Installing headunit into stock 8 speaker premium system, You guys tell me one thing. The audio "expert" tells me anothe Options

[Xvani]

Hey guys!

I recently installed a new Pioneer DEH-2200UB head unit into my dash, and I used a Standard wiring harness to hook it up to the stereo. Everything works.

Looking at this guide - it seems I'm not using the amps in the car though.. He states two relevant ways of installing the head unit:

1) Use the existing amps. Purchase the amp integration harness, manufactured by Metra. Part number is 70-8112. This lets you use all 8 speakers without buying a new amp and it is easy to install. The amps expect line-level audio, so you may need to get a converter (do they make speaker-to-linelevel converters?). [snip] otherwise you may get the generic Toyota harness used in option #2 below.

As a test, I have successfully used this Metra connector and gotten a Discman hooked up to the existing 8 speakers. To perform this test, I used a headphone-to-RCA wire to connect to the harness. To turn on the amp I wired the yellow battery lead (from the harness) to a diode to a 1K ohm resistor to the Blue/White Amp TurnOn (from the harness). I accidentally let the yellow battery wire touch ground and ZAP, no sound and a funny smell. I now have 1 dead amp!

2) Bypass the existing amp but use the existing wiring. Purchase the generic 94-99 Toyota wiring harness. Connect it to the 2 blue connectors under the primary amp. This connector goes to the existing speakers, except the front 8" mids.

I realize that I might have needed a Radio wiring harness with RCA outs instead.


As I went down to a local car stereo installer to help install this, (The install kit had to be custom fitted as it didn't fit ) - they said that I had hooked it up correctly and that I now was running the signal from my headunit directly to the amp, and the amp was amplifying the signal and forwarding it to the speakers. This could be correct, as I would be using the same wires anyway? Second, the forumguy states that amps expect line-level audio, as they would get from the current setup.
Third: The guy seemed to know his ****. I asked him specifically about the wiring harness and if I was indeed using the speakers. He said he was positive. I even showed him a picture, and he said that was for the newer models with the JBL sound system. The fact that he knew the newer models had a JBL sound system... Impressive

This lead me to believe the forumguy blew the amp which was hooked up to the 8" speakers, causing this phenomenon.
Edit: Turns out the 8" speakers don't play anyway. Forumguy was right?

My question stands, however. Will I only be using the amps if I buy the Radio wiring harness with RCA outs? What exactly will change if I do so?
How can I make sure my head unit gives out line-level audio through its RCA output?

and how

Also, there is a loose connection in my dash now, which I have no idea what is for. I asked the audio guy and he said it was for remote controlling from steering wheel or something..? He didn't seem certain.

Thank you for your reply!!

Edit: After double-checking: Doesn't seem like I get audio from the 8" front speakers anyway. My bad!

This post has been edited by Xvani: Mar 9, 2010 - 6:23 PM

[Xvani]

here is the absolutely easiest way to do this...

most headunits have an RCA out AND line level out... line level goes into the metra wiring harness and goes to the 6 speakers... take the RCA out and get yourself a baby small amp to play the 8" in the doors.... thats how mine is setup and works great

my exact setup:
ECLIPSE NAVI UNIT --> Linelevel: 6speakers, RCA: one 4 channel JBL amp ----> two channels power two Memphis 8" woofers in the doors, other two channels bridged to power a 12" sub in the hatch

I think you're confusing speaker-level out with line-level out? (RCA gives line-level out...)

Do you mean line-level AND speaker-level out? If you mean speaker-level where you have put linelevel, this setup makes sense.
However, I would still need a crossover somewhere, UNLESS there are passive crossovers for each speaker (hopefully there is..) If not, all speakers will attempt to play the entire frequency spectrum. Your setup COULD be utilizing an electronic crossover in your headunit to seperate the subsignal, however, there would still be need for a crossover between tweeter and the 4"? Do you know if this is the case?

Edit: Did some research on amps, and I see that most of them have Integrated low pass/high pass filters. Using the "rear" pre-out connection on my headunit should be fine for the subs afaik, as the amp will do the filtering. Agree?

This still leaves the 1", 4" and rear speakers though. Are there passive filters on these?

This post has been edited by Xvani: Mar 12, 2010 - 6:24 AM