A friend of mine just gave me all his stuff out of his old lude. I'm selling most of it, but want to see if I can hook up his subs to my headunit. First, I really like the stock unit in my 5th Gen. I'm not sure why, but it doesnt sound bad...and Im not really into car stereo anymore. My question is, how can I hook up my amp to the stock unit? And...is it even a good idea? I dont have a low pass filter, or bass control. It will probably sound like sh*t. Any ideas or help would be great.
get a speaker wire to RCA converter...like 30 bucks or something.....i did the same thing in mine...then i replaced the stock unit. You loose a little sound quality but not too much.
Speaking from experience those line converters (line level -> RCA) aren't the way to go for subs. If you have some extra cash get a aftermarket head unit with RCA preouts and subwoofer control built in. That way you will be able to more finely tune your treble/bass settings.
Any amp you use should have a low pass setting, and a control for bass boost.
Ok, another thing...being Xmas time and all I dont have tons of cash to spend on myself. I really want to hook this sub up and all but am not sure how to do it. This RCA thing, do I splice my rear speaker wire into it...then run RCA's from that to the amp? Its just that easy? Can I splice just one side or both...im a little confused. Thanks for the help though!
Originally posted by 98VTEC So there really isnt a way of getting bass control without getting a new headunit?
Some amps have a remote bass control unit that can be installed in your dash. Still, that only controls the bass boost on the amp itself (usually any amp you use has a bass boost control, just depends whether you have to adjust it on the amp itself or by using a remote control). It would be best to go with the aftermarket head unit with RCA sub preouts. That way you can get rid of the line converter, and the head unit comunicated with the amp more directly.
Some of the pro's of having RCA preout's vs. a line converter:
1. Cleaner sound... line converters add slight distortion and signal noise.
2. Complete control over the sub via headunit sub controls.
3. Line converters can break, or malfunction... mine did at least, causing sporatic subwoofer operation (it would turn off and on randomly). RCA's on the other hand are just one cable, direct from the HU to the amp... no parts to have malfunction.
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Originally posted by 98VTEC This RCA thing, do I splice my rear speaker wire into it...then run RCA's from that to the amp? Its just that easy? Can I splice just one side or both...im a little confused. Thanks for the help though!
RCA's only connect the head unit to the various amps you have. Speaker's are connected to the amp with speaker wire. You dont run speakers directly off of an RCA cable. I only run one amp (for my sub), therefor I only have one RCA cable hooked up to the subwoofer RCA preouts on the headunit, and then connected to the RCA inputs on my amp. Since it is a amp purely for bass, I set my amp for Low Pass, and adjust the amp as needed. On the amp itself I have the Bass Boost turned 90% down from maximum, and on my headunit I have my subwoofer intensity set at 3 (on a scale of 0-8). This gives me nice tight reponsive bass, and doesnt make the whole car rattle.
Yeah that helps a ton!!! I guess if im gonna do it i might as well do it right! As the story goes these subs were a friend of mine..he passed a few weeks ago and left me 3 JL w3 15's and an Audiobahn amp. I want to make him proud and it too look and sound good. I will spend the extra money for a nice headunit. THanks so much for the help.
I dont think they will fit actually..its a custom box...but they came out of his 4th gen so who knows. I will probably have to get a new box made...wow this is really going to be a project.
Ok the way my friend had it setup was...now this is to the best of my knowledge please dont flame if it doesnt sound right:
The subs are a dual voice coil so he had them all wired in parrell some how coming out to be running at 1 ohm.
Then he had his Audiobahn amp set to run at 1 ohm mono. Single channel 1200watts rms. The amp is the A12001DQ. It is almost brand new, where as the subs are oldish. Im not even sure if they make them anymore. Either way I cant fit all the subs in my car...I dont want to it will weigh it down to much. What is my best bet for say one of them...two? ALso, how would i wire the remote wire for my amp if I dont have an aftermarket headunit? What can I put it into? Thanks for the help.
Oh, and this amp does have remote bass control, I just found that out today...I have no idea where the remote is but im sure I can get a replacement.
If you are missing the remote bass control then you can order a new one from Audiobahn. I would only use two of the 15's (two will be more than adequate for a ton of bass). The amp you have is a 1200w Mono amp, and the 15w3 has a RMS power rating of 400w. So you will have a continuous draw of about 800w from the amp, with the extra 400w being used to fulfill the subs when they need to reach their max power rating. Wire the two subs in parallel to the amp.
When you say "Remote Wire" do you mean the remote wire that gets a signal when your headunit turns on, to turn the amp on? If so then you just wire that into the antenna wire (which only sees power when the HU is on).
Thanks Red for all the help. I will slowly get this all done. I guess im going to wait till after the holidays to start looking for a headunit. Any suggestions?
It is an amazing HU. 50wx4 MOSFET Power for speakers. Full graphical control menu's, RCA preouts for Front, Rear, and Sub. Sub control, customizeable bass/treble graphs. Plus, the Vaccum Flouro Blue Display looks great at night.
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I only did it originally cause i didnt plan to keep it like that.
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