Mach460, adding subs...questions

[sk8mrw]

OK I'm looking to add subs to my '99 Saleen Coupe, which has the "wonderful" Mach460 already in place. I read the FAQ on how to install subs already, but have a few questions. I have hooked up and installed subs/amp before, but never like this. Keep in mind my system is composed of 2 Infinity Kappa Perfect 12s, stock Mach460 system, and an Infinity 202a Kappa amp (2 channel, 300x2 or 600x1 RMS).

1. The part about the tapping into the rear speaker wires to get signal is tripping me up. First of all, I do not know if I have speaker or line level inputs on my amp. The manual says it has "an amplifier input sensitivity control, to match a wide range of input signal levels, from 250mV to 9v." Does this mean I have speaker level inputs and could simply tap into the rear speaker wires?

2. Second, assuming that I can just tap into the rear speaker wires, how exactly do I do this? Could someone briefly walk me through the process in detail?

3. Lastly, I have a question about my amp. It has 2 seperate power supplies for each channel, in other words, there are 2 seperate places to hook up a power wire and ground wire. Does this mean I need to run 2 seperate power wires off my battery and run 2 seperate grounds? Cuz that would suck. Is there any other way to do this? Oh, and what is the smallest gauge power wire(s) I can run? The smaller the better, I hate wiring the car when the wire is so damn thick.

The manual can be found here: http://manuals.harman.com/inf/car/owner's manual/KAPPA202a-OM.pdf

Thank you VERY VERY much for any help you can offer me, it is greatly appreciated.

 

[Red2000GT]

1) Your amp doesn't have specific high level inputs but you have 2 options for connecting it. You can just have rca ends put on the speaker wires and turn the gain ALL the way down(not the best but it works),or you can run it through a line-level adaptor. Any decent audio shop should have those. They drop the level of the speakers down and convert them to rca connectors.

2)All you do is find the actual speaker wires(not the low level inout wires),then splice a piece of regular speaker wire onto each side by attaching each strand to each wire,don't cut the factory wire,just strip it back and wrap the new speaker around.Remember not to let the + and - touch each other.

3)No you don't NEED to run 2 power wires but to feed it properly you'll need a 4 guage power wire from the battery and it can be split to each power input. Then run a pair of 8 guage grounds TO THE SAME POINT ON THE BODY,or connect them to a single 4 guage and ground that.

Hope this helps.

 

[sk8mrw]

Thanks for the help. This all sounds fairly complicated for the novice (me). Would anyone recommend replacing the factory headunit to facilitate a standard installation? I know in order to do this I'd need a special wiring harness, but in all it seems easier than splicing wires, etc etc. Let me know what you guys think.

 

[JMack]

I'm doing the same thing you are on this "wonderful" sound system that couldnt make anything more complicated. I just bought a new head unit and I'm going to use a harness to connect the factory wiring to the new headunit. The harness is only 20 bucks, which is deffinitly worth not having to go through the trouble of re-wiring. Here's were you can get one.

http://audioallies.com/GetItem.asp?Item=70-5519&brand=Metra&Class=Car+Audio/Video

 

[ChingonStang]

It's back from the dead!

 

[timeless2]

I'm doing the same thing you are on this "wonderful" sound system that couldnt make anything more complicated. I just bought a new head unit and I'm going to use a harness to connect the factory wiring to the new headunit. The harness is only 20 bucks, which is deffinitly worth not having to go through the trouble of re-wiring. Here's were you can get one.

http://audioallies.com/GetItem.asp?Item=70-5519&brand=Metra&Class=Car+Audio/Video

The link you provide points to their page just fine, but their store appears to no longer off the product.

 

[Jinx]

Here's how I did it

Since this thread has floated back to the top...
I thought I would post a link to a Mach460 sub and speaker install, without replacing the factory head unit.

Pictures Here

Original Thread