[DIY] Sub & Amp off STOCK Head Unit

[LD_Mart]

Disclaimer: The following is provided as a GUIDE ONLY, and neither myself nor Ozhonda take any responsibility for the outcomes of someone else doing the following. You follow these steps at your own risk!



Aim: Install Amp + Sub on stock head unit
Required: 8 gauge AMP wiring kit
High to Low Converter
Electrical wire
Wire tappers, Crimps
Tools - Drill, Screw driver set, Voltage Meter, 10 Spanner
Electrical Tape, Crimps, Cable ties
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i308/danny_mart/Tools.jpg


Handy Info Before Starting
How to use wire tappers -
Simply get the two cables which need to be joined together.
Slot them in the holes making sure they dont overlap each other.
once they are inline close the lid peircing the two wires.
best of using some pliers to secure the lid down and making sure the
metal piece has pierced the two wires.
You can buy these from any auto or electrical store . 10 for $3 AUS.
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i308/danny_mart/FuseTapper1.jpghttp://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i308/danny_mart/Wiresinfusetapperbetter.jpghttp://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i308/danny_mart/Closedfusetapper.jpg

Scratching Dash & Trim- Be careful with the dash and trim as the screw drivers leave scratch marks everywhere.

Taping Cable Black- I taped my cables black in eletrical tape to try and hide them it worked out better then seeing a red cable everywhere.

DIY



Step 1
Undo Dash so you can feed the power cable from the battery
Undoing the dash is pretty simple. With a flathead screw driver just pull away the corner piece first, you have to apply force But making sure you dont break the clips
then undo the screw and pull down on the dash peice to remove the dash under the steering wheel this will give you a clear view of everything under the steering wheel.
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i308/danny_mart/Step1.jpg
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i308/danny_mart/Step2.jpg

Step 2
Connect the Power cable to Battery then wire the cable to the inline fuse and screw it down to the fuse box
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i308/danny_mart/Connectingcabletobattery.jpg
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i308/danny_mart/Fusebox.jpg
Step 3
Find the firewall hole Which is behind the engine and feed the cable through which comes in above the clutch.
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i308/danny_mart/Holeontheoutside.jpg
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i308/danny_mart/thorughfirewall.jpg
Step 4
Remote Cable - Turns amp on and off
Wiring the remote cable is easy you just tap into the ciggie lighter.
The grey cable was the positive cable on my ciggie lighter so just tapped into that..Also my little diagram
shows how to wire up the switch so you can turn the amp on & off
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i308/danny_mart/Image-18.jpg
Step 5
Running the cables down the car - As im only using 8 gauge it was simple to run the cables underneath the foot step thing on the side of the car then simply all the way through to under the seats.
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i308/danny_mart/TuckingCables.jpg
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i308/danny_mart/CablesUnderrearseat.jpg

Step 6
Ground Cable - Found an easy spot to ground the cable Simply under the back seat in the middle is a screw. Just undo it and ground your cable on that.
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i308/danny_mart/GroundCable.jpg

Step 7
Feed the cables through to the boot. In the middle of the back seat you will look up and see the light through to the boot(if the boot is open). Feed the cables through that hole and get a friend to help you pull it through.
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i308/danny_mart/CablesComingThroughboot.jpg

Step 8
Getting to the speakers
Using a flat head lift up the cup-holder part and be careful once again not to mark the surroundings.
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i308/danny_mart/Steponetospeakers.jpg

Once that part is up you will discover 6 screws undo them.
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i308/danny_mart/UndoScrewsstep2speakers.jpg

Then pull the speaker cover part off ( you may need to use your flathead to pull this part up a little)
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i308/danny_mart/Step4speakers.jpg

Step 9
Installing the High to Low Converter
undo the top screw on the speaker and pull the speaker towards you with force. Once the speaker is out unclip the speaker.
You will have the speaker cables Tap a wire into the left and right cable.
It doesnt matter which cable ends up being left and right as long as you remember and it works out to be the same each side.
wire this down and through the little hole below the speaker and all the way down under the trim till you reach below the seat and wire onto the High to Low Converter.
Then Repeat on the other side
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i308/danny_mart/Step5Speakers.jpg
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i308/danny_mart/Hilowtoconverter.jpg


Step 11
Connect RCAs and feed the RCAs up through the hole towards the boot.
Then mount the High to Low converter to the bottom of the seat using the drill make small holes for the screws to go in
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i308/danny_mart/RCAsTohitolow.jpg

Step 12
hook up all the neccassry wires up to the amp and mount amp or use a custom sub box like me.(thanks SITTA)
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i308/danny_mart/SubBox.jpg

Step 13
enjoy your new sound system

http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i308/danny_mart/SubandAmpinmycar.jpg


Other Comments -
Wanna turn off the SUB - i installed a kill switch as there is no way to turn off the amp. I did this by tapping into the remote cable and wiring one cable from the brake and one from towards the amp then wired them across under the steering wheel. Then underneath the centre console and drilling to small holes on each corner of the cup holder. Fed the cables through and put a switch in there.

How long did it take?? about 2 hours with a lunch a break

Easy way for remote cable - use the cigarette lighter in the boot. I never knew it was there till the end.

[VTi_b0i]

pretty awsome man :) 8 guage is a little small tho

[LD_Mart]

pretty awsome man :) 8 guage is a little small tho

Only running a 300RMS amp and a 150RMS sub just to get a little bit of bass happening...

[VTi_b0i]

ahh i see i see... yeahh huge bass is over rated :thumbsup:

[sitta]

did you upgrade your front speakers by any chance? you really should

[FD2R]

good written up n nice pic. thx for sharing. :D

[Dy_]

dude can you pm me with the wiring of the dead switch? did you just put a switch inbetween the remote wire?

[n/a]

so the sub is running off the front speaker connection?

[LD_Mart]

No off the rear speakers....
so in the rear you get all the bass in the sub and all the treble in the speakers...
works amazingly...

[n/a]

where did you buy your high to low convertor?

[LD_Mart]

jay car for like 10 bucks and havent had any problems with it...
had a 90 buck alpine one and it was sh**...

[n/a]

cool, there are a bunch of convertors that range between $40-100 and i've only heard bad things about them. jaycar i come!

[LD_Mart]

well you cant really go wrong for 10bucks...

[n/a]

you must have gotten a discount, they're retailed at $14.95 on the website, $13 if you buy 2

[n/a]

you know how you've spliced the sub input cables with the rear speakers, would there be any issues with the splice? would the signal be strong enough to hit the amp plus the rear speakers?

[LD_Mart]

the signal doesnt change by splicing the wires...

[shinji112]

would this work the same with a FD1 07 civic? coz my friend wants to do pretty much the same thing and i was thinking this was the way to do this! but it didnt cross my mind that u needed a killswitch for the amp! damn stock HU!

[LD_Mart]

yeh did exact same in my old FD2...
kill switch isnt that hard all u do is cut the remote wire in half and wire each end to a switch...
FD2 you just run the remote cable off the cigarette lighter which i later did in my FN2..

[shinji112]

at the end of your tutorial (thanks for making it btw :D) you said theres a cigarette lighter in ur boot?! but im guessing just pull out the ciggie lighter in the dash and wire a killswitch there

im a bit inexperienced when it comes to the newer cars.. so much easier to just get an aftermarket HU!

[LD_Mart]

dont worry i learned from trial and error with my FD...

yeh so u just get the remote wire and wire it in to the ciggie lights...

then split in two..

heres my dodgy little pic

http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i308/danny_mart/Image-18.jpg

[danjoy25]

I installed a sub and amp yesterday to get more bass on my FD1. I pretty much followed where to wire the amp remote on the brown cable of the brake pedals but I just noticed today ever time I hit the brakes the sub cuts off. My wife was actually laughing as she noticed it and I told her I need to drive without braking. Too late to rewire now and will try to fix it next week .:o:eek:
I will update next weekend if the Brown cable on the FD1 actually cuts power when brake pedal is press.

[Frost_FD]

Hey LD_Mart i just hooked up my sub and amp but i am still getting bass through my stock speakers how do i stop this?

Im using an alpine converter atm..... would the jay car converter fix this problem?

[LD_Mart]

which alpine converter there is quite a few...
but a high low converter take low frequencies from the speakers and puts them to the sub.
i think the alpine ones keep the same sound coming from the speakers and still takes low frequencies to the sub.
but u should be able to tune it...

[Frost_FD]

I may have miss interperate my self correctly.

I can tune the sub through my amp for only low frequencies to go to my sub, but my stock speakers are from my stock hu which i would like to reduce the bass coming from that.

I have talked to a few people and the best thing to do is to get a new hu and another amp with new speakers. I think this is the option i will take.... even though it will cost me another 1grand or abit more..

[eternityz]

o.o i connect my remote or turn-on wire into the deck, amp turns on when the deck is on

[LD_Mart]

thats great...but the point is;
what happens if u dont want ur sub but u still want the radio on,
u need to turn of the mono block but thats why u need the switch...

[na-118]

yeah thats the remote wire from the deck but a switch you can make in 2 seconds, just get speaker wire, plug the wires into the switch and the other 2 ends into battery in remote easy switch for cops and shit

[LD_Mart]

or u can just do it my way and save all the hassle u just said..
there is no remote cable from a stock HU thats why u have to use the ciggie lighter and that is always on when the car is on.
So that is why u need the switch...

[tomoeuro]

I may have miss interperate my self correctly.

I can tune the sub through my amp for only low frequencies to go to my sub, but my stock speakers are from my stock hu which i would like to reduce the bass coming from that.

I have talked to a few people and the best thing to do is to get a new hu and another amp with new speakers. I think this is the option i will take.... even though it will cost me another 1grand or abit more..

Hi mate, the same signal is going to go to both the speakers and the hi-low converter. The converter just converts the full signal it is getting to a low pass signal to the amp and the speaker will still get the full signal, if you want less bass on the speakers turn it down with the headunit.

cheers tom