Aftermarket Headunit?

[shofan33]

I went shopping for a aftermarket radio when i saw one that i liked. So i asked the guys if they can install it(free at bestbuy). They said the taurus had to be bypassed by the amp why is that? I have factory jbl premium sound. Thanks

 

[ohfosho]

do some searching...you will find that there is a wiring kit that bypasses the amps in the rear, and alows you to run an aftermarket self powered deck.

the factory stereo in most sho's is the jbl system (sometimes with a cd player, sometimes without), the deck itself is unpowered...just a signal is sent to the trunk mounted amplifiers...on for the sub woofer hanging in the rear deck, and one for the interior speakers.

 

[spazmoid]

is there a way to bypass the speaker amp but keep the sub/amp in play?

 

[NiNeTy Fo SHO]

No...the sub amp gets its input from the other 4 speaker amp.

You do not have to buy the amp bypass harness for the trunk. There is a 2nd connector in the dash that runs straight to the 4 speakers. Just hook up your aftermarket deck to that connector, AND unplug the amps in the trunk. You are now running off of the aftermarket headunit alone. With this setup, you will lose the sub, but IMO, the sound quality & quantity out of hte standard 4 speakers well makes up for it.

 

[notoriusart]

im new to the sho scene and my question is that if i purchase an aftermarket reciever that i wont be able to use the amps...

 

[NoSlo]

I think that says it all.

http://www.crutchfield.com/cgi-bin/ProdView.asp?i=142C4FDK5

Unless you think the power amp built in the head unit is better than the JBL system's amp (not likely), I would go with this adapter from crutchfield for $39.

It does convert the head unit's speaker output into line level outputs for the stock amps which wouldn't be as good as using the head unit's RCA outputs to power an amp. Ford has no documentation of what level signal goes between the stock head unit and the amps. If it's a standard level, one might be able to splice RCAs into the stock amp audio signal cable and use the head unit's RCAs. I can't test whether this works though because the stock stereo (and the stupid chime module) got pulled out within days of me getting my car.

Even better of course is to rip out the entire stock stereo system and replace it with a good head unit, RCA cables back to a trunk of amps, and new speakers all around, not using any stock wiring. That kind of depends on your budget though...

For sound quality (if you already have a ford CD player) a better first investment would be to upgrade the door speakers to something good, like a set of seperates.

No...the sub amp gets its input from the other 4 speaker amp.

You do not have to buy the amp bypass harness for the trunk. There is a 2nd connector in the dash that runs straight to the 4 speakers. Just hook up your aftermarket deck to that connector, AND unplug the amps in the trunk. You are now running off of the aftermarket headunit alone. With this setup, you will lose the sub, but IMO, the sound quality & quantity out of hte standard 4 speakers well makes up for it.

You could cut the speaker output wires on the JBL main amp (all 8 of them). You could then hook up the head unit speaker outs to the speaker wire connectors behind the head unit (the adapter to do this is not shown in the kit above). Since the stock amp would no longer be connected to speakers, it would only be providing the subwoofer signal to the stock sub amp. Then splice in an adapter like the one above between the head unit speaker outs and the amp signal cable behind the dash. Got that? All four main speakers run off the head unit, and the sub runs of the JBL sub amp. The adapter's level controls would only control the level of the subwoofer.

 

[NoSlo]

No...the sub amp gets its input from the other 4 speaker amp.

You do not have to buy the amp bypass harness for the trunk. There is a 2nd connector in the dash that runs straight to the 4 speakers. Just hook up your aftermarket deck to that connector, AND unplug the amps in the trunk. You are now running off of the aftermarket headunit alone. With this setup, you will lose the sub, but IMO, the sound quality & quantity out of hte standard 4 speakers well makes up for it.

You could cut the speaker output wires on the JBL main amp (all 8 of them). You could then hook up the head unit speaker outs to the speaker wire connectors behind the head unit (the adapter to do this is not shown in the kit above). Since the stock amp would no longer be connected to speakers, it would only be providing the subwoofer signal to the stock sub amp. Then splice in an adapter like the one above between the head unit speaker outs and the amp signal cable behind the dash. Got that? All four main speakers run off the head unit, and the sub runs of the JBL sub amp. The adapter's level controls would only control the level of the subwoofer.

 

[NiNeTy Fo SHO]

You could cut the speaker output wires on the JBL main amp (all 8 of them). You could then hook up the head unit speaker outs to the speaker wire connectors behind the head unit (the adapter to do this is not shown in the kit above). Since the stock amp would no longer be connected to speakers, it would only be providing the subwoofer signal to the stock sub amp. Then splice in an adapter like the one above between the head unit speaker outs and the amp signal cable behind the dash. Got that? All four main speakers run off the head unit, and the sub runs of the JBL sub amp. The adapter's level controls would only control the level of the subwoofer.

I am guessing your saying to do this to get the sub to work with using the new head units amp for hte other 4 speakers? You do not have to cut any wires and there is a connector you buy ($10...the last 4 times I purchased it) that hooks right into the 2nd connector in the dash, but you will NOT have the sub functioning. Going with cutting the wires out of the factory amp, etc...would be a huge hassle...and not worth it in my opinion.

 

[SHO Continental]

why all the bypassing?? I got a aftermarket HU and used a harness that utilized the stock amps.. plug and play.

 

[notoriusart]

where'd you find the harness you're talking about sho continental