Remote wire, ground, and speaker taps

[insighttex]

Three quick questions:

1) I assume I MUST use the remote wire, so where do I run the remote wire from a powered subwoofer?

2) Where's the best spot to run a ground from a powered sub in the hatchback?

3) My powered sub has high level speaker inputs... my plan is to tap the rear door speakers at the B pillar. Do I need to tap both the left and the right? I am hesitant because I am running the power on the left side and thought that was a no-no to have a speaker wire and power together...

I realize I am clueless so flames low plz

[Gadget01]

Originally Posted by insighttex

Three quick questions:

1) I assume I MUST use the remote wire, so where do I run the remote wire from a powered subwoofer?

For any aftermarket head-unit- the blue wire. For the oem unit, the Yellow with Red stripe wire.[/QUOTE]

Originally Posted by insighttex

2) Where's the best spot to run a ground from a powered sub in the hatchback?

The main 12v+ power wire for the sub's amp should be run directly to the 12v battery under the hood or even better, tapped at the DC-DC converter. The ideal ground location is on the driver's side of the battery module under the rear hatch floor. Remove the cargo floor mat and the foam inserts. The ground from the DC-DC converter is located here and is the best possible ground available. The arrow in the pic points to this ground.

Originally Posted by insighttex

3)My powered sub has high level speaker inputs... my plan is to tap the rear door speakers at the B pillar. Do I need to tap both the left and the right? I am hesitant because I am running the power on the left side and thought that was a no-no to have a speaker wire and power together...

No, only one side needs tapped since 99.9% of bass is monophonic. You would not likely benefit from running both left/right speaker channels for inputs unless you listen with the balance control away from center.

It's not ideal to run speaker wire directly parallel to power wire since the power wire can induce noise. If you tap the passenger side rear speaker for your powered-sub input and run the power cables on the driver's side, you should be good to go. Speaker wires carry a much higher voltage signal vs pre-amp level/RCA cable which makes them far less sensitive to interference-shielding is not necessary.

[Cobb]

Unless you use a switch from the battery, the accessory fuse the amp will be on 24x7 and run down your battery. I used the accessory fuse til I got a head unit with a remote wire.

I used the drivers side for power and remove, passenger side for signal. I tapped both rear doors as some rock songs split the bass and other instrucments to one side and vocals to another. Ive tapped a bolt under the seat for the seat belt as well as a grounding bolt near the hatch latch.

[Gadget01]

Another tip in the interest of safety- wherever you tap for the remote turn-on should be fused near the tap just in case that wire were to get pinched and short to ground. Same goes for your main constant-on 12v+ wire which for most modest self-powered subs, 8 AWG should suffice. Don't bother with el-crapo tinned-aluminum that most all car-stereo shops sell. It works, but you overpay for what you get. Order some pure copper fine-stranded cable. Welding supply stores (like cableyard.com) are a great source. I use Radaflex and highly recommend it.

[Cobb]

Yes, no short cuts, you need to fuse stuff and use the right gauge wire. I buy the kits off ebay for 10 bucks. I get either 8 or 4 gauge wire.

If you do not have a remote wire, use an add a circuit fuse holder and put it in the accessory fuse slot and add 2 fuses of the right size.


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