ADI$A69

Anyone with an audio control LC2 tapped into the factory ML sub can explain how you made that connection? The non ML subs are dual voice coil, but the ML is only single. So do you also tap a mid woofer or the sub only with the LC2? Thanx

ADI$A69

damn nobody has info on this? the threads I've read so far are more confusing than anything.

Shibumi1

tap it at the sub itself and split the signal in 2.... so u have 2 positive and 2 negative speaker leads then run them into the LC2... lemme know how it plays.. i have an LCQ1 and it doesnt work with the ML amp...curious if the LC2 will work....

305Busa

+1 on what Shibumi said. I have the LC2i and it works by tapping into the output from the ML amp. I just had mines ran right from the factory sub wire and onto the LC2. The only thing is the ML system seems to cut the bass short at a certain volume and the LC2 is supposed to pick up this slack but it doesnt seem to be working in my system. I hope Shibumi comes up with something soon.

ADI$A69

I was trying NOT to cut the sub wires, or make the tap there, but trying to tap in at the amp harness. anyone know what color the wires are at the plug? seem to be a different color than whats at the sub itself on my harness.

Shibumi1

black(+) & yellow(-). white(+) & red(-) .. but be careful there are more than 1 set of black an yellow also white an red.. but u can run wires down from the sub back to your processor..

Shibumi1

if your getting clean signal thru the LC2 maybe its not adjusted properly.. the issue i have is w the LCQ1 is when i turn it up more than 35 it send pure distortion/feedback to the amp..thats mids ,highs , bass... but on a non ML amp its amazing..

ADI$A69

ok, this is bizarre as hell. tapped into the ML sub while i'm still verifying which connections at the harness to make. (rather have the permanent connections there). anyway, amp and LC2i are NOT turning on. power is run from batt, ground to chassis. I get sound from radio, and IPOD, but NOT CD player!!?? WTF???? what in the world would cause that? CD is playing, but no sound being ouput. while I check fuse from battery, and ground, anyone wanna guess why the CD player is mute? also, instructions say LC2i does NOT need a remote wire. anyone else have this issue when installing? thanx

ADI$A69

ok, CD player issue solved, LC2 will still not tun on, power light flickers but unit will not fire all the way up. AudioControl say I may need to wire a trigger, as the signal its getting is not strong enough to power it up. will try that tomorrow.

ADI$A69

ok, todays update. don't know if its my car, or the ML system, or me, but, my LC2i would not turn on without a trigger, so I wired into the fuse box acc fuse. still, it would not turn on the amp, so I triggered the amp off of the LC2i. so, now I have all units working, my connections are as follows:

LC2i-power from battery, a ground to chassis and remote from ACC fuse
Kenwood Mono Amp-power from battery, chassis ground, and remote from LC2i
Signal to LC2i-tapped directly from ML sub wires, split into 2 for both left and right on the LC2i

Initial settings- with both left and right of the LC2i connected, the output was overwhelming, too much so, even with the bass level and mid level reduced almost to zero. I took this amp and subs (Kicker comp 12's) out of another vehicle, so I am not sure how I had it tuned, but it sounded great. so, I removed 1 of the channels from the LC2i, (suggested by Audiocontrol) and it improved greatly. some have said tapping only the sub wires gives too narrow a frequency response. I don't really agree, but my subs are always crossed at 80 and below, so that may be why I like it. there is still too much bass output, and the LC2i has to be turned all the way down, but I haven't adjusted the gain or frequency on the amp yet, so stay tuned.

305Busa

Good stuff there. Keep it coming. I've just been too busy to rip mines back apart and see what sounds better.

ADI$A69

ok, todays update
connections: LC2i-power from battery, a ground to chassis and remote from ACC fuse
Kenwood Mono Amp-power from battery, chassis ground, and remote from LC2i
Signal to LC2i-tapped directly from ML sub wires, split into 2 for both left and right on the LC2i

this set up has given me no problems, no noise, and no cut outs or unusual behavior. today I got the sealed box inside the trunk, and was able to reconnect the other channel back to the LC2i. I think when I first tested, having the box outside the car caused my overwhelming output problems. so, I set my amp to cut off at 100hz, and the gain about 1/4, I increased the accubase on the LC2i, and the bass input gradually, until I had what I like as far as output into the car. the bass input from the head unit is about half, the mid a little lower, and the treble nearly maxed. at this point, I do not think tapping just the sub output gives too narrow a frequency, you can compensate for that with the crossover on your amp, and by leaving the stock sub connected. I think this gives a good balance. I'm still playing with the settings, but I'm very pleased so far. I can hear and feel all the bass and midbass you could ask for, even with the head unit midlevel adjusted slightly below half. everyone has their own tastes as far as that goes, so I'll leave that up to you. connections though, I would not even fool with depending on the LC2i to trigger based on signal output, or depend on it to trigger your amp. you have to run power from the battery for your amp anyway, so while you've got the car broken down on that side, you may as well run power for the LC2i, and a trigger from the fuse box for it, so it can trigger the amp. its all on the same side of the car, so why risk having to trouble shoot, and tear it all back down? connecting this way, you're guaranteed to get all the components fired up, and you'll save some cursing and screaming too! I'll post up pics of my final set up once I get all my wires tidied up, and the car cleaned up a bit. by the way, I didn't think I would want to add an amp for the highs in the car, but with the low end pounding, it highlights the limits of the ML system on the high end. its adequate, but you can tell it could use a lil more punch, again probably a personal taste thing.

Shibumi1

how loud do you listen to your music?? above 40? because my set up sounds AWESOME until 40 then there is no more bass? (as in the bass volume doesnt increase past its output at 40) i'll pick up an LC2 tomorrow if it fixes that issue..

and its correct that u need to run a remote to the LC2 or any processor as our amps are digital and cant turn on the processors (YET!!)

305Busa

Since the initial install of my system, there was a 2 gauge wire ran from the battery to the trunk for those reasons. The remote is from the ML amp and it turns on the LC and my mono amp. I originally had a Kicker L7 until the wife forgot to turn the volume down one day before turning the car off. Car was turned on and volume at 75 and there went the L7. Went with this pioneer sub and have gone to a pioneer mono amp since this pic.

ADI$A69

I listen to mine loud if i'm by myself.yesterday i tested all the way up to MAX on the stock head unit, thats what indicated to me the system could actually use some boost for the high end. but I have zero issues with the bass cutting out on my set up. it plays loud, consistent, and firm all the way up the volume dial. I'm planning on dialing in a little more each day, until I tweek it just right, so I can still feel my thump with the volume set lower.