audio help
 

hi guys,

i got my hands on a stock bose subwoofer and am stuck trying to connect it to my aftermarket Kenwood KDC-BT555U.

this HU only has an RCA type output for subwoofer (wiring instructions here: http://s3.amazonaws.com/szmanuals/9c0003c5f238fbb1d754e68a566174ee) which i believe requires to go through an amp that i already removed when i replaced the factory Becker. there is no direct wire output like i have for the speakers.

is there no other way of connecting the subwoofer separately with no amp? i did some research but havent found any adapter and not even sure if it will work with no amp. my audio skills suck what can i say.. :D

right now i wired it directly to a rear speaker output as an interim solution. HU has 50 watts which is plenty for the stock bose sub so i dont need more power or an amp, i just want to hook it up separately so i can adjust sub settings.

hoping for an easy answer :)

thanks in advance,

Cristian

If you don't want to use an amp, an active crossover between one of the outputs and sub is an option (not the RCA).
The RCA output is pre-amp, so that signal must be amplified to get any usable sound.

that's what i was hoping to hear. what do i need in order to make that happen?

An active crossover will allow you to adjust the sound level and frequency sent to the sub. It's been a long time since I've looked at crossovers, so I'm not sure which to recommend. Maybe someone else can chime in. ;)

Edit: a quick search shows that even a small crossover is going to run about $50. You may be better off just getting a small 100-200 watt amp which would allow you to do the same with the added bonus of slightly more power. I've been out of the audiophile world for 15-20 years, so I'm probably not the best person to answer this. :o

I don't know of any Active crossovers that will work will high level signals. What you could do is a Passive crossover.

Basically a simple Low Pass filter is just a coil. (1st order 6db/octave)
Use something like this 2-Way Crossover Designer / Calculator

Figure out what the speaker impedance is (2ohm i think) and the desired cutoff frequency... next to your head like that I would say less than 80hz. Then head over to partsexpress and they have a whole selection of crossover building parts.

alm001 thanks for the help! it's the subwoofer i got from you :)


i'll look into it and see if that's the way i want to go.

i noticed after just a few minutes of high volume play with the sub working hard the sound starts to get distorted. if i turn it down for a bit and then back up it goes back to normal.. for a while.

is this the HU overheating or the sub itself? HU puts out 50W which i think is plenty for the sub. sound is crisp before it overheats.

what can i do about this?

Do you have a way to measure the impedance of the woofer? It may be too low for your source.

i believe i need a multimeter for that which i dont have. i should get one anyway..
but shouldnt i be able to find the sub specs somewhere since it's a stock unit?