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Upgrading sub in 2017+ with HarmonKardon system...

4.5K views 5 replies 2 participants last post by  iq20  
#1 ·
Hey all! Finally got a Soul recently! Very happy with purchase.
For the time being, the only thing I'm not thrilled with is the supposed premium Harmon Kardon system.

The sound is fine, but the subwoofer is lacking.

And before i made this thread, i looked around at various threads here for research, but with me being a newbie with car audio in general, and spotty info on the included amplifier of the car and its wiring, I thought I'd make a new thread.


If I were to get a sub with a built in amp, is it as simple as hooking it up to the car battery (or the power port in the trunk) and then routing the cables from the new sub to the built in amp?

Or if I were to get a passive subwoofer, i know i need to get one that makes sense with the included amp (I'm not really wanting to replace the amp the car came with).
What ohm and/or wattage am i looking to stick to?

For reference, this is the amp inside the Soul

I was looking into this powered sub: JBL BassPro Nano Compact powered subwoofer with 6"x8" sub and 100-watt amp at Crutchfield
Or this passive one: https://www.bestbuy.com/site/kicker...closures-single-voice-coil-2-ohm-subwoofer-black-carpet/6254110.p?skuId=6254110

Thanks for any help!
 
Discussion starter · #3 ·
Thanks for the response!
I actually ordered the JBL and it should arrive tomorrow to try things out.

As for tapping into the sub wiring, should i pull out the wiring that goes into the Kias amp for the sub cables, and just insert the one for the JBL? Or do as you suggested with the LOC regardless?

And even then, use the inserts for the amp, or just tap into the cable itself (and doing this would still be sending signal the the stock woofer, correct?)

And yeah, i've looked up other vids on tapping into cables and such as well. I'll prolly bother you 1 or 2 more times this week, if you don't mind, hah.

Thanks!
 
Discussion starter · #5 ·
I tried the sub today out, but not on the Kia. My dad was helping, and we used one of his cars that already had an easily accessibly after-market radio to connect to (had RCA sub out).

I think it sounds good, but it was a quick and dirty test. The wiring setup wasn't long enough to really test how it would sound placed under a seat or trunk, but I imagine it will sound great once there.

Now, as my dad is better with this stuff, i showed him the link you gave with the wiring, and he noticed it doesn't look the same as what i have in my car (or maybe we're just looking at it wrong).
The link in my first post is the same, but here's a closer pic of the connectors.
So the 4 red cables are 1 thru 4 (?)), and then there's 4 different colored cables next to it (the wiring diagram shows 6 slots on top and bottom).

Just not wanting to mess up the wiring if this is indeed not the right one (but the link you showed DOES say 2014-2019 models..)
Thanks again!

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