Subwoofer Question

Mitch90BlackSC

Registered User
Here's a question for you:

About a subwoofer and amp hook-up, what exactly are the pre-outs from my head unit for? I understand that they go to the sub's amp, and that you need power and a ground for the sub's amp. Are the rca type plugs just a different type of "speaker wire"? They carry the signal from the head unit to the sub's amp, and then some type of "speaker wire" carries the signal to the sub-woofers itself, right? Can someone please elaborate.
 
YUP

I think you basically have it-- You are talking about an aftermarket head unit though correct? If you are, then yes, the RCA's are different wires that plug to back of head unit to the amp-- there is also a blue power wire that is behind the head unit that you usually branch off to the amp also-(Theres probably others way to and Its usually blue--) Its really simple, there are plugs on the back of your head unit where the RCA's plug into and then plugs on the amp where they go-- you also need the guage wire (red) to hook from the battery (where your amp gets power) to also go back to hook up to your amp- the ground wire just hooks from the amp to a metal part on the body of your car (how mine is) Look at your amp and u will see all these labeled so its easy to tell where each wire hooks to-- Then yes like you said, there it regular speaker wire which goes from the amp to the sub woofers-- I actually have all these wires for sale if you want them--- or you can go to any car audio shop and buy an amp kit, depends on the place but they run around 60 dollars and up for them--- hope this makes some sense! It drives you crazy but stay with it--
Damon 95 SC
www.cardomain.com/id/frozenrope
 
Subwoofer cont...

Thanks for the post. Here's where I'm going with this...
Yes, It's a Pioneer head unit. I would like to use my old JBL subwoofer and its amp, with new wiring. I ran new power to amp, ground for amp, and hooked up the "blue" wire of the head unit, which is for turning on the amp from the head unit. But the rca plugs do not fit on the amp. How would I hook up the rca plugs from the head unit to the ford jbl sub amp?
 
The JBL amplifier uses a "balanced" input that is different from the rca output of your head unit. The best way to do what you are attempting is to use a medium sized aftermarket amplifier to replace the JBL. If you are determined to use the JBL amp, there is an adapter made by a company named Peripheral Electronics that will adapt the high level speaker wires coming from the Pioneer to the low level balanced input on the JBL. It makes it basically a plug and play situation. Another thing to consider is that the JBL subs dont last forever. If you pull it down and take a peek at it, you will probably find signs of the surround deteriorating. Ford's replacement sub is very expensive. I have had success exchanging it with a replacement driver from a Bazooka brand subwoofer. I have also removed the JBL box completely, reinforced the rear deck with Dynamat and MDF and mounted a 10" sub to the bottom of the rear deck firing through the OEM grille opening with good results. This works best if you totally seal off the rear deck and even better if you seal of behind the rear seat with MDF.
 
YES

I AGREE WITH "JP", I would not use the factory amp-- In my opinion it is very cheap and is probably a nasty pain to use with an aftermarket head unit-- I would definitely spend the extra bucks to get an aftermarket amp-- Im not even sure how you would wire RCA's to that factory amp- aftermarket will be much better in the long run and will sound better- Have your mid size speakers run off the pioneer head unit (there are four mids in the car right?) and then have the sub running off the aftermarket amp-- I have this setup in my SC with two 12" subs and it sounds just fine-- so if you only have one sub, it should sound very decent-- Im not sure how good the factory JBL sub is, but i would believe what JPPADULA says about it not lasting long-- if you have a few extra bucks lying around, i would even get an aftermarket sub-- if you shop around u can find one for very cheap, im not sure where u live but pawn shops are legal around where i live and that is where i got my subs already in a box and that was over 2 years ago and they still pound hard to this day with a 1200 watt amp and i still have no idea how old they are-- very cheap and well worth it-- Youll be happier in the long run and wont have to worry about anything else breaking down if go for the aftermarket stuff now while youre working on the car-- sorry so long-- good luck-
Damon
www.cardomain.com/id/frozenrope
 
I am using the factory speaker amp to power my speakers and its great for me. Someone bench tested the amps awhile back and found out they are pretty good actually. Can't remember where the stats are though
 
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