How-To: Wire a Sub to stock MAZDASPEED6

[parabellum]

Nice little trick with the brass hook for you. I don't think my battery has one (or not anymore, I don't know).

I was about to give up when I saw the little brass thingy that I didn't even notice when I removed the battery. Worked perfectly and did the job in <2 minutes.

The wiring and position of amp/woofer seems to be different in the regular 6 so if i remember my cam tomorrow i can post some pics of the build. Might help someone.

 

[Koenig]

Sounds good man... and yes it is... with my GF's 2005 Mazda6 s, I had to run her wires around the bottom under that little place mat in her hatch.

 

[06SpeedDS]

LOC not carrying enough signal??

Sorry to keep this going, but I have a different situation... I had already tried to tap directly into the subwoofer amp in the back and hooking up the LOC there, but the signal was extremely weak. So I hooked it up to my rear speakers lines (before the BOSE amp under passenger seat), and ran RCA's out into my amp in the trunk. Everything seems ok, but the sub is only putting out a little bit more power. I feel like I am missing a very simple step, or maybe my LOC is just cheap and cannot carry the signal. (Walmart brand)

I have played with all the settings on the amp and HU, but only helped a little. Any suggestion would be appreciated...

-06 Mazda Mazdaspeed 6-

 

[Koenig]

Sorry to keep this going, but I have a different situation... I had already tried to tap directly into the subwoofer amp in the back and hooking up the LOC there, but the signal was extremely weak. So I hooked it up to my rear speakers lines (before the BOSE amp under passenger seat), and ran RCA's out into my amp in the trunk. Everything seems ok, but the sub is only putting out a little bit more power. I feel like I am missing a very simple step, or maybe my LOC is just cheap and cannot carry the signal. (Walmart brand)

I have played with all the settings on the amp and HU, but only helped a little. Any suggestion would be appreciated...

-06 Mazda Mazdaspeed 6-

I'm assuming your LOC is the line-in converter? I see you bought a pre-made one from walmart.

How thick are the wires? Bigger wires = better signal travel, if your wires are tiny that may be your issue. I tried a line-in converter from radioshack on a friend's car once, sounded bad, we bought another one from a car audio store that had thicker wiring and it was much better.

When I bought my RCA 2 into 1, I was looking at the line-in converters they had available and they were small wires, that's why I just went ahead and made my own.

So how thick are the wires on the line in that you're using? I picked thick cable for my "signal" wire on my custom line-in.

it may not even be the line-in? Can you post a pic of your line in, and also post a pic of the back of the AMP (close enough to read the markings) of where you have the RCA cables plugged?

 

[06SpeedDS]

Thanks for the quick reply... I was using small cables for the install. Figured the signal didn't need to be huge going to the amp. I will try it with some larger cables and see if that fixes it. I'll also take a couple pics just incase... and yeah made sure my LOC was on Line Out. I really think a stronger signal will fix the issue so ill get back to you.

Thanks again and nice write up.. getting harder to find info on the speed6's since mazda won't continue them

 

[Koenig]

Thanks for the quick reply... I was using small cables for the install. Figured the signal didn't need to be huge going to the amp. I will try it with some larger cables and see if that fixes it. I'll also take a couple pics just incase... and yeah made sure my LOC was on Line Out. I really think a stronger signal will fix the issue so ill get back to you.

Thanks again and nice write up.. getting harder to find info on the speed6's since mazda won't continue them

I know what you mean, but between here and 6 club there is a plethora of info to be found. I remember 6 tech but I think that site is gone now.

is it on line-out? I thought it was supposed to be line-in? I'm kind of confused, maybe a pic of your converter or an online link would help me to see it better.

 

[06SpeedDS]

I know what you mean, but between here and 6 club there is a plethora of info to be found. I remember 6 tech but I think that site is gone now.

is it on line-out? I thought it was supposed to be line-in? I'm kind of confused, maybe a pic of your converter or an online link would help me to see it better.

I re-wired everything last night with 12 gauge wiring (18g previously) and still had the same issue. Here is a link to the LOC I am using..

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_142SLC4/Scosche-SLC4.html?tp=2001

Instructions say to put it on Line Out if you are just tapping in to add a amp/subwoofer. I did try all three options, but only line out actually gives me a signal. The LOC is suppost to give out about 80w, so should be plenty of power. These are the amp settings that I found make it work a little: Level: .3v Low Boost: 8-10db LPF: 100-300. Makes me think there is very little voltage being carried through the LOC, but not sure how thats possible seeing as I tapped into the wires between the HU and stock Bose amp (as suggested for more power). Just not sure what other options it could be..

 

[ukrms6]

How would I connect an actual line out converter to the wires going to the amp/sub? This is the converter I'm using.
http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_5265_PAC+SNI-35.html

Thanks.

 

[ukrms6]

This is kinda urgent so any advice is helpful. Thanks.

 

[yellow mp5]

To anyone doing this install, when splicing your RCA signals do not leave the other wire that was not used in the original post. Tap the extra unused negative signal into the brown wire for mazdaspeed6. Sub hits alot cleaner that way

 

[Koenig]

To anyone doing this install, when splicing your RCA signals do not leave the other wire that was not used in the original post. Tap the extra unused negative signal into the brown wire for mazdaspeed6. Sub hits alot cleaner that way

You spliced your negative into the brown wire in the stock BOSE amp? I'll have to try that out. It's been a while since I did the set up, but the diagram I managed to get a hold of (back in the day) for the wires/amp/sub didn't specify the brown as being a negative/ground. I'll definitely test it.

I still haven't had any issues with the system and I've been running it since I got the car in April 2007. I did clean up and create a custom tucked enclosure to get my trunk space back from the box itself.

As for the LOCs, I have tried a LOC on a friend's car before, it sucked horrible. I ended up making one for him and the signal was much better. A car audiophile buddy (with his own shop) had told me that pre-made LOCs from companies tend to be crappy with very low signals. That may explain the issues a lot of people run into. Of the handful that I have done using LOCs, they never worked well.

 

[cojsl]

Good tip, but there is one problem. The photo shown of the wiring at the grommet.... Do not go AROUND the grommet as shown. You will be pinching the wire against metal, this can cause it to cut through the shielding and ground out to the body.

+1 Make the extra effort to poke a hole in the grommet and thread the wire through.
- straighten a wire coat hanger
- push the coat hanger through the grommet, being careful not to cut any existing wires in the grommet
- tape the wire to the coat hanger, overlapping the wire and coat hanger 3-4 inches, be generous with the tape or the wire will pull off the coat hanger
- pull the coat hanger through the grommet, a little lube on the tape will help slip the larger wire through. Be sure not to pull the grommet through the firewall- a helper is great here
- silicone any gaps between the grommet and wire

(was in the business for many years)

 

[chris_ms6gt]

Just completed an install on my speed6, definitely need to wire the disconnected wire in original post to brown wire. If you thought you were banging before, you just wait! Keeping this thread alive because this is the best info I have seen to go aftermarket. Thanks for all the information guys!

 

[Ritty]

Hello, was wondering if this 1 male to 2 female rca cable would work...?

http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_...4&i_cntr=1329560223228&sid=IDx20070921x00003a

thanks if anyone can help, trying to hoook up a system in a 2006 mazda 6

 

[chris_ms6gt]

Absolutely. I purchased mine at a Radioshack (was out in the sticks and no where close had one) paid close to 14 dollars for the gold plated (not necessary) just clip the male end off and separate the joined wires a bit, then follow as the instructions state.

 

[Ritty]

awesome thanks man. nice to know anyone will work.. i picked up a phillips one at sears instead of the one i posted... hooking up tomorrow, i hope it goes right lol... i got an audiobahn aw1200J (http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_33653_Audiobahn-AW1200J.html) and a power acoustik 1250/2 (http://www.onlinecarstereo.com/CarAudio/p_24876_Power_Acoustik_BAMF12502.aspx) i'll let ya know how it goes.

EDIT: just to be clear, which wires am i hooking the rca's up to? the black/red and the brown right?

 

[chris_ms6gt]

EDIT: just to be clear, which wires am i hooking the rca's up to? the black/red and the brown right?

When you take the male side off it will leave you with two exposed wires, the inner most will be the positive. The wire around the inner most will be your negative. Take both positive and twist together, take both negative and twist together. I then used something like a 18 gauge wire, connected it into one of these (you can also use a butt splice) http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2104092

I then used http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=12515225 to connect the spliced wire to the factory wire. The negative goes to brown wire, the positive goes to black with red stripe. If you try it like the original post suggests you will only get to hear the very few lowest notes and lacks overall power. When you wire the brown to negative it makes it perform like a normal system and hits its entire range capable. I should have took better pics when I went in and did mine lol

 

[Ritty]

i did it! got the system all hooked up. sounds great!! i can't believe once ya find out how to get it done, how easy it is to put a system in these damn things haha.

 

[Koenig]

Wow... this thing is still going around huh? I'll be honest, I forgot about it. The subs sound cleaner with the brown wire. It's funny though because no diagrams back then explained anything about the brown with red cable.

I'll have to redo the wiring to take some pics of the negative into the brown/red cable.

Please don't use pre-made LOCs that contain circuit boards, you're going to get a horrible signal from them. Remember, you're feeding off the BOSE speaker/amp wiring in the back, you're not connecting to the front.

I did it like this because it's easy, I didn't want to go crawling all over the place and removing seats and dash and crap to connect to my console, etc and then run wire to the back.

As for using the side of the grommet... it shouldn't cut anything, if it cuts you need to do yourself a favor and stop buying cheap kits, "you get what you pay for" and you're getting crap. I used a 4 gauge kit, the insulation of the power cable is thick and the metal is not that sharp around the grommet (or it should slice my finger as easy as a butcher knife),

I've still had it around the side of the grommet since I've had the car and made this post as well. No water has ever seeped in (and I live in rainy Florida) and it has not cut through my 4 gauge cable's insulation at all.

I'll try to get some work done tomorrow and see if I can't change the walk through and the pics to tap into the brown.

 

[Odrapnew]

Old thread I know, but I have some questions.

My factory amp decided to crap out(sometimes). I replaced it with an older Rockford 200aIV. I got everything hooked up and am running it off 1 channel(50W RMS @ 2 ohm). Still using factory sub.

I'm getting a terrible signal from the factory inputs. I had it working good(not strong though) with the car off. I couldn't increase the gain much past 1/2-2/3 without having some bad "noise" even at low volume. Once I started the car, I had major signal issues. Even with the receiver off, the sub was going crazy. I turned down the gain to about 1/4 and it was better, but I could tell it was a bad signal. As soon as I unhooked the RCA's from the amp, everything quieted down(eliminated the possibility of feedback through power, ground or remote wires). I did notice that if I reved the engine it would change the "noise" when the RCA's were connected.

I decided to try hooking up an Ipod to the inputs of the receiver(headphone to RCA adapter) and it worked great. I could crank up the gain and volume to almost max with little distortion(except for the rattles).

I soldered all connections. I tried just connecting the positive wire(black/red stripe), no change.

Could it be the aftermarket amp and factory sub?

Are there filters in the factory amp for the factory sub? I may try to hook my homemade garage speakers(they use car speakers) and see what it does.

Any input appreciated.

Thanks in advance.


EDIT: