Stereo Information (Wiring, Upgrades, etc...)

[silverblt]

I have been reading this thread for several days and found the info awesome. Here is my situation/problem.
I have a 2016 Mustang GT Vert with the 9 speaker shaker system(no Sub).

I decided to replace the front speakers with the Perfect 600 Set from Infinity and added the Mid from them as well in the doors. I also changed the rears to 6 1/2 Infinity Kappa series as well. I installed a Boss 3700 amp in the back to power all the new speaker and to add the sub later. I just ran speaker wires to the trunk to connect to the terminals on the amp.

No converters, just 2 wire feeds for each channel.

I decided to go the hard way and cut the wires from the head unit to the amp and pull the raw signals to feed my new amp. The Perfect 600 came with separate crossovers to power front component speakers. (tweeters, mid and woofer) 1 crossover per side.

So after a day and a half of re-wiring......FAIL!

I just hooked up the Left Rear speaker for trial run....nothing!

I then hooked up the Right Rear, same results!

I checked my voltage from the head unit out to the amp, no DC voltage or change. For poops and giggles I changed fluke to AC and found voltage and it changed with volume adjusted?????

After all the profanity was done.....I hooked up the wires back to the factory amp and pulled the signal from the amp out to the same speaker input on the new amp.....

STILL NOTHING.

I then pulled the new amp input off and touched to just a speaker to isolate the new amp as the issue....still nothing.

I'm at a total loss here, and my brain is fried. Any ideas or suggestions?

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[rambunctious]

Do you know for sure your amp is powered and enabled? what signal are you using for the remote turn on input?

try jumping the 12V power wire over to the remote input wire temporarily to assure your amp is turning on.. your amp may not trigger from the 6V signal you are using for remote?

also, the output of the radio head is relatively low line level signal, so you will need some gain on your amp for good power output.
just a thought.

ramb

 

[GTP]

What is SUCH A SHAME about all this - all of our separate issues and woes - is that Ford deleted the 3.5mm stereo analog input jack from the center armrest after MY2016.

What that, an audio person like myself could inject test signals, and then measure/troubleshoot that signal as it propagates through the entire system.

Guess they thought "no uses Sony Walkmans anymore, so let's make it USB instead".

 

[silverblt]

Do you know for sure your amp is powered and enabled? what signal are you using for the remote turn on input?

try jumping the 12V power wire over to the remote input wire temporarily to assure your amp is turning on.. your amp may not trigger from the 6V signal you are using for remote?

also, the output of the radio head is relatively low line level signal, so you will need some gain on your amp for good power output.
just a thought.

ramb

I found the audio enable wire on the amp factory, but when I tested it it was only 6v...so no good. I actually pulled the 12 v enable for the amp off the back-up camera harness. So yes, I have a good enable as the amp lights up with car is powered up.

 

[Fenix]

Did you take the wires from the factory head unit (pre-amp) and go to the high level input on the Boss amp? The pre-amp factory wires are low level and wouldn't work on a high level input.

 

[silverblt]

Did you take the wires from the factory head unit (pre-amp) and go to the high level input on the Boss amp? The pre-amp factory wires are low level and wouldn't work on a high level input.

I think that may be my issue. So yes I cut the wires from the head unit and tied them to the high level inputs.

 

[Fenix]

I think that may be my issue. So yes I cut the wires from the head unit and tied them to the high level inputs.

Might be able to use the wiring that you ran to the trunk and just solder in some RCA's instead of those Boss connectors and go to the low level inputs on the amp to test it out

 

[silverblt]

Might be able to use the wiring that you ran to the trunk and just solder in some RCA's instead of those Boss connectors and go to the low level inputs on the amp to test it out

Just tried....failed.

I read in another forum that a guy said you can't use the head unit pre-outs because they are digital to the factory amp. Can anyone confirm they have used head unit wires for new amp signals?

He said the only way is to buy a converter and wire it in AFTER the amp then feed to the new amp from the converter.

He recommended the LC8i.

"You can't remove the factory amp, the signal from the factory head unit to the amp is digital and most of your sound system will not function without that in place, you need a high end line output converter with channel summing capability such as the audio control lc7i or Rockford 360, jl clean sweep, Audubon bit 10... That will tie into every output channel of the factory amp and give you a full range pre amp output signal for front, rear, sub, and center of you want it. The signal from the processor will be at least as good as the highest quality aftermarket head units but your factory head unit and sync will work just like stock only now you can add whatever amps and speakers you want. I've done that with hundreds of these cars for clients it sounds great."

 

[Fenix]

I use the low level pre-amp signals from the left and right rear speakers with no converter. They are tied to the low level inputs on my amp and work just fine.

 

[silverblt]

I use the low level pre-amp signals from the left and right rear speakers with no converter. They are tied to the low level inputs on my amp and work just fine.

Did you just tap off the the signals(not seperate them from the amp)

I'm just wondering with all the back and forth connections between the head unit and amp if the radio will not output a signal if the amp sees no pre-out signal from the head unit.

Like I said, when I metered the voltage on the pre-outs from head unit in my trunk, no speakers had any dc voltage and wouldn't change with volume increase or decrease. I did have an AC signal that changed with volume changes....brain starting to bleed....:frusty:

 

[Fenix]

Yes I just tapped into the signals since I wanted to retain all stock speaker functions

 

[silverblt]

Ok, here is what I found and did. After stopping by my local car audio shop Mobile Concepts, the guy there told me that by cutting the head unit wires off to the factory amp and using them as the signal to the new amp, it won't work because they are digital signals and the new amp doesn't know what to do with the input. Hence why I was getting weird readings at the new amp. He said re-connect the head unit wires to the factory amp and use the factory amp output wires to the new amp as the signal and try.

2 hours re-soldering the 8 wires that I cut WAY TOO SHORT at the plug...:frusty:

Turned car back on and "THERE BE MUSIC IN HERE CAPTAIN":doh:

SO......now I just have to move the rest of the cables over to the amp outputs.

No offense Fenix but I'm dealing with a 2016 Mustang GT with 9 speaker premium sound so how yours is working....not sure but mine would not work that way.

I will reply back once all is done, thanks for the feedback!

 

[GTP]

Ok, here is what I found and did. After stopping by my local car audio shop Mobile Concepts, the guy there told me that by cutting the head unit wires off to the factory amp and using them as the signal to the new amp, it won't work because they are digital signals and the new amp doesn't know what to do with the input. Hence why I was getting weird readings at the new amp. He said re-connect the head unit wires to the factory amp and use the factory amp output wires to the new amp as the signal and try.

2 hours re-soldering the 8 wires that I cut WAY TOO SHORT at the plug...:frusty:

Turned car back on and "THERE BE MUSIC IN HERE CAPTAIN":doh:

SO......now I just have to move the rest of the cables over to the amp outputs.

No offense Fenix but I'm dealing with a 2016 Mustang GT with 9 speaker premium sound so how yours is working....not sure but mine would not work that way.

I will reply back once all is done, thanks for the feedback!

Okay, glad you restored sound to the back. But again, my suspicion is that the factory amp does not send bass back to those two speakers, unless the ACM filter can be de-activated first.

 

[Fenix]

Ok, here is what I found and did. After stopping by my local car audio shop Mobile Concepts, the guy there told me that by cutting the head unit wires off to the factory amp and using them as the signal to the new amp, it won't work because they are digital signals and the new amp doesn't know what to do with the input. Hence why I was getting weird readings at the new amp. He said re-connect the head unit wires to the factory amp and use the factory amp output wires to the new amp as the signal and try.

2 hours re-soldering the 8 wires that I cut WAY TOO SHORT at the plug...:frusty:

Turned car back on and "THERE BE MUSIC IN HERE CAPTAIN":doh:

SO......now I just have to move the rest of the cables over to the amp outputs.

No offense Fenix but I'm dealing with a 2016 Mustang GT with 9 speaker premium sound so how yours is working....not sure but mine would not work that way.

I will reply back once all is done, thanks for the feedback!

I have the same car with the same premium sound, but a different JL amp. Just trying to help out man.

 

[silverblt]

I have the same car with the same premium sound, but a different JL amp. Just trying to help out man.

That's why I said no offense, I truly meant it.

I'm just having a hard time understanding how yours is working and mine wouldn't. does your amp do processing as well or just an amp? That could explain it.

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