dchen2

Hi guys, I just a month ago bought a 01 GS430. My car came with the Nav but unfortunately did not include the mark levinson sound (the only nav equipped GS430 I seen without it but it had everything I wanted plus at a awesome price). The sound system is really good but coming from a old car that had a $2000 sound system setup consisting of a (I really am a basshead) a RF Power 600.4 (for the high/mids) and a RF Power 1000.1 powering a JL Audio 10W7, I am really missing the bass.

However, I obviously can't put in a new whole soundsystem without taking out the nav and am really satisfied with the stock system's mids/highs, is there any way I can just add an extra amp/single sub for some more oomp? I heard that you can add a line converter or something like that so to use the existing head unit, is that possible with the 2nd gen nav equiped GS's?

Also, if I add that new amp/sub combo, will that disable the factory 8 in the rear or if it still leaves that alone, should I disable the 8" to minimize bass interference or anything like that?

Sorry if this issue was brought up before, tried searching but without a specific term, was not able to find any good answers. Thanks all!

jayyyy

you can still use the fact navi but if you want a good quality converter id go with something like the jl clean sweep. i think converters cost from 30+ but id invest some money into the converter if you dont plan on an aftermarket ddin

and i forgot. remove the fact sub from the rear and have them cut and tuck the wires. id save the sub for later if you plan on selling the car and they want it stock

dchen2

Thanks Jay! So would it be a good idea to take out the sub and then position the new sub box facing upward under the new 8inch hole under the rear deck so the bass has somewhere to go? My former car was a F150 so I am not too familiar with the placement of a sub in the trunk but I imagine since the rear seats don't fold down if I did a conventional placement of sub facing towards the trunk led, the bass would have a tough time going through the rear seats.

Anyone know how powerful the stock pioneer 8" free air sub is? I am really dissapionted by the little amount of bass the sub puts out.

Also, any recommendations for sub/amps? I doubt I will use my old RF 1000watt rms mono amp and JL Audio W7 sub since I don't want to go through the trouble of dynomating the whole rear of the car and the huge (1.75ft 1.5" mdf) sealed box will have a tough time fitting without taking up the whole trunk. My friend has a used Alphine 10" DVC Type R sub and DB Drive 600watt rms amp he wants to sell me and I might use that.

Oh yes, and about how powerful can the sub amp be before I need to think about either upgrading the alternator or battery?

UberNoob

for my setup, my amp has high level input so i didnt need low level converter

i left the stock sub hole there so let air into the cabin from the trunk and just have the sub in a sealed box facing the opening of the trunk from the nook behind the seats

hardest part is wiring the power all the way from battery (with inline fuse near the battery) all the way into cabin and back to the trunk

dchen2

How would i know if my amp has high level inputs? do they look like the regular red/white double connection signal wires that the low level inputs use?

Also, if I buy a new 4gauge amp install kit, would the power and ground wires be long enough or would i need longer signal, power, and ground wires? Thanks!

UberNoob

the wires from the kit should be long enuf

high lvl input on amp uses either clips or screws to secure the wires

the red and white are low level inputs for RCA
if ur amp only has those inputs then ull need a low lvl converter

heres a thread of me asking lots and lots of questions before i did my upgrade
my car is 01 GS300 w/ Navigation but without the ML/nakamichi package
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...ight=subwoofer

thanks to all the helpful CL elites, that thread answered just about all the questions i had, hopefully it can help u too

edit: btw this thread should be moved to audio section
audio section can be accessed from the main forums page, just need to scroll down a bit

dchen2

ubernoob, what kind of amp do you have? would you mind taking some pics or maybe pointing out the types of connectors on a stock picture of a amp?

Right now I plan on gathering the ingredients since just today i made the decision i wanted to upgrade my sub. I do plan on the sub and amp professionally installed, hopefully it turns out well. Also, do you know if there is rem wire I can tap into to turn the amp/sub on and off with the audio system?

I remember one of my friends who had a LLC had the problem of his sub going out of control and making a horrible racket whenever he turned off his stereo. If possible, I would like to avoid it here.

P.S., thanks for the link to your old thread, that cleared up alot of questions for me. Mind if you take some pics of how your current sub fits in your trunk? My JL W7 is in a huge 1.75 cubic feet sealed box that I know won't fit in the rear and my friend's 10" Alpine Type R is in a 1.25 cubic feet box which is still pretty big.

Also, how much did your install cost you for installing the amp, taking out the old sub and wiring the LLC? Thanks!

UberNoob

i took out the old sub myself
my amp is Alpine MRP-M200 which has been discontinued for a few years, i got mine used
sub is A/D/S A10S

heres the PDF of the manual for the amp which has some diagrams on it
http://www.sendmefile.com/00474105
for my amp, theres a square socket which needs an adapter to connect to the amp and speaker wire from stock sub wires where i clipped

basically the adapter turned out to be the same as a PC's 12 volt Pentium 4 motherboard 4 pin power plug so i got a spare plug from my friend and soldered my own adapter from it

ill take some pics sometime but i dont have a digital camera right now so it will take a while b4 i finish my current roll of film
if u still want the pic of the trunk let me know


btw check out my reply in this sub upgrade thread just 1 below ur thread in audio section
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=243254

since i did the world myself taking out the old sub
i was charged only $154 CAD by a very reputable and trustworthy shop
its important not to cheap out IMO
since they had to run the power line thru the console and stuff, i didnt want any inexperienced installers scratching up my interior

jayyyy

it not very hard to run your power wires. i installed my 0 guage kicker wires by myself in my 99 gs400.i saved myself lots of money . installing the wires such as the rca's rem and power and ground only took me about hour and a half too.

okiaristo

about 700 Watts till you get dimming if you push it.

the lack of control your buddies system showed was probably due to the turn on/off time of the amp or the source used to cut power to tell the amp to shut off. either it took to long to shut off and you could hear the signal from the deck turning off (the flutter or thump sound) or it was loud on its own.. if you use the factory turn on/off from the radio you should have 0 problems.

dchen2

Cool, thanks guys! Got a quote for $80 to install the amp and plug in the LLC from a local and reputable audio shop. Just ordered a 4gauge wiring kit from ebay and my friend has a used LLC he can give me so this weekend or next week sometime I am getting a new sub!

Cheers!

dchen2

Ok guys, complete turnaround in audio upgrade plans. I was researching the alpine 10" Type R sub and 500watt DB Drive amp my friend wanted to sell to me for $200 and it turns out the DB Drive brand is pretty junky according to other people's experiences. My friend's amp is their lower level speed ratings and is not even rated stable at 2ohms bridged, so I am asking for trouble with the amp. Also, I was checking out the alpine type R and I am just not that impressed by them.

Rather, I found myself constantly thinking about JL Audio again since I had their 10W7 sub in my old truck which I just barely included as a package to a very interested buyer (the W7's box takes up wayyyy too much space anyways.)

So now I am thinking about getting either a 10" or 12" JL Audio W6V2, heard some great things about them and depending on several approaching ebay auctions, it looks like I can either score a bare 10" for ~$175 (I got a leftover small .7cube feet sealed box I can use) or a 12" in a JL prowedge box for ~$260.

And as for amp alternatives, since I had such good experiences with rockford fosgate amps (abet with older, higher quality power line) that I am thinking about either getting a used 500.1 bd off ebay for ~125-150 or a Type RF X5 (mono 550 amp that is part of rockford's old higher than power line of amps) for ~175.

I reason, I might as well as do my setup right the first time around. With my last car, I ended up upgrading multiple times due to me trying to cheap out in the beginning so this time I figure I will save myself the hassle.

Wow... my original planned expenses of $300 just doubled to $600 and thats just for labor and parts for a sub/amp addon?

So to conclude, have you guys heard any horror stories or (hopefully) good stories about either the JL Audio W6V2 series or the Rockford Fosgate (03-04 model years) 500.1 bd or Team RF Type X5 amps?

Think I am making a wise decision here?

okiaristo

better gear no doubt. GL

UberNoob

looks like you already know to avoid newer rockford fosgate stuff

good stuff u r getting
good luck with the setup

Alan D

I did the same, pulled out the stock sub and wired its leads to the high level input on my amp. I'm running a JL E1200 amp pushing a ported box with 2 12'
s. Takes up too much trunk space some I'm going to build a small sealed box for a single 12.

And yes, wiring was a lot of work. These cars are sealed up really well. Of course most of the time was spent trying to decide how to run the wires, once you have the plan, it goes quickly.