Slow Guy

Nice thing about using the battery you don't need anything powered up. I doubt the 1.5v is going to hurt an input line if there's no other power to the unit.

brucec59

Unless the amp is on, a battery at the amp's input will not produce any sound at the output (speaker). If the amp is on, the input sensitivity might be 1v or less, which means connecting a 1.5V battery will produce a pop/scratch/etc at the full output level of the amp!

Peter R.

Seeing 1.5 V at the amp input is about equivalent to the head units max. preamp output, a mighty bang may ensue.

If you don't mind I'll use a wave generator ;P

Peter R.

Slow Guy

I don't think you understood me, the beauty of using the battery is you DON'T need anything else hooked up, the head unit can be sitting on your workbench and the car keys in your pocket. The purpose of the battery is to determine what set of speaker wires goes to which speaker.

I thought I made this clear but obviously not...

Peter R.

Well, it turned out the 4 speaker wires are individually screened, so I decided to just solder cinch plugs on them. They fit the standard pre-outs on just about any head unit.

All went well, but unfortunately I've now found that the speakers in the left door are permanently out to lunch.

I'll test the whole thing to see if maybe it's an easy fix, but I've had quite enough of the silly wires and built in amp now, and I think I'll just rip the whole thing out and put in some half decent gear.

Peter R.