# Subwoofer Install with RCD 510. Help Needed



## 2point slow (Nov 21, 2010)

So after hours of searching the forums and google I have not been able to find a solid answer on how to install a sub and amp in my newly acquired 2010 VW CC. I have done a few small installs like this in my previous BMWs, but having a 6 disc CD changer in the trunk made the process much easier to tap into the line level wires, as well as a remote wire. Not only was physically wiring it all much easier, I was able to find numerous DIY threads, whereas in my application I havent been able to find anything.

First off, I will be using a Rockford Fosgate P300-12 all in one enclosed sub that I had in my previous 5 series BMW. My first question would be what direction would be better for the install. The sub/amp has both a RCA input as well as a speaker level input. So first question would be which input would be better and why? Obviously the speaker level input sounds easier if I can just splice two of the rear speaker wires and run them to the amp. Second question regarding the amp itself as well. The amp claims to have a "intelligent auto turn on/off function" according to Rockford Fosgates website. Would this mean that I do not need to run a remote wire, or is it still advised to run a remote as a safety precaution in case the amp is not all that intelligent after all. This is my biggest question as both my BMWs had remote wires in the trunk to tap into, however through my research people seem to tap them into the fuse box, and there hasnt been a clear answer as to how exactly do this and I have never experienced that before.

So to simplify everything that was just said, here are my three major concerns:

1. Line Out Converter to RCAs for sound vs. using the speaker level input on the amp
2. Rely on the "intelligent" auto on/off function on the amp or run a remote wire (and if so how to do this)
3. Where to tap into the speakers to gain a signal in the first place (Ive seen it done by the head unit, but if I can get away with tapping into them near the trunk that is preferred)


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## mijofi4 (Dec 11, 2014)

i am by no means an authority in car audio however i have done my share of installs. it has been my experience to use RCA's over speaker level inputs. the primary reason was noise. even a small amount introduced by speaker inputs become amplified by the amp. RCA's produce a cleaner signal which limits this noise overall. also i have always separated the RCA's from the speaker wires coming off of the amps. for example, i have a 2012 CC sport, and my primary power wire (0 Gauge) runs down the right side, under the car, over the plastic under carriage and up through into the trunk. there it meets the positive distribution block and onto the amps. i have it all grounded to a bolt in the left side behind the wheel. RCA's run down the door sills on the left side and speaker wires down the right side. this isolates the bleed over that can happen if they all run down one side. i have back fed front speaker wires before using the rear speakers but since the CC has no rear speakers in the deck i chose to run new wire all the way to the deck and directly into the existing wires. every splice is soldered and heat shrinked. good choice on the sub. Fosgates have always served me well in the past. I've had P2 12's, P2 10s (hell i have a P2 12 in my attic as my theater sub). as far as on/off goes, remote turn on leads can be purchased already attached to the RCA's. however i chose to run one more 18 gauge wire with the speaker wire to keep the signals clear from the RCA's. didn't take very long running them under the sills. didn't even have to remove anything. i tucked them right up under the sills and looking at them you cannot tell. my setup required 3 sets of RCA's back to the amp's and 4 runs of 12 gauge speaker wire + one 18 gauge for remote turn on lead. i spliced into factory speaker wires about 2 inches after factory harness and all worked out well. my desk came with factory adapters for power, steering wheel controls and retained all Canbus communication. took longer to replace the door speakers than to wire the power and RCA's and speaker wires back to the deck off the amps. one amp is attached to the small rear seat and the other is across the sub box itself. still have some vibrations to cancel out but over all I'm pleased. just my 2 cents.


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## 2point slow (Nov 21, 2010)

mijofi4 said:


> i am by no means an authority in car audio however i have done my share of installs. it has been my experience to use RCA's over speaker level inputs. the primary reason was noise. even a small amount introduced by speaker inputs become amplified by the amp. RCA's produce a cleaner signal which limits this noise overall. also i have always separated the RCA's from the speaker wires coming off of the amps. for example, i have a 2012 CC sport, and my primary power wire (0 Gauge) runs down the right side, under the car, over the plastic under carriage and up through into the trunk. there it meets the positive distribution block and onto the amps. i have it all grounded to a bolt in the left side behind the wheel. RCA's run down the door sills on the left side and speaker wires down the right side. this isolates the bleed over that can happen if they all run down one side. i have back fed front speaker wires before using the rear speakers but since the CC has no rear speakers in the deck i chose to run new wire all the way to the deck and directly into the existing wires. every splice is soldered and heat shrinked. good choice on the sub. Fosgates have always served me well in the past. I've had P2 12's, P2 10s (hell i have a P2 12 in my attic as my theater sub). as far as on/off goes, remote turn on leads can be purchased already attached to the RCA's. however i chose to run one more 18 gauge wire with the speaker wire to keep the signals clear from the RCA's. didn't take very long running them under the sills. didn't even have to remove anything. i tucked them right up under the sills and looking at them you cannot tell. my setup required 3 sets of RCA's back to the amp's and 4 runs of 12 gauge speaker wire + one 18 gauge for remote turn on lead. i spliced into factory speaker wires about 2 inches after factory harness and all worked out well. my desk came with factory adapters for power, steering wheel controls and retained all Canbus communication. took longer to replace the door speakers than to wire the power and RCA's and speaker wires back to the deck off the amps. one amp is attached to the small rear seat and the other is across the sub box itself. still have some vibrations to cancel out but over all I'm pleased. just my 2 cents.


Thanks for the long detailed reply! So what I am getting from what you have said is use a LOC and tap into the wires right behind the dash and run the RCAs to the trunk where the sub/amp would be. The power wire is pretty straight forward, however I am still a little confused about the remote wire. I would be running it next to the power wire up through the driver side to the engine bay, correct? Then from there what to hook it into is where I am not sure of. Any input on this would be very helpful, as well as what color wires to tap into for the LOC (hoping that theyd be the same from 2010 through 2012).

Anyone else add a sub/amp to their factory head unit and have any other useful tips, or how tos?


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## mijofi4 (Dec 11, 2014)

2point slow said:


> Thanks for the long detailed reply! So what I am getting from what you have said is use a LOC and tap into the wires right behind the dash and run the RCAs to the trunk where the sub/amp would be. The power wire is pretty straight forward, however I am still a little confused about the remote wire. I would be running it next to the power wire up through the driver side to the engine bay, correct? Then from there what to hook it into is where I am not sure of. Any input on this would be very helpful, as well as what color wires to tap into for the LOC (hoping that theyd be the same from 2010 through 2012).
> 
> Anyone else add a sub/amp to their factory head unit and have any other useful tips, or how tos?


This link ought to help. 
Http://www.My-fyi..com/1313/volkswagon-rcd-510-pin-assignments

Tap a wire to the pin 30. Run that wire back to your amps. That's the remote turn on. Run it the same side as the speaker wires. Since its such a low voltage it doesn't need to be ran next/with the main power feed from the battery. Literally run an extra wire when you run the speaker wires from the amp to the rear deck. Follow?

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## mijofi4 (Dec 11, 2014)

mijofi4 said:


> This link ought to help.
> Http://www.My-fyi..com/1313/volkswagon-rcd-510-pin-assignments
> 
> Tap a wire to the pin 30. Run that wire back to your amps. That's the remote turn on. Run it the same side as the speaker wires. Since its such a low voltage it doesn't need to be ran next/with the main power feed from the battery. Literally run an extra wire when you run the speaker wires from the amp to the rear deck. Follow?
> ...


Actually, get a voltage meter. Power on the desk and look for a 12 volt source. Power off the device and look at the ones you find that have 12 volts when on. Tap the one that doesn't have voltage when head unit is off. That can help you verify 's just using a schematic. Least that gives you pin outs to start with. 

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## 2point slow (Nov 21, 2010)

mijofi4 said:


> Actually, get a voltage meter. Power on the desk and look for a 12 volt source. Power off the device and look at the ones you find that have 12 volts when on. Tap the one that doesn't have voltage when head unit is off. That can help you verify 's just using a schematic. Least that gives you pin outs to start with.
> 
> Sent from my LG-H900 using Tapatalk


Thanks for the reply, however the link is not working for me. So youre saying tap into the fuse box wiring, and suggest pin 30, I understand that much. my big question is how to I find the wiring for the 30th pin unless I tap into it directly under the fuse. Also, excuse the dumb question but a remote wire is only one wire, and there should be two coming from the fuse correct? both a positive and negative, so I am assuming I would tap the positive wire? 

I know the fusebox is where the remote wires are normally tapped from, however is there a remote wire behind the head unit for the head unit to turn on that I can tap into? Since I will already be taking out the head unit to tap into the speaker outs for the LOC it would be easy and convenient to tap into something behind there for a remote wire as well. 

Sorry for all the dumb questions, as I am not an audiophile or very familiar with electronics as a whole, however after seeing such a lack of solid information for the CC platform on this topic Id really like to find the best way and the right way so that I can not only do it to my vehicle but so I can try and make a DIY for others looking to do this.

Thanks for the help.


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## mijofi4 (Dec 11, 2014)

try this one... http://www.my-gti.com/1313/volkswagen-rcd-510-pin-assignments

missed a keystroke on the phone....

note this area in that page- 

5. Multi-pin connector 4, 12-pin, for CD changer control and CD audio input signals

1 – AUX signal input, left
2 – AUX signal earth
3 – CD changer, audio signal earth
4 – CD changer, voltage supply, positive, terminal 30, contact continuous load greater than 1 A, temporary peak load 5 A

if using stock connections for can bus, phone, steering wheel controls, etc. there is no need to tap the fuse box for anything. all you have to do is take note of the connection outbound from the head unit matching the above pin out. tap a single small gauge (18 or so) wire back to the remote connection on the amp, then one out from that connection to any additional amp.

refer to  as a point of reference. so, from back of head unit (splicing into wire from matching pin on back of factory wiring harness) to the "rem" on your amp. it should come on upon power up on the head unit. feel free to PM me if more clarification is needed. remote turn on wires only are used to send a small signal to the amp to "turn on" when you power up the head unit. no ground is needed. its already attached via the ground wire on the amp. also if you intend to run power and ground from the battery for the amps i would not recommend that. only positive from the battery. ground somewhere in the trunk off of an existing bolt or whatever is handy. I'm not sure if the 2010 has it but in the left rear side of the trunk behind the cosmetic material is a bolt. add a washer, clear the paint, attach your wire, add another washer, and bolt directly to that one. follow? don't let it become daunting. i remember my first dive into the multi amp setup.... actually, on second thought, lets not talk about that.....


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## mijofi4 (Dec 11, 2014)

the pin should be in the bottom left group (of the factory wiring harness), top row, from the left 4th pin.


hope this comes out right.


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## morganwelds (Jan 26, 2015)

This is how I have mine wired up. I don't really recommend doing the separate voice coil thing though. Don't mind my toes.
1. The line out converter has a LPF of 1kHz for the subwoofer channel. That's better IMO for future installs where I may want to tune the sub differently, I have a lot of range to deal with.
2. The LC2i has intelligent remote line that goes from the LC2i to the amp. It's pretty good to go that route since it powers up both at the same time.
3. I tapped into the speaker level signal right before the wires go into the right rear door. The signal wires are a bit shorter this way.


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## mijofi4 (Dec 11, 2014)

morganwelds said:


> This is how I have mine wired up. I don't really recommend doing the separate voice coil thing though. Don't mind my toes.
> The line out converter has a LPF of 1kHz for the subwoofer channel. That's better IMO for future installs where I may want to tune the sub differently, I have a lot of range to deal with.












It's terribly messy as I am not overly pleased with the sub box. Have been going over different designs and till then it is what it is..

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## mijofi4 (Dec 11, 2014)

And the business end....

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## morganwelds (Jan 26, 2015)

mijofi4 said:


> It's terribly messy as I am not overly pleased with the sub box. Have been going over different designs and till then it is what it is..


My box is pretty experimental also, just haven't had the time to build another. That wiring is bothering me, but I'm a wiring nerd though!


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## mijofi4 (Dec 11, 2014)

morganwelds said:


> My box is pretty experimental also, just haven't had the time to build another. That wiring is bothering me, but I'm a wiring nerd though!


i won't deny there is room for improvement. the whole thing was done in a weekend, just need to find another. your not far from me. I'm west Ocala. kewl.


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