1990lumina Posted May 25, 2005 Report Share Posted May 25, 2005 Alrighty, my current dilema is that my stock Delco CD player in my Lumina works well...but doesn't have enough power by itself. It sounds really good at lower volume, but when you turn it up it loses all most all of the bass to the rear 6x9s. I would like a solution to my problem. I want to keep the stock deck and connect an aftermarket amp and then power the rear speakers for sure using the amp...and possibly the front speakers. BTW - I don't have a sub, and don't intend to get one in the future...I like the bass from the 6x9s, however the amp in the stock deck doesn't seem to have the power and cuts out with an increase in volume. 1. What do I need to be able to connect up an external amp to the deck using the speaker wiring coming out of the deck - can you connect the speaker wiring from the back of the stock deck directly to the amp? 2. I think I want to go with a 4 channel amp - that way I can connect the fronts and back speakers to one amp and have decent sound...would you use a 4 channel amp to do this, or would you just amplify the rear 6x9s with an external amp, and leave the fronts powered by the deck?? 3. Where would you locate the amp? My plan would be to keep this as clean as possible and not to cut any factory wiring. I think I would mount it on the rear deck in the trunk...but that means running wiring from the deck in the dash to the amp in the trunk if I'm thinking about this correctly, then run some different higher guage wiring to the speakers from the amp, and leave the factory harness alone. 4. If it is possible to do any of what I have mentioned so far..and I connect the deck diectly to the amp using the speaker wiring from the deck, when I turn the volume up on the deck, will the amp turn the volume up as well. More clearly I hope - will the deck act as normally with the volume, bass/treble, fade/balance functions with a remote amp, or will I need to control this on the amp (basically I'm asking with the bass/treble, balance/fader will still function on the deck, or will this have to be controlled on the amp? Thank you for helping me out. As I say, I would like to avoid hacking the factory harness, and would like this to be as clean of an install as possible. Please advise me on the above 4 questions...that would be great Thanks - Jeff L. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToroToro Posted May 25, 2005 Report Share Posted May 25, 2005 1) If your amp has speaker level inputs to connect speaker wires to, then yes you can hook the amp right up to the speaker wires in the harness. Otherwise, you'll need to buy a speaker level to RCA ( line ) converter to convert the speaker wires to RCA style plugs. Just a heads up, all but the cheapest amps have speaker level inputs, so you should be good. ( my 100 dollar US Acoustics even has em ) 2) I think the fronts will be fine off the HU, unless you are buying a comp set or something. Just buy a 2 channel amp, and splice into the wires right at the 6X9s. Thats what I am doing. 3) Hang it under the package shelf. I haven't had any problems with that in the past. And like I suggested, just splice into the 6X9s for a signal. 4) All your functions will work fine. You wont have to turn up your amp every time you turn up the volume. Same thing with the fade and all that good stuff, as long as you buy a 2 channel amp. "just set it and forget it" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THe_DeTAiL3R Posted May 25, 2005 Report Share Posted May 25, 2005 If you are going to do it, I'd suggest powering the front speakers as well. That's where all the imporant sound comes from. Even with stock speakers, more power the better (my stock deck had NO power, running my Kenwood HU on them sounds half decent). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1990lumina Posted May 25, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 25, 2005 I'm running some 3 way Kenwood's in the back right now (forget the model #) And I'm planning on putting in some nice 4x6 in the front this summer. So would it be better to run 2 2 channel amps..or just one 4 channel amp?? - Jeff L. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LukeZ34 Posted May 25, 2005 Report Share Posted May 25, 2005 1 4 channel amp is the easiest. The stock decks are designed to cut back the bass response at higher volumes to save the speakers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1990lumina Posted May 25, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 25, 2005 I guess that sounds about right...however I have a few years of warantee on the rear speakers, so I can blow the speaker into two pieces and they will replace it with a free one, or upgrade if they don't carry the old one anymore... Well thanks for all the help...now I just have to look for an amp, and some front speakers and of course a nice day to install everything so it is nice and clean install. - Jeff L. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slick Posted May 25, 2005 Report Share Posted May 25, 2005 The thing is about the line out convertor is that it converts is to low-level input, something you don't want if you simply want to add more power to your 6 x 9's. You will need to find and amp. that has speaker level/high level inputs for this to work properly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DiscoStudd Posted May 25, 2005 Report Share Posted May 25, 2005 I mounted my amp board directly in front of the power antenna. I had to remove one of the bolts for the bumper cover and install a bracket to secure the board from the bottom. Here are some pics: You can see in the bottom pic that there's a little "tab" hanging down from the top of the trunk frame (it's where the ground strap for the power antenna attaches.) I just drilled that hole out a bit bigger so I could use it to secure the amp board at the top. As for the amp board itself? I made a template from cardboard and traced it onto a scrap of particle board I had. After cutting the shape and drilling the mounting holes, I covered it with some "speaker carpet" I got from a friend. It fit in that part of the trunk quite nicely... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LukeZ34 Posted May 25, 2005 Report Share Posted May 25, 2005 The thing is about the line out convertor is that it converts is to low-level input, something you don't want if you simply want to add more power to your 6 x 9's. You will need to find and amp. that has speaker level/high level inputs for this to work properly. What? A LLC just reduces the line volume so you can use the per-amp inputs on the amp. A GOOD LLC will have gain controls on it so you can control the levels that are coming out of the LLC, so overall volume shouldn't be a problem. I don't see why an LLC would be a bad thing for what he's wanting to do. Hell, if you get a good one, it'll probably even help clean up the quality of the signal coming from the factory head. The only drawback to it would be the need to buy more cables and do some more splicing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
89GPSE Posted May 26, 2005 Report Share Posted May 26, 2005 If you are going to buy a line converter buy a powered one, they are way more worth it, as far a as sound quality go's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1990lumina Posted May 26, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 26, 2005 Would this amp do the job? http://www.clarioncanada.com/en/products/amplifiers/APA450.html thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ToroToro Posted May 26, 2005 Report Share Posted May 26, 2005 Sure would! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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