Adding subs with stock HU?

[c0smo kram3r 10+ year member]

Since he is away w/o a computer right now, I thought I would ask for him. My brother drives an '04 Range Rover. He wants to add aftermarket subs to it while keeping the stock Nav-screen. How exactly would he go about doing this? I did read somewhere that you need a Line Out Converter (LOC), is this true? If so, a 2 channel "LOC" is what he would need, correct? And basically, in a nutshell, you would take the two wires coming out & hook them up to the input of the "LOC" & just RCA cables hooked up to the output. Is that pretty close? But, you ONLY need this if the wires coming out, aren't already RCA, right?

Also, I'm thinking of getting rid of my Discovery & buying an 01-02 RR. This would essentially be the same b/c the stock HU IS A MUST.

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[nineball 10+ year member]

you are correct. most tap into the rear speaker wires at the back of the hu.

http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=265-026

 

[c0smo kram3r 10+ year member]

you are correct. most tap into the rear speaker wires at the back of the hu.
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=265-026

Thanks. I'm pretty sure there is an amp located next to the stock sub. I mean, it's one of the best stock subs I've heard so I know it's got to have an actual amp in the back. Can some stock amps be hooked up w/o RCA connectors? If so, I was thinking of just taking the wires out of stock amp & hooking them up the that LOC you posted & be good to go.

 

[YourNameHere 10+ year member]

i got a LOC i'll sell ya for cheap

 

[99grandprixGT 5,000+ posts]

yes you can !

 

[nineball 10+ year member]

Thanks. I'm pretty sure there is an amp located next to the stock sub. I mean, it's one of the best stock subs I've heard so I know it's got to have an actual amp in the back. Can some stock amps be hooked up w/o RCA connectors? If so, I was thinking of just taking the wires out of stock amp & hooking them up the that LOC you posted & be good to go.

it is very possible but you may not be able to on a RR. i have a Jag and the version of the factory system with an amp/sub combo does not use a conventional wire tap for input - it has an optical lead for the amp. there is a good chance that RR does the same thing so i would check on some RR boards before you attempt anything.

 

[djman37 5,000+ posts]

On some higher end vehicles you either need to leave them as they came or replace all the gear.

I worked on a Mercedes that even tapping the wires at the speakers didn't work properly...the amp wouldn't come on with the LOC in line.

 

[Louisiana_CRX 5,000+ posts]

some upper end vehicles use weird stuff ...I'd go with a specialty LOC type of device...

 

[c0smo kram3r 10+ year member]

it is very possible but you may not be able to on a RR. i have a Jag and the version of the factory system with an amp/sub combo does not use a conventional wire tap for input - it has an optical lead for the amp. there is a good chance that RR does the same thing so i would check on some RR boards before you attempt anything.

I do know that all of it's electrical components (including audio I'm pretty sure) uses Fibre-optics. Would this be a problem?

 

[djman37 5,000+ posts]

I do know that all of it's electrical components (including audio I'm pretty sure) uses Fibre-optics. Would this be a problem?

the wires coming out of the amp to the speakers won't be fiber.

 

[bamaboy 5,000+ posts]

dont get a cheap LOC, atleast get one that is adjustable, might not be a bad idea to look into a nice one such as RF 360 or JL cleansweep if he has money

should be able to tap into the output wires going to the sub to get your signal, i dont see why it wouldnt work on there, i wouldnt mess with any other wires on there but the ones at the speaker itself, and probably let someone that knows what they are doing do it

 

[nineball 10+ year member]

the wires coming out of the amp to the speakers won't be fiber.

you don't want to use an amplified signal for a loc.

does the car have a factory amp? if not you can tap into the lines coming out of the back of the hu.

 

[on1wheel01 10+ year member]

Going to bump this for my ? to prevent more threads about this. I have a 97 acura cl with a bose system should i splice into the back speaker wires or go behind the head unit(factory)

 

[nineball 10+ year member]

doesn't really matter too much. go with whatever is easier to do.

 

[313BIG CV 10+ year member]

i noticed that the jl clean sweep was mentioned. would the clean sweep be better than an audio control? in my lincoln tc i just tore out the old factory hu and all the stock amp/sub nonsence, and put my system in, but i'm getting a linc lsc and it has the stock jbl shit like the towncar. i seen that someone said a loc won't like an amplified signal. well if an audiocontrol lc6 loc says it can handle up to 300 watts going into it (i doubt that the stock shit puts out that much) would it be safe to run the speaker out wires from the amp to the loc?