Anyone done this? Any suggestions on doing or not doing? Looking to just install an amp and a sub. I have already replaced all door speakers with better ones.

Thanks.

JP

 

I puchased an amp and subwoofer box for my '98 XJR. The amp will accept line-level inputs. I took out the factory sub in the rear deck, and ran those leads to the amp. Sounds a lot better, but it takes up a lot of room in the trunk.

 

I did this, I have a 99 XJ sport and it doesn't have the factory sub. I just spliced into the rear speaker wiring in the rear footwell and used that to convert to a low level input for the amps and ran them to the boot. Alternatively you could run the hi level straight to most amps. Wasn't too difficult to do and took in total about an hour or so

 

A little off topic, but seems a bit on the same concept. I have an 03 XJ8 and fairly soon putting in a whole new sound system. Was has anyone done about subwoofers? The door speakers are an easy replacement, but I don't see a good sub location.

The trunk seems like it would be to well sound insulated from the cabin to take full advantage of the added subs. Below the rear deck is the fuel tank, and I am not sure if there is any room in there for anything?

Any input on this would be great.

 

i used to have a double box with two 12" Alpine Type R's. Each 500 watts RMS/1500 watt PEAK and had them in the trunk and thought the same with the whole petrol tank and sealed boot would block it all out. To a certain extent yes you do loose some but when I had that plugged in it thumped and you could here it down the road, let alone in the car. If you only put a little sub thats not v.powerful i can imagine it would be a bit pointless because of that issue. And yes you cant fit a decent size sub in the factory location due to there only being about 4-5 inches of clearance and the hole is only about 6x9inches. If you didnt have the factory sub though make sure you remove the plate that blocks that hole and the sound proofing material to allow more bass to come into cabin.

 

I dont have the factory sub either but have a Kicker Solo-baric 12in sub that I use in my truck. The box is small enough that it would be easy to just transfer back and forth and would like to simply install an amp in the trunk/boot. Which wires did you tap into? Just the rear door speakers? Any input would be appreciated.

Thanks.

JP

 

I just bought an Amp and Sub to put in my trunk. I have a 2003 Jag XJ8 with the factory Sub, How can I get the factory Radio to connect with a New Amp, or how can I get the signal from the Radio so the sub can work?

 

How did you get the signal from the Radio so the sub and amp work?

 

If I tap into the factory sub, will it affect it's operation?

 

I have a 2001 XJ8 with the factory radio and bought a Jag amp LNF4170AA on eBay which is supposed to fit. However, my radio guy says the plugs in the trunk do not correspond to those on the amp. I do not get it there are a DIN in a DIN out and 2 female connectors and the harness has the same but he says no go. Would you DIN into the CD and out from the CD to the Amp?

 

In order to get a signal feed to the amp in the xj without the alpine upgraded system, you are going to have to tap into the rear door speaker, using a signal reducer (radio store will know what ur taliking about..$15 or so) then feed that wire into the boot, then into the amp...you can tap into both speakers but there is really no need, all u need is one side, bridge the wires going into the signal device, the good ones will have it to where u can use coaxil cable (red/white plugs) to feed into the amp itself.

Joe

 

Thanks Joe but when I look at the Jag amp I bought there are NO plugs for just a round connector "out" I guess and a female round "in" By connector I mean what I used to call a DIN type plug not an RCA. Also there are wiring harness plugs "in" but not compatible with the harness in the trunk at the CD changer.

Any further input is appreciated since I was going to relist it on eBay and sell it, I would prefer to install it

 

I have a 2000 XJR which has the "premium" Alpine system including the LNF4170AA amp in the boot. The wiring out of the head unit (they used the same hu in both the premium and standard) in the premium is simple there is a yellow connector that amongst other things has two black shielded cables that carry the front back left right audio signals to the amp in the boot. All of the speaker wiring then comes out of the amp (in the boot). On the standard HU all of the speaker wires come out of the HU via the white connector (which also carries the power leads on both configurations of the HU).

I have just bought a used HU (which has the premium setup) and amp and poking around with them to figure out which wire is which so that I can replace the HU and the amp with after market stuff without having to fish RCA cables to the back (although the premium factory setup has all of the speaker leads going the boot which is sweet).

Bottom line for you with a standard setup - the amp won't do you any good because there are neither speaker leads in the boot nor the signal feeds from the HU as well as power leads.

I would not worry too much about that because the amp doesn't look like that its got too much horsepower - and have seen somewhere in these forums that it probably only does 17W RMS /channel (as compared to the 50W RMS Jag bragged about) - the HU probably does this any way. I am going to some power tests on the bench amp just to be sure (because if it does throw 50W RMS / channel then I will use it).

hopes this helps
Rand

90 XJS conv 5.3 5-speed
00 XJR anthracite

 

Folks:

I appologize for thinking out loud a bit too soon yesterday because I soon found out that my theory about the shielded cable was wrong - both from pratical experience and from a friendly note from Colin Kennedy:

" The audio to the amp is via the Ai-Net cable, not from the yellow connector on the HU as you suspected, and is at a fixed level ( the level does not vary with the volume setting on the HU).
The Volume Bass Treble Balance Fader functions and all the DSP functions in the amp are controlled by Ai-Net commands from the HU. The only other connections to the amp (two white connectors) contain the power and ground connections. The Ai-Net command are also passed directly through the amp to the CDC, via the flying lead.
"

and

" One other thing about the amp, it will not work without being connected to the HU, as the HU has to initialise it. If you power it up without the HU the outputs should be muted. I have all the codes for the amp controls, just not sure if I have them with me. The Ai-net cable is chained so the amp and CDC can both receive commands.

Also as far as speaker connections in the car go, the speaker loom from the HU does not go direct to the speakers, there is a plug and socket behind the L/H heel board (just forward of the back seat) on the standard installation these are connected, on the premium installation they are separated and the connector on the speaker loom is plugged into a loom that comes from the amp. So if you are adding an amp to a standard installation it is not necessary to splice the cables."


Anyway the two "shielded" cables that I talk about from the yellow connector in the back of the HU are part of the phone system - I am going to see if they are shielded enough (since the shield is not wrapped around the the two "signel" wires. If so (no hum/noise) then these will do for leading a new HU's RCA audio out feeds to a new power amp in the boot. Will let folks know in the next couple of weeks.


Rand
90 XJS conv 5.3 5-speed
00 XJR Anthracite

 

Where you able to test how the max RMS/ channel the amp puts out? I'm curious.....

 

No not yet. But I did take the cover/heat sink off of the amp. First of all the circuit board looks like a PC mother board so there is obviously lot's of stuff going on in their as Colin Kennedy suggested. Also the actual power amp ICs are large and attached to the big heat sink/top of the case which to me looks like the 40RMS / channel chips I have seen in other power amps.

Rand

90 XJS conv 5.3 5-speed
00 XJR Antrahacite

 

what I am reading basically from you guys is that on a standard xj8 without the premium system you can't add the factory amp correct? I can add the cd changer, but no amp? I also don't have the subwoofer but i see two white plugs that are square on the harness, is that for a subwoofer? Can that be added without the premium sound option or no?

 

riiiiise o dead thread......riiiise

lol.

sorry to bring back the dead.

I have a 2003 XJR w/ premium Alpine sound.
I want to add 2 12's in a box and a Kenwood amp to the factory radio.

If there is a way I can do it, then I will. If not, then I wonder if anyopne here has done it, or if anyone knows good place in SE Michigan that i can take it to.

Thansk in advance.

 

well putting subs and a amp to the factory radio is simple but just a little different well i put a 15'' solo baric sub and a 1000x1 watt amp in my 2000 xj8 okay i dont know if you have a remote wire on your factory radio or not since its newer than mine but take out your radio locate the rear door speaker wire just one door is fine . if your not sure take out your door speaker to match the wires behind the radio , then you will need a signal reducer you get at the audio store about 15 buck splice into the rear door speaker wire and add the signal reducer wires okay . then you need a RCA cable make sure you get a good size one so you can have room to move your subs around later. then the RCA cable goes to the input jack on amp so yea then hook up the subs to the amp and thats basically where you get your bass from . do you need to know how to hook up the amp too?

 

If you have the premium stereo already wouldn't it be better to take out the 6x9 on the parcel shelf and use the signal reducer on the wires for that instead?
That way you get just bass, and you can retain fade control without impacting your sub

While you're at it, i would look at replacing the factory amp, it's really no better than a modern headunit, and getting a proper amp with ~50wrms per channel, and running this into a set of new front speakers will really transform the sound in your car