Simple Subwoofer Upgrade!?

[JasonInDLH]

Is the wiring diagram you have attached for all jeep or just 4 doors? I have a 2 door 2021, so do you think its the same wiring?

Yes, it should be the same.

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[JasonInDLH]

"I tapped into sub 1 (+ and -) and sub 2 (+ and -). Just look for the twisted wires as they are the ones you want. Then it’s easy to color match" - so . . . I purchased a Kicker 46HS10 powered sub and I have it mostly figured out but still confused on "tapping" into B pillar wires . . . I want to connect to the "amp subwoofer 1, 2, 3, 4" respectively or . . . Now I'm confused again. In the box with the powered sub is a harness that has an obvious port on the sub itself and an octopus of wires coming out of the harness . . . Blue (won't use, cause I'm doing HI (speaker level) turn-on) toggled to DC, a ground wire (bare metal), power wire (to battery (+) and fuse thingy and a 2nd ground (bare metal) and then 4 wires - white (L +), white / black (L -), grey (R +), grey / black (R -) - where and what do I connect these four wires to in the B pillar . . . This posted wiring chart has me rethinking my life choices . . . There's only 4 wires but 8 amp subwoofer wires!? Help . . .

You can tap into either the sub wires (its a 4 coil sub, so there will be 8 wires in total) or the rear speaker wires (not the tweeter wires). So two options there for you.

Sorry…gotta go for now. Will be back later…

 

[JasonInDLH]

Okay…back…was a bit busy today (and just finished wiring up my system ?).

So you got everything correct. I just wanted to double check the harness that came with the Kicker and didn’t have time earlier.

I would put a little electrical tape on the end of the blue turn-on lead and coil it up somewhere next to the sub in case, for whatever reason, the DC Offset function doesn’t work.

If you’re connecting to the rear soundbar speaker wires located in the b-pillar, then simply match to these wires circled…

If you connect to the factory Alpine sub wires located by the rear passenger door sill (I can’t remember if you have a 4 door or 2 door) then Amp Sub 1 (+ and -) could be your right channel and Amp Sub 2 (+ and -) could be you left channel. It doesn’t make a difference just so long as you keep polarity and one channel (left or right) on the same voice coil ( remember…the factory Alpine sub has 4 voice coils, so 8 wires to choose from, but will only tap into 4).

I’m not understanding why there would be two ground wires (one of which is bare). Is it possible to take a picture of what you have exactly? There should only be one ground wire. I’m flummoxed. ?

And I’m glad you ended up getting the Kicker! Seems like a great unit!

 

[Nater34]

Just got my Hideaway 10” done and wow what a difference it makes!! Thanks everyone and especially @JasonInDLH! Realized had to install in rear passenger side because my front has the air ducts. Also gave up on trying to get the power wire through the firewall and just connected it to the Aux wires under dash. I tapped into the the surround wires in the pulled and then ran the knob up the middle and screwed in the dash. All and all not horrible besides trim being a pain and broke like 3 fasteners!

 

[Ghostwolf]

Just got my Hideaway 10” done and wow what a difference it makes!! Thanks everyone and especially @JasonInDLH! Realized had to install in rear passenger side because my front has the air ducts. Also gave up on trying to get the power wire through the firewall and just connected it to the Aux wires under dash. I tapped into the the surround wires in the pulled and then ran the knob up the middle and screwed in the dash. All and all not horrible besides trim being a pain and broke like 3 fasteners!

Any pics of the process?

 

[JasonInDLH]

Just got my Hideaway 10” done and wow what a difference it makes!! Thanks everyone and especially @JasonInDLH! Realized had to install in rear passenger side because my front has the air ducts. Also gave up on trying to get the power wire through the firewall and just connected it to the Aux wires under dash. I tapped into the the surround wires in the pulled and then ran the knob up the middle and screwed in the dash. All and all not horrible besides trim being a pain and broke like 3 fasteners!

Nice! Excited to see some pics! ?

Good idea using the aux wires under the dash. I used one of those for my LOC and worked great.

Just curious how you have the gain/Xover/bass boost set?

 

[Nater34]

Nice! Excited to see some pics! ?

Good idea using the aux wires under the dash. I used one of those for my LOC and worked great.

Just curious how you have the gain/Xover/bass boost set?

funny I was actually going to ask what you guys set your stuff to! I just but gain up a lil and left other stuff alone and set knob to middle. I have no idea!

 

[JasonInDLH]

Pulling the plastic trim pieces off, guaranteed! ? I almost got myself bad too. And then I wore gloves.

 

[JasonInDLH]

funny I was actually going to ask what you guys set your stuff to! I just but gain up a lil and left other stuff alone and set knob to middle. I have no idea!

Lookin’ good!

Apparently, the proper way to set the gain is with a distortion detector as you should test the receiver for distortion as well as the amp gain. And I believe you need to play a test tone at 70% volume (@lashlee is this correct?).

I’m not spending more $$$ for a detector. Nor am I going to play a test tone at 70% (I would unplug my new sub as you test the RCA output voltage, but that still leaves the factory sub and the rest of the speakers playing the test tone.

I’m with you…adjust a little here and a little there until it sounds ripe.

 

[JasonInDLH]

@Ghostwolf …How’s you install going?

 

[lashlee]

Lookin’ good!

Apparently, the proper way to set the gain is with a distortion detector as you should test the receiver for distortion as well as the amp gain. And I believe you need to play a test tone at 70% volume (@lashlee is this correct?).

I’m not spending more $$$ for a detector. Nor am I going to play a test tone at 70% (I would unplug my new sub as you test the RCA output voltage, but that still leaves the factory sub and the rest of the speakers playing the test tone.

I’m with you…adjust a little here and a little there until it sounds ripe.

70% is a very safe place to start, especially if you've got a mixed bag of components (OEM and aftermarket, or speaker level and RCA). Like you mentioned, the best way is to start with the headunit and work your way back. Use a zero DB track for the H/U, a 5DB track for the mids and a 10DB track for the subs.

 

[Nater34]

Pulling the plastic trim pieces off, guaranteed! ? I almost got myself bad too. And then I wore gloves.

500% that freaking trim. Was the Bain of my existence and got me 3x

 

[Ghostwolf]

@Ghostwolf …How’s you install going?

Slow go . . . Weather turned for the worst and still a little timid about the install - nervous and still trying to wrap my head around the process and trying to decide if I need an LOC or not . . . And work piled up . . . Maybe Friday or the weekend!?

 

[JasonInDLH]

Slow go . . . Weather turned for the worst and still a little timid about the install - nervous and still trying to wrap my head around the process and trying to decide if I need an LOC or not . . . And work piled up . . . Maybe Friday or the weekend!?

You got the Kicker HS10, correct? You won’t need an LOC with that as it processes up to 40v. The HS10 is a straightforward install: Power to battery, Ground to ground (Jeep has lots of good grounding studs I’ve realized), and tap into the speaker wires and you’re golden.

When you’re removing the trim pieces to run the power to the battery wear gloves (as @Nater34 showed us?). The trim pieces you need to remove all pull out away from you(not up). The front kick panel one has one bolt that needs to be removed and one wiring harness that needs to be unclipped.

 

[Nater34]

Yes the trim can reach out and bite you!! Tonight I finished the speaker overhaul in the JL. I have to say it’s night and day from the stock 8.4” system. Tonight I replaced the front dash speakers which was super simple but made a nice improvement. First I did the surround speakers by putting 6x9’s in which also helped a ton. I will say however the cherry on top and biggest improvement by far has to be the hideaway 10”. It’s now a completely new system from when I started. Every JL should come from factory like it does now!!

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