darden

okay, i am having my JL 250/1 amp and two 10"W0s installed this sunday.

i have a 2004 IS300 SportCross.

Can anyone please tell me where the factory stereo amp is located so I can tap into the lines for my amp?

Thanks in advance!

RMMGS4

iTrader: (5)

It's located in the upper right hand side of the passenger footwell. Just remove the glove compartment and it will be visible on the right. A real pain to take out. Are you trying to tap into the low level or high level inputs?


In case you don't know, the front speakers are crossed over at the pre-amp level so that they don't play low bass. So tapping into the fronts will not get you any low freq. signal.

Since you have the Sportcross, I am not sure what your rear speaker configuration is, but on the sedan, each rear 6 x 9 speaker is a two way and is bi-amped. If this is the same set up for the Sportcross, then you can run your sub amp, by tapping into the low freq outputs of the rear speakers.

For my car, I tapped into the low level outputs which are located inside the amp. I just added RCA jacks by tapping off the circuit board. This gives a cleaner and lower noise signal than using high level outs.

darden

thank you. i am not installing my sub add-ons myself. i have a friend who got the installer who works at his stereo shop to do it for me. the installer asked me where the factory amp was since he has never done a sportcross before. knowing where the factory amp will eliminate his search and make his job easier.

anyway, we want to tap into the high level inputs. if possible, we are going to tap into the wires between the factory unit and the factory amp to get a cleaner sound and signal.

the sportcross does come with an additional factory subwoofer in the back. (a total of 9 speaker system instead of 8 in the sedan). someone posted here with very detailed instructions and pictures of sub installation on the sportcross. he tapped into the wires that went into the factory subwoofer. BUT he did use a line output converter. i forget if his amp was able to take speaker level inputs or not.

the JL audio 250/1 amp does have speaker-level inputs so i don't think i need a line output converter. i will be adding a bass controller as well.

tapping the factory sub wires is probably much easier since the factory sub is located in the cargo area on the right side. BUT i have heard that tapping into the wires before the amp is better. well, i do not know too much about all this stereo installation thing. i just want my system to sound great. hehe.

anyway, i think knowing where the factory amp is will greatly help the professional (the stereo installer friend of my friend) to do his job.

well, what do you guys think? just tap into the factory sub wires or tap to the wires before the amp?

i am going to see the installer today and tell him what's up and where things are located.

thanks for the info. greatly appreciated.

Coryphaena

I know this is a really old thread, but I am desperate. I want to know as much as possible about the stock audio setup in my 2002 sportcross. Speaker sizes, locations, amplifiers, anything and everything! Please let me know if you can help.