Mono amp FTL...

[disturbedfuel15 10+ year member]

So, my 10w3 finally came today, and I had all the wires hooked up. I started up the music, and the subwoofer didn't move at all. I could tell you exactly what happened, step by step, but I'll just cut to the chase. My head unit doesn't have subwoofer out. It has rear speakers, front speakers, and AUX in. What a stupid mistake, I figured the 3rd set of RCAs had to be sub out. So anyway, I tried to have the RCAs and the regular speaker wire running at the same time, but unfortunately you have to have either all RCA or all wire //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif bummer. The only way I found of running the sub is by eliminating one of the speakers. Right now the rear left speaker's wires are going to the amp, and then from the amp to the sub. So, I've got no left rear speaker for now, but it still sounds alright I suppose. I'm guessing my only option to provide power to all 4 speakers and my sub now is to either get another amp, or replace mine with a 4/3/2 channel, correct? Perhaps I could use a splitter to combine the 2 rear speakers as one? What are my options here?

Thanks a ton!

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[93 saturn sl2 10+ year member]

Does the amp have high level imputs?

Or get a new HU

 

[phantom240 5,000+ posts]

w3 and no sub output? youre biting off more than you can chew in car audio at this point. Visualize ur setup before doing it. Know what you have and what you need. get a new HU chances are urs sucks.

 

[JimJ 5,000+ posts]

Do you need rear fill?

I'd just give up that and run the sub and a front stage. Or use a line output converter.

 

[disturbedfuel15 10+ year member]

Does the amp have high level imputs?
Or get a new HU

Getting a new HU is definitely out of the question, because I just paid over $200 for this one only about 2 months ago. I don't believe it has high level inputs because it is a mono amp //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif

w3 and no sub output? youre biting off more than you can chew in car audio at this point. Visualize ur setup before doing it. Know what you have and what you need. get a new HU chances are urs sucks.

The head unit It's from Clarion's 2006 lineup. DB365USB is the exact model name, I'm pretty sure. Like I said, I really can't see myself buying a new one at this point in time.

Do you need rear fill?
I'd just give up that and run the sub and a front stage. Or use a line output converter.

I could do that, but what is a line output converter?

 

[phantom240 5,000+ posts]

it converts high level (speaker) outputs to low level (rca/preamp) outputs

 

[disturbedfuel15 10+ year member]

That wouldn't allow me to run all my speakers though, it would just make it so I can use a patch cable instead? I suppose my only real option here is to get a multi-channel amp. I'll just run it like this for a few weeks until the extra money from my paychecks adds up enough to fund a new amp.

 

[Savstyle 10+ year member]

Do you need rear fill?
I'd just give up that and run the sub and a front stage. Or use a line output converter.

//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/word.gif.64b12e39f936af3b4fff38a1c0bd0244.gif

 

[JimJ 5,000+ posts]

That wouldn't allow me to run all my speakers though

Yes, it would. You tap the input of the LOC into the head unit's speaker-level outputs...assuming it has an internal amp. The low-level (RCA) outputs are unaffected.

 

[disturbedfuel15 10+ year member]

Using just the front speakers and a sub wouldn't necessarily give me better sound quality from the sub though, correct? I mean subs only run in mono mode, and by me running the sub off of one of the speaker's wires (+)(-), that is giving it a mono signal, right?

 

[disturbedfuel15 10+ year member]

Basically, for every 2 high level outputs, 2 low level outputs on a converter. How does that let me run all my speakers, if I am just doing a 1:1 thing here? Excuse my ignorance, but I really am not understanding...

 

[JimJ 5,000+ posts]

Basically, for every 2 high level outputs, 2 low level outputs on a converter. How does that let me run all my speakers, if I am just doing a 1:1 thing here?

I have no idea what you said.

Are you running the four speakers off an external amp or the head unit's internal one?

 

[disturbedfuel15 10+ year member]

The head unit's internal one. First, let's make sure we are talking about the same thing here. Line output converter:

How does that give me more outputs vs without one? How can I run all my speakers plus subwoofer without more outputs?

 

[JimJ 5,000+ posts]

I was thinking you were running the speakers off an external amp, which would leave the speaker level wiring free...

Edit - read the original post. I think you need to buy another head unit...or read the manual.

 

[disturbedfuel15 10+ year member]

Haha, alright glad we are on the same page now. Like I said multiple times, I'm not going to buy a new head unit, so I'm just going to wait a few weeks and get a different, multi-channel amp so that I can power my rear speakers plus subwoofer.