I was wondering does the stock head unit have the hook ups on the back or do i need to buy an adapter? Im putting in a kicker 10" L7 sub with kicker zx1000.1 amp in case you were wondering. I just have the stx cd player/radio. thanks for the help

 

Most stock units do not have sub outputs but you can just splice into the speaker wires nearest to where you are going to mount the amp. That amp has speaker level inputs and a low pass crossover so you are all set and can save some wiring headaches.

 

There is no reason not to go behind the headunit to get your signal in an F150. It takes 5 minutes TOPS to pull the radio out. Also, if you use a line out converter to convert speaker level to RCA, and install this behind the radio, there is no extra work to do if you ever decided to go to an aftermarket headunit.

 

There are two reasons. The amp has a built in LOC so he doesn't need to buy another one. Also when running speaker level to the amp there is less chance of noise because of the higher voltage.

 

Ive easily installed 100+ LOC's to amp and subs, and only had one with noise issues, and that was due to a bad LOC. 99% of noise from amps/subs/speakers that ive seen is due to improper installation.

 

I agree. That was not in question. If you do not need an LOC though why install one? He is only adding a sub and amp. Everything else he is leaving stock for now. There is no downside to using the LOC already built into the amp in this case.
An LOC behind the HU would be useful for future expansion but I gave him a cheaper option.

 

now arnt the smeaker wires, for example the one in my door has only 2 wires, positive and negative. arnt those wires a small guage, wont the amp have a bigger guage wire?

 

speaker level imputs usually have a plug that plugs into the amp that has 4 speaker leads to attach speaker wire too. It should be close to the same gauge as your speaker wire.

 

I would do whatever needed to allow best upgradability in the future. Your amp doesn't need an REM+ to operate, but I would install that wire anyway in case you decide to go with a different amp in the future. That wire would run the same direction as a pair of RCAs coming out of the back of the headunit which would be great to have if you ever decide to go with an aftermarket headunit in the future. Using RCAs behind the headunit would require a low power converter to be spliced into the speaker wires behind the headunit. You'd also have to research which wires are your REM+ and front speaker wires. The benifits of having an aftermarket headunit is not only the ability to customize your audio to your preferences better than the stock one, but you can have the option of Ipod connectivity, navigation, DVD playback, multiple audio and video inputs, full range speaker output, video output, options on aftermarket headunits are numerous.

But yeah I'd get the work out of the way and go behind the headunit. It's not even complicated in my honest opinion.