If you have a factory ML system there is a fiber optic connection, I believe. But this is akin to having heart surgery and the doctor asks you "What is a heart?". Methinks, you might need a new stereo doctor.

 

I wouldn't let a BB installer sit in my car,let alone work on it.

 

That's pretty harsh, i work for BBY and know guys that work at the installtation bay. I only let one of the guys at our installation bay touch my car, he does great custom work. Most of our guys won't touch Lexus, Mercedes, Bmw's. They are certified but that don't really mean jack because it was only a test.

Not all installers are bad, you guys need to relax. They were man enough to say they can't do it.

BTW: Most of the installers learn as they work on cars lol.

-hass

 

I installed my own system with the ML, our car doesn't have fiber optic connection. It's hard analog wires.

Honestly installing car audio is not as hard as it looks. As long as you have the wiring diagram you're good to go. An experienced installer can do it without a wiring diagram. Using a voltage meter you can find out which wire is full range and which one is low freq.

 

At least you have one guy you can trust.Can you say that about all BB install shops?
I'm not too fond of learning as they work guys.

 

Some of the people over in the Lexus Audio, Video, Security & Electronics forum seem to think that there is a digital connection from the head unit to the amplifier, you might want to go set them straight.

 

Do you mind telling me where and what wires your tapped into for the LLC?

 

^^ usually its the speaker outputs from the amp

 

The sub output is Dual Voice coil, which means it has two sets of + and - wires. if you want to install just a subwoofer, you can simply tap into the subwoofer outputs from the factory amp and install one of these http://www.crutchfield.com/S-4yEdrok...42SLC4&tp=2001 They are available at almost any electronics store, and are usually less than $20. Make sure you buy one that has its own ground wire.

Here's a link to the wiring diagrams http://sr1.clublexus.com/forums/show...wiring+diagram the amp is located below the plastic piece on the right side of your trunk.

You need to tap into a wiring harness on the amp, Number 28 per the first PDF file's view.
You need to splice into the following wires:
Brown + (pin 1) and Light Green - (pin 5) for the first channel (Voicecoil1).
Pink + (pin 2) and Sky Blue - (pin 6) for the second channel (Voicecoil2).

Connect one channel (left or right)the RCA converter's input wires with brown & light green, then connect the other channel of the RCA converter to the pink and sky blue wires.

It is CRITICAL to make sure you have the correct polarities, if you reverse them, you will most likely burn up the inputs on your amp. Adjust the gain ***** (if RCA converter is equipped) to no greater than 75% of the total range.

One last thing, you CAN keep the factory sub hooked up for some extra kick; just make sure you have those polarities right, or you will be using the factory sub to steal sound!

 

If you have the ML system, your sub only has two wires, the stock Pioneer sub has 4 wires as someone just stated. I didn't just tap to the sub wires, I also tap onto the two front speakers then sum the signal.

 

Consider yourself SAVED!!!! my friend.

 

You are correct, the ML factory subwoofer has a single voice coil. in this case, disregard my instructions to connect the pink and sky blue wires... Connect both + wires from the converter to your brown wire, and both - wires from your converter to your Light Green wire.

So you connected the factory subwoofer outputs to the left and right outputs to make aftermarket amp inputs, correct?
--How did you 'sum the signal' without affecting factory speaker output?

If you simply connected (bridged) all the output wires, your factory powered front speakers now have 20-120hz going to them (subwoofer frequencies), and your subwoofer now has 120-20,000hz (mid/high frequencies) going to it. Plus, you bridged channels with discrete signals.

Even if you installed aftermarket amps for both your highs and your sub, you are still bridging your factory amp's outputs!
=>This will eventually destroy your factory amp. You could get lucky and destroy your line converter; or less lucky and destroy your aftermarket amp's inputs before killing the factory amp.

Either way, your setup will eventually fail.

 

Not all installers at BB and CC are morons, although a lot of them are. I worked for CC for 13 years and I've seen some really clean installs. Unfortunately, this was on their own personal cars!!

If you can do the job yourself, I would highly suggest that you do so.

 

The setup will fail if you bridge the channels before it going into the LLC. I'm not an installer by any means, i'm just another guy who loves DIY. Fortunately im not your average installer at CC or BB either. I input the signal wires into the LLC and I use a Y RCA to sum the channels up at the output. Now most amps on the market has a crossover that has a low pass ****. Only certain freq will be allow to enter the the amp so there won't be anything higher than 120hz can enter the sub.

I dont' want to explain everything all over again so please read this post that I made a while back.
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...74&postcount=9

 

Correct me if i am wrong but you DO NOT tap the signal from the HU. You should tap it from the AMP to the speakers for the LLC.

The wiring between the HU and AMP probably uses some sort of multi-plexing frequency according to BananaGS.

When i installed an AMP and SUB for several 2IS owners, i tapped the sub output from the AMP for the LLC.