head unit question

[inverse1216]

hey guys i need some help from u audio people i dont know to much bout sound systems the most experience ive had with them is installing aftermarked head units. which brings me to my question im trying to put a kenwood head unit into my sho i purchased a wiring harness but its only compatible for the in car speakers but not the sub and amp from what i can tell.

the stock sho head unit, now see the thick gray wire thats unplugged from what i can tell that goes to the amp but the wire harness doesnt have a plug to fit that.

so in other words how can i get that wire to fit my new head unit.

the kenwood head unit

heres one with the wiring harness i bought

thanks for any advice

 

[NiNeTy Fo SHO]

reach back into the dash...i believe down on the drivers side bottom of the opening, there is the wiring harness to fit your exact plug. It will plug right into you aftermarket head unit...might have to search a bit...locate it...and give a lil tug and it should pop right up for you to use...

then take the thick gray wire and push it back in, because u dont need it anymore
the thick gray wire goes to the amps in the trunk...the new black one that you should find goes right to the speakers...

hope that helps

 

[inverse1216]

k now when i find it (im going right after this post) and switch this will still give me function of the sub and amps or does it bypass it? cuase i still want to have full function of all speakers, sub and amps. thanks

 

[NiNeTy Fo SHO]

it bypasses the amps...so all speakers work except for the sub....like I have said before, I think 99% it will sound better with those amps bypassed....it doesnt seem to make sense because you only have 4 instead of 5 speakers...but you are using current techology in amps/control (head unit EQ and what not) instead of 15 year old technology...much better quality...but to each his own...i put it this way, you know what it sounds like with the stock amps, you already have the wiring harness to hook it up without the sub, why not try it? its just a matter of clicking a connector together...dont like it? Unplug that one connecter and hook up the other stuff you have to buy to have your sub back...that simple..

if you want to use those amps and have the sub, you have to go back and buy more wiring harnesses...tell them that you still want your amps to power your sub and what not and that you have a JBL audio system, and they should know what you need (if you go to a car audio place that is)

I dont want you to take this personal inverse1216, just saying for people to think about...

 

[Brandontw]

Hmm i think that guy must have never acually done what he is suggesting, because i have installed 2 after market HU's in SHO;s and you have to do alot more than plug in a plug to bypass those amps , and i really dont see why you would want to, there will be alot more distortion from even a high quality HU amp than the little amp that came stock with the SHO and you would lose your little subs and amp unless you did some fancy wiring to bypass the four channel amp. and you would then have to do alot more to leave low level signals coming from the HU for the sub amp.

But back to the question, fisrt i need to know how many RCA outputs your new HU has, does it have front, rear, and sub, or what, answer me that before i can tell you what the procedure would be for hoking up you new HU, and have you got it hooke up enough to do everything but out out sound(lights, remote wire, power ant., ect.)

 

[Brandontw]

oh sorry i just realized that you have a pic of the HU there and it looks like you just have one pair of preouts, which means this: you should keep the stock amps hooked up, and not even use the speaker outputs on the HU you will have to take that grey connector apart and there will be 8 wires inside of it you will need to find a wiring diagram of which wire go to which channels on the amp and which polarization they are supposed to be then youll need to solder RCA connectors onto the wires so that two of the wires will have an rca connector on them so you will have 4 RCA connectors properly connected then scince your HU dosent have front and rear preout youll have to get some y adapters from radio shack and make those 4 connectors into two to plug it in the back of your stereo then you should have, if you did it right, all of the low level signals going to your amps, then plug your power wires in not forgetting the remote for the amps, and the power ant. then try it out it will sound nothing like it did before if you head unit is half as good as mine, powerful preamp signal breath new lif into the JBL system. Ill try to find the wiring diagrams i used when i did this for mine( except i had front and rear preouts) hope you undertood this i realize it kinda komplicated know that i have typed all f this. you might try the other guys way first, but i needed the bass that little sub provided to hold me till i got my subs back in.

 

[Brandontw]

http://www.shoforum.com/showthread.php?t=18916&highlight=wiring+diagram hey found this right on the sight if you need more just surf on the net-- gotta leave some fun for you but PM me if you have any more questions, or if you think ima complete idiot

 

[inverse1216]

ok lets see where to start, first thanks for all the help guys. heres what happened i found that other adapter hidden in the dash and hooked it up now when i did this it blew the fuse u see in the pic above . so im trying to figure out wtf is the problem well i go to tweeter the guy gives me a new fuse for free haha any way i hook it all up and same **** it blows.

well im still in the parking lot so they have like half the store out there trying to figure out whats the prob at the same time wondering wtf a SHO is . so hes checking all the connections with some kind of tool... long story short he cant figure out why the fuse is blowing he tells me that the HU is shot, dont know if its a sales pitch or if it really is.

so im stuck now dont know if i should try plugging it in again cause i have one good fuse or saying **** it and get a new HU.

ninety fo sho, i only ask if it by passes cause i just put in a pioneer 10 inch sub in and it goes to waste if it does bypass so im trying to keep it all working. ur advice was appreciated and thanks for the effort.


as for ur advice brandon its a good idea i have a wiring diagram (came with the kit) so no problem there. now the gray connector ur talking about is that the big one or are u talking bout the one from the amps............nvm i get the jist of what to do. the only issue now is should i do it if the HU is trash? anyone know what might be making the fuse blow?

thanks again for all the help guys

 

[Brandontw]

Im talkin about the big grey wire with a bunch of wires inside of it that plugs into the back of the HU. The factory HU does not have speaker outputs so if you use your speaker outputs from the Kenwood it would be wrong wrong unless you plug the speaker output directly into + and - speaker wires that you KNOW go directly to the speaks. If you plug tem into anything else this would result in blowing fuses and all sorts of funky things, and if the guys from your stereo store didnt know what a SHO was they probly didnt knoy that the OEM HU was just a preamp unit, and if you want to keep your sub then youll need to use your kenwood like a preamp to, dont use your speaker connections at all, i hope you know how to solder, cause youll prolly burn yourself atatching tose RCA's, have fun.

 

[inverse1216]

ok let me get this straight i take the GRAY wire that comes from the AMP and bust it open and ill find 8 wires in it takes those eight wires split it up into two groups negative and positive and then get two RCA plugs and solder the wires to them and then im set? do i ahve this right?

i didnt figure out what was blowing the fuse but i got the HU to work but it wont hold a station for long itll play it and then go silent and u can hear statick in the speakers but no music. could this be a cause of the wiring not being right or somthign?

anyway thanks for bearing with me i know its got to be frustrating trying to explain this to me but i appreciate it thanks.

 

[Brandontw]

ya, but youll need the wiring diagram or somthing to figure out what wires are positive and negaative and also to figure out which pairs are left and right and ya i guess you could just use two rca plugs

 

[Brandontw]

and as for your stereo not working right, if you have a voltmeter, you can go through and see what wires are doing what and plug them into the right wire on the stereo like accessory power then solid battery power thats always on ect ect. then youll need to make sure that you find the turn on wire for your amps and get that pluged into your remote/power ant. lead from your stereo

 

[Brandontw]

**dont forget your antenna**

 

[raulsho]

Hi, there's a specific wire harness for premium jbl systems, model # is BHA5511.
here's the link
http://www.bestkits.com/SearchResults.aspx?mk=Ford&mkid=9&md=Taurus&mdid=336&yrg=1990 - 1995
You will have full function of front, rear and subwoofer; no need to cut, solder or bypass nothing.

 

[Brandontw]

Hi, there's a specific wire harness for premium jbl systems, model # is BHA5511.
here's the link
http://www.bestkits.com/SearchResults.aspx?mk=Ford&mkid=9&md=Taurus&mdid=336&yrg=1990 - 1995
You will have full function of front, rear and subwoofer; no need to cut, solder or bypass nothing.

he's probly right but if you on a budget of time and money and can figure out how to hardwire it you mught as well 66 cent for the RCA connectors is a pretty cost effective way to ge you system going, nut that harness sure would have been easier.

 

[Brandontw]

and arent we talking about the 65 dollar thing - yikes.

 

[Brandontw]

Hi, there's a specific wire harness for premium jbl systems, model # is BHA5511.
here's the link
http://www.bestkits.com/SearchResults.aspx?mk=Ford&mkid=9&md=Taurus&mdid=336&yrg=1990 - 1995
You will have full function of front, rear and subwoofer; no need to cut, solder or bypass nothing.

i like the 3.00$
solution better

 

[stevemainian]

No he said the model number, its $19.99 not 64.

 

[Brandontw]

oh i dont see how that works, but whatever