Low level, line level, whats the difference?
#1
07-10-2010, 09:14 PM
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Location: Baton Rouge, La
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Low level, line level, whats the difference?
I havent gotten a clear description on this subject. Im looking into adding a sub to my 07 sedan. I have seen the DIY where the LOC was connected to the factory Bose subwoofer connector and the sub wasnt reconnected. Is this the way to go? I dont want to install it and find out that I took a wrong turn in the wiring. Thanks
#2
07-10-2010, 09:26 PM
A low power signal is sent from a tuner/cd player etc to an amplifier. A high power signal is sent from a amplifier to drive a speaker. Powered subwoofers have amplifiers in them. Generally you would use a low level input to provide a signal to the amplifier in the subwoofer. This is usually done with RCA jacks. Because you may not have this option, or because it's difficult to do, many subwoofers accept high level / speaker level inputs. Usually these are terminals with screws. It's a lot easier to disconnect the wires from a existing speaker and get a high level signal than to pull apart the dash and tap in to the low level signals between your head unit and amplifier.
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07-10-2010, 10:07 PM
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#4
07-11-2010, 08:58 AM
If you tap the wires going to your factory sub SPEAKER wiring then those are high level outputs and you need a line out converter to change that to a low level signal you can plug into RCA jacks. As I said, some aftermarket powered subs have screw terminals for high level inputs. If yours doesn't you should use a line level converter which is a device with screw terminals for your speaker wire on the input side and RCA jacks on the output side. Then you just use a RCA cable to connect the converter to the RCA jacks on your new powered subwoofer. There might be a way to tap the low level signal in the car before the Amplifier. I remember my 05 with BOSE had an amp in the trunk, but I've never looked to see how my 08 is set up. As I remember BOSE doesn't always use standard signals levels so you might need something else to compensate.
Getting it to work is one thing, getting it to sound good is another. It depends a lot on what your definition of "good" is.
Getting it to work is one thing, getting it to sound good is another. It depends a lot on what your definition of "good" is.
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