Add a self-powered subwoofer to JBL system the easy way

I’ve always enjoyed good sound while driving. I’ve found that the addition of a self-powered subwoofer adds just enough low end to make all music – from classical to blues to rock – sound better. So when I bought my 2009 Prius with the JBL 9-speaker upgrade, I thought about how to add that subwoofer.

First I looked into substituting the subwoofers in the rear doors. The customer service representative at Crutchfield’s told me something that no other website mentioned about my JBL system: “No after-market speakers will fit.” That’s because the Prius uses more efficient 2-Ohm speakers. Virtually all others use 4-Ohm speakers. So don’t try this, unless you’re willing to scrap the whole system and start from scratch.

My son gave me a self-powered subwoofer for a gift. Being a cautious kinda guy, I studied the installation guide and several great PriusChat posts which recommended placing the sub in the trunk and connecting the power to the battery. Because I haul a lot of stuff around, I wanted to place the sub under the front seat to save space. And because there’s a 12-volt, 10 Amp connector right there between the front seats, I thought: “What the heck, why not just tap in there?”

I had a hard time finding the one specification I needed to make sure it would work: the amount of amps the Sub needed to operate. I contacted the company’s customer service, and to their credit my email was answered. That sub could draw as much at 50 Amps!

So I traded it in for a more expensive and more efficient subwoofer designed to fit under a seat. It’s a Clarion SRV250. It draws only 7 Amps.

So now I was confident that I could tap into the center console’s 12 Volt power supply. A cheap cigarette-lighter connection did the trick, without cutting wires.

Now I struggled with the next question: Where to get my source from? There are great resources available right here at PriusChat that show you what wires to tap into. But being cautious and lazy I looked for another way. The Prius sound system has an AUX input that will accept a mini-plug. Any iPod or phone or player can be plugged into the system. So I added a connector that split one of these device’s outputs into 2. One of those gets plugged into the Prius, the other into the Clarion.

With this setup, you can adjust each input level and fine tune how everything sounds. And when everything’s set just right, it sounds great.

Now the downside: I have to keep adjusting the sound for each new album or CD or collection, because each mix is different. So it’s good to have an assistant to help drive or to work the controls.

Best of all, if I ever trade my car, I can take the whole thing with me.

 

You won't be stressing the hybrid battery pack at all, because you won't be hooking anything up to it. The power will come from the more traditional 12 battery.