What do i need

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JRMARK8

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Hey Fellas, my son gave me an idea he wants me to connect a boombox and amp to the car but i still wanna use the stock radio and i recall a friend of mine had a expedition with a system hooked up to his factory radio. Is there an adapter that i need to hook up the amp and box? is there a write-up or if you have any advice on how to it would be very helpful ...thx

P.S. yes i did the search and it sucks a$$
 
Option 1 get a line converter to change your stock speaker outputs to RCA outputs. This works but won't have very good SQ due to crappy line voltage.

Option 2 JL Audio makes a product called cleansweep. This allows you to use your stock radio and still get great SQ out of your boom box.
 
The best way is to get the signal from the deck itself. If the amp can take a 5v input then it can take what a deck puts out. A lot of amps have speaker level inputs too. What brand amp?

Someone on here knows what colors are what for the output on the deck and all you need to do is tap into the rear speaker output. That way you can use the fader as a kinda sub level control.

If nobody knows the colors then just buy a wire install kit, copy down the pin location and return the wire kit. :D
 
LaserSVT said:
The best way is to get the signal from the deck itself. If the amp can take a 5v input then it can take what a deck puts out. A lot of amps have speaker level inputs too. What brand amp?

Someone on here knows what colors are what for the output on the deck and all you need to do is tap into the rear speaker output. That way you can use the fader as a kinda sub level control.

If nobody knows the colors then just buy a wire install kit, copy down the pin location and return the wire kit. :D
Click to expand...

I hear you Laser but now you got me hoping that someone your referring to would log on and as the amp goes im aiming towards 1000 to 1500 watt amp
 
ASMBLYLINE said:
Option 1 get a line converter to change your stock speaker outputs to RCA outputs. This works but won't have very good SQ due to crappy line voltage.

Option 2 JL Audio makes a product called cleansweep. This allows you to use your stock radio and still get great SQ out of your boom box.
Click to expand...


Lets say ill go for Option 1 and I get the line converter what do i need to connect the wires and which color behind the headunit.
 
Tell me what the amp is and I can tell you if you need a line converter.
 
Pretty sure nolimit knows the wire colors.
 
Ah. Well the best bang for the buck would be a Rockford Punch series mono block. You can get 800ish watts for under $200. They have their own built in line level convertor. Saves you from having to buy one and they are much better quality than any of the sub $100 line convertors.
 
95-96

Constant 12V+ Green/Yellow

Switched 12V+ Yellow/Black

Ground Red

Illumination Blue/Red

Dimmer n/a

Antenna Trigger Orange/Blue

Left Front (+) Orange/Green

Left Front (-) Black/White

Right Front (+) White/Green

Right Front (-) Black/White

Left Rear (+) Pink/Green

Left Rear (-) Blue/Orange

Right Rear (+) Pink/Blue

Right Rear (-) Green/Orange

radio_wire2.gif
 
LaserSVT said:
Ah. Well the best bang for the buck would be a Rockford Punch series mono block. You can get 800ish watts for under $200. They have their own built in line level convertor. Saves you from having to buy one and they are much better quality than any of the sub $100 line convertors.
Click to expand...

i had a punch amp for a while and liked it alot.
its in my brother's SHO now and its still awesome.
 
i do like the option of using Nolimits diagram to tap into the factory signal wire to feed into the amp. i would think that this would be the cleanest way to get a signal even with the best line output converter. cleansweep's and 3Sixty's do perform fantastically, i think they are a little overkill for sub only systems.

now there is the easy way or the future proof way to do this, you can either take a set of shorter RCA's and cut one of the ends off then solder the wires on the corresponding wire from the factory harness. or you can take a set of RCA extensions and a full siez set of RCA's and tap the wires in behind the radio. start buy cutting all but 8" or so off of the extensions (keeping the female sides) and tap and solder them in to the signal wires at the radio side of the harness. then you can just plug in the RCA's up there and run them through the car like normal, THEN if you ever want/need to replace the factory radio, you can just remove the RCA extensions and then just plug the RCA cables in the back of the new stereo.

now forgive me for not knowing this off hand but is the factory amp turn on wire standard 12v? i dont recall it being 5v like the mach and audiophile systems.
 
NoLimit95 said:
95-96

Constant 12V+ Green/Yellow

Switched 12V+ Yellow/Black

Ground Red

Illumination Blue/Red

Dimmer n/a

Antenna Trigger Orange/Blue

Left Front (+) Orange/Green

Left Front (-) Black/White

Right Front (+) White/Green

Right Front (-) Black/White

Left Rear (+) Pink/Green

Left Rear (-) Blue/Orange

Right Rear (+) Pink/Blue

Right Rear (-) Green/Orange

radio_wire2.gif
Click to expand...

OK I have the 96 mark which do I connect for the line converter and the remote for the amp? just to note there's two diagrams and i just wanna be sure...thx
 
Last edited:
JRMARK8 said:
OK I have the 96 mark which do I connect for the line converter and the remote for the amp
Click to expand...


For the line converter, I would go with 3,4 & 5,6 so that you're right there in that one square and make sure you get the pos and neg right or the sound will be terrible. As for a remote for getting the amp on, I would assume Pin 3 on connector C257
 
NoLimit95 said:
For the line converter, I would go with 3,4 & 5,6 so that you're right there in that one square and make sure you get the pos and neg right or the sound will be terrible. As for a remote for getting the amp on, I would assume Pin 3 on connector C257
Click to expand...

Did you mean Pin 3 296 (W/P) I just wanna make sure...thx
 
JRMARK8 said:
Did you mean Pin 3 296 (W/P) I just wanna make sure...thx
Click to expand...

Yes, that's if you want the amp to come on when you turn on the car but if you want the radio to be the power source, you might wanna try pin #8 689 because I think that one is what gives the signal for the power antenna to come up and that is also 12 volts. #8 might even be safer because it really might not be good for the amp to have it's full power on and then you turning on the radio. If #8 doesn't work, try #7 and one of those should send the power needed to turn on the amp. So, disregard pin#3 296 and go for #8 or #7 296 so that it's turned on with a soft start up. Have someone watching the power light when you turn the radio on. If nothing from #8, then try #7 and as long as you have overload protection on the amp, nothing bad should happen but the remote does call for 12 volts. You'll need to run your main power wire too from the battery and try to keep the inline fuse within 12" of the positive terminal. For instance, this is mine.

W3Z2003.jpg


little boom box

DSC02725.jpg
 
JRMARK8 said:
which do I connect for the line converter and the remote for the amp? just to note there's two diagrams and i just wanna be sure...thx
Click to expand...

i would think that if you going to use a line output converter(a high to low converter), that you would have to tap in for the signal AFTER the amp in the trunk (output harness of the amp), otherwise if you tap in to the wires behind the radio (which is what that diagram is of) you would be cutting down the the level of the already low level signal coming out the radio and going into the amp.

if you tap into the wires behind the radio, you wont need a line output converter, because you will be tapping directly in to the signal wires for the amp.
 
1LoudLS said:
i would think that if you going to use a line output converter(a high to low converter), that you would have to tap in for the signal AFTER the amp in the trunk (output harness of the amp), otherwise if you tap in to the wires behind the radio (which is what that diagram is of) you would be cutting down the the level of the already low level signal coming out the radio and going into the amp.

if you tap into the wires behind the radio, you wont need a line output converter, because you will be tapping directly in to the signal wires for the amp.
Click to expand...

This is true. He does not need a "high to low" converter. Tapping in after the amp sucks. He just needs a "line output converter" or "RCA cables" and let the amp he installs do the work. For example: http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_4993_Scosche-SLC-4.html
 
NoLimit95 said:
This is true. He does not need a "high to low" converter. Tapping in after the amp sucks. He just needs a "line output converter" or "RCA cables" and let the amp he installs do the work. For example: http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_4993_Scosche-SLC-4.html
Click to expand...

if you tap into the wires behind the radio, you wont need a line output converter, because you will be tapping directly in to the signal wires for the amp.
_____LOUDLS_____________

OK now you just through me into a loop (confused) and you explained everything i needed to know until this ^^^^^ one says i need a line converter and the other one says i dont need it?
let say i purchase this converter do i connect it behind the head unit or the factory amp? What are the other features for on this converter A and B slots, switch on the side common ground,factory amp, input ,output,Left side ETC.....????
 
There are different types of line converters. Some will take the sound coming from your factory amp and lower it so that there is no or little distortion. If you want yours to sound better, you want one that takes the output of the stereo only and supply it to the amp that you're going to install. You can also use female RCA adapters and connect them directly to the back of the deck but that would be a little bit of a hassle but it can be done. The link I posted is for the type of converter that takes just the stereo output and sends that to the amp you're installing.

Maybe this is making more sense but honestly, I would just get an aftermarket stereo that has RCA outputs on the back already and put that in. You have to remember how old the stock stereo is and problems will come about one day. Could be a week, could be another 5 years...

Anyway, you don't want to use the sound coming from the speaker wire. It needs to come from the stereo because it isn't being filtered and it's a low level output, which is what your amp needs to receive. You just need a converter that doesn't raise or lower the output. It just makes it easier for you to wire unless you want to pull the whole deck out and set on the couch while you wire up some female RCA's. Solder them into the plug but one wire is extremely small where the other one is the ground and a lot bigger. That little wire can be annoying to mess with. If you can find an old set of RCA's that you won't ever be using, cut them and then remove the insulation and you'll see what I'm talking about.
 
Also, like Laser mentioned waaaaay up there, you're gonna need a sub amp with the low pass filter(s) so that you don't have any high pitch sounds trying to come through the sub. Mono block would be the way to go. I don't know what you're wanting to invest into all this. It can be done cheap and give you some boom in the trunk but a few hundred can be put into it and sound a lot better.
 
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