sub wiring
 

I have looked through the forum and didn't see anything that answered my question. I have a 12" sub in a custom box. I was wanting to know, where would be the best place to tap off the speaker wires? Is tapping in to one of the rear speakers ok. I think I found a few answers on running the power. Any extra info would be very helpful.

Thanks, Chris

RE: sub wiring
 

Um, are you not going to run an amp for this?

RE: sub wiring
 

Yeah, tapping off the speaker wires would be a pretty bad idea.

For one, it would be a full range signal which sounds like crap thru a sub.

Second, it would be about 1% of the power needed to move a sub.

Third, it would increase the load on the head unit by adding another 4 ohm speaker to the line which your HU cant handle.

Fourth, itll also cut the power a lot to the speaker in which you tap and will make things very side biased.

Now if youre running an amp, you can use the speaker leads as input if the amp accepts high level inputs which a lot do. Use the speaker wires running to the back speakers but disconnect them from the speakers. Dont tap into them.

RE: sub wiring
 

My bad! Yes, I will be running an amp also. I just wanted to know where the best place to run the speaker wires from. This is also a single 12" sub. I know how to hook stereos up in old cars, but this one is a little moredifficult it seems.

RE: sub wiring
 

Im not sure I follow you brother.

The amp and sub will both be in the trunk, right?

You shouldnt have to run speaker wires anywhere.

Or am I misunderstanding you?

RE: sub wiring
 

I am lost now. Do the honda radios have RCA jacks to hook into or do you have to tap off of a factory speaker and run to the amp? Yes they will both be in the trunk.

RE: sub wiring
 

I do not beleive they have RCA preouts. However, I would suggest getting a line cleaner (Clean System I think is the brand name) or a better head unit prior to amplification...Regardless of what the dealer says, the decks are not that great.

In addition, I am not sure how to wire up a sub without pre-outs, though I am far from expert on this.

RE: sub wiring
 

You need an amp that has high level or speaker level inputs. If your amp doesn't have that then you need a high to low level convertor. You tap into one of the rear speakers for signal, simple as that.

RE: sub wiring
 

what type of quality do you want?? if you use the speaker wires from your rear speakers you won't have any rear speakers. There are several ways to fix your problem, just depends on how much you want to spend and how good you want it to sound.

RE: sub wiring
 

I think my best bet is to take it to the local stereo shop and let them deal with it.