car audio - subs only play on radio?

Question

i hooked the sub to my power atenna (the turn on lead into my head unit) but it only plays when the radio is on (makes sense) when i put a cd in or use the aux jack the sub wont play. Its like nothing it telling my amp to turn on. how do i make is so that my subs will play when any music such as a cd is playing? what wires do i connect and how? or is there a fuse i put my turn on lead in?

Answer 1

use the information at your own risk,

make sure you have some in line fuses until you get it working right, so you dont fry your amp or deck. One fuse for each 12+ lead going to the deck and to the amp.

There should be 4 wires going to your amp
Red (12+ Lead) off the battery
Black (Negitive Ground, grounded to any solid metal part of the car)
RCA's (from head unit)

and

Blue (amp turn on) "make sure its connected to the blue wire from the head unit....it should be labeled (amp turn on)"

If you have a low end deck then there may not be an amp turn on, if this is the case then you could install an 12+ lead switch from a power source in your fuse box. Basically a 12+ lead from your fuse box, to the amp, with a swich on the dash to turn the amp on or off. Send me an email if you have questions more questions

Answer 2

If your head unit has a blue/white wire, connect your amp's remote lead there. That's the system remote output on most after-market head units, and it will turn the amp on whenever the head unit is switched on.

I only know of one head unit (Sony CDX-GT210) that has a power antenna output and no remote output (it also has no RCA outputs). If you happen to own this head unit or one like it, then you can tap your amp's remote wire into the red accessory power wire behind the head unit. This will turn your amp on and off with the key switch.

Answer 3

of course the amp will only turn on when the radio is on if you have it connected to the antenna power. the antenna should go down when you dont have the radio on, so there would only be power to it when the radio is on. you need to connect the remote wire from the amp to the remote wire on the head unit. there should be a blue wire(remote), and a blue and white wire(power antenna). there arent always those colors, but usually are. they should be labeled either way.