Audio Control LC2i

[hert1028]

Has anyone used an audio control LC2i in their car before? A friend of mines wants to keep his stock head unit and add a sub into his car. Anyone with experience with these?

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[trumpet 5,000+ posts]

It's one of the best parts you can use to keep the factory head unit and add a subwoofer amplifier. Do you need help with setting it up?

 

[hert1028]

it's for my friend and I'm going to help im install it in 06 lexus is350. seems simple but some advice would help. can i bridge it and only use the sub channel on the stock amp? is this a good unit?

 

[tat2bass 10+ year member]

It is a great unit. One of the best things for performance to dollar ratio. But I am confused on what do you mean bridge it and use the sub channel on the stock amp?

This is meant if you want to keep your stock unit and add aftermarket amps. You just tap into your speaker wires and supply a power point and you are good. Just make sure that you do it as close to the headunit as possible and before the stock amp and any processing occurs.

 

[trumpet 5,000+ posts]

it's for my friend and I'm going to help im install it in 06 lexus is350. seems simple but some advice would help. can i bridge it and only use the sub channel on the stock amp? is this a good unit?

If you have only a + and - wire from the factory amplifier to take the sub channel signal, run that into the Left Speaker input, then use the left channel on the Bass Output RCA section to go out to the new amplifier.

 

[tat2bass 10+ year member]

Another thing is to check to see if the car comes with adaptive noise cancellation. If it does, disconnect it. I had it happen in two cars and didn't know enough about car stereo the first time so I just got an aftermarket unit. The second time I finally found the commonality between the two cars and that was it. It would produce a frequency around 50hz everytime my engine would hit around 1700rpm and cause my subs to hit hard and create a buzzing drone for a few seconds till it passed out of that rpm range.

 

[hegar817 10+ year member]

If your friend is looking to keep the factory radio this is the only piece of equipment I would use for this purpose. Yeah they are the other cheapo line output converters but they do not have the features the LC2i have, you can raise the output volts to the amp as much as 9v and also have the option for a bass/level knob.

 

[butterMilk 10+ year member]

Yes these are good products. I was in the same situation, where I wanted to keep the factory HU. So I bought a LC6i, Install was easy and it worked exactly as it was suppose to..but.. I ended up with turn off thump that I could not get rid of. I tried different grounding points and all that, still had turn off thump, I did not like that. So I installed a new HU, ditched the lC6i. Leaving the system exactly the same, just getting rid of the LC6i and installing the new HU, I got rid of the turn off thump.

That being said, I've heard of other people having the same problem. Therefor I will never recommend these types of products to my friends, nor will I help anyone install one. A decent HU doesn't cost all that much more than the LC2i, so I would recommend going the HU route.

 

[AudioControl 10+ year member]

If you have only a + and - wire from the factory amplifier to take the sub channel signal, run that into the Left Speaker input, then use the left channel on the Bass Output RCA section to go out to the new amplifier.

Another way to go about this is to take the +/- into the left input then jump that signal over to the right input - this will work better for sub amps w/2 channel inputs.

 

[AudioControl 10+ year member]

Just make sure that you do it as close to the headunit as possible and before the stock amp and any processing occurs.

Since the LC2i is designed for speaker level signals, you may end up reducing the signal too much with this approach (taking line level into the LC2i will reduce the signal by 12dB).

There is a workaround if you are going between the head unit and amp, which requires taking the LC2i apart. There are four input jumpers that you can move (to the opposite position) to reduce the pad on the input, making the LC2i a good match for line level inputs. See the picture below for help. When taking the LC2i apart, you must be careful to ease the board out - the knobs must be carefully pulled straight off (protected pliers) and the board should be pulled out from the input side just enough to expose the jumpers.

 

[AudioControl 10+ year member]

I ended up with turn off thump that I could not get rid of.

Sorry to hear you had this trouble. The turn off pops can be difficult to trace at times. Should anyone else encounter this issue, we are here Monday through Friday to guide you through installations or answer any questions about our products. We have a few tricks up our sleeves that may be overlooked in the heat of the battle.

Tech Support

(425) 775-8461

M-F 8-5 Pacific Time

 

[butterMilk 10+ year member]

Sorry to hear you had this trouble. The turn off pops can be difficult to trace at times. Should anyone else encounter this issue, we are here Monday through Friday to guide you through installations or answer any questions about our products. We have a few tricks up our sleeves that may be overlooked in the heat of the battle.
Tech Support

(425) 775-8461

M-F 8-5 Pacific Time

I tried emailing you guys and tried calling, i received zero help from anyone. Maybe because I'm young and you guys could tell, and maybe you guys thought I did something wrong (which was not the case). Your tech support didn't help me at all.

 

[ScottWatkins 10+ year member]

I tried emailing you guys and tried calling, i received zero help from anyone. Maybe because I'm young and you guys could tell, and maybe you guys thought I did something wrong (which was not the case). Your tech support didn't help me at all.

I hear ya. I've emailed them before asking questions about their products. I've had better response talking to rocks.

 

[DRS0105]

I use an lc6. Love it. Be careful though. My car came with an amp that did some EQing of the signal. As you turned the volume up it would reduce bass. I had to make sure to use the wires before that amp rather then after.