hi. im trying to install an amp in the glove compartment behind the passenger seat.

how do i run the wires into it? do i have to take out all those big panels in the rear speaker area?

or is there easier way to do this?


oh. and will amp be ok in that space without any air flowing? will it get hot?

thank you.

-john-

 

It does get pretty hot in there. My PC heats it up pretty good in the summer. I drilled holes in the back of the felt covered material for air circulation. Someone advocated putting a couple small PC fans back there but I've never done that.

Where exactly are you running the wires from? Are you talking from the rear of the car or from the dash area?

 

You shouldn't have a problem putting a moderately powered amp in there. I have one in there on the passenger side and one on the driver side too. Taking off all the panels makes things easier and cleaner. You may be able to fish power and signal wires through grommets and holes without taking off the panels but not preferred. You need to follow the instructions on other posts concerning running power cable from the battery and grounding the amp. Are you using aftermarket HU with RCA or stock and LOC?

 

thank you for your input guys.

i am trying to run power wire from the battery and RCA from the HU.
i will be using stock HU with LOC also.

if i understand correctly, there is rear speaker panel, and underneath that, there is glove compartment panel.

i was thinking maybe i could slip the wires behind the glove compartment panel, but i can't really figure it out. and i don't have guts to take all those big *** panels out. looks like pain in the ***. lol

if i had no choice, i would, but i really don't wanna mess with those big panels. So, no other ways?

Thank you.

 

Take off the side panels first, they are easier. Start from the kick panels..then door sill...then rear side panel. This panel covers a section of the "glove-compartment" panel that has a few large holes that you can route wires through without taking off the panel. You will also need to unsnap the carpet along the passenger door to tuck the new power wire in. You may want to use the stock white plastic wire looms that exist.

For RCAs and LOC, you can go down the middle by removing the center console. Which you should have already done to snip wires behind the stock HU. You can also run the RCA and new speaker wires down the driver side by unhooking the panels and carpet on that side.

Either way, you have openned yourself up to making this tougher becuase you are adding an amp, which means you will need to tap off of the HU speaker outputs, and hopefully run your own speaker wire to the fronts.

 

oooh. thats a good news. so i can use those large holes behind the rear side panel to get to the amp huh?

one more question. if i run RCA and LOC through the middle, how do those wires go into the glove box from there?

thank you.

 

The side panels are easy to remove, just don't pull too hard and try to get your hand as close to the fasteners as possible before pulling as not to break any.

There is a big-ole hole leading to the cubby area if you remove the center console. You shouldn't have any trouble routing RCAs through there. If you're gonna use cheap LOCs you might just as well use the High inputs on your amp and forget about RCA. If your using a high end LOC, I would suggets putting it behind the HU and running the RCAs all the way to the back. Are you going to tap into both the front and back outputs or just the front? What will you be powering with this amp?

 

i will be powering the subs. so i guess ill just tap into rear speaker wires.
and im going to be using davidnavone's LOC. im not sure which one to get tho. which model do you recommend?

and when running the RCA in the middle, how do i get to the glove box from the center console? is there any openings on the glove box panel when you remove the center console?

thank you.

 

If you're tapping into the rear speakers then you don't need to run any RCA's down the middle console. Since sub amp is mono, you would only need to tap into one side, to the LOC, then RCA to the amp. Perhaps a Y splitter is needed depending on the number of inputs.

I don't use LOC right now, but I have before in my cars and my G/Fs SUV, and they work ok for Subs, not spectacular.. but OK. I used Tsunami cheapies LOC before and also just ran speaker leads into the High input of an amp..again it sounded ok. I've never used davidnavone's. Just make sure your amp has a LPF on it and set the gains on the LOC and Amp correctly.

 

You may want to run a setup like I did in my G/fs. Just ran a 4G power lead to the back of the vehicle and grounded the amp to rear chassis. Then tapped into left rear speaker but used a crossover as the input. From the crossover, I ran the high output back to the original speaker (non-amplified) and the Sub output to the LOC input. The LOC was then connected to RCA splitter and then to the amp input. You would still need to tweek the LPF on the Amp because the Crossover will probably be set slightly higher than you need. With the crossover you can still use the rear speakers as stock without changing the impedance...maybe

 

hmm. im a little confused about the LOC wiring.



this is davidnavone's LOC. it has Left + - input, and Right + - input.
and Left RCA output, and Right RCA output.

am i not supposed to tap into both rear speaker wires? Left and Right? and then just connect the Left and Right RCA into the amp?

or am i not understanding something right?

Thank you.

 

yes, you will be fine tapping into both the rear left and right channels. Your amp has only a single output right? (mono sub amp). With that type amp I have used a single speaker tap and an RCA Y splitter (to make things easier) but you will be best served tapping into both channels.

You have the non-bose system right? Actually the best place to tap into the HU outputs would be directly behind the HU. That's how I had mine setup a year ago. two LOCs hidden behind the stock HU, then dual 9' RCAs leading back to the cubby to two amps.

 

Has anyone else used that model pictured? I may be off here but it would seem to me a better option would be the N-7V adjustable LOC. The one pictured is fixed at 9.5v out which may or may not be cool. For a few bucks more I think the other model will be a safer option.

 

great!

so when you say "directly behind the HU", do i just tap into wire behind the HU instead of the wires near the rear speakers? and i only need 1 LOC for my setup, right?

and is 9.5v out too much? where should it be set to?

following is the specification i got from the manufacturer site.

NINe.1 Amplifier Detailed Specifications

Signal to Noise Ratio -95dBA
Variable Input Sensitivity 150 mVolt - 7.0V
Remote Variable Input Sensitivity Yes
Variable Low Pass X-Over 40-240 @12dB
Current & Thermal Protection Yes
Remote Bass Equalization Yes
Variable Phase Control Yes
Master / Slave Option Yes
Efficiency 64%
Variable SubSonic Filter 24dB/Octave, 15Hz - 50Hz
Fuse(s) 4x30
Max Current Draw 130 Amps


thank you.

 

If they are talking 9.5V Peak then it probably doesn't matter. Especially since your amp accepts 7V. It's close enough IMO.

So basically you are trying to match your LOC output level to the input level of your amp. LOCs I've used in the past had a gain setting on them which seemed to make it easier to tweek for me to match the optimum gain on the amp. Like I said, for $10 extra go for the variable just in case.

With that amp you should also run both power and ground 0-4G from the battery and use a 120A fuse on + within a foot of the battery. Your bass is gonna be really overwhelming compared to the 10Watts or so of music coming from your front speakers.

 

If you have a Bose system you need to tap directly behind the HU so you bypass the stock amplifiers. Some people say that you should get as close to the source no matter what, but you may have luck just tapping in to the rear speaker leads, especially since you won't be using the entire freq range for the sub amp. It will be a lot easier than identifying color coded wires on the harness of the head unit which you will have to do if you go the first route. You only need 1 LOC.

 

thank you thank you thank you

you cleared up a lot of things for me. now i got the basic idea of what's to be done.

i removed some panels in the car and found the openings you were talking about too.

i owe you a beer. let me know when you come down to anaheim area.

thanks again. -John-

 

I will actually be somewhat near tomorrow night...at the Lakers game!! Got some VIP tickets from a vendor so should be fun.

Enjoy the install and let me know how it sounds.

Dan