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How do I wire a subwoofer and amp?

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Old 11-24-2006, 02:57 AM
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Default How do I wire a subwoofer and amp?

Im obviously no audiophile, but i want to get a subwoofer for my xB and I dont have the money to pay someone to install it.
I know how to wire the subwoofer to the amp, but I dont know how I should go about getting power and signal to the amp. Can I just attach the ground to the frame, and run the positive directly to the battery?
Do I need to run wires all the way to the headunit for signal, because I really dont want to take apart my dash.
Would it be possible to just get the signal by wiring the amp in paralell with one of the rear speakers?

As simple as these questions may sound I have spent quite a bit of time searching for answers here and elsewhere to no avail.


Thank you for your help.
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Old 11-24-2006, 03:03 AM
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this question has been asked a 1000 times and answered 999 times...
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Old 11-24-2006, 03:07 AM
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for the ground u can hook it up anywhere on ur car that is attached to metal, the power u run straight from the battery like you said. then you will need jacks to run to the amp from the headunit. if u have the stock head unit, you will need a converter, if u have an aftermarket unit it should have jacks. then the remote wire which is mostly the color blue. that goes from your head unit to the amp.. hope that helps and didnt confuse you more. i think i got it right.lol..
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Old 11-24-2006, 03:24 AM
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thanks WiCkEd TrInI, that kinda helps, but is bad news. I have the stock Ipod headunit.
what does the converter do, turn the regular signal into one with only lower notes for the sub?

L4rry B1rd, I DID use the search feature, several attempts actually, here on SL and google but could not find any information specific to the xB and our factory headunit. If searching is so easy for you, I would greatly appreciate you posting a link to one of the 999 threads this question has been answered in.
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Old 11-24-2006, 01:08 PM
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The converter reduces the power from your head unit speaker outputs down to a level that will not damage the input of the amplifier. Your other option is to buy an amplifier that accepts speaker level inputs, although most would not recommend that because the amps usually aren't the best quality.

You can do searches on line level converter, line out converter, and LOC and you should find some good information. Go to Ebay and search with line level converter and you can see exactly what one looks like.
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Old 11-24-2006, 01:31 PM
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it took me under 3min to find at least 1 thread that had a step by step walkthrough of how to hook up an amp. If not you can easily piece together the information you need by finding a wiring diagram for a stock HU on this site, and basic witing skills etc...

by posting this, you're pretty much saying that out of the whole internet, you couldnt find BASIC audio information?
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Old 11-24-2006, 01:50 PM
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And yet you didn't even post a link to the walkthrough in this thread larry, I was hoping to find an actual walkthrough for the xB, best places to run wires, etc, Im sure I could figure it out on my own but its nice to get some help.

Thanks for the info chadfo.
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Old 11-24-2006, 02:06 PM
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wow, took even less time than I posted. 30 seconds MAX:

https://www.scionlife.com/forums/vie...re+amp+install

found it on the 2nd page of my search results.
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Old 11-24-2006, 03:32 PM
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I just took a quick glance at guide and I don't agree with one major thing in it. Do NOT run the power wire around the edge of the main harness gromet as you see in the second picture. The biggest reason is you are putting the wire on a relatively sharp edge. It's just a matter of time before the cable sheathing will fail and ground out. Also, the gromet doesn't do what it's intended to when it's pushed aside like that.

Cut a small hole in the fat edge of the gromet and run through there. Find some putty or at least tape to seal it back up.
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Old 11-24-2006, 06:15 PM
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Originally Posted by L4rry_B1rd
wow, took even less time than I posted. 30 seconds MAX:

https://www.scionlife.com/forums/vie...re+amp+install

found it on the 2nd page of my search results.
Dude! Whats up! you have been kind of negative lately?


John
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Old 11-24-2006, 06:19 PM
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SkuzzleButt= there is a guy on here that goes by gnizzle that sells a kit on ebay for the stock hu, I think it is call euro_werks. This is perfect for what you are looking for. Remember keep power wires and signal wires away from each other and have a good ground.



John
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Old 11-24-2006, 06:27 PM
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Originally Posted by jallamas
Originally Posted by L4rry_B1rd
wow, took even less time than I posted. 30 seconds MAX:

https://www.scionlife.com/forums/vie...re+amp+install

found it on the 2nd page of my search results.
Dude! Whats up! you have been kind of negative lately?


John
I think Ive been on this site too long. I see the same damn questions asked 100 times. If people would use the search function, it would keep the needless posts to a minimum and help the site not be slow as a turtle...
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Old 11-24-2006, 06:33 PM
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Originally Posted by L4rry_B1rd
Originally Posted by jallamas
Originally Posted by L4rry_B1rd
wow, took even less time than I posted. 30 seconds MAX:

https://www.scionlife.com/forums/vie...re+amp+install

found it on the 2nd page of my search results.
Dude! Whats up! you have been kind of negative lately?


John
I think Ive been on this site too long. I see the same damn questions asked 100 times. If people would use the search function, it would keep the needless posts to a minimum and help the site not be slow as a turtle...
I agree!
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Old 11-26-2006, 05:58 AM
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someone help me out... if people stop asking questions then there will be no more new topics because basically everything has been discussed.. Am i wrong? i was jus thinkin that.. =-/
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Old 11-26-2006, 06:04 AM
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on an aftermarket unit the driver for the amp is a blue wire, you can buy an amp wiring kit on ebay for the stock unit though
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Old 11-26-2006, 06:07 AM
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http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/SCION...spagenameZWDVW
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Old 11-26-2006, 06:17 AM
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Originally Posted by L4rry_B1rd
I think Ive been on this site too long. I see the same damn questions asked 100 times. If people would use the search function, it would keep the needless posts to a minimum and help the site not be slow as a turtle...
Then ignore them.

Like WiCkEd_TrInI said, that's what forums are all about... I remember how difficult it was to find answers to a couple of specific questions i had about wiring my amp and didn't want to post cause of people like you that make others feel like sh_t for asking a question. Look up forum and see what it means...

At the least you could mention using the search but ALSO provide links, otherwise don't bother.
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Old 11-26-2006, 06:24 AM
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look I can't tell you how many times I've seen a person listing a part and another person going behind them and saying they want a that part, so I do them both a favor and post each other's links and names in their threads, and everyone has a different question sometimes its easier to ask the same question, just so you can keep the post from being 30+ pages long
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Old 11-26-2006, 04:07 PM
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Originally Posted by Taugenichts
Originally Posted by L4rry_B1rd
I think Ive been on this site too long. I see the same damn questions asked 100 times. If people would use the search function, it would keep the needless posts to a minimum and help the site not be slow as a turtle...
Then ignore them.

Like WiCkEd_TrInI said, that's what forums are all about... I remember how difficult it was to find answers to a couple of specific questions i had about wiring my amp and didn't want to post cause of people like you that make others feel like sh_t for asking a question. Look up forum and see what it means...

At the least you could mention using the search but ALSO provide links, otherwise don't bother.
I did post a link... one of many available

and if you need to ask a question, why not post it in the thread that already exists? prob get better responses since you demonstrate that you actually searched and are making an effort to figure out your problem... lot easier to build on the info available rather than start all over again.
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Old 11-26-2006, 07:16 PM
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The search feature sucks ___ on this site. If ScionLife switched to vBulletin then the search would actually bring reasonable results.
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