toyota optional subwoofer

I have a 2007 Toyota Matrix with the basic factory radio (says Panasonic on back), 4 speakers and an optional subwoofer purchased from Toyota.  I want to upgrade the HU but don't know how to wire the sub to the new unit.  Here is how it is wired from the factory:

The wire harness is plugged into the back of the radio, of course, and just before all these wires are heat wrapped into one giant cable 5 other wires are crimped on, heat wrapped together and run to the back of the car (2 green, 2 gray, 1 red).  These wires go all the way back, pick up a black ground and go into the sub.  These 6 wires are the input source for a small amp located within the enclosure and then 2 separate wires come out and attach to the speaker.  The amp is a generic black, small (6in X 4in) unit with no lettering at all on it.  The sub says "Kicker Custom" on the enclosure and the cone but otherwise no lettering at all. Other than single voice coil I know nothing about this Kicker sub.

I want to keep this sub.  It puts out nice bass for how it is used.  However I don't know how to wire it to a new unit.

1)  Can I keep it wired how it is now and just install the new unit and wire harness (17W RMS/50 peak X 4)?  or

2)  Do I need to replace the amp and use the new HU's RCA pre out connection?  I would have no problem doing this if I had any clue what amp to get.

Can some please advise me on this problem.  Thanks.  Mike.

Chances are the green and gray wires are the signal inputs for the sub amp, red is the power.  Easy way to tell would be to disconnect the green and gray wires and see if the signal to the sub stops.

If that is the case then you should be able to simply swap the radio and go. The sub will still get its input signal from the speaker wires as it does now.

My mom has the same Kicker sub in her Toyota, we pulled it out once just to get a look at it and it was not impressive at all, sounds good enough though for her. If you want to go the route of powering it with an aftermarket amp I would not want to throw anything more than 100 watts to it setting the gain all the way down on the initial turn on and adjust from there.

yeah the sub won't win any contests, but for how i use it the sound is fine.

here's my concern:  my factory radio probably puts out somewhere in the 3-5W range.  if i keep it wired how it is now, will hooking it up to a unit that puts out 17W fry the amp?  or will the 17W input to the amp cause the sub to play so loud that i can't hear the rest of the speakers?

i actually found a pretty cool device by Peripheral Electronics (SVEN2) that has interchangeable input/output configurations.  it does RCA or speaker level in and RCA or speaker level out.  just move a switch to tell it what to do.  the only trick is if you want RCA input it has to carry a minimum voltage of 4V.  so i just need to make sure I purchase a head unit that puts 4V min. out of it's pre-amp jacks.

hope it works.  looks good on paper.  thanks for your reply.  you were the only person who did.  mike.

It should be good even with the power output difference between the OEM and aftermarket deck.

If it were me, even though you like the way it sounds, here is the approach I would take.

Get the aftermarket deck of your choice then go to WalMart. For about $150 you can get a Sony 10" sub and a Sony 4ch amp. Replace the factory deck, replace factory sub. Use 2 channels of the amp to run your R&L factory highs, bridge the other two channels to the sub. Start with the gains all the way down and adjust them up. With the internal x-overs you should be able to keep your OEM highs safe, make them a bit loulder than stock and ALOT cleaner. your sub will have more and cleaner output as well. Not to mention you will have the ability to adjust to make it all sound nice without the highs and or sub overpowering each other.

not a competition setup but for under $200 you could drasticly improve your sound.