Flint

I'm trying to track down PO's handiwork in the stereo system. My Amp went out, which was a 2-channel rockford fosgate. I've done some investigating and found that the stock amp is not only gone, but there's a bunch of cut wires just sticking out of where it originally went--no plugs, no wiring harness, nothing. More investigating, and underneath the side (behind front seat) speakers, which are, incidentally screwed right to the panel w/o covers, there is an extra set of wires, which I'm assuming are original because they are different colors than what obviously is connected to the amp. The rear hatch speakers (aftermarket "prestige" brand) are not hooked up at all. Before I start tearing up the interior to get this PA's **** out of my car, is there anything I should look for? Archive posts seem to agree that the stock setup isn't up to par anymore, so what should I do to make sure I have everything adequately bypassed so that what I replace the amp with just doesn't blow again? I'm also up for suggestions on parts, but I don't intend to do any speaker replacement.

Donald

Flint-
I'd say a new stereo w/o new speakers is sort of like your tagline - hi-fidelity w/o all that sound nonsense.
IMHO
Donald

Thom1

Hi Flint,

Why not just get a new high powered head unit that plays MP3s cds and other computer formats. Just wire directly to the speaker inputs. The front speakers have a 2 wire input toward the head side of that little black box. The rear speakers are a direct 2 wire connection on my aftermarket system. Forget about the 2 hatch speakers.

Just my $.02 worth
<img src="graemlins/burnout.gif" border="0" alt="[burnout]" />

Bernie

Hi Flint,

Yes, you are probably looking at the stock wiring. Pretty small gage in case you were looking at reusing it. The door speakers receive one pair of lines each. They attch to the 4" driver in the door and then there is a jumper to the tweeters in the door via a capacitor. The rear quarter speakers each have there own line sets and if memory serves me correctly, the hatch speakers jump off of those via a capacitor again. Running speaker cable through a 928 is a PITA, especially to the rear quarters.
To simplify things, I would go with Thom's suggestion. Buy a decent head unit. utilize all of the factory wiring - if its still good, and run the head unit leads down to the amp compartment beside the passenger seat. This would be the easiest.
The ultimate will cost you major dough and take a long time and lots of screwin' around to set it up.
The Choice Is Yours

Cheers
Bernie.

BTW - I just posted this on another thread for tracking down your speaker leads....

OK,

I think I should copy this down somewhere so I can cut and paste this thread evrytime. LOL.
I can't tell you what colors are which speakers but if all the drivers work, you can isolate the pairs easily with a 9V battery. Touch each pair of leads against the battery terminals and the speaker will pop. Don't worry, your speaker is safe. If the speaker pops forward, that means the wire you placed on the positive terminal of the battery is your + speaker line - the other is the negative. Do this for all drivers and insure that when they are all hooked to your amp, all + lines are attached to the + outputs on the amp. If you have actual connectors on your cabling, simply use a couple of pieces of speaker wire to hit the terminals on the connector.
Real Simple
Good Luck

Cheers
Bernie

Max

Flint, Start out by Ohm testing each pair of speaker leads, than move down the line to ohn testing each speaker. Chances are your single 2 channel amp blew due to being over worked.

You may want to consider moving up to a 4 channel amp of your choice.

&gt; cut pic &lt;

Flint

Thanks for the suggestions. First of all, Max; gasp! But I have heard that about the amp being overworked. Second, Bernie; I saw that bit about the 9V battery and will copy it down for reference. I have found all the wires, which, in case anyone's interested, were routed along the driver' side. My head unit is actually a 4x22watt (JVC) unit, so I will first try and hook directly through that and eliminate the 2-channel amp. I figure the more money I save now, the more I can spend on a better overall system in the future. The other idea I've been toying with is just getting a 4-channel amp now and plugging that in place and doing further upgrades in the future. I have a 12-disc (JVC) changer that I'd like to retain, though to a certain extent, being able to change CD's at whim versus pre-loading is more my speed. But see, I'm a researcher-type: I like to have good knowledge of all my options before I set out, and this is a sudden thing to have to deal with now. So, whatever I can do for the short term that will give me more time to come up with the best possible solution--and be able to listen to the new Coldplay album--is great. Though, on the other hand, the Blaupuunkt Tokyo would look awfully nice in that space.

KBlair

Max, those are some NICE PPI amps you've got there. PPI is so clean. I've got a 3-band PPI parametric EQ that I love (PEQ-114). Do something about that bazooka tube and it'll sound great.

Max

Flint, the PO's of my car also cut all the connectors off the radio and amp. but at least they left all the wiring in place.

A few of the other thing that were done:

They wired in caps on the mids and highs and used the factory crossovers, replaced the front door speakers with some nice Infinity's, the 6.0 in the B-pillar were replaced with some brand I’ve never head of, the rear mids and highs were left stock. Than they hooked it all up (10 speakers) to a single 4-channel amp, I'm not saying it can't be done, but the way they wired it all up, it sounded horrible.

K Blair, those PPI amps are not the latest and greatest but they still work very nicely (well cared for,nerver pushed hard). The 10 in. B-tub was one out of another project and was only being used as a way to test the sub section of the design. I'll post a few pictures of the system as it mutates. The key element of this system is the Rockford Fosgate Symmetry unit. If you would like, I can post more about it on the other Sterio thread later.

DG84S

It's a pleasure to be associated with such a high class group of folks. After reading Flint's original post, my first thought was to round up a group of RennListers and listen to the music coming from the PO as well kicked his.....(you know).
Just a little Friday afternoon lightheartedness.

Flint

Well, after starting some tearing up of the interior (nothing I couldn't reverse--yet) I discovered that the so-called 22wX4 stereo is, in fact, missing the second set of outputs. I mean, the holes are there, just not the RCA-style plugs. I've found two crossovers, though, MB-Quart brand; one jammed in with the radio under the center console, the other screwed way up under the dash on the driver's side (left and right, I'm assuming). It looks to me that I can not go without the amp, as an RCA cable went from the head to it, then a speaker cable went to each crossover. At least now I can see that it won't be hard to go to a 4-channel system in replacing the crossovers and laying some new wires, though I'm none too pleased with the way the speakers have been bolted down.

Oh, and DG, I've wanted to do that to my PO on several occasions.