Do It Yourself Install a Car Subwoofer to a Home Theater
Fundamentally, there is no core difference between a car and home subwoofer. What typically differs is the fact that most home subwoofers are self-powered, cosmetically-attractive units that are designed for plug-and-play operation. Installing a car subwoofer system into a home theater environment involves adding an outboard amplifier instead of using one that is built-in out of the box, but beyond that, the installation practices are strikingly similar. Excellent performance is possible from car audio subwoofers in a home environment.
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Things You'll Need
- Car subwoofer
- Subwoofer spec sheet
- Home theater receiver
- Pre-fabricated subwoofer enclosure
- Home subwoofer amplifier
- RCA cable
- Speaker wire
- Crimp tool
- Crimp-on spade terminals
- Small wire stripper
- Drill
- Self-tapping Philips screws
Instructions
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Cut and length of wire sufficient to reach from the terminals on the inside of the subwoofer enclosure, to approximately 1 foot outside of the box. Use the wire strippers to cut the speaker wire.
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Strip 1/4 inch of insulation from the wire in the box on each end. Crimp on the spade terminals to the bare wire on one end, and push the terminals on the rear of the speaker wire terminal inside the enclosure.
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Crimp an additional pair of spade terminals to the other end of the wire. Following the same polarity as used on the enclosure's terminal, press these onto the subwoofer's speaker wire terminals.
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Place the subwoofer in the holes cut for the speakers in the prefabricated enclosure, selected based on the subwoofer's specifications for internal volume. Screw in the self-tapping Philips screws in a criss-cross pattern on each subwoofer to secure them.
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Determine the distance required from the amplifier to the subwoofer enclosure. Cut the needed length required using the small wire strippers. Use the strippers to cut off 1/4 inch of insulation from each end of the cut wire. Hand twist the bare wires tightly.
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Access the rear of the home theater receiver and subwoofer amplifier. Push on the single RCA needed for the subwoofer output connection from the output marked "SUB" on the receiver, and an available RCA input on the amplifier.
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Unscrew the binding posts on the subwoofer amplifier, exposing the speaker wire holes on the post. Insert the bare wire into the post's positive and negative (typically red and black, respectively), and hand-tighten the post's securing nut.
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Attach the speaker wire the the subwoofer enclosure, unscrewing the binding post on the terminal. Insert the bare wire into the exposed hole, and secure by screwing down the post's nut. Alternatively, if the enclosure utilizes spring clips for the wire, press down on the clip to expose the wire hole. Insert the wire and release the clip to secure.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit subwoofer image by MATTHIEU FABISIAK from Fotolia.com
