Line output converter

bad fishy

bad fishy

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So, what was the end result? I'm thinking of adding a sub and want to keep my stock head unit. I'm not looking for a whole lot of bass, just enough to make the stock EX system sound fuller.

What is a good LOC and where should I tap in for the speakers?
 
Bulkybear

Bulkybear

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End result was pretty good. I tapped the sub channel for the loc. Ultimately I would either spend the extra money to get a JL cleansweep if you want to keep the stock head. But I would strongly advise getting an aftermarket head. The stock head heavily eq's the sound you get. You hear how the stock sub is loud on some bass notes and doesn't even play others? That's the eq curve and that's the signal that will get passed to your aftermarket sub from a loc. If yours doesn't have the premium audio it could be different, then you would have to tap the rear speaker channels for a loc. But it will still be eq'ing the sound and cutting a lot of the bass as most factory decks do. An amplifier will only amplify the signal you give it and unfortunately for aftermarket subs that can hit low, the lower your bass gets from the stock deck the less of a signal it gets until its cut out all together. That being said a loc and aftermarket sub won't sound terrible. It will get loud. But if your like me and like the painful 20-30 hz range you will be disappointed.
 
Bulkybear

Bulkybear

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Yeah some loc's have an eq on them but its still not entirely peachy. You can add the bottom back in to flatten out the signal but you can only do so much with the source being attenuated. The problem comes from the actual voltage to the loc changing based on frequency. And as a side note the eq curve of the stock deck changes based on volume so properly setting ur gain on ur amp and having is near impossible. One song on one volume may be perfectly matched to your gain but things start jumping around when you use a different song or volume. Still that doesnt mean it can't be done. Imo when you get into the pricerange of higher end loc, eq, or things like the cleansweep or rockford fosgate 360.3 you're better of swapping your head for less money (including the modules necessary to retain steering wheel controls).
 
bad fishy

bad fishy

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Houston, TX
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Si
That OEM head unit sounds pretty advanced. They should've just added some line outs for an amp and sub. Thanks for the info!
 
Bulkybear

Bulkybear

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I agree. Factory heads should start including pre outs for amps. The eq'ing isn't anything new though. Most manufactures do something to that affect to overcome the cheap quality of the factory speakers :(
 
Bulkybear

Bulkybear

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No that won't do what the cleansweep does. That's just a crossover, meaning all it does is filter out signal. The JL will balance the signal. That will basically send all your mids and highs out one side and your lows out another. It's pretty much useless considering most amps have a built in crossover already. The cleansweep counteracts any sound processing done by the stock audio system and outputs a clean flat signal for your amp to use. Unless there's a reason you want to keep it I would replace the stock head so that you have a full signal rca preout you and feed an amp with directly from an aftermarket head.
 
9thgizzyguy

9thgizzyguy

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if your tapping the loc just for a sub then tapping the factory sub is fine but if your doing full range like i did tap into one of the rear speakers just use a decent loc nothing big or really expensive i paid 30 for mine but the trick is using a good crossover ...im curently using an audiocontrol crossover its reliable and chips can be swapped to do 20-30hz for lows but most audiocontrol x-overs are preset to do so but are very flexible when it comes ajustibility to the kind of sounds you want to do now the one i have goes for around 120 so its not a bad price to get the sound you really want ...when i go to meets/shows people cant believe the sound that comes out of my car ...its nice and simple like bulky said its about what you use with the application you have fyi that kind of x-over will work good just for the sub use too and it'll have a high pass waiting just in case you wanna expand it later but only thing is to remember to change over the loc to the rear speakers instead of the factory sub..
 
Bulkybear

Bulkybear

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9thgizzyguy said:
if your tapping the loc just for a sub then tapping the factory sub is fine but if your doing full range like i did tap into one of the rear speakers just use a decent loc nothing big or really expensive i paid 30 for mine but the trick is using a good crossover ...im curently using an audiocontrol crossover its reliable and chips can be swapped to do 20-30hz for lows but most audiocontrol x-overs are preset to do so but are very flexible when it comes ajustibility to the kind of sounds you want to do now the one i have goes for around 120 so its not a bad price to get the sound you really want ...when i go to meets/shows people cant believe the sound that comes out of my car ...its nice and simple like bulky said its about what you use with the application you have fyi that kind of x-over will work good just for the sub use too and it'll have a high pass waiting just in case you wanna expand it later but only thing is to remember to change over the loc to the rear speakers instead of the factory sub..
Click to expand...
Problem is you have to replace the head if you want controllable sound. The factory amp/head heavily eq's the audio. For example the sub channel attenuated below 50hz. So if you want say 30hz to hit hard you will clip the crap out of 50hz. Because that attenuation goes both ways. As the note rises from low to 50hz the voltage rises. I believe 50hz is the strongest but in order to get a true full signal you need either a cleansweep, rockford fosgate 360, or aftermarket headunit. And the head unit is the only option that doesn't require channel summing. That being said I'm ripping all my aftermarket stuff out. I'm done with it now lol. I'm happy with stock.
 
T

Tortoise

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all the audio shops in my area are outrageous in price because they have a chip on their shoulder because they work on veryvery high end cars. Will a kicker kx2 so the same as a cleansweep or 360?
 
Bulkybear

Bulkybear

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Sounds like you need to find a different shop lol. And that kicker is not what you need. That's just a crossover. So say your putting subs in. You only want to give them the low end signal as highs will kill them. A low pass crossover will let low signals pass through while blocking the rest of the audio. Same with high pass but with highs instead of lows. While that does "cut" signal it doesn't restore signal like a cleansweep will. Most sub amps have low pass crossovers built in. Most 2+ channels amps have low or high pass options built in. So a dedicated crossover like that kicker you linked is simply not needed as its just duplicating a feature built into amplifiers already. The only products I know of that restore signal going into your amp is the cleansweep and rockford fosgate 360 sound processors. Of course if you change to an aftermarket head unit they have built in rca pre outs that you can directly feed your subs off of that are full signal and clean signal as well, negating the need for any type of sound processor in a normal system. Now for competetion you want some sort of active sound processor but that's a whole different scene entirely. Sorry for the wall of text but hopefully this will explain what you need to know.
 
T

Tortoise

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i really do appreciate your help lol. Im beginning to understand. Dont understand so much about the active sound processor but i guess i wont need to worry about that. Im just looking to add a sub and amp to my factory headunit for now. I would put in my double din from my old car but i dont want to give up bluetooth and imid stuff on a brand new car. One more thing though can you point me to a cleansweep that i would need? ive seen all different ones..do they sell one that could be used for my sub and amp for now and eventually all the rest of my stereo speakers?
 
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