Non jbl 4channel amp and 2-10” sub and mono amp install

I’m new to this forum but decided to give this a try since I’ve been fighting with this radio install for months. I made a huge mistake and cut the wiring harness to the stock non jbl amp. Long story short I’ve installed the LC2i LOC, 4channel amp to door speakers and mono amp to 2-10s behind rear seat. Everything powers up but only sound is from the speakers powered by the head unit. The wire schematic for the harness I cut doesn’t match what I have so maybe I wired it wrong?

 

A 4ch amp would be to power all the doors, you would want a 5 channel amp (or a 4ch amp and a mono amp).

Will probably help to post some pictures of your setup

 

Welcome to the forum.

You should have bought one of these.
I'd rewire your stock wiring and still use one.
It bypasses the OEM amp and supplies all the audio connections from the HU and to the speakers.
It also supplies the remote turn on for your LOC and amps, as well as power for the LOC.
Only thing you'd have to run is amp power and grounds.

$18 2010-2019 Toyota Tundra (w/o JBL Audio) AutoHarnessHouse.com Factory Amp Upgrade Harness AHH-4438

Amazon.com: 2010-2019 Toyota Tundra (w/o JBL Audio) AutoHarnessHouse.com Factory Amp Upgrade Harness AHH-4438 : Electronics


A decent 5-channel amp would have been easier.
You say everything powers up, but its there a remote wire to both amps and the LOC to turn them on?

Here is the stock wiring diagram so you'll know what you're dealing with..
The Stereo Component Amplifier Assembly is the underseat OEM amp.




As @Danimal86 stated, pics and exactly what equipment (amp make and model) would help us help you..

 

So everything powers up?
Are you sure you used the right stock wiring for the input to the LOC and the output from the amp to the speakers?
Do you still have the OEM connectors you cut off to see which plug is which since they use a lot of the same wire colors?
Check the wiring diagram and make sure.

I hope you can get this figured out, but ultimately replacing the Entune HU with a decent aftermarket and steering wheel control adapter is the way to go.

 

I wish I would have saved the connectors. I totally made a huge mistake. Now it seems nobody around here is even willing to assist in repairing my error

 

You say the head unit still powers speakers. Exactly which ones? Did you lose sound to any factory speakers? If not, you probably didn’t cut the right wiring. Or your amp really is running the door speakers.

What all speakers are you planning to use for the 4-channel amp?

First off the LC2i isn’t for a 4-channel and mono amp setup without some modifications. Are you using y splitters or using the outputs from the 4 channel amp to the mono amp? For 2 amps I would have chosen the LC7i for 6-channel inputs.

But in all actuality you could have used a T harness and added the amp to the door speakers.

I would say F it. Get a new head unit. Rewire everything with new speaker wiring and use the proper 6-channel rca’s from the deck to the amps. Sell the LC2i.

BTW, I always end up bypassing the OEM speaker wiring. Better to run larger awg speaker wire and better control because I don’t use passive crossovers. I run my speakers active in network mode

 

@james33440 the dash speakers are powered straight off the OEM hu.
That is what he hears now.
The 4 doors are run off the under seat amp.

You're right about the LC2i, it is only a 2-channel LOC with bass output.
I had an LC7i when I tried to keep my Entune, in the end, the aftermarket route is the way to go.

 

You can figure this out.
It will just take some time.
You just need to separate what is input wiring to the amp/or LOC from the radio, and what is output wiring to the door speakers from the amp.

The old school way:
If you had an old speaker laying around, I have a few, you could test the leads and see which wires are input and output.
When you find the output, you adjust the hu to each channel with the balance and fader, front /rear left /right and single them out

Once you found at least one input from the HU, say right front (light green + and blue -), you can use that signal to test the other pairs of leads and see which are speaker leads go to which door.

But since it's 2023 and we have the internet, this would be the way to go.:

Here are the wire color abbreviations of the schematic posted above.
B = Black
W = White
BR = Brown
BE = Beige
L = Blue
V = Violet
SB = Sky Blue
R = Red
G = Green
LG = Light Green
P = Pink
Y = Yellow
GR = Gray
O = Orange

I know you don't have your connectors, but here are the wire colors and what they are.
Maybe the wires are still bundled into their separate harnesses.
The separate hardness of the plug will each have different colored wires.
I hope that made sense.
Easier to read than the schematic.

J144 (Smaller factory amp harness) 7 wires

Pin 1 - Front Right Output to Speaker (+) - Light Green
Pin 2 - Front Left Output to Speaker (+) - Violet
Pin 3 - Accessory/Switched 12v [Remote In] - Sky Blue
Pin 4 - 12v Constant [Power] - Red
Pin 5 - Front Right Output to Speaker (-) - Blue
Pin 6 - Front Left Output to Speaker (-) - Pink
Pin 7 - Ground - White and Black (NOTE: The factory wiring diagram says that ground is Pin 9, but I confirmed that Pin 7 is actually the ground. It is a white and black wire. )

J145 12 wires

Pin 1 - Front Left Signal (+) - Brown
Pin 2 - Front Right Signal (+) - Pink
Pin 3 - Rear Left Signal (+) - Light Green
Pin 4 - Rear Right Output to Speaker (+) - Red
Pin 5 - Rear Left Output to Speaker (+) - White
Pin 6 - Front Left Signal (-) - Beige
Pin 7 - Front Right Signal (-) - Gray
Pin 8 - Rear Left Signal (-) - Black
Pin 9 - Rear Right Signal (+) - Blue
Pin 10 - Rear Right Signal (-) - White
Pin 11 - Rear Right Output to Speaker (-) - Violet
Pin 12 - Rear Left Output to Speaker (-) - Green

You can do this, just be patient and don't get frustrated with it.
Make sure your amps and loc are powered up and all your fuses are good.

 

If you have your front passenger seat out, snap a picture of the connections to where the factory amp was.

First off, i would eliminate one amplifier from the equation and get that working first. Move the lc2i to where the factory amplifier is/was. It should be fairly simple, you will be using the signal that comes from the headunit and before the factory amp. Grab 2 sets of speaker wires and plug that into the Speaker Level Input side of the LC2i. Run a set of RCA's from the LC2i Main Output to the input of your amplifier that is powering the door speakers. Then you need to run 4 sets of speaker wires from that amp back to under your front passenger seat. Take a 9v battery and identify which speaker is which by touching one wire combination (See previous post with the connector pinout from @1lowlife ) to the battery and listen for static out of a door speaker. Mark what speaker wire is what and either solder or use wire nuts to connect all 4 sets of speaker wires from the amp to the connection under the front passenger seat. You will need to take all 4 pairs of speaker wires and connect them to the wires that go to the door speakers (located under the front passenger seat).

You will need to take the remote turn on (just provides 12v when the head unit turns on) i cant remember but its usually the yellow or red wire. You could use a multimeter to determine which is which. it will have 0v when the key is off, but 12v when the key is on (and the head unit is on). That wire coming from the head unit will go into the Remote In on the LC2i and then run a wire from the Remote Out on the LC2i and run it to the amp that powers the door speakers (usually the remote in is between the Power and Ground on the amp). you now should have sound coming out of all 4 doors.
For the amp running your subs, take a set of RCA's and run it from the Bass Output of your LC2i and run it into the Input of the bass amp. Also take another wire and run it from the Remote Out of the LC2i and into the Remote Port of the bass amp

Dash speakers: Like @1lowlife mentioned, your dash speakers (left, center, right dash speakers) are powered directly off the head unit. You will have a difference in volume and potential latency between them and the door speakers, so plan on disconnecting them (remove the grilles and unplug them).

 

Could always use a 9V battery to check the wires to see what speaker pops

 

Being curious here what is your opinion on the head units? So price vs features or values, there are many good name brands but also feature friendly cheaper brands and if we are upgrading the audio after the head unit, what is the price vs features vs audio quality blend? example would be cheap feature packed head unit added with a high end sound processing system ?

 

I'm about to get into this shenanigans as well. Haven't tore into anything yet, but was recently given a 4ch amp and 10" sub from a buddy. I have an LOC already, so looks like I just need to scoop up a mono amp for the sub. I do not have JBL or a factory amp, so everything is tying back into the OEM head unit.

That said, appreciate the diagram provided. One thing I'm not 100% on still that I'm hoping you can provide clarity.

In order to amplify the speakers I would need to: splice harness at HU>wire to LOC>output to amp>then?

Will I need to tie the speakers from the amp output back somewhere in order to make this work?

Appreciate any help!

 

You should be able to follow the diagram exactly. From the LOC you will have RCA's that run to the amp(s) and then just use the existing speaker wires and connect those to the output of the amp.

i'm not sure what year or trim level your truck is so this is just general how to:
The LOC takes the output from AFTER your headunit and BEFORE your speakers and gives you an RCA output (along with some signal adjustments usually) that you can easily plug into your amp.

Depending on the size of your LOC and AMP you could theoretically put everything behind your head unit and it would be simple wiring. You would clip the wires (2 or 4 channels depending on the LOC) between the head unit and the speakers, wire the loc and amp, then connect the amp output to the speaker side of those wires you clipped.
Usually thats a tall order unless you have some really physically small amps. What a lot of people do is put the LOC behind the headunit, run the rca's to under the passenger seat. Mount the amp under the passanger seat and then run speaker wires back up to behind the head unit so you can still use the factory wiring.

A good amount of tundras have a factory amplifier (on JBL and Non-JBL....not sure about the SR trim) under the passenger seat...are you 100% sure you dont have a factory amp? It makes it easier since most of the wiring is already done, you just have to determine which wires go to which speakers and which come from the head unit.

 

No amp. It's a 2012 and about as barebones as Toyota could make it at the time (no power seats, front bench, etc). Sounds like I need to get some extra speaker wire to run back, but everything is doable. Thank you for clarifying!

 

Thank you for this clear and easy-to-understand diagram and explanation! I have my amp and will be purchasing the LOC soon. I have been reading and gathering information, and this clearly lays out and combines what I have read and correlated across several other posts. Thanks again!!

 

Gotcha. I would put the LOC behind the headunit then and pull power off the accessory wire (yellow but double check).
Depending on the LOC, you might have a Remote wire to run from the LOC to the amp, usually a blue wire (i think). It basically tells the amp to turn on by providing 12v to that blue wire after the head unit turns on.

 

Happy to help. Let me know if you have any other questions or get in a pickle.

 

I'm gonna owe you some beers after this is all said and done. Confirmed that the amp and LOC are able to communicate with a remote wire.

So my LOC is a 2chan NVX. Am I able to simply wire all L/R +/- speaker wires together in the corresponding LOC input? Is there an issue with running 4 individual speakers and their wires this way (8 wires in total)?

Similar question for the amp output. Can I simply take the mono amp output wires and connect the +/- from clipped speaker wires, respectively?

I realize this will take some research on which wires feed into the HU harness. Still have a feeling I am over simplifying something here.

 

what are the model numbers for the loc and amp(s)?

 

LOC is

$50 NVX XLCA2 X-Series 2-Channel Line Out Converter Digital Bass Enhancer with xBOOST and Remote Level Control

NVX XLCA2
Amp is

$165 Alpine MRV-M500 - Alpine Monoblock 500W RMS V Power Series Car Amplifier

Alpine MRV-M500

And now I believe I see the issue with the equipment. Amp is for a sub, I need one with channels for the speakers.

 

you could power all the door speakers off of that one channel amp, but it has to be able to do full range sound output (not sure if that one does). Its really meant to power a subwoofer.

You would need to add a 2 or 4ch amp to go along with it. Another option is a 5ch amp.

 

You have saved me some serious headache. Looks like I'm shopping for an amp tonight. I'm sure I'll be blowing this thread up again shortly.

 

@Danimal86 your comment above regarding the dash speakers "Dash speakers: Like @1lowlife mentioned, your dash speakers (left, center, right dash speakers) are powered directly off the head unit. You will have a difference in volume and potential latency between them and the door speakers, so plan on disconnecting them (remove the grilles and unplug them)."; is that true no matter the LOC chosen, or is that related to the size/features of the LC2i?

 

The simple answer is yes, no matter the LOC you choose i'd recommend disconnecting the dash speakers.

Its a really simple thing to do, i'd suggest installing your LOC and amp(s) and leaving the dash speakers connected and see how it sounds to you. If there's some funkyness going on (latency between door speakers and dash speakers), then disconnect them, but if it works out to where its adding something positive to your system, then leave them connected....it really comes down to your ears.

Now, if you want to go down the rabbit hole and really want to utilize those dash speakers with a 6-8 channel setup, then let me know and we can go down that rabbit hole together but have your credit card ready because it aint cheap.

 

So I picked up a budget scamazon 4ch amp for the speakers because I'm a cheapass, this is an 11 y/o truck and sound system, and I didn't want to dump much into it cost-wise

One last lingering question before I start to get into this tonight / this weekend. For the bass control knob - I will have x2 to work with: one on the LOC and one on the Alpine amp powering the sub. Does it matter which one I go with? My hope is that I just set the LOC and amp for the speakers and never really have to fiddle with em again. Would it make sense to use the control for the sub amp only? Or does LOC do the same thing?

I plan to snap photos and do a separate write up once all is done. Apologize to OP for jacking this thread, assuming they're still on the forum every now and then.

 

I was getting ready to post the exact same question! Great minds think alike!

 

So your loc will have a built in amplifier to help adjust the signal from what the factory head unit is putting out (correcting for bass roll-off,etc.). Amplifying an already amplified signal is a recipe for distortion.
I'd recomend, as a starting point, leaving the LOC at 50-60% and adjusting it there.

Ideally you would connect an oscillicope to your loc and play some pink noise to see how high you can turn your headunit up until it starts to clip, but probably overkill for a "simple system" (let me know if you want to go down the o-scope route and i'll give you some ideas)