Well my brother an I installed 2 MTX 12" subs in the trunk of my SS. MY brother got the wiring diagram for the car and I am certain that we tied in o the correct wires. Instead of running the input wires for the subs to the front cd player, we just tied into the 10" Pioneer cause it would be getting the same signals. The subs work and the amp light is on, however the subs are working maybe 1/4 the volume that they worked in my old car (2003 Saturn L-200). I cannot figure out what the heck is wrong. I have turned the amp up all they way, the bass up all the way on the stock cd player, nothing has helped. Am I being robbed of power somewhere??? HELP!!!! lol

Tom

 

Im lost pics would help! im pretty good at car audio too!

 

yeah your problem is you hooked them up to your stock deck... which has no subwoofer controll....

 

I would first start looking at the following things:

1. Does the factory stereo have a separate amp for the subwoofer?
2. Does the factory stereo have pre-amp outputs at the head unit?
3. Is your amp for your subs then connected to a pre-amp signal or a 'speaker level' signal?

I would start by investigating those simple things...

I would recommend always connecting to pre-amp outputs as they usually give you a cleaner sound, yes that means running wires clear to the head unit in most cases.

I thought I saw a post somewhere in the forums of the factory radio's outputs....

---
Here it is:
https://www.cobaltss.net/forums/electronics-audio-video-49/cobalt-audio-pinouts-2823/

 

If it gives u to much trouble, just get a power wire, run it (the battery is already in the trunk) so there is not much to run. The connect ur ground. Get a RCA converter, tap into the two 6x9's and run the RCA wire from there. That way u have ur own amp for those two speaks.

 

no no no
buy a line out converter, and hook it up to the stock deck
the best way to do this, and it has very little signal loss

 

This depends on the stock headunit's stats. I normally wouldn't recommend something like MTX connected to a stock headunit, but because I have not actually researched the headunit and such, I cannot rightly say.

If all of your connections appear to be right, then you have a remote wire running into your headunit (please make sure this is correct!), your RCA cables should be running into the headunit as well (If the headunit doesn't support SUB / REAR speakers out, then I wouldn't recommend this, as higher power aftermarket headunits for the most part are specifically designed for this application. But it should, since you've already got a stock 10'' Pioneer). Your ground wire should be properly earthed; Your seat's bolt, or maybe your trunk bolt... You should also check to see how the headunit acts without the subs connected. If anything appears out of order, you could have a faulty deck. I've had this problem with an Alpine CD-7894 in the past, but was repaired with no troubles. Check the fuses, though the subs shouldn't work at all if both are blown. What gauge wire are you using for the Power/Ground? THese shouldn't really affect the power you're putting out, unless you're running something like 12G wire on a 3000 watt system.

However, if all else fails, and you have tried everything there is to think of here, then the only thing I can possibly think of is a new headunit. Obviously something is acting very strangely somewhere, and I'm guessing that trying a different headunit could be your end result. Maybe the wiring needs a second glance?

Don't take any of my comments to heart, however, because I'm just trying to help.... These things I've learned from a long time of experience with car audio. But, every situation is unique - when you find the problem, PLEASE let me know so that I can use this to rectify any future ones myself or clients might have!!

Thanks a Million.

 

Thanks for all the replys! I think there is some confusion however......
I have two 12's and an aftermarket amp for them. I have the power wire hooked to the battery and it goes directly to the amp. I have the whole thing grounded to the battery ground..... which I have never done b4 but my brother thought that it would be better this way. I must tell you I'm not that knowlegable when it comes to this stuff so I'll try to explain this as best I can.......

I have some little box thing that has some wires sticking out that we connected to the wires that have the bass signal that led to the stock 10 that used to be in the trunk. I have taken it out. I have the remote cable running up to the cd player so I can control the bass using the stock cd player. The signal that my stock 10 got is the same signal that my 2 12's get now. So is the signal no powerfull enough?

Tom

 

I'd try moving the ground first.

 

Try a boost control for it? (dont knwo if it would work but its worth a try and its better then using the stock headunits bass controll)

 

You think that would really make a difference? Isn't a ground a ground?

Tom

 

if you connected the ground to the negative terminal thats bad
if you connected the ground to the factory grounding point for the battery, thats a great spot
chevy designed a superior grounding position to use with the cobalt, and works great in my system

my advice: BUY A LINE OUT CONVERTER

why would you run off a signal that is designed for a different subwoofer than the one you are running?

 

Dude the only way you are going to get the sound that you want is to get a line out converter.

First thing the ground is not going to help you that much but go ahead a connect the ground to the factory position in the truck.

Second thing is that you need to make sure that you are tapping into the right wires. I would double check them.

You should be good to go after that the only reason I say this is because that is the way I did mine in my SS I removed the old sub and box, and made my own enclosures. One for each side. All I needed to buy was the line out converter and that was it.

Good Luck,

if you need help give me a holla.

 

The reason you are not getting the same sound is that the stock 10" runs off of the rear speakers. You will never achieve the sound you had in the saturn unless you change the deck. I had two 12" in my cadillac and the sounded awesome. Took them out moved them into my SS and they did not hit 1/4 as good as in the Caddy. Conclusion went out bought an Alpine head unit going to buy a TV screen install them into my car with two solo baric 12s. All of this is in the werk. Trying to save for the solobarics and amp. Ill post pics when im done.

 

Tiny and Blackey are 100% correct about the line converter. Don't listen to anyone else regarding replacement of the head unit. Your factory deck is more than capable of running the subs. Do yourself a facour and get some proper advice from a stereo shop - hell even Best Buy could help in this case. I had an aftermarket sub and amp hooked up to my Z24 Delco system and it rocked. I have a Kenwood amp and Pioneer sub hooked up to my Honda Odyssey deck now and it friggin' pounds. Save money...keep the deck. Spend your money on getting the right advice and maybe turn the pride thing down a notch and get the subs professionally installed. Last think you wanna do is **** up your electrical system and void your warranty. I hope I've made sense. I've installed a few systems in the past but I stopped when factory audio systems became complex.

P.S. By the way, if you repalce the factory deck then you will lose functionality of the steering wheel controls!!!

 

It sounds like to me that he is using a line output converter. He said:
"I have some little box thing that has some wires sticking out that we connected to the wires that have the bass signal that led to the stock 10 that used to be in the trunk. I have taken it out"
Thats sounds like it may be a line output convertor. Does that little box also have rca connectors or an rca cable coming out of it also? If so then you have a line output convertor. If that is what you have there then you should find some adjustments on that box as well. You may just need to increase the gains on the line output convertor.

If that doesnt help, it may be that the stock radio includes an equalization circuit. This is becoming more common in many factory systems now adays. The factory radio will have a circuit that decreases bass output as the volume of the radio increases to protect the speakers. I cant say for sure if the cobalts have them, but it could be. Also, every car is acoustically different. You say that it had much more bass in the saturn. What could have happened is that the saturn's acoustics could have developed a little more gain than the cobalt, although it generally is not going to be an incredible difference (probably not going to make up 3/4 of the volume),but it may have an effect when combined with other variables. Thats just a couple of possibilities.

As far as the factory steering wheel controls go, there are interfaces to retain the factory steering wheel controls, although they are quite expensive.

/x

 

Use the line out convertor and leave the ground at the negative battery terminal. The battery is the best ground on the veh because it has the least amount of resistance.

 

Ok so who wants to listen to me. As i stated before i had my 2 12s in my CTS n moved them to my SS. They did not hit as hard and I HAD A LINE OUT CONVERTER. Crank the gain up on the amp and the converter. It still will not hit as hard as with a new head unit but its a cheap and easy replacement.

 

You need to connect in after the head unit, but before the factory amp. Your input signal is all wrong going into the aftermarket amp. You may also cause damage to it.

 

Umm yeah wow I deffinately forgot about this .
I have a Line Out Converter and have all along. What I'm going to do is wire the stuff to the stock deck as apposed to the wires that were for the stock 10. I believe that this will get me a better signal. If all else fails I may just sell my crap on Ebay and get a better system that I can show off. Those vented boxes with the plexiglass and the neon tubes in them look pretty sweet.
I'll do the switch to the stock deck by wiring into the wiring harness. I HAVE THE WIRING SKEMATIC FOR THE CAR SO NO WIRES ARE CONNECTED IN THE WRONG SPOT!!!!!
I'll keep ya posted.

Tom

 

^^^ hmm, plexiglass, neon tubes...sounds like a shitty setup
if i even thought about putting a neon in my box, the sub would laugh at me

 

on my factory radio in my car i always have the bass all the way down at -7. when i install my line output converter will i even have a signal for my subs sinces the bass is turned down all the way?

 

why did u have the bass off if you like bass (i assume this by the fact that you have better subs)? anyway, no, the signal is already extremely weak. if you leave it one spot left of the middle of the bass, it will sound fine. be4 i got a headunit i had it like that for months, no distortion at all. you are gunna need a bass boost control for your amp, and the amp sensitivity will have to be turned up pretty high.

 

hey bud curious as to what color the wires were you tapped into? im sure that is very important?

what color wires did you hook into? what is + and - for the rear 6x9s??