INSTALLING A PIONEER STWX11A SUB WOOFER

The active sub woofer is installed under the rear seat, in the centre.

It is installed so that it can easily be removed in case you want to lower the seat.

This guide can also be used for other make of sub, it gives some idea where the wires are
located.

What you need that is not in the Pioneer package:

- Solder and soldering iron, or special wire connecters

- Some Velcro Hook and loop fastener strip

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Remove the rear door sill :

To work easy, remove the belt cover

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Remove both seat holder carpet covers

2 screws hold these, then slide the holder to the right to release.

Remove the carpet holder clip under the carpet in the back.

First lower both seats.

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Now the carpet can be lifted:

Here you see the under the carpet, in the harness, you can locate the yellow and brown
twisted wire that goes to the left rear speaker.

Note:

You could connect both left and right input wires for the sub here, it is not absolutely
necessary to connect to the right speaker, since bass signals are equal to all four
speakers. There is almost no stereo information in the bass signals.

The right speaker connections are on the same spot but on the right.

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Other option is to remove the centre console; there both left and right speaker wires can
be found.

Centre console can be removed by removing 4 screws at the side, behind the caps.

Set the hand break in the up position.

Lift the front of the console and remove the connectors for lighter and seat-heat
switches.

Remove the console

There you can locate inside the harness, the twisted yellow+brown wire and twised
blue+orange wire. These are the car left and right speaker wires.

I used these wires to connect the sub.

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Cut the speaker connection wire to appropriate length, there is no need for the original
connectors supplied:

CAUTION: DO NOT BEND OR CUT THIS CONNECTION, IT CONTAINS THE SPEAKER TO LINE
LEVEL ADJUSTMENT RESISTORS!!!!

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Route the speaker connection wires under the carpet to the car speaker connections:

NOTE: under the carpet, where the car wire harness goes into the centre console, there
is a metal cover over the wire harness, try to put the speaker wires also under this
protective cover, you can feel this if your hand is under the carpet.

Connect the white/black wire to the yellow wire and the black wire to the brown wire

Connect the other white/black wire to the blue wire and the black wire to the orange
wire. RESPECT THESE COLOURS

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Insulate the connections using good tape.

Secure your routed wire, using strap and tape.

This is how it should look like when finished:

( I did slide an extra insulating tube over the speaker wires)

PS. If you want, it is possible to connect the sub +V to the white wire from the sig.
lighter.

I did prefer to use a +V wire in the back (the wire that goes to the acc socket).

See further.

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If you will place the sub remote control around here, then you can also route this wire
under the centre console to the sub.

There is 6 meter of wire to this remote and I suggest you do not cut it.

I did put my remote here, and routed the wire under the carpet to the rear.

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THE POWER SUPPLY:

Since the power wire we will use is cut by the ignition switch, you can connect the blue
and yellow wire together. The sub will turn on with the ignition.

But then you will be stuck with a few meters of yellow and blue wire.

Better to cut (shorten) the yellow and blue wire and reposition the fuse holder, closer to
the sub connectors. In this case no need for the small 0.5 Amp fuse.

Solder them to the fuse holder, or connect them together any other way.

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Now you can connect (solder) the yellow +V wire to the car yellow wire located here,
just behind the sub. It is a thick yellow wire inside the harness.

Here is an easy connection for the ground wire:

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Style the wires that they come out behind the sub

Connect the RCA connectors from the speaker

Apply some Velcro, hook and loop fasteners strips to the bottom of the sub.

Connect the wires and you are done!

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USE:

At low volume levels, the gain adjustment can be put at maximum, the frequency
adjustment about the centre position. Up to your taste!

If you sit in the front the phase switch will give best result in the out position.

Bass signals are very sensitive to phase shifting, so this setting will depend on the
position where you sit in the car.

Normally all speakers, car and sub must be “in phase” but the sub is like an intruder in
the system, so depending how you connect the speaker wires, or where the sub is
located, you will have to experiment with the phase switch.

Possible future modifications:

1- Make the sub more sensitive at lower listening volume, so that the gain
adjustment has a better range, now it must be set at max. If you listen most of the
time at low volume setting this can be an interesting mod. It can easy be done by
modifying the resistor divider level adjuster.

2- If the place of the remote is definitive, shorten this wire. Now you can route this
wire twice around the car!

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