[freakuency]

I've had my 2010 Soul for nearly 2 years now and it's time to upgrade the (upgraded) stereo. I listen to a lot of techno and drum & bass, and the rear sub just can't produce those deep bass tones.

It's been a while since I've done this though, so I wanted to get some advice on how to execute my ideas. This is going to be a piecemeal operation as I am a broke college student.

My first priority is the sub. I'd like to put a custom sub box in the rear that will leave the floor space basically the same as before. Something like kevin21's setup in this thread would be perfect.

What I'm considering doing is leaving the factory sub/amp in and adding a high pass filter to it, tuned to 100Hz or so, and then adding a 10" or 12" with a separate amp to hit those low tones. Is this a good idea, or should I just ditch the factory sub altogether?

I've also got a pair of Polk db650s laying around that I'd like to use in the rear door speakers. How are the speakers powered? Do they get it from the head unit, or from the amp that powers the sub? If it's the amp, could it handle the db650s?

I'd also like to pick up some db6501 component speakers at some point to add to the front. I assume at that point I'd want to add a 4x amp for those?

I'll be leaving the stock head unit as what I have planned for that is a bit too ambitious for my budget at the moment.

 

[kfergiez]

I think adding a high pass filter to you factory sub is a great idea. That way your aftermarket sub can focus on the lower tones, jut make sure to throw in some sort of volume control on your high pass filter, or some way to control that output.

The door speakers are powered by the external amp, but as far as that amp powering THOSE speakers, I don't know.

 

[freakuency]

Hmm.. wouldn't that output just be controlled by the head unit? I figured I could just tune the volume on the aftermarket amp so that it worked well with the factory sub. Looks like the aftermarket amp is going to be a JL 250/1, found a nice deal on craigslist... it has the option of speaker level inputs so I was just gonna tap the factory sub speaker line and solder some RCAs to it.

 

[Michael Brennan]

I wouldn't bother with trying to high pass the factory sub, just drop it.

Next, looked at the JL Audio owner's manual for that amplifier. I don't think they intended for you to use speaker level inputs, the input voltage ranges is 2V or 8V depending on the settings you choose. Spend the $25 and get a decent little speaker to line level converter and don't risk ever burning out the input stage on your amplifier.

http://mobile.jlaudio.com/pdfs/Slash_amps/250_1_MAN.pdf

If you are looking to add multiple amplifiers over time, you might consider a higher end speaker to line level converter, I'm going to be picking up a Kicker ZSUM08 before I start installing in my Soul.

ZXSUM8 | KICKER

You can find it for $159 regularly on eBay.

 

[freakuency]

The "High" position on the "Input Voltage" switch selects an input sensitivity range between 800mV and 8V. This is useful for certain high-output preamp level signals as well as speaker-level output from source units and small amplifiers. To use speaker-level sources, splice the speaker output wires of the source unit or small amplifier onto a pair of RCA cables or plugs.

Is there something I'm missing here?

 

[Michael Brennan]

Is there something I'm missing here?

Yes, unless the factory amplifier is total trash, it will have rails of at least 16V, probably 24 or 36. You can play music through the subwoofer and use a good quality multimeter to monitor the voltage at the speaker terminals and see how high it peaks on loud notes.

I also tend to try to install things so that I'm covered from destruction in every direction. That looks like a really nice amplifier, hence the recommendation for a $25 insurance policy of a line level converter.

 

[freakuency]

Ok, thanks for the info. But couldn't I just tap the line before it hits the stock amp, then? I'll buy a converter if I have to, but I'm trying to avoid spending money wherever possible.

 

[m1cross]

Don't overthink it... just have a custom down firing ported box made with (2) 10's, or whatever, put it in the trunk where the foam thing is, and power it with a amp that is installed under passenger seat...and of course you'll use a line out converter... somewhere around 300 bucks, and your system rocks ! .... good luck.

 

[Michael Brennan]

Ok, thanks for the info. But couldn't I just tap the line before it hits the stock amp, then? I'll buy a converter if I have to, but I'm trying to avoid spending money wherever possible.

You can certainly try it w/o the converter, off of either side of the amplifier.

Might also go message JL Audio Tech Support. Those guys have always been very good with their customers, they want their products to work well for everybody.

 

[freakuency]

So here's an update: I ended up buying a line converter from Best Buy, one of their cheap $15 dealies, and spliced it to the rear speaker ins pre-amp.

Spent several hours trying to figure out why the amp was turning on but I was getting no sound. Wiring was fine, given that the back speakers still worked. So I traced it to this stupid converter being defective. Took it out, hacked an RCA cable I had laying around and spliced it in the same spot, and it worked great.

Next step is to build the custom box... I'm running 2 12's in an enormous box right now. They came with the amp so I'm just gonna rock these for the moment.