Powered sub question ?? Please help
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 797
Likes: 2
From: WV
Powered sub question ?? Please help
All I want to do is add a powered sub to give me a little more bass. My question is where do I have to hook into, the back of the head unit or do I hook up to the rear speaker to get the signal ? If I have to go into the head unit what do I hook up to ? I have an 08 with the Bose system. I am completely clueless about this stuff so please be detailed.Thanks 
Tech Contributor
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 7,035
Likes: 134
From: North Augusta, SC
The bass signal is not present at the wires going to the rear speakers, so stealing the signal there won't work.
You could get speaker level signal if you tapped into the bose sub wires inside the doors, or the easiest way would be to just do this
To power the sub/amp you should get the main power straight from the battery (with a fuse installed). If the sub has the 'auto turn on' feature then that's all you'd need, but that might just work if you use speaker level inputs (?). The stock radio doesn't have a 12v 'accessory power' wire that turns it ON, it listens in on the serial data line that communicates with all of the computers in the car, but it does have a 12v OUTPUT that turns on the factory amps (and stays on with RAP). You can use that signal as the trigger voltage for your new sub. I don't have my manuals with me at the moment, but you can probably find out which wire or fuse that would be with a quick search (or the C6 FAQ thread).
You could get speaker level signal if you tapped into the bose sub wires inside the doors, or the easiest way would be to just do this
To power the sub/amp you should get the main power straight from the battery (with a fuse installed). If the sub has the 'auto turn on' feature then that's all you'd need, but that might just work if you use speaker level inputs (?). The stock radio doesn't have a 12v 'accessory power' wire that turns it ON, it listens in on the serial data line that communicates with all of the computers in the car, but it does have a 12v OUTPUT that turns on the factory amps (and stays on with RAP). You can use that signal as the trigger voltage for your new sub. I don't have my manuals with me at the moment, but you can probably find out which wire or fuse that would be with a quick search (or the C6 FAQ thread).
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 797
Likes: 2
From: WV
The bass signal is not present at the wires going to the rear speakers, so stealing the signal there won't work.
You could get speaker level signal if you tapped into the bose sub wires inside the doors, or the easiest way would be to just do this
To power the sub/amp you should get the main power straight from the battery (with a fuse installed). If the sub has the 'auto turn on' feature then that's all you'd need, but that might just work if you use speaker level inputs (?). The stock radio doesn't have a 12v 'accessory power' wire that turns it ON, it listens in on the serial data line that communicates with all of the computers in the car, but it does have a 12v OUTPUT that turns on the factory amps (and stays on with RAP). You can use that signal as the trigger voltage for your new sub. I don't have my manuals with me at the moment, but you can probably find out which wire or fuse that would be with a quick search (or the C6 FAQ thread).
You could get speaker level signal if you tapped into the bose sub wires inside the doors, or the easiest way would be to just do this
To power the sub/amp you should get the main power straight from the battery (with a fuse installed). If the sub has the 'auto turn on' feature then that's all you'd need, but that might just work if you use speaker level inputs (?). The stock radio doesn't have a 12v 'accessory power' wire that turns it ON, it listens in on the serial data line that communicates with all of the computers in the car, but it does have a 12v OUTPUT that turns on the factory amps (and stays on with RAP). You can use that signal as the trigger voltage for your new sub. I don't have my manuals with me at the moment, but you can probably find out which wire or fuse that would be with a quick search (or the C6 FAQ thread).
Tech Contributor
Joined: May 2003
Posts: 7,035
Likes: 134
From: North Augusta, SC
The WHITE wire at pin B3 of the radio harness is the one you need to use as your 12v trigger to turn on your new sub, just DO NOT use it to directly power the sub. That wire is the one the OEM radio uses to power up all of the other system components, and would only be hot when the radio is on.
