Best place to tap into for the JL Audio Stealthbox sub

[Magnumb_SRT]

Hi fellow LX-ers!,

I have an SRT8 with the Kicker Option II package and I am replacing the Kicker sub with a JL Audio Stealthbox rear enclosure. I was constanlty un-bolting the Kicker unit to put stuff in the back with the seats down and decided I had enough!

Anyway, where is the best place to tap into for my JL sub amp speaker source feed? I got a good price on the JL Audio e1400D monoblock amp (240RMS @ 4ohm at 12.5V) and haven't hooked up a sub amp before so I am kind of new at this type of connection.

Should I tap into the rear hareness that connected to the Kicker sub (which is what I was thinking)....and which pair of wires is it. I am assuming it is the middle pair of 4 wires, which are a green with yellow tracers, versus the outer red and black wires....is this right or should I just tap into one of the rear 6x9s?

Also, how is the new amp turned on? Is one of these four wires an AC hot or should I run a separate wire with a switch for this?

Any other advise with this JL set-up would be greatly appreciated!!!

Glen

[Super T]

going out on a limb here, red = 12v, black = ground, greens = signal. Is that all that's connected to the kicker system right now? Normally an amp has
Audio in +
Audio in -
Power (12v +)
Ground
Remote (5-12V +)

The remote wire is usually blue and only carries voltage when the head unit is powered on. Does the kicker system not use one?

[Todd RT]

The kicker just taps into the Rear Speakers. If you follow the wires far enough, you'll see them connect to the rear wires.

Hope that helps!

(I chose to tap into the front speakers, doors instead. Little deeper bass freq. response on those 2 speakers)

[Magnumb_SRT]

Ok thanks Todd RT, from what I have read on other posts, it seems like the front speakers are the place to do it. So for a sub then....I only need to tap into either the right or left front door speaker ...correct?

Also, do you think the Red and Black wires in the Kicker Sub wiring harness are a remote AC on power or always on power? I will get a test-set out later in the week to check if no one knows off hand, but I would think the Red wire gets 12V when the Head-unit is turned on and I could connect my new JL Audio amp remote on to this lead.

Thanks!

[robbyho]

Ok thanks Todd RT, from what I have read on other posts, it seems like the front speakers are the place to do it. So for a sub then....I only need to tap into either the right or left front door speaker ...correct?

Also, do you think the Red and Black wires in the Kicker Sub wiring harness are a remote AC on power or always on power? I will get a test-set out later in the week to check if no one knows off hand, but I would think the Red wire gets 12V when the Head-unit is turned on and I could connect my new JL Audio amp remote on to this lead.

Thanks!

That is my guess, that the red is an Acc wire. Easy to check too.

Rob

[Todd RT]

Ok thanks Todd RT, from what I have read on other posts, it seems like the front speakers are the place to do it. So for a sub then....I only need to tap into either the right or left front door speaker ...correct?

I ran it to both left and right, just tapped into the amp under the dash where the speaker wires exit. I ran very thick speaker wires to my amp which has speaker level inputs, which the Kicker works the same way, but off both rear speakers.

Also, do you think the Red and Black wires in the Kicker Sub wiring harness are a remote AC on power or always on power? I will get a test-set out later in the week to check if no one knows off hand, but I would think the Red wire gets 12V when the Head-unit is turned on and I could connect my new JL Audio amp remote on to this lead.

Thanks!

Dunno, would guess remote on, if you search there is a thread with the instruction manuals for the kicker!

[KCustom]

The Kicker amp uses a signal detect turn on...the pin outs for the factory Kicker sub are as follows:
Pin 1 constant power
Pin 2 positive signal
Pin 3 neg signal
Pin 4 ground
the JL amp should have a signal detect switch to use for turn on....the subwoofer signal on the front amp is pin b5 for positive and b13 for neg on the smaller of the two connectors...

[desmo_dude]

the subwoofer signal on the front amp is pin b5 for positive and b13 for neg on the smaller of the two connectors...

Is that a line-level or pre-amp output? I'm using a line-output (hi-lo) converter on the rear left speaker to get a signal to my JL amp powering my Stealthbox. And it sounds okay, but compared to previous JL boxes I've had, I'm pretty sure I'm losing some, if not a lot, of bottom end due to the not so great frequency response of the factory amp. Wondering if I'd benefit from ditching the hi-lo converter and routing a new signal wire from those pins you just mentioned....

edit: Never mind... just re-read... you're talking about turn on signal... and I don't have the Kicker option. :lol:



Oh well, I may decide to try the JL CleanSweep and see if can get a better response signal... I had a JL 10" from 13 years ago that hit twice as hard as this Stealthbox, with the same amount of power, but with an aftermarket head unit. There's no way the lack of oomph could be due to the speaker, so it's gotta be due to the sh!tty signal I'm feeding it.

http://mobile.jlaudio.com/products_c...php?page_id=90

http://mobile.jlaudio.com/pdfs/CleanSweep_RCC.pdf

[Magnumb_SRT]

The Kicker amp uses a signal detect turn on...the pin outs for the factory Kicker sub are as follows:
Pin 1 constant power
Pin 2 positive signal
Pin 3 neg signal
Pin 4 ground
the JL amp should have a signal detect switch to use for turn on....the subwoofer signal on the front amp is pin b5 for positive and b13 for neg on the smaller of the two connectors...

So I guess I could then tap into the Kicker sub Pin 2 & 3 for my JL sub audio feed.