[Jimji]

Go the boot area and pull off the plastic parts to see the quick connector for the sub. put on some music and disconnect and reconnect the quick connector. Almost no difference. The problem is more than location. This thing is like a Catholic girl it just does not put out.

 

[Jimji]

I routed the wire in the channel where the red arrow is below. It was not a tight fit so no fish tape was required. I just slid it in, reached through the access panel by the 12V socket and grabbed it.
View attachment 8679


I didn't remove the whole 12V socket, just the wires leading to the back of the socket. They should just pull right off like you're unplugging something from the wall. The back of the socket looks something like the image below and the wiring terminates in an L shaped plastic harness that pulls right off. Once the wires were off, I pulled them through the access door and had enough length to splice into the positive.

View attachment 8676

So which is the positive tab ? I am using some spade connectors to go right into the L connector as well for that clean look. Is the positive the wider or the narrower one ?

Thanks much Jim

 

[Jimji]

OK figured it out. The positive in the one that connects to the center of the cigarette lighter 12V which has the smaller fitting and the negative the side and larger fitting. By simply sticking these spade connectors into the connector for the 12V it makes it very clean and easily returnable to stock. Only down side is no 12V in the trunk area for now. The Korea connector as I understand it only makes it so you don't have to cut the wires out of the sub that came with the car and mine was not going to arrive for over a month by post so I just used the connector and wires from the old sub. This is the Rockville 8" that I installed that folks recommended for $100.
About the sound. Definitely improves things and I like having the little remote that comes with the unit up front once I figure out how to run the wire and where to put it. As much as this was definitely worth the small investment and actually fun to do I don't believe this will ever be a great sound system. I will be downloading this equalizer app I saw someone on Youtube recommend and I have noticed the system starting to sound a little better over time as the speakers break in. Likely I will be able to live with it now that is has some bass but we will see. My local Cartoys shop wanted $8400 including $1250 to build a custom subwoofer box so I have to feel good about the $150. I am not sure anyone posted pictures of this connection method but then this is one long thread so I might have missed it. Thanks to all the forum contributors here.

 

[Jimji]

People, just a reminder, don't ignore the tweeters, I upgraded to Morel Virtus I had from a few years ago and the improvement is quite dramatic. To make a clean install I got two of the cheaper tweeters from Kia parts and drilled the new tweeters into them, the installer did, I got a pro.

this along with the Alpine sub totally transformed the sound, highly recommended!

Why did you have to buy another set of tweeters to drill into when you had the stock ones in the car already ? Replacing the sub in the boot is a lot lower on the accident scale than starting to pull off door parts that will be seen forever. I wonder if anyone has some pictures of what is required to replace the tweeters and other speakers in the front. My sub replacement has not given me a satisfactory sound experience yet and I was skeptical it would from the start.

 

[Jimji]

OK figured it out. The positive in the one that connects to the center of the cigarette lighter 12V which has the smaller fitting and the negative the side and larger fitting. By simply sticking these spade connectors into the connector for the 12V it makes it very clean and easily returnable to stock. Only down side is no 12V in the trunk area for now. The Korea connector as I understand it only makes it so you don't have to cut the wires out of the sub that came with the car and mine was not going to arrive for over a month by post so I just used the connector and wires from the old sub. This is the Rockville 8" that I installed that folks recommended for $100.
About the sound. Definitely improves things and I like having the little remote that comes with the unit up front once I figure out how to run the wire and where to put it. As much as this was definitely worth the small investment and actually fun to do I don't believe this will ever be a great sound system. I will be downloading this equalizer app I saw someone on Youtube recommend and I have noticed the system starting to sound a little better over time as the speakers break in. Likely I will be able to live with it now that is has some bass but we will see. My local Cartoys shop wanted $8400 including $1250 to build a custom subwoofer box so I have to feel good about the $150. I am not sure anyone posted pictures of this connection method but then this is one long thread so I might have missed it. Thanks to all the forum contributors here.
View attachment 15681 View attachment 15682 View attachment 15684 View attachment 15685 View attachment 15686

OK so took the advice of some folks who recommended downloading the Poweramp equalizer and wow it makes this system sound like I imagine it was supposed to in the first place. How it is even possible to get so much more power out of the existing amp and speakers is beyond me but after a bit of a learning curve with the app I have to say I am impressed. I am not into high volume music but I was able to bring out a much more dynamic presentation that i didn't think I would ever get from the Meridian and yes it can blow you out of the car if you want. Still learning the settings and want to listen some more before proclaiming complete satisfaction but I am surprised. I even wonder how this system would sound without replacing the stock subwoofer as it has the potential to bring alot more power to the sub.