Need help with subwoofer install

[FineVisionz]

Hello,

I know this is probably a common question but I am still lost. The local audio shop wanted $400 for a new box that fits my trunk, LOC, and install. I think that is way too much so I want to try to install it my self.

I have a 2015 BRZ that still has it's stock head unit (which I do not want to replace) I already have a Kicker CompR 12in subwoofer, a Kenwood x500-1 amplifier, and all the cables. All from when it was installed my last vehicle. I do believe that I need a Line Out Converter. The AudioControl LC2i is the one I had in mind.

I have read through forum posts and youtube videos but none of the ones I have seen are super clear as they are using different amplifiers (2 vs 4 channel, RCA vs non RCA hookups) and different line out converters.

Where I am primarily confused is how do I hook up the line out converter.

Any shared knowledge/forum/videos would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
FineVisionz
2015 Subaru BRZ Series.Blue

[Yanbags]

The point of the line out converter is to get low-level RCA inputs for your sub amplifier. Aftermarket headunits already have the RCA output so that's why it's easy to wire directly to the amp.

The LOC INPUT just needs to tap into your L and R speaker outputs from the OEM headunit. You could just tap into the speaker wires at the rear speakers.

Then from the LOC, you just run RCA cables on the sub output into your amplifier that will power the kicker sub. Would look like this without the extras:

Look at diagram #1 from audio control's doc on it, that's exactly what you're trying to do. It's very simple: https://www.audiocontrol.com/downloa...sales-note.pdf

BTW...if you're still looking for an enclosure, I have a 10" subwoofer enclosure from IntegrityConcepts that is custom fit to the trunk (with a JL Audio 10W0v3-4 speaker in it). I sold the BRZ so don't have a need for it anymore. Looks like this:

[toast]

All you need is help with the installation of the LOC? Drop the rear seatback flat and remove the trunk floor covering. Driver side toward the front of the trunk on the floor you will find a small square aluminum cage. Remove the 2 or 3 10mm bolts that hold it down. Underneath it is the amp that powers the door speakers. Search the forum for 'door speaker amp wiring' and in one of them your will find which wires you need to splice into - you will find + and - for each channel as well as power. Ground the LOC wherever you ground your sub amp. If you hear alternator noise in the sub when you are done you can get RCA isolators to put inline.

Most LOC are 2 channel, but you can just combine them into 1 with a simple RCA y line if your amp doesn't have 2 RCA inputs.

If they are building and carpeting a new box and running a dedicated power line with fuse in the engine bay, through the firewall back to the sub amp and then mounting the sub amp $400 is not a lot of money. At all. Anything beyond the most simple of sub boxes will take a few hours to make, then they have to remove a decent amount of your interior and find a place to run the power line. If they break tabs off of the interior panels when they remove them and they won't reinstall correctly they have to pay for them. When you do it you will have to pay for the new panels.

I was a car audio installer during college. There were countless times that someone came for a price, said it was too high, tried to do it themselves and then came back for me to fix their screw up at an even higher price because they made more problems that I had to fix. I don't want to judge you but if you are asking for help just to install a LOC I really don't think you are ready to tackle this project.

YMMV

[FineVisionz]

Originally Posted by toast

All you need is help with the installation of the LOC? Drop the rear seatback flat and remove the trunk floor covering. Driver side toward the front of the trunk on the floor you will find a small square aluminum cage. Remove the 2 or 3 10mm bolts that hold it down. Underneath it is the amp that powers the door speakers. Search the forum for 'door speaker amp wiring' and in one of them your will find which wires you need to splice into - you will find + and - for each channel as well as power. Ground the LOC wherever you ground your sub amp. If you hear alternator noise in the sub when you are done you can get RCA isolators to put inline.

Most LOC are 2 channel, but you can just combine them into 1 with a simple RCA y line if your amp doesn't have 2 RCA inputs.

If they are building and carpeting a new box and running a dedicated power line with fuse in the engine bay, through the firewall back to the sub amp and then mounting the sub amp $400 is not a lot of money. At all. Anything beyond the most simple of sub boxes will take a few hours to make, then they have to remove a decent amount of your interior and find a place to run the power line. If they break tabs off of the interior panels when they remove them and they won't reinstall correctly they have to pay for them. When you do it you will have to pay for the new panels.

I was a car audio installer during college. There were countless times that someone came for a price, said it was too high, tried to do it themselves and then came back for me to fix their screw up at an even higher price because they made more problems that I had to fix. I don't want to judge you but if you are asking for help just to install a LOC I really don't think you are ready to tackle this project.

YMMV

I'm pretty sure I can do it, I just want to make sure the information I have read is correct. I have installed car audio equipment in the past, but just never with a LOC.

Also, I found this on Ebay. The seller said it would work in my vehicle.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Add-An-Amp-...d&shqty=1#shId
Any thoughts?

[FineVisionz]

Originally Posted by Yanbags

The point of the line out converter is to get low-level RCA inputs for your sub amplifier. Aftermarket headunits already have the RCA output so that's why it's easy to wire directly to the amp.

The LOC INPUT just needs to tap into your L and R speaker outputs from the OEM headunit. You could just tap into the speaker wires at the rear speakers.

Then from the LOC, you just run RCA cables on the sub output into your amplifier that will power the kicker sub. Would look like this without the extras:

Look at diagram #1 from audio control's doc on it, that's exactly what you're trying to do. It's very simple: https://www.audiocontrol.com/downloa...sales-note.pdf

BTW...if you're still looking for an enclosure, I have a 10" subwoofer enclosure from IntegrityConcepts that is custom fit to the trunk (with a JL Audio 10W0v3-4 speaker in it). I sold the BRZ so don't have a need for it anymore. Looks like this:

Where do I locate the wires that plug into the 12v and ground on the lc2i? Also, since the factory amp is located in the back, could I get away installing everything without taking the head unit out and just use the factory amp?

I found this on Ebay. The seller said it would work in my vehicle.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Add-An-Amp-...d&shqty=1#shId
Any thoughts?

That does look like a nice box, but the subwoofer I have is a 12in.

[Mr.ac]

Dude you are making this way more complicated than it is.
That adapter from eBay is pretty much what you need and not bad price.

You really don't have to touch the back of the head unit at all.
You can tap into the wires from the factory amp behind the back seat.

As for 12v power and ground you can use use a bit of extra wire from the new amp to the lc2. Simple daisy chain.

This vid is a bit hard to see but just pause it a few times. That's how quick and easy it is.

[soundman98]

Originally Posted by toast

If they are building and carpeting a new box and running a dedicated power line with fuse in the engine bay, through the firewall back to the sub amp and then mounting the sub amp $400 is not a lot of money. At all. Anything beyond the most simple of sub boxes will take a few hours to make, then they have to remove a decent amount of your interior and find a place to run the power line. If they break tabs off of the interior panels when they remove them and they won't reinstall correctly they have to pay for them. When you do it you will have to pay for the new panels.

but if they're doing custom-fit fiberglass box only(no wiring), $400 for a one-off box isn't too terribly off either.

the integrity concepts boxes were about $379 for a 10" model.

[Yanbags]

Originally Posted by soundman98

but if they're doing custom-fit fiberglass box only(no wiring), $400 for a one-off box isn't too terribly off either.

the integrity concepts boxes were about $379 for a 10" model.

Agree. At $400 - a box, LOC, and install is a great price.

Originally Posted by FineVisionz

Where do I locate the wires that plug into the 12v and ground on the lc2i? Also, since the factory amp is located in the back, could I get away installing everything without taking the head unit out and just use the factory amp?

I found this on Ebay. The seller said it would work in my vehicle.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Add-An-Amp-...d&shqty=1#shId
Any thoughts?

That does look like a nice box, but the subwoofer I have is a 12in.

That adapter looks like it makes life easier so you don't have to splice anything. Nice plus with the remote turn on for your new amp as well.

You'll still have to run a power cable from the battery to the amp and a ground to somewhere (I used one of the mounting nuts for the rear passenger seat) but you shouldn't need to touch the factory headunit. I actually had my amp mounted under the passenger seat which made routing all of the wiring easy.

That's why I offered the sub as well Was very happy with how tidy the enclosure kept the trunk so you don't lose a lot of space. Audio gets expensive when you do it cleanly, especially with custom enclosures like that. A generic box will be cheap, of course, but then you kinda lose usable trunk space and it's not as pretty.

[FineVisionz]

Originally Posted by Mr.ac

Dude you are making this way more complicated than it is.
That adapter from eBay is pretty much what you need and not bad price.

You really don't have to touch the back of the head unit at all.
You can tap into the wires from the factory amp behind the back seat.

As for 12v power and ground you can use use a bit of extra wire from the new amp to the lc2. Simple daisy chain.

This vid is a bit hard to see but just pause it a few times. That's how quick and easy it is.

Well, wouldn't the eBay adapter replace the lc2i? Because from that adapter I would just run RCA cables from it to the subwoofer amplifier.

[FineVisionz]

Originally Posted by soundman98

but if they're doing custom-fit fiberglass box only(no wiring), $400 for a one-off box isn't too terribly off either.

the integrity concepts boxes were about $379 for a 10" model.

It was $400 for a pre-built nonported 12in box, LOC, some wiring, and install. I already had the subwoofer, amp, and most of the wires required for install.

[soundman98]

Originally Posted by FineVisionz

Well, wouldn't the eBay adapter replace the lc2i? Because from that adapter I would just run RCA cables from it to the subwoofer amplifier.

that adapter and the lc2i both convert the speaker level outputs to rca level outputs for an aftermarket amp.

the adapter has zero adjustment. but is easier to install

the lc2i has adjustment built into it to fine-tune the output going to the sub amp. it also has the capability of a remote sub level knob. but it needs power.

either option has positives and negatives. personally, i like the lc2i better because of the added capability. but for a stick-to-the-basics method, the standard adapter is likely better.

it really comes down to what you want out of it.

Originally Posted by FineVisionz

It was $400 for a pre-built nonported 12in box, LOC, some wiring, and install.

you later say that you have some wiring, which leaves the question, do you need them to wire the system, or are you ok with wiring yourself?

a pre-made box costs almost nothing-- about $300 of that is going to go mostly to labor for installing everything. a pre-made box is also going to take up a vast majority of the trunk. these cars and anything over 10's don't play especially nice together.

Originally Posted by FineVisionz

I already had the subwoofer, amp, and most of the wires required for install.

addressing this separately because i've run into this before in car audio and home electrical where people try to supply things to save costs, but costs more in the long run.

what wires do you have, and were they pulled out of another car?
almost no one is going to reuse any cabling that was custom-cut for another car installation. the cables almost always end up too short, or worse, were pulled out in such a way that the cable jacket was damaged and it risks an electrical short.

wire is cheap compared to the cost of pulling old wire in, having to troubleshoot, pull out, and replace any of it. it's always better to just use new wiring for any car audio install. it vastly reduces the potential issues that can arise.

[FineVisionz]

Originally Posted by soundman98

that adapter and the lc2i both convert the speaker level outputs to rca level outputs for an aftermarket amp.

the adapter has zero adjustment. but is easier to install

the lc2i has adjustment built into it to fine-tune the output going to the sub amp. it also has the capability of a remote sub level knob. but it needs power.

either option has positives and negatives. personally, i like the lc2i better because of the added capability. but for a stick-to-the-basics method, the standard adapter is likely better.

it really comes down to what you want out of it.



you later say that you have some wiring, which leaves the question, do you need them to wire the system, or are you ok with wiring yourself?

a pre-made box costs almost nothing-- about $300 of that is going to go mostly to labor for installing everything. a pre-made box is also going to take up a vast majority of the trunk. these cars and anything over 10's don't play especially nice together.



addressing this separately because i've run into this before in car audio and home electrical where people try to supply things to save costs, but costs more in the long run.

what wires do you have, and were they pulled out of another car?
almost no one is going to reuse any cabling that was custom-cut for another car installation. the cables almost always end up too short, or worse, were pulled out in such a way that the cable jacket was damaged and it risks an electrical short.

wire is cheap compared to the cost of pulling old wire in, having to troubleshoot, pull out, and replace any of it. it's always better to just use new wiring for any car audio install. it vastly reduces the potential issues that can arise.

The only cable I need to get is new a new RCA cable. I plan on wiring everything myself.

Genuine question, why do you think that anything over a 10in wouldn't play nice in a BRZ?

[Mr.ac]

Originally Posted by FineVisionz

The only cable I need to get is new a new RCA cable. I plan on wiring everything myself.

Genuine question, why do you think that anything over a 10in wouldn't play nice in a BRZ?

Dude, it all depends on how much power the sub can take.
A small 8" sub with 400 watts can sound as loud if not louder as a 12" 200 watt sub.

That being said, for our cabin size any sub with over 200 watts will sound "nice".

[soundman98]

Originally Posted by FineVisionz

Genuine question, why do you think that anything over a 10in wouldn't play nice in a BRZ?

i'm talking physical dimensions, not acoustics-- just fitting a 12 with an appropriate 2-3cu ft box is going to be physically difficult(the entire 86 trunk space is 6.9 cu ft, which includes the cubbies behind the wheel arches). while certain sizes of certain brands have specific acoustic signatures, there really is no benefit to running a 12 over a similarly powered 10, which would have much lower space requirements, and be much easier to fit-- i don't personally like taking up the entire trunk with audio gear. i prefer to at least have enough space to be able to do some shopping here and there without having to resort to putting things in the back seat. and while 8's are usually ok, i generally don't like going below 10", as options start to get limited below that-- but i don't run car audio brand speakers in my cars, so my requirements/limitations are different then most...