Car Stereos: 2010 Ram Crew Cab Audio, dodge ram 1500, alpine system

Question
QUESTION: Hello, I would like to upgrade the factory sub in my 2010 Ram. I have a MTX TC4002 amp. The factory sub has dual connectors on it. What is the best way to connect this to my amp?

ANSWER: Hi Len,

I apologize for the delay in answering your question.  Unfortunately, I can't really give you a good answer because I'm not quite sure what you're trying to do.  Are you planning to use the new amplifier to drive your factory subwoofer, in place of the factory amp; or are you installing an after-market amplifier and subwoofer system, using the factory audio system as a source?

If you'd like to submit a follow-up question with more detail, I'll try to give you a better (and quicker) answer.

Thanks

Brian

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hey Brian, thanks for your reply. I am using an aftermarket sub with another amp and using the factory HU as the source.

My amp is a MTX 4002 and the sub I've purchased is a 10" Alpine dual coil. This is going into a 2010 Dodge Ram 1500 Crew Cab with the 9 speaker Alpine system.

The factory sub is also a dual coil but an 8". So I guess what I'm asking is what is the best way to hook this thing together?

Thanks for your help Brian

Len

Answer
Hi Len,

Thanks for the clarification.  Unfortunately, I haven't found any wiring information for the newest Dodge Ram audio systems, so I can't give you wire colors for your connections.

Your best bet is to use the amplifier's high-level input plug to connect to the four wires between the factory amplifier and factory subwoofer.  One nice feature of your amp is a "smart engage" system that will automatically turn on the amplifier when an audio signal is detected on the high level input wires.  This is designed specifically for connections to factory audio systems like yours.  The high level input plug should have positive and negative connections for a left and right channel input.  You'll just need to pick one set of factory subwoofer coil wires to connect to the right channel inputs, and use the other set for the left channel inputs.  That's where a wiring diagram would be handy--I don't know which factory wires are paired to a coil, or which are the positive and negative wires.  If the wire colors aren't obvious, you can use a multimeter's continuity function to identify the coil wire pairs, and you can use a 1.5V battery to identify the positive and negative wires of each pair.  If you need assistance with these tests, let me know.

You can extend the amplifier's high-level input wires by connecting ordinary speaker wire.  It doesn't need to be a thick wire, as it won't be carrying much current; cheap 20-gauge speaker wire would be fine.  If you don't have the amplifier's high-level input plug, and can't get a replacement, then you'll need a device called a line output converter to connect the amplifier to the factory speaker wiring.

Normally, a 2-channel amp like yours wouldn't be a very good match for a single DVC subwoofer, unless it's a model with 2-ohm voice coils.  In this case, you could wire the coils in series for a 4-ohm load, and wire it to the amplifier in a "bridged" configuration.  If it's a 4-ohm DVC sub, you'd wire it the same way, except that the final impedance would be 8 ohms, not 4 ohms.  This would reduce the amplifier's power output, but it's still the best configuration for a 2-channel amp like yours.

Hope this helps!

Brian