Forgive me. I searched. This A/V Stuff falls somewhere between jibberish and mumbo-jumbo to me.

I can wire electrical stuff and have done stereo installs before. Results are pretty much a crap-shoot for me for me. I have had cars sound like shit, and car sounds that are the shit. Oddly enough, I am not overly picky with my stereos, nor am I an "audiophile." Just like it to sound nice! I listen to ALL kinds of music (minus country...well except a little Cash here and there). So, I really wanna get the TSX right.


I have a 10" JL in a sealed box I wanna use in the TSX.

I have 2 amps...both Performance Techniques. One is 250Wx2, and the other is $125Wx4. (I know these are probably shitty to a degree, but I have used them both for years and they work great. Well, good enough for me).

The car is leased, so I am not too concerned with juicing up the system all crazy like some of you guys do. I kinda don't mind the factory speakers, but I need some bass.What is the best thing to do here? How could I wire up the amp? High level inputs?

How should I manage the other speakers?

I have so many questions....

Marcus

 

To leave the factory amp and interior speakers as they are, and simply add bass, use the 2-channel amp and the JL 10.

If the amp has speaker-level inputs, you can connect the speaker-level inputs to the speaker wires going to the 6x9 in the trunk. As long as the wire on one end of the speaker terminal goes to the (+) every time and the wire on the other end goes to the (-) every time, don't worry about (+) and (-) - just worry about the L and R speakers being consistent.

If it doesn't, you need to buy a line output converter or step-down converter. A standard generic LOC is fine. Adapters for "Ford/Jbl, Bose" are not the right part and don't buy one. Here's one on the internet for $8 that should be OK... just as an example. http://www.audio-discounters.com/loca2.html

We are assuming your amp has a built-in xover for playing low notes only (most now do). If it doesn't, you'll need some inexpensive xover or a pair of Harrison Xmod RCA inline filters at like 80 Hz and down. (Edited to add: I guess it's not totally needed, since you're on the 6x9 wires and they have some kind of xover filtering, but they probably play way to high for a 10" woof...)

When simply adding a sub amp, you don't have to worry very much about engine noise (a high-pitched whine associated with a running engine, played through the speakers connected to an amp) because 10" woofers don't play high-pitched whines very well. You will have to run a fused power wire to the trunk, though. Use the ground bolt in the trunk (IMHO). To turn the amp on, I personally run a wire to the factory amp under the NOT AN ASHTRAY. There is a remote-turnon 12V(+) output there that can turn on the factory amp and another amp (have done it).

However, you may decide to also upgrade the interior speakers and also replace the factory amp with your 4-channel. This allows much better sound (if your amps aren't crap - I've never heard of them either way). This also costs more money, for speakers, and has greater risk - since mid/high frequency speakers CAN play engine/alternator whie, you have a much more problematic installation. Given your feeling about your own skills here, I wouldn't do this without the help of someone who is genuinely skilled with TSX's (not just better than you : )

I have totally bypassed the factory amp and added an aftermarket. I did not use a sub box, just a nice 4-channel, 6x9 MB Quart woofers, and expensive front seperates. NO strange or expensive adapters were required (I could have added a 4-channel line driver). My sound is hugely improved in dynamics, bass response, and overall fidelity.

 

Ok, That is pretty much what I figured.....

I would rather not replace the speakers and OEM amp just yet...I think I will just add the 2 channel and the box...

 

Cool... that's how a lot of us started : )

Let us know how it goes!

 

I can vouch for this approach, as I did pretty much the same thing based on his recommendation :-) While picking up the car from the installer (reputable so this wasn't an act), a second customer asked what size sub was in the trunk after hearing the stereo. I don't have a sub, but I do have MBQ 6x9 components in the rear deck (no tweets) tuned to ~50 to 95 Hz.

That being said, adding a good sub is certainly a relatively inexpensive way to help your system (others that have added a sub have completely removed the 6x9's).

 

Sweet! What else did you get?