HELP! Install of AfterMarket Amp for upgraded Sub.

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Gary Hart

Gary Hart

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Feb 3, 2003
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I have a 2002 SportTrac with the Audiophile option. The Pioneer CD-6.



I've removed the stock sub-woofer from the stock speaker enclosure... in it's same place I've dropped-in a Kicker CVT 65 (6.5" Sub-woofer) into the same enclosure.



My original thought was to splice into the connector that's right there for the original sub-woofer amp which I've removed.



Testing with a probe that connector seems to have an "always on" hot wire... but doesn't seem to have a switchable "Remote On" hot-wire that I would need to connect to the after-market amp so that it will only come on when the radio is turned on.



On another post I found the following link...



http://www.mysporttrac.com/~library/4358/Radiowiring.htm



Is this table describing the connectors on the back on my Pioneer CD-6 head unit?



OR... is it describing the connectors which can be found when you remove the RIGHT FRONT kick-panel?



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While on this subject... I tried to find the smallest (physical outer dimensions) mono amp I could to see if I could fit it at the same location the stock amp had occupied. AND it has to have at least 150W RMS output. The tech at SonicElectronix explained that under-powering the sub would damage it over time.



I currently have a [Blaupunkt THA1250PnP] that I ordered from http://www.SonicElectronix.com however it's looking like it won't fit in the space the original sub amplifier occupied. Can anyone recommend perhaps a smaller amp (physical dimensions I mean) that might fit in there that can give me the 150W RMS I will now need for this Kicker CVT65?



Or, can someone please suggest to me a different (yet SAFE!) location for mounting the Blaupunkt amp?



I was going to just mount it on the other compartment side in the back but when I pulled-back the carpeting it appeared as though the motor for the back window would prohibit me from installing this amp in that location.



HELP! HELP! HELP! I'm jones'ing for my BOOM!!!! :(
 
Not sure on the wiring question.. You could mount the amp behind the compartment on the passengers side. That's where I have mine. It fits.

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Hrmm.... ok... I've returned the THA 1250 PnP.



With another vendor I bought the Blaupunkt THA 275 PnP. It's smaller, and I think I will install it in the other compartment. ANd it's small enough I can leave the Emergency Jack Equipment where it is.



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Griff5268... did you install your amp yourself? If so perhaps you could explain/ write-up where to find the Remote-On .... and where to splice into to find the speaker inputs back there? I'm pretty sure I'm figured out the speaker inputs... but it's the Remote On that I need help with.
 
I had it installed. They tapped the wiring into the existing factory amp. The factory amp's still there in the other compartment and they have a set of pre-amp's tapped in.
 
"They tapped the wiring into the existing factory amp." <-- Sounds like exactly what I want to do.



Can you please look at your Remote On wire starting frrom your new amp and trace it back to where they tapped-in someplace and either snap a pic... or describe the Color and Strip-color and location of THAT wire Pleasey-Please! :(
 
GDog, I just tapped into the power wire for my rear Pass. Side window. This way I can turn the subs on/off with the window lock on the driver's door when I have my kids or anyone riding back there. Just another idea of a spot for you to tap into for the switch.;)



Oh, my amp is put in the same location behind the Pass. Rear seat.;)
 
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Umm... Ok stonemiser.... a possible option.



What color is THAT wire? <Color> | <Stripe>



Where is easiest location at which to access it for splicing?
 
It is located comming into the front of the rear door. I ran the wire down through the trimwork beside the seat, under the door sill, and fed it up through the door pillar. I connected it right inside the rbbuer guid for the wiring harness. It was alittle tight in there, but I think you can access the wires in the door Pillar. It just pops off like the door sill. I'd have to check when I get home to see what color the wire is.;)
 
Sorry Gdog. I got tied up and we were heading out of town for the weekend. I saw Stone's reply so I thought you might have it solved. You still want pics?
 
Yes Yes Yes!!! Any pics greatly appreciated. Also... your amp there... can you fit the standard jack equipment underenath of it in that area?



Did you have to make 2 new holes into the metal to mount it? When I looked at that area in my 2002... for an amp your size... it appeared as though only 3 of the 4 screws could possibly be mounted into the car. the Lower-right-hand would not be able to because of the way the metal curved in away from the flat plane of the others to meet up where the power window stuff is accessible.
 
Wait... inspecting your picture again.... did they mount the amp onto a carpeted piece of MDF and then just mount the MDF in there somehow? Hard to tell exactly from the pic.



BTW... I'm really appreciate everybodies help on this. I've never experienced a car soo tight for space before! :huh:
 
Well... I ended up just tapping into a ignition switchable 12V+ wire on the radio harness to give the amp a REMOTE SWITCH. However... later on I figured-out that there is a wire among those feeding into the stock sub-amp which turns on when you turn-on the volume button of the stock Pioneer head-unit.



I had to tap into the speaker wires feeding the rear doors... and fed them into a PAC 35-SNI which converts the high-level input to low-level RCA output.



It's a little quirky messing around with the head-unit and remote bass control for the Blaupunkt THA 1250 PnP amp to get things right. I have the DSP set to REAR SEATS... I end-up having to FADE 2 notches biased towards the FRONT so that I can turn the volume high-enough to get sufficient treble to match the increased bass now.



I'm not happy with the stock sub-box. I don't even think it's giving me the minimum cu. ft required per the manual on the KICKER CompVT 65 sub. Note only that... there's buzzing at certain frequncies that can be heard around the install ring area.



So I have plans to construct a custom box. And I'm going to use 3/4" MDF instead of the 1/2" MDF the CompVT 65 says is necessary because the bigger (CompVT's 8" and above) all require 3/4"... and depending and how inproved the sound is after I make this enclosure... I may still decide to swap-up to an 8" sub.



Therefore I'll be designing the box in such a way so that I can use the 6.5" sub first... then if I don't like it, I can just widen the opening and drop an 8" in there instead.



The Blaupunkt AMP is supposedly giving me 250W RMS @ 4 OHMs.

The CompVT65 (I bought the 4 OHM one.) is rated 150W RMS, so I'm backing-off the input gain a lil bit.



The Blaupunkt amp I put under the passenger rear set. And I'm happy to report that with the placement/position I chose, and the slim depth of that amp... I can still fold-down my seats in the back as per normal.



For the time being I don't have the back kick-panel on.... nor the spring-loaded piece which covers the gap when the seats are folded-down. I plan on putting the spring-loaded piece back on... but I'll have to leave the kick-panel off in order to fit the custom enclosure I intend to construct.



The goal is to have the bigger enclosure and still be able to move the seats as per normal.



I believe the following Angled Box dimensions should give me what I want...

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Base = 6"

BackPanel (90 Deg)=10"

(had to stop at 10" so as not to cover up the baby car-seat tilt-restraint hook-sites... I have a 2 yr old)

Top = 3"

Angled Panel = 10.44"

Overall Box Width = 22"

(can't go any wider or else can't keep emergency jack stuff in it's current location)



I believe with these dimension I'll also be able to drop-in one of the more shallow 8" subs if I change my mind.

=====





BTW... I found an easy-to-use SIDE SIDE ANGLE Trigonometry calculator on the web.



http://www.1728.com/trigssa.htm
 
Just FYI you can push a lot more power through 1/2" mdf than you think. Especially in a small box without any long single piece panels, the only reason for 3/4" is if you are worried about the wood flexing. I built my center console out of 1/2" and run 500 watts rms to my 10" with no flexing of the box because they are all small pieces.



edit: not that you are going to hurt anything using 3/4", it will be sturier for sure, and allows more room for screw mistakes, but it will also be heavier and have less airspace than the same exterior dimensions with 1/2", and 1/2 is cheaper :)
 
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Oh dude... sweet! I like the carpet idea for hiding the fact that ya had to cut the kick panel a bit!



Which subs are those you've got in their? The base of my angled box is 6" and it sits further up onto that plastic stuff that yours is sitting behind. However... my box doesn't dip down into that space below the plastic ledge like yours appears to.



I see you moved the Jack location, sorta.... but where is the jack itself?



Man... with two 8's that thing must hump like crazy. With just this one 6" in the new box it's a huge improvement.



The hard part has been fighting air-leaks in the box.



First around the speaker ring... no problem... took it back out... filed the circle just a hair larger so it sat in the whole finally completely level.



Second... the dang Speaker Terminal cups I bought/used from RadioShack. They leaked a ton of air out. I took that cup out and slathered the heck out of the back side of the wire connections with Silicone. Sounds tons better... but not sure it's 100% sealed yet though.



Definitely learned alot from this install.
 
Here is my current install that I upgraded on my Adrenalin. Still in the process of figuring out to put four 10s. I had a stereo shop install all that I have now. I am running a small PPI amp to my door speakers and it is a PPI PCX440. Also have a Stinger 5 Farad Cap in the back. All door speakers are Alpine and so are all three 7 inch screens. For the four tens, I already have the mounting boxes to put 2 behind the rear seat and 2 below, I have just been waiting to figure out how clean I want to set up my amps and where.



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