Impreza underseat subwoofer (mysteries of)

[Kip]

Hello - I've just replaced the factory (Clarion it turns out) cd
player in my 2002 Impreza Outback Sport with the Alpine CDA-9813. I'm
now tweaking the sound which has made me quite curious about the
operation of the Impreza factory underseat subwoofer. Could someone
verify or refute the following:

1) The subwoofer draws its power from the same lead that goes to the
head unit, and gets its signal from the rear speaker wires (both, or
one?).

2) One of the dials on the unit is for gain, and the other sets a
"crossover" frequency - which operates solely for the subwoofer. The
crossover dial does not, therefore, cut any bass from the main
speakers, it just sets the highest frequency that the sub will
reproduce (is it strange that this is a dial instead of there being
fixed frquency settings?).

3) Because the subwoofer is just taking the signal from the rear
speaker wires, and amplifying it with its internal (120 watt?) amp, it
does not audibly rob the rear speakers of the power being sent to them
from the head unit.

Thanks all! I cannot seem to find definitive answers anywhere.

cheers - kip

 

[Allan]

Hello - I've just replaced the factory (Clarion it turns out) cd
player in my 2002 Impreza Outback Sport with the Alpine CDA-9813. I'm
now tweaking the sound which has made me quite curious about the
operation of the Impreza factory underseat subwoofer. Could someone
verify or refute the following:

1) The subwoofer draws its power from the same lead that goes to the
head unit, and gets its signal from the rear speaker wires (both, or
one?).

It should look at both Right and left, but a lot of subwoofers will just
feed off one channel, it does nt make a lot of difference.

2) One of the dials on the unit is for gain, and the other sets a
"crossover" frequency - which operates solely for the subwoofer. The
crossover dial does not, therefore, cut any bass from the main
speakers, it just sets the highest frequency that the sub will
reproduce (is it strange that this is a dial instead of there being
fixed frquency settings?).

Nah, just a choice of the manufacture, some use Fixed Switches , and better
ones, like yours has a variable pot.

3) Because the subwoofer is just taking the signal from the rear
speaker wires, and amplifying it with its internal (120 watt?) amp, it
does not audibly rob the rear speakers of the power being sent to them
from the head unit.

No the signal it takes from yoru Rear speakers is very very small.. and it
wont make any difference to the sound they give
but if your Apline has a Sub woofer output, use it. You would have to
disconnect the lead that goes to your rear speaker and just connect it to
the Sub woofer output, normally a RCA Plug. You will end up with a better
bass and it wont be effected by your fader b/t front and back.

Cheers,
Allan