uakozak

Hey gang.. long time coming.. picked up my 2021 IS350 F sport a few months ago and finally done with this project .Wanted to share for those who want to do the same. Here is a video walk through of how I installed an 8" sub in an enclosure, a mono amp and a line out converter to make it all work.. I can say with confidence the car sounds perfect.... Not window shattering bass but a good enough amount to really feel it in your chest, even though I am still in the break in period and the bass **** is set to almost nothing.. Just for reference, I upgraded every single speaker in the car as well (8 of them: 3 dash, 4 doors and the OEM sub).. still wasn't enough bass without an external amp.. The upgraded sub in the factory location, which I made a post about on ClubLex, just wasn't drawing enough power from the OEM amp without an external amp. The stock sub removal process by the way, is an absolute PITA, sooo much trim. But luckily, I made another video on how to do it. You can find it on this forum.

So not getting my bass fix, I ended up adding yet another external sub in an enclosure with an amp to match.. Parts for everything below. Cost of project roughly $285. Although it is in my video, I am also including the wiring diagram and pin out for the amp for the 21+ IS series Lexus (non ML) just in case the link here dies in the future.. If you want to upgrade all of your speakers prior to doing this - You can probably skip the OEM sub replacement, just disconnect it.. OR use the below video to just add an additional amp to power an already replaced OEM sub which likely isn't getting enough power from the factory amp. I was going to do this but then I decided I wanted another sub in the trunk because - wife... The way I have this done, if my wife needs to use the car and doesn't want to bump some Gucci or Key Glock on her Target run - I can disconnect the amp and take out the sub and still have the benefit of the upgraded sub in the factory location. Luckily she rather enjoyed listening to the additional sub in the enclosure once I was done with it, to my surprise. You can definitely feel it in your chest like I said above. Happy to help with any question or details and YES I will be cleaning up the wiring ASAP.. waiting on some shorter RCAs and zip ties Cool

Quick update**

I said headlight in my video. it's obviously the tail light i was talking about. Count six from peach wire on tail light, then six on bottom backwards or direct opposite of what you had just seen and make your splice/cut for OEM subwoofer signal for the LOC. The last piece, tuning your subsonic setting: Your subwoofer enclosure will state what the Hz are for the tune.. Take 1/4 octave below that. So my box is tune is 41Hz 1/4 of that is 10.25.. meaning you just subtract that from the tuning number 41Hz and that's your setting.. So for me it's 32Hz.. Hope that makes sense

Video


Wiring diagram




Parts used

Subwoofer - Skar Audio Single 8" 700W Loaded SDR Series Vented Subwoofer Enclosure | SDR-1X8D2
Amp - Skar Audio RP-350.1D
LOC (Line out converter) - Kicker 46KISLOC2
Wiring harness - InstallGear 4 Gauge Amp Kit

T-taps, extra speaker wiring, small zip ties, tessa tape some basic tools needed as well

LeX2K

Couldn't you unwrap the tape on that grommet then push your wire through the middle where other wires are? Maybe I'm wrong couldn't see clearly in the video.

uakozak

I did try doing that, I also tried just slightly moving it out of the way and feeding the power through but it wouldn't budge. I used JB Weld liquid heat resistant sealant after i was done with it so should be good

ohiois350

iTrader: (13)

hi, thanks for the write up, I have the 21" IS350 non ML and also want to add a sub too, I have someone did add the sub to the car and never mention about the two wires go to the sub, do we have to cut off the wires or just t-tap those wires? If we just t-tap those wires and the factory sub still give sound along with the aftermarket sub? Thanks

uakozak

If i'm understanding you correctly, you're asking about just t-tapping the two subwoofer wires pre-amp instead of cutting them in half and will the oem sub also get power still? i decided to cut my original pre-amp wiring in half because every time i tried t tapping into it, Lexus made the rubber shield around said wires very thick so my t-taps just broke off or never fully penetrated the shield. as for - if the sub is still going to work after.. so when i disconnect my newly added amp and sub enclosure, the oem sub (mine is upgraded in that location) kicks on, so i still have the benefit of the upgraded sub in oem location like my post states. Not sure when both on, if they're both on still? i'd say yes? since there's power running to both

EDIT*.. i also think you may be asking what to do with the original subwoofer wires? You need to make your cuts/splices pre-amp, not by or around the original subwoofer wiring connection ? this way you will get the cleanest signal without any of the cool filtering features the OEM amp provides for said signal. your setup will sound great the way i showed.. otherwise not sure