Installing Subwoofer/Amplifier

[AWittschen]

Hey everyone,
I just bought my A/C a few days ago, and have been doing some research on adding the subwoofer that a friend recently gave to me. It's last year's model of the 12" Kicker Solo-Baric L7 which runs at 750w RMS. I'm planning on pairing this with a Kicker class D 750.1 amp. The only issue I'm having is that I would really like to keep my factory head unit (for the look and steering wheel controls, etc.) but I get lost when it comes to line output converters and AudioControl's products. So, long story short: I'd like to keep my factory head unit and be able to turn the subwoofer's volume all the way up and down via a remote gain knob, without adjusting the eq or volume of my front and rear stereo speakers. Am I asking for too much? Is a new head unit my only option?
Thanks so much in advance

[AWittschen]

Simply put, I'm afraid that if I go this route, in order to make the subwoofer loud I'll need to turn up the bass eq on the factory head unit way up, in turn damaging the factory door speakers. Or, I could turn the bass down on the head unit and turn the gain on the amp way up, but then I'm scared of distorting the signal to the subwoofer resulting in damaging it... So I'm looking for a way to keep the bass on those stereo speakers low while being able to have the subwoofer at max volume. Should I install bass blockers on all the speakers except the subwoofer? I'm just confused as to what options I have at this point. Sorry that this post is so long winded.

[justeller]

Your only choice to use the stock deck is really going to be an in line converter. You will lose a lot of sound quality cause you'll be tapping the rear speakers instead of using Jacks right from the deck. As far as sound, you should have a low pass and gain adjustments on the amp so you can just get low bass, like a sub is supposed to play, however it never works quite as well with the converter boxes. Your other issue is going to be your remote wire to turn your amp on. Running a stock deck you will have to tap a fuse that only powers with the car on, or run a toggle. Please don't jump your remote to the power on the amp. I've seen it done, but you have to unplug it all the time, it's pointless.

[AWittschen]

Ok that makes sense. So to make sure I understand: by using a line out converter I can turn the bass down on the HU and mess around with the gain and low pass on the amp, which will make the sub's bass loud and keep the stereo speakers bass low... But the sound quality won't be as great as if I had I new HU and the wiring might become a pain in the a**?

[justeller]

Yes. It's been about 12 years since I've used one of these but it is basically the same as using the rear or single auxiliary lines on an aftermarket HU, with some loss in sound quality. Some aftermarket HU's also have a separate sub output so you can just tweak the sub from the HU, but you will basically have the same as front/rear or single auxiliary setup. So you would want to adjust your sound on the HU for your door speakers, then go to the amp to dial in your sub the way you want it. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the converter boxes might have had a dial adjustment on them also. I can't remember if it was a l/r adjustment or a frequency adjustment of some kind. But we are talking a decade ago when I did this, I'm sure the boxes are a bit different, but that is the basics. The only other thing is, you do not have a factory amp, correct? I've seen people try to use the converters with factory amps, and the only way It used to work was to tap the speaker wires before the amp, if you were tapping wires that were post amp, I never saw one work, idk if it was the extra watts or what, or just those couple vehicles. But if you don't have the Bose system you should be fine.

[VTMike24]

I am using my factory head unit with a line converter for my sub. I've been using it for 5 years with no problems. I have the bass on my head unit at -2. Sound quality is ok. I used the write up on this forum to figure out what wires to tap.

[AWittschen]

justeller: In that case I may just use an LOC then. I figure I could install an add-a-circuit to the stereo fuse in the fuse box for the amp and LOC. also I don't have an amp but I'll probably install the LOC behind the head unit anyways so that if I decide to get an aftermarket unit later the RCAs will already be there. I'm not too crazy about the sound quality as long as it's decent, just need a wooded for the time being while I save up for a really great system. Thanks so much for your help!

VTMile24: Good to know, I'll probably do the same setting as you have. I just didn't know if turning the gain up on the amp would damage the speaker, but I'm assuming it won't since you've had the setup for such a long time. Do you think it would be a good idea to have a switch mounted somewhere on the dash the connects the remote wire? That way if I don't want the sub on I can just turn the switch off and adjust the factory unit bass eq to zero? Thanks!

[VTMike24]

A kill switch is definitely an option if you want to remotely turn off the amp.

I don't have the gain on my amp turned way up. I have a Alpine Type R 12 with a well matched amp. I didn't want a ton of bass, just enough that at normal volume you can tell I have a sub, but still hits hard when I turn the volume up. Even when I turn the volume up, it doesn't over power the highs and mids.

[AWittschen]

Ohhh gotcha. Yeah I'm looking for more loud bass, so if you have your bass at -2 I'm thinking I could set my bass to -4 and treble and mid to -2 and turn the volume up louder, with the gain on the amp tuned a little higher also... Do you think that would work in the way I want without harming the subwoofer, given your experience?

[VTMike24]

As justeller mentioned above, your sq is going to suffer. Turning the gain way up will most likely make the sub sound like crap.

If it's not loud enough for you, then you can get an aftermarket deck. You'll really only be out the cost of the line converter and a few hrs of work.

[justeller]

Make sure you match your continuous power on your sub with an amp that supplies it also...a 1000 watt amp doesn't put out 1000 watts rms....rms might be 400 watts....people don't realize amps are rated in Max wattage...you need to check continuous power (rms)...if you match your sub and amp you will have the best sound without over pushing your sub and or amp...a good sounding system is a science down to the size of the box to get the best air flow for your sub...get an amp that can easily push your sub without over working it is a key factor

[AWittschen]

Ok, maybe I'll just use the LOC temporarily before getting a new unit then, because I know it'll be expensive to do the steering wheel controls and everything else too. And I'm looking at a Kicker 750.1 for my 12" L7 at 2 ohms. Hopefully that's a solid match.