Ty419

I have an 05 LS430, and want to replace the 8" ML sub in the deck with the slimline pioneer 8" speaker and small digital amp, maybe 150 watts, just enough to make it sound better. I will be using the speaker outputs that normally run from the ML amp to the ML sub, and running them instead to the aftermarket amp. That's where I see different suggestions.

Some say to wire it straight into the high-level input of the aftermarket amp. Some say that a high-level to low-level converter should be used. Some suggest using a coil of some sort as well that will replicate the load of the ML sub.

Do the high-level converters, either in the aftermarket amp or as a separate component, show any load to the ML amp? If not, or if incorrect, is it a problem over time? I don't want to cause any damage to the ML amp. Is this even an issue, or does everyone just hook it straight up and not worry about it? Or is there another way that I didn't even mention?

Any advice about the "right" way to hook this up would be appreciated.

Blueshark

What i did is:

1. cut the oem sub wires, keep it long enough for future rewiring.
2. Set up my aftermarket amplifier, i store mine under the full size spare tire, my amplifier is small enough, very clean install.
3. Run the power wire from battery to the amplifier.
4. Use speaker wires to wire the cut oem wires to the LOC wires.
5. Plug RCA cable to the LOC to the new amplifier
6. Run wires to the new sub.
7. For the remote wire, i use the cigarette lighter power wire for it, work perfectly and easy to get access to.

That's it.

I use high wattage LOC, got it from Ebay, rated for 85w/channel. You can buy from David Navone with the remote triggering option, useful if you don't want to wire to the cigarette lighter.

I don't want to bother removing the unused subwoofer since it doesn't take more space. I have mine in a sealed box.

Big Mack

iTrader: (1)

First off, there is no such thing as a "digital" amp. That is markineering at it's finest.

It depends on the amp. If it is rated to take over 80 watts on the input side, which most are not, then you can wire directly to the amp. If not, use a quality LOC that is rated for at least that much. You do not need a coil in either case.

Yes, the LOC uses an impedance to the signal to lower it down to a level that the RCA can distribute to the amp. No need to worry if you buy a quality unit.

I concur with blueshark's thoughts. I would suggest the LOCX from Soundgate or the LOC80 from Scosche. Both are good units and relatively inexpensive.

Big Mack

Ty419

Thanks for the replies. That clears up my questions about the LOC.

I guess by "digital" I just meant what the manufacturers refer to as their digital amps. I'm looking mainly for a compact unit that I can tuck away, which they usually call their digital series or something to that effect, and the sub only needs maybe 150-200 watts.

Thanks guys.

Blueshark

if you need pictures to hide your small amp, i can upload some. Frankly, you can easily hid it behind the rear side quarter panel, simply remove the side driver siding and mount it to a plywood board and mount the rack to the side metal sheet, you will have plenty of space.

Ty419

By the looks of it, I think I am going to use a Kicker ZX100.2 amp for this. It is 100 watts RMS into 4 ohm mono. It's one of very few amps that have low enough power to be used with that slimline Pioneer 8. I plan to put it right where you mentioned or possibly behind the trunk trim on the other side right under the air purifier.

iKeyless

i would definitely tap into the speaker wiring at the OEM sub with a line-out converter if you don't have to disassemble the backseat to get to it. I can't remember if the wiring is accessible from the trunk or not, but if it is, that's the easiest bet.

if you have to disassemble the back seat / rear deck, i would probably grab the signal @ the amp if that takes less time and / or disassembly to get to for you.

i've never been a fan of high-level inputs but that's probably just me. i like RCA jacks. never have problems with them so i've never veered away. i hooked up high level one time, it didn't work immediately (though it did after some goofy troubleshooting) so i never pursued them again.

iKeyless

oh and to answer the original question.....the "right" way to bypass the OEM sub is to unplug it!

with the radio turned off, cut the two wires feeding the OEM sub in half, leaving enough wire to reconnect in the future if need be.

you'll be left with "four" wires now instead of two.....two running back to the sub and two running towards the amplifier.

strip back the wire running to the sub. take a 9V battery, notice on the battery that one terminal is labeled "+" and the other is labeled "-". attach one wire to the positive on the 9V battery, one wire to the negative. this will force your OEM sub to "pop"

if the sub pops out towards the roof of the car, it's in phase. if it sucks in when you pop the speakers, it's out of phase. then you know your polarity for the wires you're working with.

say for instance you have a green and blue wire running to your OEM sub. if you put the green on the "+" and the blue on the "-" of the battery and the sub pops towards the roof, you know your green wire is the positive wire. if the sub pops towards the ground (pulls in instead of pushing out), your polarity is backwards and you should wire the

take your line out converter, it's going to have four wires.....white, white/black, grey, grey/black.....combine the white and gray wires and run them into your "green" wire that's running back towards the amp now. combine the white/black and grey/black wires, connect them to the "blue" wire and you're all set.

end result = guaranteed correct polarity, better wiring if you're a noob in that you can wire directly into two wires inside of having to tap them, and you disconnect your sub.

it may not be everybody's cup of tea but this is my favorite way of doing it. you effectively convert the OEM wiring into a set of RCA's instead of tapping them. 6 in one half a dozen in the other. there is more than one "correct" way and as long as it works long term without issue i'd say it's correct.

dejavu157

iTrader: (2)

I bought a Scosche LOC80 and do not know which of the 4 wires are positive(+) or negative(-). According to the directions is it the white and white/black go together and the gray and grey/black? so the black and black/white goes to one radio wire and grey and grey/black goes to the other radio wire? The radio wires im using are the ones i cute from the stock subs.

iKeyless

If there are only two wires running to your factory woofer -

tie the white and gray wire on the LOC together, take to the positive wire on the woofer.

tie the white/black and gray/black on the LOC together, take to the negative wire on the woofer.

use instructions i posted above to determine polarity