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Wiring a Sub to stock headunit?



  Fiesta RS Turbo & Pug 206
yes but its not even worth it , if u have money to spend on on sub then get an amp and it will be so more worth it .

if u really do want to power a sub off the o.e headunit , then just take the speaker cable of the rear speakers and hook them up to the amp , job done


Ben
 
:S i swear you cant...you need the red and white socket and the standard headunit doesnt have that...?
 
  Fiesta RS Turbo & Pug 206
are u wanting to power an active sub or just a sub in a box on its own ???
 
:S i swear you cant...you need the red and white socket and the standard headunit doesnt have that...?

You can do it but it's not ideal. Not sure what you mean by the red and white socket. All you need is to take a feed off of the rear speakers and wire up your earth, permanent live and switch live to run the amp. Most amps have a HPF just check the amp in question and you're away.
 
:S i swear you cant...you need the red and white socket and the standard headunit doesnt have that...?

You can do it but it's not ideal. Not sure what you mean by the red and white socket. All you need is to take a feed off of the rear speakers and wire up your earth, permanent live and switch live to run the amp. Most amps have a HPF just check the amp in question and you're away.
DSC00405.gif
 
Those are RCA's. You dont need RCA's to wire an amp to a stock head unit. As said take a feed off the rear speakers to the amp.
 
  Mk3 SX
what would happen if you just fed the speaker wire through to a boxed sub from a stock head unit without the amp? i no expert but i assume you wouldn't have the power for it to work properly? just wondered
 

The Boosh!

ClioSport Admin
  Elise, Duster
it can be done i have done it before (however would reccomend upgrading HU as quality isn't great)

you walk into halfrauds and ask for a high low converter

you tap into your speaker wires and connect the the converter to the back of the HU.

full instructions are provided. they cost around 5 pounds.
 
  Fiesta RS Turbo & Pug 206
it can be done i have done it before (however would reccomend upgrading HU as quality isn't great)

you walk into halfrauds and ask for a high low converter

you tap into your speaker wires and connect the the converter to the back of the HU.

full instructions are provided. they cost around 5 pounds.

that is the other option. the original head unit will not be powerfull enuff to really power a good sub , u would have no control over the sub as the front speakers would be effected as well.as original speakers are very very crap.
 

The Boosh!

ClioSport Admin
  Elise, Duster
it can be done i have done it before (however would reccomend upgrading HU as quality isn't great)

you walk into halfrauds and ask for a high low converter

you tap into your speaker wires and connect the the converter to the back of the HU.

full instructions are provided. they cost around 5 pounds.

that is the other option. the original head unit will not be powerfull enuff to really power a good sub , u would have no control over the sub as the front speakers would be effected as well.as original speakers are very very crap.

so in summary. get another head unit lol reanult stock = w4nk
 
  mx5
Its an active sub, so already has an amp etc, just wondering if I had to get a new head-unit to wire it up?
Sorry if my first post was ambiguous
 
  Ph1 172 + Combo van
depends on what input modes it has. post up a link and somebody might be able to tell you. if it has a hi-input then you will be able to connect it to a speaker wire and run it off that. if it has a low input then you will need rca wires, which, if you dont have them on the back of your headunit, will mean you will need to get a new headunit.


i think thats the right way round hi/low input
 
  Clio 172
yes but its not even worth it , if u have money to spend on on sub then get an amp and it will be so more worth it .

if u really do want to power a sub off the o.e headunit , then just take the speaker cable of the rear speakers and hook them up to the amp , job done


Ben

you've got it bang on mate, im a trained hardwiring specialist for sound systems and alarms and things, just cut the back 2 speakers off, and get a lead from your local electrical shop that leaves you with 2 female rca's on the end. the left rear speakers positive and neg wires go to the white rca and right to red. you catch my drift? but like people have pointed out you lose the back speakers and dont sound great. worth waiting and gettin a head unit
 
  mx5
Hmm kk, Would a cheap headunit like this :
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/KENWOOD-KDC24...ryZ39760QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
still be better than doing it on the stock one?
Does anyone know if it will have an RCA?
For only £50 odd you cant go far wrong i suppose.
Will just have to wait til the 5th to get paid.

I was planning on taking it to halfords or the ICE place to get it wired as Im completely new to car audio, just wanted a bit more boom to my music :)

Cheers
 
  Clio 3 - 08
Hmm kk, Would a cheap headunit like this :
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/KENWOOD-KDC24...ryZ39760QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
still be better than doing it on the stock one?
Does anyone know if it will have an RCA?
For only £50 odd you cant go far wrong i suppose.
Will just have to wait til the 5th to get paid.

I was planning on taking it to halfords or the ICE place to get it wired as Im completely new to car audio, just wanted a bit more boom to my music :)

Cheers


It dose not have RCA.
  • Pre-out: No
 
  mx5
Ah ok then, can anyone recommend me a cheap headunit with RCA etc and possibly aux in?
Cheers



EDIT: would either of these two be ok?
Clicky or Clicky
And what is the difference?

Sorry, Im a complete noob at all of this, thanks for being patient
 
Last edited:
  vaux cavalier
yes but its not even worth it , if u have money to spend on on sub then get an amp and it will be so more worth it .

if u really do want to power a sub off the o.e headunit , then just take the speaker cable of the rear speakers and hook them up to the amp , job done


Ben

you've got it bang on mate, im a trained hardwiring specialist for sound systems and alarms and things, just cut the back 2 speakers off, and get a lead from your local electrical shop that leaves you with 2 female rca's on the end. the left rear speakers positive and neg wires go to the white rca and right to red. you catch my drift? but like people have pointed out you lose the back speakers and dont sound great. worth waiting and gettin a head unit

Interesting statement....
 

The Boosh!

ClioSport Admin
  Elise, Duster
you've got it bang on mate, im a trained hardwiring specialist for sound systems and alarms and things, just cut the back 2 speakers off, and get a lead from your local electrical shop that leaves you with 2 female rca's on the end. the left rear speakers positive and neg wires go to the white rca and right to red. you catch my drift? but like people have pointed out you lose the back speakers and dont sound great. worth waiting and gettin a head unit

Interesting statement....
+1 - get back to doing your "hard wiring" (wrong btw) and leave things like this to poeple that know what they are on about. youcan wire it up succesfully without loosing your rear speakers.
 
  mx5
lol boosh. Anyone know what the difference in the two headunits is?
Both the same price and both have RCA and aux in but have different names etc??

Anyone had anything wired by halfords? Do they do a decent job of it?
 
  172
depends entirely on who you have doing the job,the part timer who dont give a crap,or the guy who does know his stuff whos been working on audio for 10+ years
 
  ?
depends entirely on who you have doing the job,the part timer who dont give a crap,or the guy who does know his stuff whos been working on audio for 10+ years

+1

Do it yourself. Id never have it any other way... unless i was feeling incredibally lazy.
 
  vaux cavalier
In a straight comparison between the stock unit and the Sony units you linked to earlier I would say output quality would be very similar....

I would recommend you invest a little more money into your source unit to avoid possible disapointment later....

Pop down local Halfords and have a listen to a few different units in your price range, don't be afraid to ask questions, and select the unit your happy with....

Under no circumstances wire as recommended earlier, (high level speaker outputs direct to RCA plugs), amp or speaker damage could result.....speaker outputs operate at higher voltage than pre-outs, (because its already an amplified signal), and can push the amp into clip even at minimum gain setting....
 
  mx5
I dont find the quality on my stock unit too bad :S maybe i dont know what to listen for, but it all sounds alright?
Will go and have a listen, but I think in the end I will get the headunit I choose from halfords from online somewhere to save some money.
I wouldnt want to do it myself as I have literally no idea what I am doing, even the part time guy would do a better job than me I reckon.
This is so much more complicated than I realised lol.

What I'll do is go and have a look at halfords tomorrow, get a head unit asap then see how much this Car Audio place charge to wire it.

Cheers for all the input, youve all been a great help
 
  1.4 N Reg Champs
seriously not worth it, just finished doing it, quality is shite and you get nigh on half way to maximum before having to turn it down due to distortion due to quality issues. Just finished in my mates polo. He's depressed about it , especially when i plugged some RCAs into my pioneer. Lol.
 
  mx5
Shame to hear about that, but Ive decided to go with a new headunit and do it properly, hopefully I wont regret it.

On a lighter note, my sub arrived today :) its a Mutant X - MT12SX, I love the way it looks, hopefully will sound as good lol.
 


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