[jam92102]

Hi everyone! Get my soul I bought last night later today! So excited. It's a 2013 +. I've been reading a lot of the posts on aftermarket sub installs and it looks like a lot of people used the factory sub's hookup for running the line in's to the aftermarket amp. A question I have and couldn't find an answer for, is that ok to do? What I'm wondering is aren't those speaker wires getting fed already from one amp so is that going to mess up sound quality or possibly hurt my amp with those coming in as high level inputs, or does that matter that they're coming from an amp to another amp versus a headunit to amp? I'm no audio guru just know enough to be dangerous and want to do it right. Appreciate any help you all can give.

 

[Jdmscene]

You'll be fine connecting it to the output for the factory subwoofer, if you're worried about it, tap into the wires before the amp. I had my kicker l7 and Rockford fosgate amp connected to the factory plug after the amp and it worked perfectly for months on end, I recently downgraded and the whole system still sounds, and works perfectly. Let me know if you have any other questions

 

[PaulWatkins007]

I currently have a 12" Alpine Type R hooked up to a 500W Alpine Amp with my wiring coming off the sub wiring through a converter. I've had this setup for 6 months with no issues at all.

 

[5m0k3y]

Factory amp output is 20w per channel @ 2 0hms. Just find a line out converter that can handle at least 20w. Do not run the factory speaker wires into your amp directly.

Use a line out converter like this one.

Amazon.com: Scosche LOC2S Line-Out Converter with Bass Control Amplifier add-on adapter: Automotive

Post #20 here is how I connected my LOC to the factory wiring without cutting anything.
http://www.kiasoulforums.com/27-ice-communication/15157-2-0-cable-run-2.html

 

[jam92102]

Thank you all. I was pretty bummed cuz I thought no one knew the answer because I wasn't getting updates through email, but I came back to the thread to bump for help and here I have plenty of replies. Thank you for that. It's nice to have such helpful folks being new to the forum and all.

So I bit the bullet and took the wiring from the stock sub, unhooked it wired to a converter and ran everything. It sounds like crap and I don't know why. Would love some help. I bought a Boss DIABLO D10F (probably my first mistake) supposedly it can handle 300rms. I had a mtx thunder amp that would put out 150rms bridged so I had it hooked to it first. Even after adjusting gain and crossover settings on the amp it wasn't much louder than the factory sub and was very distorted.

I thought, well it must be the low watts of the amp, so I bought a kicker 600.1 amp that will put out 300 rms x 1. It sucks too only now sucks louder. Bass still not hitting too hard at all and very distorted. Am I wrong to think 300rms should be pretty significant? I realize it probably won't wake the neighborhood but thought it would hit harder. Any ideas? The only other thing I can think of is possibly the box is too small. I don't have exact dimensions but it's a little under 6 inches deep, it's a truck style box.

Sorry for the long read, but wanted to give plenty of info. Thanks in advance!!

 

[dmwagner]

Make sure the converter box is grounded well... they sound very distorted if they aren't.

Also, to make sure... you are not trying to drive the factory subwoofer with a new amp are you? That speaker is pretty crappy and probably can't handle much for than the 20 watts it was getting from the OEM amp.

 

[5m0k3y]

make sure you didn't swap one of the +/- wires on the converter, and keep the gains down on the converter and amp. If the gains are up on the converter it completely ignores what the purpose of the converter is for and overdrives the input signal going to the amp. If you don't have a converter that will handle at least 20w that can also be a problem.
I usually get away with about 10% on the converter and same for my amp.
The Scosche LOC-80 is the converter I currently use.

 

[5m0k3y]

Make sure the converter box is grounded well... they sound very distorted if they aren't.

Also, to make sure... you are not trying to drive the factory subwoofer with a new amp are you? That speaker is pretty crappy and probably can't handle much for than the 20 watts it was getting from the OEM amp.

this is the speaker he is using

Boss D10F 10" Single 4 ohm Shallow-Mount Diablo Subwoofer

 

[jam92102]

I grounded the converter right before work seems to have helped a little but could also be my imagination. I am using a PAC SNI-15 as the converter. I'll check wiring when I get home. Just to confirm I used from the factory amp the tweeter leads (some other thread said Kia marked those wrong and they are really the sub leads. I used whit and orange as positives and green and brown as the negative. Sound right so far? The only other thing I can think of is the box if all wiring is good. I'm going to check all the wiring from car to converter to box to sub. After that in at a loss if all that checks out. May stop on the way home and pick up a cubic foot box anyways so I don't have to make another trip. Thanks all for the help. More to come when I get home and get to working on it.

 

[5m0k3y]

The wiring on the speaker side of the plug is red/black (+/-) for each side, you can use that as a reference if you have the speaker out or the panel still off. The only wiring diagrams I have show the pins marked as tweeters out of the amp as well.

Make sure you check the battery grounds as well, on my 2011 the bolt and all metal the ground came in contact with was painted, so I added 2 more grounds (both 4 gage), one to body and one to motor, and cleaned off the paint where the factory ground was.

 

[jam92102]

Thanks everyone for your help. I grounded the converter box, that didn't seem to make a difference but I left it that way. I then verified wiring was ok. Still sounded bad. Last resort I bought a bigger box, BINGO! Must have been the box cuz now the thing Linda almost too hard! Thanks again everybody for all the help. Hope to start contributing to the forum. Place seems to have a wealth of knowledge! Thanks again!