Distortion on front speakers after LOC added

So,

2020 Tacoma non/JBL system. I have RF tweeters, RF 6x9's and 6.5's in the stock locations - ran them just fine for around a month, then did a trade for some decent subs and amp. I used a Metra LOC and tapped into the front aluminum speaker cables and ran to the sub's in the rear. Using separate power wire direct from Battery, and using the stock head unit auto on that I tapped into and ran with the RCA's to the rear.

My issue is - amp and subs work, sound pretty good for what I have invested in them, but when I get around 48 on the stock Entune head unit my front speakers now distort. I know the answer is to get an amp for the front 4 channels, but I have never had this issue in the past in other setups. Prior to the LOC being tapped in I could go full volume and have no distortion - sounded damn good actually as the speakers have been breaking in more as well.

Is there something I can do to get my full volume out of the front? I mean to me it's the limited power of the front speaker outputs bleeding to provide the signal to the rear amp, I tapped the front speakers as understand the rear's basically get no signal. I'm frustrated - I was happy with the mid's and highs prior to adding the LOC, and I'm now satisfied with the bass, however at the expense of sound quality in the upper volume which is honestly where my old Metal head ass listens to music 90% of the time.

Any suggestions? My first thought is aftermarket head unit - but i would rather spend that money on off-road goodies - so what is a good DSP to add so that I just pull the signals from the stock outputs, not the actual power? I know everyone will say Kicker Key, or something like that but see the mentioned money to off-road goodies - I bought the sport as I'm going Dual locked with ARB's and this would add months to my wait to do the gears and lockers....

FYI, I installed in the mid 90's so wiring is not an issue - thought frustrated with the difficulty of a simple solder on Aluminum.... I did tap into the stock harness but due to the aluminum I will be making a T and wiring from it for the bronze connections in the near future....

 

Hard to say but I'd imagine the LOC is giving the stock headunit amp fits. If you think about it, it's lowering the impedance AND diverting power away from the front speakers. I can't imagine it's leeching THAT much power but it's certainly not an ideal situation. That might be driving the headunit amp into clipping earlier that it did before. But yeah, getting a separate amp for the mains would be an easy way to fix that. Or just get an aftermarket headunit. That way you don't have to use a LOC anymore and the headunit amp is a wee bit beefier. More tuning options too.

 

Maybe give the guys at Audio Control a call and see if this can help you out.

https://www.audiocontrol.com/car-audio/accessories/ac-lgd/

 

Thanks guys, I was setting up my stock head units eq to flat, however the "built in eq" High, Mid's, Lows, off" was set to mids. As soon as I turned that to off, it got much better! So I have the manual setup to flat plus 2 for highs and plus 1 for mids. That made a huge difference and I will actually be turning down the bass a bit, will be measuring the preamp to maximize the voltage going into the amp and adjust the gain at the actual location. Right now was just guessing, think that I have it pretty far off currently. Jut need to invest more time, I had strep throat and it was in the 20's when I was doing all of this, so was rushing!

 

Tap the signal from the rears and try it. I know people say they get no power or the power is limited but I have no issues at all.

I'm pulling the speaker level signal from the rears directly to my RF amp, no LOC and my sub will legit bounce the rearview mirror loose.

Edit to add, maybe ditch the LOC altogether depending on your amp. My sub amp does a damn good job internally with the speaker level inputs, no LOC needed.

 

I may do that, for the simple reason the rears are wires I can actually soldier, can't stand the front Aluminum wires:/ It will all be replaced within the next year, and my OCD has already bit in on the box the way it is now, will be buying some Birch/MDF/tigermatting asap and building a proper box with enough airspace soon

 

Just to make sure we're all on the same page. @Deacon Blues amplifier has a built in LOC. That's what speaker level inputs on an amp are. If your amp has that, then hell yeah, use it. Otherwise you'll still have to use the LOC.

 

It has it - but no harness - hence me using the LOC I had already - however looked and the plug in harness for the High input is 5 bucks shipped, so will go that route soon, I'm about to be spending money on a correct system damnit, shouldn't have traded as knew once I felt the bass, would want more, the two 10's work, but need more airspace as I cut down the airspace considerably putting them in, and the 4 ohm dvc are currently wired up to run 1 ohm, however amp won't run it - so it's setup for 2ohm load and that is not enough power for the old subs.