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Subwoofer and aftermarket stereo


Jon White

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My 95 classic has the factory fit sub in the boot along with the ickle amplifier that sits on tip of it?

How do i wire it up so it will work with an aftermarket stereo?

Or do I need to fit a different amplifier? My head unit has RCA pre-outs for a sub take off if needed.

Someone must have done this before surely?

Thanks

Jon

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These threads might help

Subwoofer thread

similar thread from an inferior forum

Both are disco related but i would imagine the stereo wiring is similar.

The amp on mine (again a disco) was dead so I have installed a small alpine amp in the rear door and run a phone lead the length of the car to supply a signal.

HTH

Pete.

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It's not the same subwoofer, but I would imagine the wiring is pretty much the same (my disco only runs to a base model two speaker stereo, so I can't compare...). Are you using the main power amp on top of the sub (drives all the other speakers) or just the smaller one that drives the sub?

The same sub was used in North American spec RRs, which had a Pioneer system instead of the usual Clarion one, so there's nothing that ties the sub to the standard head unit. Pretty sure the main amp just takes standard phono inputs, so that didn't ought to be a problem either.

I'd guess a newer system will have an ISO connector on the head unit, so it's just a case of fitting a plug for that to the wiring loom?

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The sub has 2 speakers inside it with 2 channel on the amp accordingly, If you wire them up wrong they just defeat each other. I couldn't get the volume right on the mrs' car so when I put a new system into mine I binned the old amp and fitted a 4 channel bridgeable amp under the sub with a low-pass filter for the amp. Sounds ok to me.

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The sub has 2 speakers inside it with 2 channel on the amp accordingly, If you wire them up wrong they just defeat each other. I couldn't get the volume right on the mrs' car so when I put a new system into mine I binned the old amp and fitted a 4 channel bridgeable amp under the sub with a low-pass filter for the amp. Sounds ok to me.

You sure? I could be wrong, but I've had my sub apart before and I only remember one driver unit in it... :unsure:

The main amp on top is two channel, and wiring up the two channels out of phase (positive and negative opposite ways round on each channel) will lead to the sound waves cancelling, which makes the system sound dull. This isn't a problem with this particular amp though - the same applies to any audio amp with at least two channels. Try it on your HiFi!

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The Range Rover sub bass box is what is known as an isobaric coupled cavity design. The box has two chambers inside it, one of which is sealed and the other is 'ported' to the outside world (hence 'coupled cavity'). There are two speakers inside the box that are mounted on the wall between the two cavities, cone to cone in orientation (hence isobaric). The speakers are wired anti-phase so that they complement each other - when when is on the outward stroke the other is on the inward stroke. If you intend on using an aftermarket amplifier it is very important to remember this as wiring them incorrectly will cause them to cancell each other out.

If you look at the amplifier you will see two connector blocks. One is for the speakers, the other for the power, turn on and signal connections. The power connections can stay as they are but you will need to supply the amplifier with a switch-on signal from the head unit. This (if I recall correctly) comes in on the purple/yellow wire (pin 2 on the connector). If you originally had the top end OE stereo fitted using the Clarion amplifier (mounted also on top of the subwoofer) and it all still works with the new radio, this must still be connected at the head end. If not, you will either have to run a wire from the head unit switched out to the sub amp or locate this cable within the head unit connector at the front of the vehicle (same wiring colour).

The input signal to the amp comes in on the connector pins 1 & 5. It should be easy to identify as it will be a coaxial screened cable. You can either splice into it at the sub amp or in the original radio connector (pins 9 & 10 - black and red/yellow cables).

Hope this helps.

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The Range Rover sub bass box is what is known as an isobaric coupled cavity design. The box has two chambers inside it, one of which is sealed and the other is 'ported' to the outside world (hence 'coupled cavity'). There are two speakers inside the box that are mounted on the wall between the two cavities, cone to cone in orientation (hence isobaric). The speakers are wired anti-phase so that they complement each other - when when is on the outward stroke the other is on the inward stroke. If you intend on using an aftermarket amplifier it is very important to remember this as wiring them incorrectly will cause them to cancell each other out.

Interesting - might have to open it up again and have another look :)

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Interesting - might have to open it up again and have another look :)

Oops - I'm bad, got confused with another car I was doing recently!! The wiring info was right but the speaker description was slightly wrong. It is a coupled cavity enclosure but is using a single speaker with dual coils. Hence, wiring out of phase will cause zero sound output as each coil will cancel out the other.

Give me a break, I started loosing my mind when I crossed fourty and that was six years ago!! :blink:

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Oops - I'm bad, got confused with another car I was doing recently!! The wiring info was right but the speaker description was slightly wrong. It is a coupled cavity enclosure but is using a single speaker with dual coils. Hence, wiring out of phase will cause zero sound output as each coil will cancel out the other.

Give me a break, I started loosing my mind when I crossed fourty and that was six years ago!! :blink:

Ah! That explains why I didn't spot it...I've never tinkered with the wiring to the sub.

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Right - been out a had a fiddle today - removing the stereo has reveiled the fetching pink plug that someone mentioned, along with a whole host of 'orrible wiring! I'll sort the orrible wiring out and then try putting a phono plug onto the sub wiring as someone suggested.

Is it worth wiring in two of them so I can take input from both left and right channels on the stereo, or will i just end up with a dead short and a broken stereo?

Thanks

Jon

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