jejagua

Greets,

I will be installing a Kicker sub amp, ZX300.1 soon and have a few specific questions that I haven't found discussed yet.

I'll be adding this to a stock IS250, Nav, non-ML. I will likely use the Scosche LOC, tap/remove the factory sub and tap one of the door speakers.

Q1: I have read the non-ML stock sub has dual voice coils, so it has four leads. Do I have to tap both the circuits? The Kicker amp only has two RCA inputs, so this will max them, denying me the ability to tap a door speaker.

Q2: The Kicker amp has Left / Right line level RCA inputs. Does this mean it mixes L/R into the mono sub output?

Q3: I'm assuming the LOC places the correct load on the circuit? How is this energy dissipated? I don't want to in any way compromise my stock amp. Removing the factory sub means there's no load. This won't harm the amp?

Looking forward to adding more bass. Thanks.

jejagua

Suggestions anyone? I'll be receiving the amp soon and would need to nail down my installation plan. Thanks in advance.

cmusic

Q1: Yes, tap all four wires. The color code is :

left sub:Brown +, light green -

right sub:Pink +, Blue -

Q2: Yes, the amp will mono the signal.

Q3: Yes, the LOC will put the correct load on the factory amp.

Also the factory amp has a 30 Hz sub sonic filter built in. If the Kicker amp has a subsonic filter, turn it off.

jejagua

Excellent. Thanks for replying. If I tap all four factory sub wires, then I cannot also tap one of the door speakers, correct? Others have suggested taping a door speaker to get more dynamic sound into the aftermarket sub, but I believe they have ML and their stock sub only has a single voice coil.

kiddolay

I just tap it to my stock sub and it sounds pretty good for me. And from what I remember, the pink wire on the stock amp is for ACC (if you didn't already know that).

SpaceCadet

I really dont see a need to tap into the door speakers to sum the frequency. It will be more work to get a fuller range just to have it cut off around 80 hz or below in the end.

cmusic

The sub plays 30 to 80 Hz with 12 dB/oct slopes. The mids play 50 to 1 KHz with 12 dB slopes. Unless you want to play bass higher than 80 Hz through your sub then I see no reason to use the door speaker wires. And as stated above, you would need to sum the sub and door speaker wires together (using something like the AudioControl LC8) to get a good 30 Hz to above 80 Hz signal). BTW, in my car I run my aftermarket sub 35 or 40 Hz and down with a 24 db/oct slope nearly all of the time.

jejagua

So, I really don't need the LOC, since the Kicker amp has speaker level inputs? In this scenario then, the only advantage of the LOC is that it allows Gain Adjustments.

The amp has a tiny (only 1/2 in wide), four conductor plug for the speaker level inputs. I'm not sure if the amp comes with the plug, or how higher gauge wire interfaces with the plug.

The Kicker amp has a fixed 25Hz subsonic filter. Will that interfere with the subsonic filter in the factory amp?

cmusic

If the amp has speaker level inputs then they could be used. If the amp does not come with a speaker level input plug then call your Kicker dealer or Kicker themselves.

The 25 Hz subsonic filter in the amp should not hurt or interfere with the one in the factory amp.

jejagua

I completed my install yesterday. I used the Scosche LOC, removed the factory sub and tapped its four leads. I installed a Rockford Fosgate PL1-112 Stage 1 12", and a Kicker ZX300.1. The sound is passable, but as predicted, there is a significant lack of mid-bass.

I referred to this thread describing how summing in a door speaker brings up the mid-bass. Those guys have ML though and their factory sub only has one voice coil, therefor it's easy for them to let the sub amp sum the two inputs.

On my stock system though, the factory sub has dual voice coils. I'm assuming this is for L/R. What would be the implications of dropping one of those and adding a front speaker via the Scosche?

Other than that, are there any quick n cheap methods for me to bring up the mid-bass?

What about putting back the factory sub and leaving the pass-thru open?

jejagua

I'm still interested in adding additional mid-bass. Does anyone have a recommendation based on my previous post, or a quck'ndirty alternate method? I don't want to tear back into my installation and experimenting without a sanity check.

Fearlessfx

go into the audio settings and turn up the 'MID' in the sound equalizer thingy.

hohoho im a noob

jejagua

That turns up the mid-range not the mid-bass.

cmusic

You would have to sum the midbass and sub together to get sounds above 80Hz to the aftermarket amp and sub. Something like the JL Audio CL-SSI would mix the sub and midbass outputs into one and then send them onto your amp. You can buy the CL-SSI at Crutchfield.

Technique

This sounds like the best idea to me... I don't know much about the non-ML system, but yes, to get more mid-bass, you'll have to sum the inputs from your door speaker and factory sub together and blend it to your tastes so you have a nice 30hz-120hz (or whatever) range...