Amp location

[Ranger850]

What part of "4x4CM" jumps out, grabs you, and shouts "This must be an amp"?

This part

I thought 4x4cm meant " 4 megawatts by 4 Channel Music"

 

[RonD]

We sure do have a bunch of smart ass people on here. It looked like the wires went from the radio to the plug in the back of that part that I took a picture of. As I said in the original post I have a cheap subwoofer that I want to install so I am looking for the easiest place to get the speaker wire and according to the wiring diagram there is supposed to be a amp with a connection for the sub. Ron, I'm not positive it has a premium sound system it has a AM,FM with a CD player. It doesn't have a equalizer, the truck has bucket seats and manual trans. So if I understand this, the only way to figure out what radio I have is to see what color wires are being used ?

With just a single connector on your radio there is no separate amplifier

So best bet to add a subwoofer would be to add a Powered subwoofer, you can make one by getting a small amp WITH crossover or filter, and run 12v and ground to it and then tap either of the rear speaker wires for the signal, the left channel usually has full bass frequencies, but either will work fine

A crossover/filter removes the higher frequencies from the speaker signal, and just leaves the lower frequencies
Trick is to only send the lowest frequencies to the subwoofer, if you send frequencies that the stock 6" speakers can reproduce then you will get "muddy" sounding bass, because the sub and the 6" speaker are both sending out the same tone at the same time and they cancel each other out so it sounds "muddy"

 

[Mike92STX]

RonD, thank you. I have a cheap aftermarket subwoofer that has a amp built in so all I have to do is connect it to power, ground and a speaker. If I like it I will probably upgrade it later. I will get better speakers for the whole system. It's called a Rampage BA100.

 

[RonD]

Rampage BA100
Crossover Frequency 50 - 120Hz

If its adjustable turn it down to 100Hz to start

In the diagram for wiring it, it shows splicing to the 2 speaker wires on 1 speaker, so its safe to use that way, its not an impedance/resistance change for your radio's amplifier, its just a monitor circuit

You need to use a Key ON 12volt source, or it will drain your battery when key is off
I didn't read anything about "auto on/off" in the page I found, if it does have that then you can give it full time 12v as it will shut itself off when signal to speaker goes off, but there can still be a slight voltage draw when its in "sleep mode" because it has to monitor speaker signal to turn itself back on
So up to you

Key on 12v is what I would recommend to be on the safe side

 

[Ranger850]

RonD for Prez 2020

 

[Mike92STX]

I think I agree with Ranger850 because he is smarter than either of the choices we have.
I'm glad you told me about the key on power source because I was going to tie into the power from were the amp that I thought was in the truck fuse 12 but I know it's power on all the time. I'm going to have to look for the wiring for the sub, I bought it new but I don't remember what I did with the diagram. I'm also trying to figure the easiest way to splice into the speaker with all the plastic covers I can't tell where the wire is routed and the covers look like they should snap off but my luck I'll pick one that is fastened different and I'll brake it.
Thanks Again RonD

 

[Curious Hound]

RonD probably Googled for the diagram. If you can't find your paper copy, try Google.

 

[Mike92STX]

Yes, I haven't done it yet but I will probably google it instead of looking for mine, It's easier and faster.

 

[adsm08]

RonD for Prez 2020

Ron is ineligible to hold the office. He is an American expat living in Canada and does not meet the requirements for residency at this time, nor will he by January 21st 2021.

 

[Curious Hound]

Ron is ineligible to hold the office. He is an American expat living in Canada and does not meet the requirements for residency at this time, nor will he by January 21st 2021.

We can get around that if we need to.

Problem is. I wouldn't wish that job on anyone. As much as we need someone good in the Whitehouse, its that job of a martyr these days.

 

[adsm08]

We can get around that if we need to.

Problem is. I wouldn't wish that job on anyone. As much as we need someone good in the Whitehouse, its that job of a martyr these days.

It is. I used to want to hold public office, not anymore.

But then, I would have been in it for the public servant part, not for the power. I'd probably just be contrarian to everyone and try to keep anything from ever getting done, because I believe government works best when it does nothing.

 

[Snoranger]

It is. I used to want to hold public office, not anymore.

But then, I would have been in it for the public servant part, not for the power. I'd probably just be contrarian to everyone and try to keep anything from ever getting done, because I believe government works best when it does nothing.

As both a government employee and a second shift worker... I support this message.

 

[Mike92STX]

I got the sub connected yesterday, it sounds OK better than nothing. I did get power from a always on circuit so have to see if it drains the battery.
To some of smart asses maybe you can explain to me why I have a spot for a subwoofer amp with a fuse in it when there isn't subwoofer in the truck? That was one of the reasons I was looking for a amp when there is no amp.

 

[Curious Hound]

I got the sub connected yesterday, it sounds OK better than nothing. I did get power from a always on circuit so have to see if it drains the battery.
To some of smart asses maybe you can explain to me why I have a spot for a subwoofer amp with a fuse in it when there isn't subwoofer in the truck? That was one of the reasons I was looking for a amp when there is no amp.

Sometimes it’s easier to assemble vehicles if more parts are identical between models with different options. That fuse cost them next to nothing compared to keeping track of Fuse blocks with it and fuse blocks without.

My F150 had all the wiring, fuses and relays installed for fog lights except the lights themselves and a light switch that actually connects the yellow wire to ground (the switch pulled out like it should but didn’t make a connection. Weird. Made it rather easy to add fog lights the other day

 

[RonD]

+1 ^^^

It depends on the year of the Ranger and the sub-model, if your sub-model, i.e. XL, XLT, STX, ect...., had an Option for something then a base wiring harness that had that option's wiring would have been installed at the factory, so it would be plug and play on final assembly......IF that option was added/installed

Like all Rangers were wired as Manual Transmissions until around 2001, and if an automatic was installed then a second harness was added that plugged into the clutch switch harness, by-passing it, on final assembly

The higher cost of having say 6 or 8 different harness's wasn't worth it vs the cost of the extra wires and just using maybe 2 or 3 base harness's
By 2002 most Rangers were automatics and most early options were now standard features