Hey I just got an 02 SE without Bose system and i wanted to add a sub in the trunk. I was wondering if anyone knew if the stock head unit has a sub output (line level output or what not)?? If not, which speakers should i use to get the signal to my sub and where would be a good spot to tap the wires? with my car being 3 days old, i'm not quite ready to tear apart the dash to look for the answers yet and i'm sure someone on here knows. So thanks a lot for any help!

 

http://www.davidnavone.com/

 

what am i supposed to be looking at on this site?

 

To answer your first question, no there are no line level inputs on the non bose head unit..as far as tapping in, the most logical place would be behind the head unit, or at least run jumpers from there. I would run it off the back speakers, which would be the lt. green with blk/yellow (left) and the blue with pink (right) wires.

 

Speaker level to RCA converters. For hooking up your sub amp.

 

Tap into, do not cut you rear speaker outs on the back of your head unit. From there you can install an LOC (Line Out Converter) and run RCA's to the trunk where you can install your amp. That's the easiest way to do it. Then when you get ready to upgrade to an aftermarket head unit, you can just plug in the RCAs to the new HU and you're set.

 

Thanks D Warner, I wasn't exactly clear about tapping in, although that was what I was trying to convey to him..

 

It's actually easier if you tap in at the rear speaker terminals. That way you only need a short wire and you don't need to pull apart the center of the dash.

 

If you do that though, in the future if you upgrade your head unit, which is almost a definate, especially if you're already adding bass, you'll have to change the wiring a second time. It's better to just tap in behind the stereo. That way you're familiar with your vehicle, the RCAs will already be there, and you can even install the aftermarket head unit yourself with knowledge of your car. Besides that, in 5th Gens without Bose, the rear speakers are in the rear doors, not the back deck. It would actually be harder to run the taps to the rear speakers.

 

"Besides that, in 5th Gens without Bose, the rear speakers are in the rear doors, not the back deck."

- Didn't realize that. Are all the 5th gens like that? I thought I saw grills on some of the rear decks?

 

On 5th gens, the only speaker on the back deck would be the Bose sub. Whether it's Bose or not, the speakers are in the 4 doors. Maybe it was an Altima you were thinking of? I think the new ones have two speakers on the rear deck...

 

It was definitely a Max but it was a few months ago and I didn't look that carefully.

 

all 5th gens have speakers in the doors and the ones with the bose option have the sub in the deck

 

From the back of the head unit? that means he will be tapping into signals that are pre-amp. Is the signal strong enough to be amplified? or will the voltage be too low and over work the amp when the amp tries to amplify it? can he unhook the factory sub wiring and just use the + and - wires going into the factory sub to do his line out converter thing? or tap into the factory sub wires? by the way, when you tap into those speaker wires, are you changing the impedence?

 

He'll be fine. If you noticed, he stated that his factory system was non-bose. His head unit is actually amplified. Since its non-bose, he doesn't have a factory sub, so no he can't do that.