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Installed powered sub today

Okay a few internet searches and I figured out the Safety hub issue. Just need to make sure the RCA cables are right and where to run the on-off wire too under the helm.
 
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So I'm just going to plug my RCA cables into the rear plugs, right? That means I set the "input level" switch to LOW, right?

While I ran wires to the helm I also ran the cable for the remote and a wire for the Auto Turn-On feature. The Kicker manual says the Blue/White wire is an "Amplifier Turn-On" wire. It's under there, but it goes into a huge plug with all the other radio wires and disappears into a huge bundle of wires. I have no clue where it's going, I expected it to be a dead end under the helm.
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I'm running the Neg cable to the Neg side of the hub (on right) to keep the Neg cable under 3 feet long.
I was going to run the Pos cable to one of the 4 large posts on the hub (on bottom) so the power to the sub would shut off when I turn the battery switch to OFF. But there is no power to that side of the hub. I don't see where a fuse would go on that side of the hub or how to get power to that side of the hub, what am I missing??
I'm going to also run an inline circuit breaker, so I could just run the Pos cable directly to the battery, I just thought it would be nice to have it going thru the switch.
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Baja, use the REAR RCA inputs. I can't remember about the "input level" switch but I think LOW would be correct. Try it and switch it if it sounds bad. lol. You're going to need to tweak it anyway. There is a good video on that SUB where a guy tells about both the 10" Punch Sub and the 12" Punch Sub. He describes which switch does what. That's what I watched.

As for the Auto Turn On, I didn't do anything but set the switch to "REM" on the Auto Turn On setting. At that point the Sub will automatically come on when you switch on the battery and power up the head unit on the stereo. I personally didn't run a separate wire for Auto Turn-On. By you plugging into the RCA jacks the and the power on the Sub coming direct from the positive battery terminal when you switch the battery on and the head unit the Sub will come on. I wouldn't cut into any of the harness to splice that wire without first testing what I did.

I'm not sure about the Safety Hub thingy you mention(I don't have that), but I have the same red battery switch. Just take the 4 screws out of the red switch and put your positive on one of the switches that you would normally turn on. The Negative can then just go to the negative on the battery post. The inline fuse would be wise. I just ran a short wire from the red Battery Switch to the inline fuse and then a longer wire from the other side of the fuse to the Sub. I used 8ga wire for power and ground.
Hope this helps.
 
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Yes that helps, thanks
I stupidly was thinking the Auto On only worked with the speaker wires not the RCA jacks. (told you I didn't know much about stereo's) Now I can remove that wire. :D
I think I can finish it up tomorrow.
 
Just a follow up, I got the sub installed, hooked up and it sounds fantastic!
A few more photos of my install.

I have stern radius seating. There's plenty of room for the sub under the seat, but the problem is the opening under the seats is too small to get it there. There was some earlier discussion on if even a 10" sub would fit under the stern radius seating.

It needs to go in here.
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I really wanted the 12" sub and it's actually cheaper than the 10" sub on Amazon. After a lot of measurements and planning I was pretty confident I could get the 12" sub to fit.
A few careful cuts with a sheet rock knife and I got the clearance I needed. The plastic is very strong and the seat back is still rock solid even with the hole cut larger.

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You have to feed the sub in the hole end first, but it then turns once it's inside and lays flat with the angle facing the center of the boat. I'll add a few blocks along with the Velcro to hold it firmly in place. I left a lip at the bottom of the opening so water won't find it's way in the compartment. We don't get our boat very wet inside, but I might add a piece of plastic along the bottom just to be sure it stays dry in the compartment.
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This location gives great access for the wire connections and the battery.
I drilled a hole in the back of my little glove box (new G helm) for the remote wire.
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Made a bracket and installed the remote bass control.

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My next project is adding a USB port in front so passengers can charge their phones. I found this on Amazon, looks okay, anyone find anything that is better?
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Thanks to Renegade34 for starting this thread and every one that added to it and answered all my questions.
 
Nice job on the install! Glad you got it working. I think it's a great bang for the buck.
 
Very nice. I have mine in exactly the same place only I didn't lay it down. I don't think I had enough clearance in my 22SSRX to lay it down, but I'm definitely going to try. You did a very good job. Looks totally professional. :)
 
Renegade34 said:
When you spliced in to the speaker wire for signal did you connect both the left and right wires to the sub? I connected the left and right + to the + on the speaker wire and both left and right - to the - on the speaker wire.
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I know this is an older thread but I need some help with spicing into the speaker wire junction on my new 2019 Benny and 12” Rockford.
Not sure which color wires to spice into on both ends.

Did you cut off the RCA plugs that go into the sub junction connection and then tie in your two wires leading from the left speaker you had spliced in to?
At the sub did you tie the two speaker wires into the four remaking wires going into the junction box? Thus the plus and minus for two speakers instead of one?

My next question what color wires did you select to splice into the speaker? I have 6 wire leads going into my left port side speaker. One red, one green, one black, one blue, and then two larger clear looking silver wires that look like old type speaker wires.

Any help would be greatly appreciated as I am a novice at this and scared to splice into wires I know nothing about. What’s positive and what’s negative? My speaker wire going to the sub is a black two wire. Is it important to know which of the two black leads are positive or negative?
Thanks soo much!
 
I would not install that double usb port. You are really limiting yourself. Just install a 12V power outlet (like a cigarette-lighter style). Then you can plug in a multitude of things (such as a double or triple USB charger). That's what I did on my boat, and now I use the outlet for much more than just charging via USB.
 
Wayne King Sr. said:
I know this is an older thread but I need some help with spicing into the speaker wire junction on my new 2019 Benny and 12” Rockford.
Not sure which color wires to spice into on both ends.

Did you cut off the RCA plugs that go into the sub junction connection and then tie in your two wires leading from the left speaker you had spliced in to?
At the sub did you tie the two speaker wires into the four remaking wires going into the junction box? Thus the plus and minus for two speakers instead of one?

My next question what color wires did you select to splice into the speaker? I have 6 wire leads going into my left port side speaker. One red, one green, one black, one blue, and then two larger clear looking silver wires that look like old type speaker wires.

Any help would be greatly appreciated as I am a novice at this and scared to splice into wires I know nothing about. What’s positive and what’s negative? My speaker wire going to the sub is a black two wire. Is it important to know which of the two black leads are positive or negative?
Thanks soo much!
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Hi, What exactly are you trying to do? Are you needing help installing your sub?
 
Question about this powered sub. Thinking about one under my helm. With the new G helm design, there is a good amount of space under there. I have two extra power switches I can tie into on the dash, so power is east. I can connect the speaker to the head unit directly, so that is easy. My question is on the power draw of this unit. Should I be looking at a second battery to run this set-up?
 
You can definitely run it with one battery but the second battery would add peace of mind. I know my 2018 KMC10 has a low voltage alarm that chimes in through the speakers if the battery starts to run low. I’m not sure about the other units. Something to look into.
 
For myself I’d prefer to have a second battery or at least a booster pack. I have one of these and really like them. Surprising amount of power, has a great flashlight, and holds a charge for a very long time. Plus you can charge your phone with as well. It’s also very compact (about the size of my phone but about twice as thick. Here’s the one I have:

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Renegade34 said:
Hi, What exactly are you trying to do? Are you needing help installing your sub?
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Thanks , you have a already been very helpful in providing detail info and visuals associated with your install. My New Bennington is very much like yours and based on your install I proceeded With the same equipment in the same location. Almost finished with the install with exception for connecting to my Port side Stern speaker.
My problem is determining which of the 6 colored wires I splice for the positive and negative speaker wire leads going to the sub.
When purchasing my Bennington I opted for the stern lighted Bennington grill associated with the Swing lounger and it comes with two upgraded lighted speakers. The plug connection contains 6 colored wires on my 2019 model.
The question is which two wires do I splice for the mono speaker connection? Is the 2018 wire connections the same as the 2019 model? If so , which two positive and negative wires did you tap into. I really don’t want to go fishing with the two RCA connectors.

Thanks again for helping me out. Based on the reviews I cannot wait to hear the difference.
 
When you take that felt/cardboard like cover off the stern speakers it should expose the back of the speakers so you can see what goes where. It’s easy but there’s about a dozen small screws to take out.
If I remember correctly once you get that cover off you can follow the speaker wires to the speakers and see which is positive. If that doesn’t work strip a piece of wire on each speaker wire and take a AA battery and touch one speaker wire to the - side of the battery and the other speaker wire to the + side of the battery. When you do this the speaker will either move in or out. If it moves out then whichever speaker wire is touching the + end of the battery is your positive speaker wire.
I just spliced into one speaker wire for both L and R for the sub input (L and R + to the positive speaker lead and L and R - to the negative speaker lead).
All your small colored wires should be for the lighting and the speaker wires will be the standard looking clear ones.
Hope this helps!
 
As Renegade stated, even though you're only tapping into one speaker, you'll need to run wires to both the left and right speaker inputs on the subwoofer. I didn't do that and as a result, I couldn't get the system to work.
 
Im thinking about buying one of these 12 inch powered subs for my swingback. I have the kicker illuminated speakers along with Kicker head unit and remote unit back at the swingback. I didn't order the kicker sub or amp since I already have JL audio M1000 5v2 amp here is the link http://www.jlaudio.com/m1000-5v2-marine-audio-m-series-amplifiers-98358. My question is will i still be able to tap into the stern port speaker once i hook up my amp to the speakers or will that end up sending to much power to the sub since its already a powered sub? I then plan on using my JL amp sub output to power another sub that I will put up near the bow.
 
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One thing I did that might not have been previously mentioned is to buy four rubber "feet" at the hardware store and mount them on the bottom of the speaker. Basically, that raised the unit about a 1/4 inch thereby providing airflow between the speaker and floor, thus eliminating the potential for water or moisture damage. I also added a SS L bracket to hold it in place. Can't wait to get back on the boat this summer and jam!
 
Renegade34 said:
When you take that felt/cardboard like cover off the stern speakers it should expose the back of the speakers so you can see what goes where. It’s easy but there’s about a dozen small screws to take out.
If I remember correctly once you get that cover off you can follow the speaker wires to the speakers and see which is positive. If that doesn’t work strip a piece of wire on each speaker wire and take a AA battery and touch one speaker wire to the - side of the battery and the other speaker wire to the + side of the battery. When you do this the speaker will either move in or out. If it moves out then whichever speaker wire is touching the + end of the battery is your positive speaker wire.
I just spliced into one speaker wire for both L and R for the sub input (L and R + to the positive speaker lead and L and R - to the negative speaker lead).
All your small colored wires should be for the lighting and the speaker wires will be the standard looking clear ones.
Hope this helps!
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Thanks, exactly what I was looking for. Love the battery tip.
 
Wayne King Sr. said:
Thanks, exactly what I was looking for. Love the battery tip.
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No problem!
I’ve used the battery trick many times. It’s works great to determine polarity.
 
Comin In Hot said:
Im thinking about buying one of these 12 inch powered subs for my swingback. I have the kicker illuminated speakers along with Kicker head unit and remote unit back at the swingback. I didn't order the kicker sub or amp since I already have JL audio M1000 5v2 amp here is the link http://www.jlaudio.com/m1000-5v2-marine-audio-m-series-amplifiers-98358. My question is will i still be able to tap into the stern port speaker once i hook up my amp to the speakers or will that end up sending to much power to the sub since its already a powered sub? I then plan on using my JL amp sub output to power another sub that I will put up near the bow.
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Yes, you’ll still be able to splice into the speaker wires for the powered sub. If you have a swingback with the stern speakers the install is a piece of cake. A power, ground, and splice into a speaker wire for signal and call it a day!
If you add the Rockford powered sub I doubt that you’ll be looking for more bass. Lol. I like lots of bass and have my powered sub tamed down to about 1/3 gain. To each their own though!
I’d install the Rockford first and go from there.
 
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