Help identifying sub wires

[hedges88]

I recently purchased a car, a Mitsubishi estate that has had the rear subwoofer removed before re-sale which is quite understandable.

The car has a nice decent Pioneer head unit (with subwoofer controls in menu) and also has upgraded door speakers. The wiring is incredibly neat and I suspect all should be hooked up and working though I guess I could use a multimeter to be sure.

I just don't really know what it is I'm looking at though I'm hoping it is as simple as just buying a sub and reconnecting it. This wiring is under the boot floor in the plastic box which is divided into compartments. I'm not sure if it was a flat unit like the underseat subs and it was located in the underfloor tray or if they have been put here for the sake of being tidy and the sub was in the boot.

I would be really grateful if anyone could tell me what I'm dealing with here from the picture. What sort of setup this is and what the most convenient replacement would be.

[TEKNOPUG]

It's a multi amp system. Going from right to left; RCA inputs to amp for mids and highs. Power, ground and an accessory/switched ignition wire. Speaker wires going to the speakers in the cabin.

Then it's RCA for the sub. Then probably sub/bass controller from HU. Power, ground and an accessory/switched ignition wire for an amp. An amp specific plug terminated with speaker connecters that goes to the sub.

Do any of the speakers currently work from the HU?

Edited by TEKNOPUG on Saturday 19th August 14:58

[hedges88]

Goodness me, I thought it was just for a sub!

Thanks a lot for taking the time to identify them for me much appreciated!

Yes the cabin speakers work well. The rear passenger ones are a bit crappy but the fronts are good. There is a receipt for an upgraded pair of front speakers and unless Mitsubishi fitted very decent ones I'd guess they are still there. This is not my area of expertise at all so I think I'll have to get a car ICE specialist to sort this out for me.

I'm hoping that if these cables have been run to the right places then I might save some labour. I have some work to do in the engine bay over the next few days so I might look for extra connections placed in the fusebox there.

[simon_harris]

I'd say you are missing at least 2 amps there, one for the fronts and rears and one for the sub, at a guess I expect that the cabin speakers have been plugged back into the cars wiring and are running of the HU speaker outputs.

To get this back to "modified" you'll need a couple of amps a sub and then the wiring into the doors checking.

Simon

[hedges88]

simon_harris said:

I'd say you are missing at least 2 amps there, one for the fronts and rears and one for the sub, at a guess I expect that the cabin speakers have been plugged back into the cars wiring and are running of the HU speaker outputs.

To get this back to "modified" you'll need a couple of amps a sub and then the wiring into the doors checking.

Simon

Thank you for your help and guidance. I'm not a massive bass kind of person I'm more of a prog rock guy

If I I'm happy with the quality of the door speakers as they are but I fancied a small subwoofer at the back to allow the door speakers to concentrate on higher sounds without getting muddied with bass would any of these sort of products be helpful?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/404444171463?mkcid=16&a...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/314779941287?mkcid=16&a...

With the limited knowledge I have I believe an active subwoofer has the amplifier built in which would eliminate that issue would one of these type of products bring me closer to a plug and play situation. I don't have the need or want for extremely heavy bass I would just like a setup where things are better balanced and slightly more punchy. Could I achieve that more effectively and cheaply with those kinds of products? Especially given my low requirements and wanting to keep the cargo area as useful as possible

[simon_harris]

be careful it is a rabbit hole, you start out by wanting a bit more low end to help the front stage clarity and end up with 15 amps, 6 subs and 42 speakers in your front end!

I've not looked at car audio stuff for a while so I have no useful recommendations but arguably as you say a small active sub running off the sub feed RCA would do what you are looking for.

again if I had to guess I'd say the sub RCA is the single pair on their own in the middle of your picture, the wire bundle on the left of your picture should contain a ground and an earth along with a amp on feed.

Simon

[hedges88]

Thanks Simon and thank you for making me aware of the rabbit hole, goes for most stuff I guess. I might use one of those small amps to try and see how I feel about having one and if I am happy with it that can be that, if I want more then I could sell it on and start with a larger setup based on what's there. I think that might be good way to move

[simon_harris]

the good news is that it doesn't have to cost a lot of money to get you going, the big PITA for car audio is the install bit and that has all been done for you!

Pick up a 4 channel amp off ebay for £50 or so and just the improvement in the front sound stage should be noticeable above the HU output. similar with a cheap sub and amp, or even the active sub you suggested.

[hedges88]

Simon can I put a multimeter on the power cables to be sure they are active? I don't want to go ahead and try without knowing what I should be testing. I'm imagining the engine doesn't have to be running but at least set at ignition when the H/U comes on. As you say it looks like the tough job has been done so if it's working then it's just a bonus on an already fantastic motor!

[TEKNOPUG]

I'd chase the wires back and make sure that they are fused and grounded properly first.

[hedges88]

Okay I will do, might wait for the heat to die down a bit though. Thanks very much for your help if I get stuck in the future I'll be sure to update the thread.

[simon_harris]

Amp feed is usually a constant 12v, should be fused just before the battery. Fuse size should be linked to the current draw of whatever amp or amps it is feeding. Remote on is a switched 12v from the HU and should present 12v when the HU is switched on (the ability to switch the HU independently of the ignition depends on how the HU has been wired in) Switched 12v *should* be fused just behind the HU with a low amp fuse, this is just providing a signal.

Some newer amps will detect signal in the RCA and switch on from that.

If you are not going to fit amps it would be a good idea to check in the cable is fused and if so remove it, you don't really want a direct feed from the battery flopping around in your boot!

[hedges88]

simon_harris said:

Amp feed is usually a constant 12v, should be fused just before the battery. Fuse size should be linked to the current draw of whatever amp or amps it is feeding. Remote on is a switched 12v from the HU and should present 12v when the HU is switched on (the ability to switch the HU independently of the ignition depends on how the HU has been wired in) Switched 12v *should* be fused just behind the HU with a low amp fuse, this is just providing a signal.

Some newer amps will detect signal in the RCA and switch on from that.

If you are not going to fit amps it would be a good idea to check in the cable is fused and if so remove it, you don't really want a direct feed from the battery flopping around in your boot!

I WAS actually tempted to ask about that and forgot so thanks very much for raising the issue. Yes they are neatly and tightly grouped and in a plastic tray but what if during enthusiastic cornering or god forbid an accident those wires touched each other, near the fuel tank as could be! I will definitely check to see the fuse situation. If I don't see what I'm looking for or I'm not confident I think I'll tape each group still and separated in the plastic tray.

I've been told by someone on r/Mitsubishi on Reddit that the car is known on the Galant FB group and I've joined there so hopefully might get the chance to ask the previous owner about it all.

Head unit wise it comes on in the ignition position, annoyingly loses power while you turn on the engine and have to wait for Bluetooth again, and then remains on after engine shutoff and ignition shutoff until keys are pulled from the barrel.

[simon_harris]

HU wiring sounds standard, have you found a BASS controller anywhere? that ribbon cable looks like it would be for that.

Might be worth finding a local car audio place to do a bit of investigation for you, or at least find a facebook group/forum for car audio enthusiasts I used to use talkaduio.co.uk but sadly that is barely used by anyone any more.

[hedges88]

simon_harris said:

HU wiring sounds standard, have you found a BASS controller anywhere? that ribbon cable looks like it would be for that.

Might be worth finding a local car audio place to do a bit of investigation for you, or at least find a facebook group/forum for car audio enthusiasts I used to use talkaduio.co.uk but sadly that is barely used by anyone any more.

Oh yeah I'm going to farm this out to someone. What I know about ICE could be written on a stamp with room to spare. I know the H/U has a subwoofer on/off in the menu and options to set what sort of frequencies you want from each speaker and their distances from each other etc. Thankfully it can be done with an app on your phone rather than fiddling with the H/U

[simon_harris]

How did you get on with this?

Simon