for knowing as much as you do, why the FUCK did you splice into the speaker wires to get a signal? thats just idiocy

the w3 is a great sounding subwoofer, but you'll have to get an aftermarket head unit with rca preouts, a dedicated amplifier and a nice box to make it sound really good.

 

Why is it idiocy? How else do you get a signal for your amplifier if you have no RCA outputs on your headunit? You splice off the speaker wires and either connect them to the line-level inputs of your amp or connect them to an RCA converter box.


I had a nice box for the sub. What do you mean by a dedicated amplifier? I had ONE amplifier (2 channels, bridged) powering the subs.

I know the W3 is an awesome sounding sub. I haven't found anything that I like as much as JL. As I said earlier, I decided to scrap the whole stereo upgrade for now. Until I get an aftermarket headunit, I'm not going to do anything other than put in new rear 6x9's. I'm waiting to see if anyone makes an in-dash install kit for the 7th generation Accords that don't have climate control built in to the factory headunit (DX, LX 4cyl).

 

so basically what ur saying, A_D, is that without a new headunit u cant get a sub to sound good?

 

In my 90 Eclipse, I had a subwoofer and still kept the factory headunit. It sounded pretty good. When I installed an aftermarket headunit, using the RCAs instead of the converter box, it sounded much better.

In my Accord, I didn't use the converter box but instead used the line level inputs on the amplifier. It didn't sound good at all, and I gave up before experimenting more, as an aftermarket headunit is much better to have.

Try to go the route without the aftermarket headunit and see what you think. If it doesn't sound right, installing an aftermarket headunit should be easy since all your wiring is already in place (just need to run RCA cables from the headunit to the amp - just make sure you don't run them down the same side of the car as the power for the amp or you may get interference)

 

I had some audio equipment left over from my Civic, and tried it out on my '04 Accord. I bought adapters to plug into the factory speaker plugs in the rear, then ran the leads directly into my Alpine MRP-T130 2 channel amp. (It accepts high power inputs) I hooked it up to 2 10" Pyle drivers in a box I built. It has plenty of bass for me...in fact, I had to turn the gain down on the amp and drop the bass on the head unit to -2 to match the front speakers.

Next, I experimented with an old EQX unit I have (1985). It required me to use a line-level adapter since the old ones didn't have speaker level input. I am currently running the sub amp through it, and shaped the bass the way I like it. Maybe I'll bi-amp the car at some point and get the full potential out of the EQX ;o)

I've not had any objectionable distortion, and I've had zero noise.

The amp and EQX are mounted on the sub box. I made all the power connections with a molex connector. All I have to do is disconnect the speaker plugs and the molex, reconnect to the factory 6 x 9s, and I can have my trunk back when I need it.

In my opinion, the stock system in my LX doesn't have nearly enough treble (I'm at +6) If you use a sub, it takes a little experimentation to get a balanced sound that's not muddy.