So Ive been wanting to get a sub in my car for a while now, but have been discouraged as I have heard that on newer cars you must get an expensivr aftermarket stereo.

I've done a little research and it seems that I could purchase a line output convertor to somehow convert speaker lines for the stock stereo to RCA? How hard of a job is that to do? I've always had trouble wiring setups (fried a few stereos, possibly from not disconnecting the battery lol), but this was years ago

I have my eyes set on the Rockford fosgate p300-12, found a great deal at jet.com for $162 free shipping. Would a LOC and this set be everything I need to connect the sub? Any help is appreciated.

https://jet.com/product/detail/756e7...a:2&code=PLA15

 

Bump. No help at all?

 

If you want to use a speaker level input, you will have to sacrifice a speaker, unless you plan on using an amp on all speakers that is.

When you tap a high level input off of a speaker, it creates an imbalance and it will be quieter than the others.

In the end I think you would be much happier with a cheap aftermarket radio with actual RCA outputs.

 

I don't plan on using any amp for the door speakers.. so what your saying is that I'll steal too much signal from the door speakers that I might as replace one of the door speakers input wired for the sub? I thought the signal would just be shared and not really taking power away? So what is a LOC for if it weakens the signal?

 

You could try it... You have me looking at how I could hook my 2x10 sub up with a high level input now.
A lot of people consider a high level signal a "dirty" signal. I think they are fine, in some scenarios you may notice the speaker you tap off of will be a little quieter than the others.

Sorry if I was confusing.

Basically it will work yes. You just need to tap off of a speaker (or a left and a right one ideally) and run it to the high level input built into your sub amplifier.

 

I'm quite confused. So on the Honda, what wires will I connect the LOC to? I'm basically assuming that using online diagrams, I. Going to connect to maybe rear right speaker, take it's - and + wires and connecting it, and that will convert to RCA signal... I'll military splice to keep the original wire in tact, so the rear right speaker can still work but you're saying it may be a weakened a bit?

Also I'm not sure about high level inputs, aren't subs supposed to use low level? Sorry I feel like a newbie but I need some informing especially regarding doing this to my Honda as I don't want to mess anything up

 

You do not need an LOC. The amplifier has one built in for the exact thing you are trying to do. It is called a speaker level input. You can splice rca cable directly to existing positive and negative speaker wires, and run it into the speaker level input on the amplifier.

 

So I take the rca cable that comes with it, and splice it up to the read door speaker as I described? How many wires will I be connecting from the rca? Level of difficulty?

 

Sorry about that.
I said RCA because it's a good gauge of wire (you would be cutting the ends off and using just the cable part), but you really just need a wire with two separate conductors inside. The amplifier's manual will tell you where specifically it hooks up.
Usually it's a small adapter plug with some wires coming out a few inches to connect your signal wire to on the amplifier side. Then you connect your positive and negative to that and the other side connects to the positive and negative of the speaker.

It should be pretty easy, but I wouldn't know for sure because I never pulled the door panels off.

 

Can I wire that from the factory head unit, or would taking the door off be easier? Grrr I'm so confused I hate it lol. Did u see the unit I was looking to buy? The amp is built in, hopefully it does have a manual

 

I did look yeah. I would hook up from the door speaker

The plug it shows with female RCA on one end and a square plug on the other is what you need. You just cut the RCA plugs off of it. The manual tells you what color wire is for what. You really only need to do one speaker

Basically splice any two wires to the + and - of speaker and run them to the amplifier.

http://www.rockfordfosgate.com/rftec...loaded-man.pdf

Page 6 bottom right tells the colors to hook up (the note above picture)
Basically connect the wires you ran either to the white or black pair on the adapter.

 

OK so will having the high level output affect the sound quality at all? I'm only trying to power the sub, nothing else. I feel like low level would be better?

 

The potential problem with connecting another speaker to a speaker in parallel isn't a reduction the volume. Rather, it will reduce the impedance and typically it will halve it. So an 8 ohm speaker with another 8 ohm speaker connected is seen as a 4 ohm speaker by the amplifier. Attaching one speaker isn't a problem but keep adding and eventually you will be overdriving the amplifier.

I don't know what the impedance of your woofer is but the the unit is designed to be connected this way so I wouldn't worry about it. Go ahead and connect it to the TWO front (or rear) speakers. To do that don't mess with door panels. Simply remove the centre console, cut off the RCA plugs and connect to the wires at the back of the radio. Fitting an LOC seems like a waste of time and effort to me. You are just reducing the power of the signal in order to amplify it again. Nothing to gain by doing that.

Wiring details here:

Body

 

Just found this, looks like it plugs into the back of the stereo and requires no splicing to allow RCA output:

PAC AOEM-HON17

 

Looks like that device will give me what I need without having to deal with any wires, just plug and play. Maybe the remote wire may need spliced in, but that's all it seems.

 

Provided your Fit's radio has a 17 pin connector, then yes good to go with that. Personally I would save the $34 but yep, it's an good way to do it I suppose.

I'd check that stereo before ordering though.

 

Yep I have the floor model Honda fit when it first came out, so that connector will work! I just don't want to splice as it seems a bit complex for a newbie like me. Thanks a MILLION to everyone, what a fantastic group of people on here, extremely helpful.