Active sub

[Raggedroy]

Just managed to sneak an active subwoofer under the drivers seat.

 

[Jaydub]

Neat intallation. What make / model is it. What head unit are you running it off and are the other speakers just standard fit.

 

[Raggedroy]

Neat intallation. What make / model is it. What head unit are you running it off and are the other speakers just standard fit.

The sub is a Blaupunkt THb 200A, picked it up second hand for £55. It has speaker level and RCA input and powers up automatically when it detects sound. The stereo is the VW RCD510, it has no RCA output. There are connections for the rear speakers under each of the front seats, I connected in parallel with the rear speakers at this point. I picked up the power from a spare fuse way under the passenger seat.

 

[BMVS-Camper-Hire]

Makes such a difference to sound quality running a sub. Nice install

 

[reserves]

Nice!

What are the purple RCA leads for?

 

[Jaydub]

Nice!

What are the purple RCA leads for?

I wondered that !

 

[Raggedroy]

When I connected directly into the low level inputs of the sub I could hear a slight buzz at low volume. I installed an external signal converter which stopped the buzz.

 

[Paul Scrase]

nice install, this is exactly what I was looking to do, do you have any photos of the actual wires you tapped into for power and speakers?

 

[GrannyJen]

I saw the title and thought it was about an underwater version of the cali

I got quite excited at the thought of a Nautilus called Albert ...

 

[Raggedroy]

nice install, this is exactly what I was looking to do, do you have any photos of the actual wires you tapped into for power and speakers?

Sorry, I didn't photo them, its a bit difficult getting the camera in now its back together. plus its away having the roof corrosion sorted.

 

[Michael G]

Sorry, I didn't photo them, its a bit difficult getting the camera in now its back together. plus its away having the roof corrosion sorted.

Hi
Did you connect the speaker wires to the speaker output on the main radio? Or did you find a better way to connect?

 

[Borris]

Just managed to sneak an active subwoofer under the drivers seat.
View attachment 4264
View attachment 4265

Isn't that cruelty to animals?

 

[Raggedroy]

Hi
Did you connect the speaker wires to the speaker output on the main radio? Or did you find a better way to connect?

The rear speakers run to connectors under the seat, I spliced in to these for the input to the active sub.

 

[Michael G]

The rear speakers run to connectors under the seat, I spliced in to these for the input to the active sub.

Thanks, I will try to look again, I did not find speaker wires the first time I looked. I guess they are under the battery in the opening in the carpet?

 

[AndersRimehaug]

Cool, I've bought the Kenwood KSC-SW11 active sub and trying to figure out how to install it. Seems like you have in the front end of the drivers seat as the battery is in the other end (at least in my 2006). How do you know what wires are for the rear speakers? Where did you earth it and how?

Thank you for any tip!

 

[Michael G]

Hi
I ended up doing like this; I placed the sub under the front passenger seat. There already is a ground bolt under the carpet easily accessible. I connected the speaker input to the rear speaker wires behind the radio. (Wiring diagram by googling). It is easy to do the wiring up under the dashboard. To be safe I bought a connector male to female that I connected directly to the radio, so when splicing the wires this was done on the connector and not the original wires. If your sub has a high level input you can use the speaker output directly, also for remote on-off. I had to use a high to low signal converter. I took 12v from the leasure battery, using an empty fuse under the drivers seat, fuse connector with wire from biltema. This works but may drain the battery, I have solar cells so should not be an issue.

 

[AndersRimehaug]

Hi
I ended up doing like this; I placed the sub under the front passenger seat. There already is a ground bolt under the carpet easily accessible. I connected the speaker input to the rear speaker wires behind the radio. (Wiring diagram by googling). It is easy to do the wiring up under the dashboard. To be safe I bought a connector male to female that I connected directly to the radio, so when splicing the wires this was done on the connector and not the original wires. If your sub has a high level input you can use the speaker output directly, also for remote on-off. I had to use a high to low signal converter. I took 12v from the leasure battery, using an empty fuse under the drivers seat, fuse connector with wire from biltema. This works but may drain the battery, I have solar cells so should not be an issue.

Nice! Thank you for the tip! I've managed to hook it up as you did, but I spliced into the rear speaker cables under the passenger seat, they are connected there in the left brown connecter. Only problem now is to get signal to start it, the input behind the mfd2-dvd radio (slot 13 on connector 4) was empty, so I think the radio gets signal to start from CAN bus (slot 9)..? Therefore I can't find a signal that makes the sub turn off with ignition, really don't want to digg out the ignition cable and cut it.. I see the camping control unit gets a signal with key.. any ideas?

 

[Milo4]

I've not worked on the Cali electrics yet but something I've done on other vehicles when looking for an ignition controlled wire, is to wire in a cheap DRL controller from Amazon. This little box only switches on when it senses the voltage go above 13v ie that the engine is running and the alternator is pumping out lots of volts. This means you can wire it into a live 12v cable safe in the knowledge it's not going to drain the battery.

I use connectors from Posi-connect.com to tap into hot wires without cutting anything - makes life very easy. (For the sake of disclosure I own the importer)

 

[bassbikemike]

I've not worked on the Cali electrics yet but something I've done on other vehicles when looking for an ignition controlled wire, is to wire in a cheap DRL controller from Amazon. This little box only switches on when it senses the voltage go above 13v ie that the engine is running and the alternator is pumping out lots of volts. This means you can wire it into a live 12v cable safe in the knowledge it's not going to drain the battery.

I use connectors from Posi-connect.com to tap into hot wires without cutting anything - makes life very easy. (For the sake of disclosure I own the importer)

This might also switch it when on mains hookup and the battery charge system is running though...

 

[Milo4]

Maybe but I wouldn't have thought that would be a problem. The sub wouldn't actually do anything unless the radio was on as well, plus the hook up would replenish any drop in charge

 

[Michael G]

Nice! Thank you for the tip! I've managed to hook it up as you did, but I spliced into the rear speaker cables under the passenger seat, they are connected there in the left brown connecter. Only problem now is to get signal to start it, the input behind the mfd2-dvd radio (slot 13 on connector 4) was empty, so I think the radio gets signal to start from CAN bus (slot 9)..? Therefore I can't find a signal that makes the sub turn off with ignition, really don't want to digg out the ignition cable and cut it.. I see the camping control unit gets a signal with key.. any ideas?

Hi
Do you have a picture or link to the wiring under the passenger seat. I cannot find the speaker cables you mention.
Michael

 

[mwpmorris]

Hi
Do you have a picture or link to the wiring under the passenger seat. I cannot find the speaker cables you mention.
Michael

Digging up an old thread here - I'm installing an underseat sub at the moment, and found the wiring diagram for the underseat wiring looms here, hope it helps: