Subwoofer add-on

[Elmojo]

Hi All,I've been thinking about the possibility of adding a powered sub to my V without replacing the head unit or monkeying around too much with the OEM wiring.Here's a possible solution:If you look in the the rear cargo area, on left, right next to the interior light, you see a small squarish panel. Pop that off with a small flat screwdriver, and you have access to the area where the wires for the upper light of the left rear taillight connect. We know that the factory subwoofer mounts in this area, so it stands to reason that the OEM pre-wiring, if it exists, would be in this area.Poke around a bit, without breaking the white plastic clip that holds the taillight plug loom to a mounting screw (don't ask how I know this), and you see a nice empty plug, taped to another wire loom, doing nothing. Aha! Here's our subwoofer connection!I spent about a half-hour with my multimeter and a notepad, and the following jpeg is the result...I've contacted several electronics suppliers to inquire if they might be able to help me find the female end of this funky plug, but it looks pretty proprietary.However, you'll notice that all the wire ports aren't used, which bodes well for there being other Nissan applications that use this same plug. Does anyone recognize this plug?If we can find the female side, it should be fairly easy to wire up an aftermarket powered sub without hacking our wiring.Can any of you audio-geek types look at the outputs I mapped and suggest what each of these wires might be for?I assume that the two 12.5v wires are power (duh) and remote, with the remote being the blue one that stays energized when the ignition is off, but I could be wrong. The other issue is that almost all powered subs I've found have only line level (RCA) outputs. Is there a simple way to convert these to the speaker level inputs that we'll need to use the factory wiring, or do you think that some of these ports are in fact line level already?

Comments and ideas welcome, let's make this work, I need boom in the hatch!

Elmojo

---Click on the attachment link to see a legible version of the diagram---

[Ever Victorious]

Be careful, that is also where the factory pre-wiring for satellite radio exists! That plug you speak of might be the factory satellite radio plug, it looks like the right number of wires..

[Elmojo]

Crap, I suspect you may be right.I was thinking about it a bit more last night, and realized that none of the wires in the plug looked heavy enough to be the power for a sub, even a low-powered one.Anyone else have any thoughts?

[Ever Victorious]

Crap, I suspect you may be right.I was thinking about it a bit more last night, and realized that none of the wires in the plug looked heavy enough to be the power for a sub, even a low-powered one.Anyone else have any thoughts?

There's got to be tons of space in the dash to store a small amp... or under the pass seat.

But to have the correct outputs for an amp, you need an aftermarket deck.

Wonder where the ones with the Audio package put their amp?

[Jemdawg]

Not sure where they put the amp, but you can add on an amp to the stock head-unit with a HILO adapter, which is what I used for the time being before I went for the full setup. I'll see if I can dig up a link to the device that I bought, but you're going to have to split the connection of one of the speakers to get a signal for the amp. You also have to run power, ground, and a remote for the amp.

[Jemdawg]

http://www.installer.com/hilo/

There it is.

Oh and by the way, the wires that belong to the harness that you found probably won't suffice for an aftermarket sub amp. Depending on your wattage you will need a decent sized power cable for a sufficient connection. I have 4 gauge wires running the power and the ground for my amp (which is 400w).

If you're serious about doing this, consult me, I have done it before and I can help you before you make any mistakes.

Oh, and it sounds to me like that harness that you found has way too many wires to be for another amp.

[Ever Victorious]

http://www.installer.com/hilo/

There it is.

Oh, and it sounds to me like that harness that you found has way too many wires to be for another amp.

Thanks for the link.

I am almost positive the described harness is the satellite pre-wiring, since I know for a fact that the satellite tuner unit sits back there (I asked the Nissan tech who installed it) and it has a harness with quite a number of wires going to it.

[XterraVersa]

One of these days, I am going to move my BassLinkl II from my dissabled Xterra to the Versa. In the instalation manual, it shows how to tap the speakers for the signal. It has a hi-low filter built in to it.

Jemdawg, where did you run the power cable to the sub? I have yet to take a serious look for a gromet to punch through in the engine bay.

[Jemdawg]

I punched a hole in a little rubber boot that I found by the pedals. I'll have to see if I can take a picture to show you, but my camera is broken right now. You can probably find it if you stick your head underneath the steering wheel.

[XterraVersa]

Thanks.

I won't need a picture.

[landonb16]

If you can post a picture it would help me out a lot, Thanks

[Elmojo]

One of these days, I am going to move my BassLinkl II from my dissabled Xterra to the Versa. In the instalation manual, it shows how to tap the speakers for the signal. It has a hi-low filter built in to it..

I'm looking at the Basslink II as my first choice.You say it has a HILO filter?So you just directly tap the rear speaker wires to get the signal and run a power lead to the battery and a ground to something solid, like a strut tower maybe?

I don't want to jump into this without having a clear idea of what i'm getting into.

Thanks everyone for your comments!

Elmojo

[Jemdawg]

As I said before, I can help...so feel free to ask specific questions.

You have to tap into a rear speaker for the signal, yes.

The ground can be attached to any metal piece that you can sand down to ensure a good connection. And be sure that the metal piece is connected to the frame, of course.

If I can get my camera working, I'll take pictures of my wire routing and where I grounded the amp.

[landonb16]

Awesome, Thanks man

[XterraVersa]

I'm looking at the Basslink II as my first choice.You say it has a HILO filter?So you just directly tap the rear speaker wires to get the signal and run a power lead to the battery and a ground to something solid, like a strut tower maybe?

I don't want to jump into this without having a clear idea of what i'm getting into.

Thanks everyone for your comments!

Elmojo

Sorry, no hi-lo. You just splice into the speaker wires.

Here is the user manual:http://manuals.harman.com/INF/...5.pdf

I am also thinking of getting the Kenwood DPX-701 & a HD reciever so splicing into the speaker wires would not be needed.

Has anyone had experience with saletronics.com? They have it listed for $283 vs crutchfields $449.

[Jemdawg]

IMHO, the DPX-301 or 501 would be a better choice. As per sound quality, the 701 is no better than the other two. The only real difference is the 64-color screen and the few extra gadgets like the USB input and the G-Force calculator.