Powered Subwoofer HELP

[NorthShoreBronco]

Ummm, so I don't know what I'm doing...

I got a BOSS 1200Watt 10" powered sub on clearance for like 200$, figured why not.

Did all the ForScan adjustments, which improved everything significantly.

Now here is where I may have gone wrong... the sub has an option for High pass and RCA plugs for Low pass... I bought some decent RCA cables and spliced them into the rear speakers. Now I'm thinking maybe if going the speaker wire route I should of went High Pass???? And yes, I set the rear speakers as Speakers in Forscan and set the EQ filter thingy to off.

My next step is to wire in the speakers to the high pass filter connector, picture bellow.

@RagnarKon ?? Your wisdom would be much appreciated.

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[RagnarKon]

I assume you are referring to high-level and low-level and not high-pass/low-pass.

• High-level: Speaker-level inputs. What you would use if you are splicing into existing speaker wires.
• Low-level: Line-level inputs. What you would use if you are plugging into a pre-amp.

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Brief backstory, because I know it doesn't really make sense...

In the "old school" days, to do an audio upgrade you'd had to rip out your factory radio and install a new head unit that had pre-amp (low-level) outputs. Then you'd just plug in your amplifier into that head unit—usually with RCA cables.

Then sometime over the past 15-20 years or so... everyone moved to touchscreens, satellite radio, integrated infotainment systems, etc. etc. and it became practically impossible to install aftermarket head units. So you had to use a device like a Line-Output Converter (ie. AudioControl LC2i) to convert it from high-level to low-level.

Now that line-output converters are mandatory for 95% of vehicles out there, most consumer-level car audio gear accepts both high-level and low-level—they've basically built the line-output converter into the amp itself. The real high-end stuff still only accepts low-level, but most of the other gear accepts both.

 

[NorthShoreBronco]

I assume you are referring to high-level and low-level and not high-pass/low-pass.

• High-level: Speaker-level inputs. What you would use if you are splicing into existing speaker wires.
• Low-level: Line-level inputs. What you would use if you are plugging into a pre-amp.

---

Brief backstory, because I know it doesn't really make sense...

In the "old school" days, to do an audio upgrade you'd had to rip out your factory radio and install a new head unit that had pre-amp (low-level) outputs. Then you'd just plug in your amplifier into that head unit—usually with RCA cables.

Then sometime over the past 15-20 years or so... everyone moved to touchscreens, satellite radio, integrated infotainment systems, etc. etc. and it became practically impossible to install aftermarket head units. So you had to use a device like a Line-Output Converter (ie. AudioControl LC2i) to convert it from high-level to low-level.

Now that line-output converters are mandatory for 95% of vehicles out there, most consumer-level car audio gear accepts both high-level and low-level—they've basically built the line-output converter into the amp itself. The real high-end stuff still only accepts low-level, but most of the other gear accepts both.

Perfect! Yes, high/low level. (I don't know audio lol) . So that's probably my issue. I'll have to wire in my speakers to the highlevel plug.

 

[Brian_B]

Just switch your inputs from the RCA jacks to the high level inputs.

 

[NorthShoreBronco]

Ok, so I switched to the high level inputs. sounds better... but not as good as I would like. Would an amplifier help ? with bass?

 

[Brian_B]

Ok, so I switched to the high level inputs. sounds better... but not as good as I would like. Would an amplifier help ? with bass?

Pretty sure it has an amplifier built in already, otherwise it probably wouldn't have RCA inputs for pre-amp input.

Did you wire 12V power to it already? How did you do that - that may be what's holding you back now.

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