cagthuzz2807

I did a research but I couldn't find anything. My question is, I am planning to add an Amplifier and a Sub in my car with keeping my stock head unit. Anybody have any idea how to do it? I want to do it by my self. I have an experience doing a custom auido installation but with an aftermarket head unit, not the stock one.

XenonBenz

This is assuming you don't have a Bose system. If you do, it's a lot more difficult. There is a stock subwoofer located on the driver side, under the speaker cover on the rear decklid. You have to pry open the speaker cover. The factory subwoofer is dual channel. Unclip both channels from the subwoofer. You can tap both channels to a high low converter either at the subwoofer, or you can access these wires by removing the rear seat (the bottom part, not where your back rests). My high low converter sits under the rear seat. There will be a few wires running on the driver side under the seat. You can look at the speaker wire color on the rear decklid to figure out which wire under the seat is the subwoofer. The factory subwoofer is tied to the rear speakers, so your fader function will work to lower your bass level.

You can leave the factory subwoofer in it's spot, or you can take it out if you want to port bass from your trunk into the cabin. You can loosen the clips for the factory subwoofer in the trunk below the speaker. I took the lazy route and didn't run the power wire all the way from the battery (which is in the front on C230's) to the trunk. Instead I tapped off an OEM 4 gauge power wire that was running under the rear seat on the driver side. I'm not sure what that power wire is for, so please proceed at your own risk. My amp is Class D, so it doesn't draw a lot of power, so I felt okay with it. I don't recommend that route if you have a powerful amp. My guess is that wire is pre-run in all of the W203's during production, but only gets used for models that have the battery in the trunk. But I could be wrong. Maybe it's kinda like all W203's have the center speaker grille on the dash, but only car's with Bose systems actually have a speaker there.

cagthuzz2807

Thank you for your explanation.. I apreciate it!! However, what do you mean with a high low converter? So to sum up, basically you get the source for the aftermarket amp from the 2 stock sub's wires?

XenonBenz

A high low converter also known as a line output converter. It is what converts a raw speaker signal into an RCA signal. You will connect wires from the converter to the speaker wire. Then you will connect RCA's from the converter to your AMP. Make sure your amp has a crossover built in to filter out high frequencies.

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cagthuzz2807

How's the sound quality? i am planning to buy the 5 ch amp to power up all my speakers including the subs. When using the converter which sourced from the stock sub's cable, will it be good enough (in terms of the sound quality). I am planning to get the JL 5ch Amp and a w6 Jl sub.

XenonBenz

I thought you were just adding a sub, not a 5 channel amp to power all your speakers. If you are leaving your stock speakers, they might get toasted by the amp. The stock speakers aren't designed to take a lot of power. JL Audio makes this device, I think it's called Clean Sweep, but it's a high quality line output converter with multiple channels that will work for what you are trying to do.

cagthuzz2807

Thanks for the info!!

cagthuzz2807

Will I be able to tap the power cable directly from the front battery?

XenonBenz

You can connect the power wire (make sure you have an appropriate fuse) to the battery just like any other car. Once you look at the battery, you'll see what I'm talking about. The hard part is finding a hole in the firewall to get the power wire into the cabin.

cagthuzz2807

What about the remote cable?

XenonBenz

Sorry, but this one I cannot answer. I had a car stereo shop do the install, but they let me hover and watch while they were doing it. I didn't see where they tapped the remote wire.

Anyone else have a suggestion?

horsessmellfunn

The remote can be found on the rear fuse box. Take out the entire fuse panel, there are three metal clips on the top. Once you have it out, you will see two rows of connections and wiring. The top row has two pin connectors, the bottom row has a 4 or 6 pin connector I forget. But either way, this first set of pins has a remote. Thr SECOND pin in is the remote lead. The first one is believe is either continuous, or nothing, but the second one (black wire) is remote.

What I did was tapped the rear Bose sub wires directly. I did a cheesey splice and dice. I didnt use a line converter though. The only issue I am having now is that at a high volume, the bass isnt really increased. It pretty much stays consitent. I also removed the annoying ambient noise mic, When i go to turn the sound up, I have to spin the dial all the way up to get it anywhere, this gets a little annoying. I may re-install the mic, and just dampen the crap out of it so it keeps the volume ok.

spyder2005

Another thing, in case your sound system (after install of Sub and AMP) seems to go crazy, increasing volume and decreasing volume without good cause, take out the headlight unit from the ceiling between driver and passenger seat and unplug the microphone. There should be more specific instructions in this forum somewhere. This microphone slightly increases and decreases volume according to sound interference inside the car etc. and goes crazy as soon as you add alot more subwoofer power.
In case it goes crazy, you will not get around unplugging it. It will drive you nuts!!

kevblah

hmm my car does that, the cd's are significantly louder than the radio..but i dont have any aftermarket audio

horsessmellfunn

For anybody who has tapped the rear sub wires, do you get weird feed back in your subs only? Primarily when the car is either in Park, Reverse, or moving at slow speeds in drive? I know its not a ground issue, as I grounded straight to the battery from the amp and I still encountered these problems. I made my own RCA's that I used to connect to my amp, and to the speaker wires straight from the factory sub. I got a ground loop remover thingy, but that doesnt help much either. I have a feeling the constant noise in the subs caused my last pair to go. I have since bought more powerful subs, but I dont think that will solve the problem.

Moviela

Horsessmellfunn Said:

My username got cut off (I didnt realize it) It is supposed to read "Horses Smell Funny."

Horses smell like horses, its clowns that smell funny.

XenonBenz

The weird feedback is from a poor install job. You are never supposed to ground your amp to the battery. You need to find a different spot for your ground wire. Also, you need to use a line output converter (also called a high-low converter) to get a signal from your factory sub to your amp, not homemade RCA's. I would highly recommend you go to a qualified car sterero shop to fix the install.

horsessmellfunn

I didnt ground the installion to the battery, I only used that as a test, the ground is to the chasis in the rear. I did not know I needed a high low converter, I wasnt sure as to why since this is already a low frequency signal. I will buy a high low converter and fix it myself.

Ravenous

I'm gettin ready to install an amp and subs my self. My amp has a high/low input switch built in, do i still need a converter? I have a converter, but i was told i need a different more expensive one. I do not have the bose system, but i know i still need to convert from speaker to rca for the amp input. So what do i need to do?

4matic

actually i find myself in a somewhat similar predicament...i have the Bose system in my 04 s430 and i just want to instal the kicker amp i have laying around...how difficult would this be?

Fat Tony

I know this is an old thread but. I'm replacing the HU on my 02 C320 wagon with Bose no nav system. My question is can I use the speaker wires going to stock amp and connect them to the new amp and use RCA's from the HU?

blzdout

I'm not 100% familiar with the bose set up. But if you see normal wires leading to the factory amp from the speaker wires, I'm sure you could.

Fat Tony

Well I did use those wires at the AMP works great. I had to run wires from the HU to the AMP. I do have an amp coming so I will get the SUB up and running shortly. The only issue I have is that I cant get any FM reception and i'm using the euro adapter any ideas?

hanknum

FT,

Here's what I did...I've got a C320 wagon too...see last post.

https://mbworld.org/forums/c-class-w...tallation.html

Fat Tony

Looks great. I will get some pics up when i'm done. Thanks for all your help.