RazvanR

Hi guys, most probably this has been discussed before though searching through the forums i didn't quite find exactly what i was looking for. Long story short, i recently purchased a 2014 IS300h, (yes a Hybrid, i live in Europe, Romania, which is also why i am writing here, we'll get to that later). Car is an Executive Plus spec, didn't come with the ML system. I like the audio quality though the subwoofer in the rear lacks the power for some songs and needs a little help.

Now i do not want to go for the full, all out enclosure in the trunk sort of subwoofer as i would like to keep my trunk clean, so i decided to try and purchase the active subwoofers (thin, which fit under the seats) here's a link of what i was thinking about: http://www.focal-america.com/product/ibus-20/

Basically im thinking of getting two of these, and fiddling around with the filters so that i get the perfect combination of LOW and Kick bass out of them in conjuncture with the OEM speakers.

The reason i am writing this is to ask for help on installing them, mainly the wiring part to the original sound system. Living in Romania, people dont see this car very often so going to an audio shop for the install wont do the trick as they will have no clue on what to do. I've seen several threads where people installed subs in their cars but unfortunately they lack the detail that i need as i will eventually have to do the install myself.

The 12v part of the ecuation will be easy as the IS300h has an accesory battery in the trunk, but its the audio signal i'm having issues with, My sincere apologies if my search was shallow and if this has already been covered, your help is much appreciated.

Thanks
Razvan

E46CT

Check the link in my signature.

manchild

If you are willing to take apart the back of your car. I posted a guide a while back on how to put in a pioneer pancake sub into the factory location. I even listed which amps work and where I wired it.

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/is-3rd-gen-2014-present/806174-non-ml-audio-upgrade.html#post9293691

RazvanR

Hi, i did read your thread before posting this. Some bits of information do not add up which is why i decided to write here. For example, i dont have a spare tire, and the foam kit is placed with the accessory battery on the left side of the trunk (driver side). I dont want to start taking apart the car unless i am 100% sure where the factory amp is and where i can tap in for the audio signal.

One more question which i cant seem to find an answer from. I intend on buying two of these, would it work if i tapped into the rear driver side door speaker for one of them and rear passenger side door speaker for the other? Or would this produce a weak signal?

Thanks in advance for your help guys.

Many thanks
Razvan

RazvanR

I've read your thread and i must say, its actually a very good idea. I might actually go for this instead. One question though: Since you've placed a more powerful subwoofer in an area/enclosure designed to hold the factory woofer do you get any sort of rattles or vibrations? Did you add any soundproofing (dynamat or such?) Im really interested in going with this option just dont want the plastics and interior to rattle every bass kick. Currently thank god with the stock woofer they dont. Do you have any pictures from your build?

Many thanks
Razvan

manchild

You will get rattles 100% of the time. I fixed that by using foam pipe wrap on all of the wires in and around the trunk. Then I dynamat the parcel shelf do it from the top or bottom it doesn't matter. After that the only thing left to possibly rattle is the trunk liner itself. I used pipe insulator at all the points where it could make contract with the trunk mental or under side of the subwoofer. I figured since I took the whole trunk apart any way then there couldn't be too much insulation.

All that worked no rattles unless I really crank it then the rear windshield will vibrate.

zhifan1

Hi, just wondering since you mounted the woofer on the underside of the original space, did you remove the factory sub? Will this pioneer sub fit onto factory sub's mounting space?

manchild

Yes I pulled the factory sub and threw it into the recycle bin. Yes the pioneer sub will fit into the hole. You will have to either drill holes and bolt it in or get lazy and use sheet metal screws to put it in.

There is no need to keep the factory sub it's to much work to put it back in afterwards.

E46CT

You can tap the harness in the doors. The harness should be accessible through the wire loom that runs up the B pillar to the rear doors. Cleaner to do it in the trunk where the amp lives.

RazvanR

Ok, so you said that you used the the LineOut converter to tap into the + and - from the stock subwoofer wires? Problem is the lineout converter has more wires, Left (+ and -) and Right ( + and - ) how did you go about wiring this?

The amplifier i am planning on using is this http://www.hertzaudiovideo.com/car-a...mplifier-hcp2/ which has also built in high level inputs which negates the need for the Lineout converter. But i need 4 signal wires, not 2.

Thanks for your help

Razvan

E46CT

You need to tap pre-amp (before the amp) to get the 4 wires. You are angling towards finding the lazy way to doing this but you will have to do some work. You'll need to access either the bundles near the B pillars like I said or pre-amp in the trunk (there's two rectangle harness going INTO the amp). Make sure you don't reverse the + and - or you'll end up with funky bass. One of the harnesses has a 12V constant for the remote signal on your new amp.

manchild

I took the lazy approach and just tapped right at the rear sub. I combined the wires into one signal. -Sub ,-left,-right and then +Sub,+left,+right so far it works fine. This approach only works in this case. It's not a good idea to try this when connecting a speaker to an audio line just the line converter. Or just use a single output from the converter. There is no need to use both. Just remember which one you kept active and which is dead...

I didn't want to mess with the preamp lines when there were perfectly good post amp lines in the area I needed to work in any way.

I'm positive this post will start a discussion.

RazvanR

Im more keen on going for the sub wires as i would imagine they are easier to go to. I initial wanted to purchase a 4 channel amp and a speaker system for the front but then i read several posts and noticed that it wasn't worth it considering i don't have the budget to buy really expensive speakers for the moment, so OEM will do. I've ordered the sub and amp, and all wiring accessories as well as dynamat for the sound proofing.

I feel confident in doing this

Thanks guys

Razvan

ClubLUser

iTrader: (1)

Do you know of a guide showing how to remove all the covers? i dont want to just start pulling on things and breaking clips...