.asp?manual=archived

You would need your model number though...

bigwilliestyle

I had an amplified Bazooka tube in my GSR. Pretty decent. I'm sure a lot of people don't like them, but for my purposes they were fine. (Simply wanted a little decent base.)

Installed it myself. You'll need the wiring diagram, but what you need to do is:
Run 2 power wires down one side of the car. One connects to the battery and needs to be the appropriate guage. The other can simply connect to the switched power on your head unit.

Run Left/Right speaker wires down the other side of the car. I used RCAs, so they had to come from the head unit. You can also tap into the line level speaker wires, but make sure to connect to the correct speaker (I believe the TSX filters one pair of speakers.)

The bazooka has an HPF built in and level control, so you can grossly tweak it.

I thought it was decent bang for the buck. Don't forget to ground it to the chassis.

zazen721

you guys are the best... i ran downstairs to see exactly the model i had... lol... its a kenwood ksc-wa80 tube and not a bazooka tube. i guess it doesnt make a big difference. i checked the kenwood site for installation instructions but it only has a manual for repairing the thing. i have installed a cai, bluetooth, an ipod into my navi with an icelink and snhond3, hardwired my radar in my car... how difficult do you you think this would be for me... i have never really touched any audio stuff except for installing a new head unit in my old mazda...

bigwilliestyle

I think it's really easy. The toughest part is running the wires the length of the car (and possibly getting through the firewall to the battery).

If you know what each wire does, then it should be simple. You only need 4 wires: 1 power from the battery, 1 "switch" from the head unit or an appropriate fuse, and 2 speaker wires.

zazen721

lol... i dont know what each wire does. unfortunately, i dont have the instructions anymore and i have never done anything like this. i wouldnt even know how to tap into the speakers or find the switch from the headunit... argh! lol... i wish i wouldnt get myself into these things!

Tsx536

You can do it man. You did those other installs.

For the switch aka remote wire than you just have to tap into the wire as it comes into the factory amp. The amp is right behind the storage bin/Not an ashtray.
Refer to Elduderino's sticky and you can find the wiring color for it.
Then just use a tap and tap into it for the signal.
This wire basically will tell the tube when to turn on and off.

Some people have even used the power wire from the 12v cigarette plug. I don't prefer this myself but it is easier. The other problem with it is it will always turn the basstube on whenever the car turns on. If you wire it to the deck then the basstube will turn on based on when your Headunit turns on.

Then you just need power, ground, & sound.

Power: Run from the battery as mentioned above.
Ground: Find a place where there is clean metal and make your ground there. Make sure not to drill into the gas tank. This is right under the rear seat I believe.
Sound: Splice into the 6x9's using a hi/lo converter.

If you get stuck just post here and we'll help you out.

zazen721

wow, you made it sound quite easy =) i think i can handle all that. one thing though... stupid question: what is a hi/lo converter?

Tsx536

Here you go:
http://www.installer.com/hilo/

I just googled and this was first thing that came up. You should ask some others about which converters they recommend.

Here is there description:
Hi/Low adapters are devices that installers use to convert a speaker level stereo to RCA levels so it can be hooked to an external car stereo amplifier. You can cut the speaker wires and hook the hi/lo adapter right up or you can tap onto existing speaker wires without cutting them so the speakers still play while the tap gives you a connection to the hi/lo device for adding something like a subwoofer amp to the existing speakers.... We have hi lo converters in TWO CHANNEL and FOUR CHANNEL configurations and we have them WITH and WITHOUT adjustments.. The adjustable hi/lo converters allow you to fine tune the hi/lo device to match other levels in the car or to make sure the match between your stereo and amplifier is a good match.. The adjustable line converters are the most popular.. We also have some specialty hi lo converters that have special radio plugs on them that may plug right into your factory stereo.
Now you can install an amplifier with your factory radio or install a new radio with your factory amplifier!

jaydub

yeah my buddy had one in his Scion xB and it added just enough bass to the stock setup.

zazen721

ok... i think ive got it now... im going to try to do this on wednesday the 8th... i have a friend who SAYS he knows what he is doing... who knows though! where do i find this switch for the power to the radio?

Tsx536

Are you talking about the signal that goes from the stereo to the bazooka tube to tell it to turn on and off? If you are. You could go the cigarette lighter route. It's the easiest I think. YOu can just open the center console and feel around close to the 12v outltet. This actually pops off pretty easy. I think you can get to the power wire and tap into without taking off the transmission cover, but I'm not 100% sure.

Read this again, and see what you think you and your friend can do:
For the switch aka remote wire than you just have to tap into the wire as it comes into the factory amp. The amp is right behind the storage bin/Not an ashtray.
Refer to Elduderino's sticky and you can find the wiring color for it.
Then just use a tap and tap into it for the signal.
This wire basically will tell the tube when to turn on and off.

Some people have even used the power wire from the 12v cigarette plug. I don't prefer this myself but it is easier. The other problem with it is it will always turn the basstube on whenever the car turns on. If you wire it to the deck then the basstube will turn on based on when your Headunit turns on.

Good Luck man!

elduderino

First off, make certain that your friend spends some time on the AV forum looking at pics and wiring diagrams. If he doesn't want to look at photos of wire passages and diagrams and such, and just says he already knows what to do, keep him out of your car. If he doesn't have a meter or at least a test light, keep him out of your car (although I'm not sure I'd use a test light in a TSX...)

Second, what switch?

Here's the kinds of power in a car:

Battery constant power: This is hot all the time. Ususally (and in this case) requires a wire to go all the way to the battery, and a fuse holder to be installed right there at the battery terminal point. You never wire anything directly to battery constant unless there is some other line turning it on and off, such as...

Accessory switched. This is different from switched Ignition in that it gets power with the key in the Run or Accessory position, but NOT when cranking the starter. Usually not used for amps like the one in your tube. It usually uses...

Remote turn-on. This is a 12V (+) output that turns on things like amps and FM antenna boosters, and it is ONLY powered when the TSX radio is ON. This is what you use for the turn on input of your tube (the blue wire). Some tubes turn on with signal input and don't need that wire, but I dunno about yours.

There are a couple of places on this forum this RTO wire is mentioned - it can be found in the trunk under the R deck and also at the OE amp in the center console. You'll find it...

NOTE:If you short this wire out and blow up the HU RTO output you have no sound. Don't do that. I don't THINK a test light would hurt the output...