JBL Premium Sound System Components. . .?

[Mr95Gl]

I believe my 94 ATX is equipped with the JBL premium sound system (says so on the speaker grill). My question is, what exactly are its components. . . . . 2 Amps, and an 8" Sub? Or is it one Amp, and the Sub? And are the amps mounted right next to each other on the back seat? Reason being, is I only see one (silver) amp, and the sub box. . . and after putting in my aftermarket CD Player today, it really lacks bass, as if it's only running off the speakers. Now, the harness I got is one that utilizes the connector that runs off the amp and sub, so am I looking at a blown amp, sub or both? Am I missing an amp, which is causing neither to function. Thanks in advance guys!!!

Frantzdy

 

[mikeylikesit]

i have a 94 atx as well and when i put my stereo in my car i had the hardest time to be able to use the stock components (amps, sub)..i ended up trying 3 different wireing harnesses until i found the right one.
but anyways there should be two amps back there.. a silver one and a black one. i believe the little black one is for the sub but i could be wrong.
do you have a model number of the harness? the one i used is 70-5511 which comes with the harness and the amp integration plug.

 

[Minnesho]

I'm not sure which one is for the sub, but when i got my car (92 MTX) it had some crappy sony cd player in it. My car never came with the factory CD option, but I did the wiring necessary to add it and for some reason NO sound would come out of the speakers. I played around with it a lot, and i finally got it to work if i unplugged the black amp then plugged it back in, but it would cut out again if i opened the door lol, i had a parts car with the black am and after i swapped them out it worked fine. ALSO, the factory sub isn't that great... you won't hear a ton of bass it will just sound like a pair of good aftermarket 6x9s I'm going to put a 10" sub in the factory box to add to it a little... the factory head unit and amps should be able to drive it OK. I just cant get rid of the factory sub box because i think its a cool feature of the SHO.

 

[Mr95Gl]

but anyways there should be two amps back there.. a silver one and a black one. i believe the little black one is for the sub but i could be wrong.
do you have a model number of the harness? the one i used is 70-5511 which comes with the harness and the amp integration plug.

Well, I'm definately missing an amp, because all I have is the silver one. As for the harness, when I picked up the car, it came with an aftermarket HU that already had a harness, so I used that in conjuction with the harness for the new HU I got. Sounds great, actually, but lacks the sub. Do I have to use the black amp for the sub, or can I use another silver one? Also what's the power ratings for both amps, and is it a simple plug and play installation? Once again, thanks guys.

 

[SuperHO]

First off, you're probably gonna get crappy sound because you're not bypassing the amps. when I first hooked a CD player up in my 94 using just the harness behind the deck, it sounded like butt. Hooked up an amp bypass harness and it was crystal clear again. Only problem is, once you bypass the amps, you lose the sub. Of course, you don't have a sub amp (the black one that you don't have), so my first course of action would be to find out where the **** the sub's hooked up at, if it even is. Then I'd unhook it, yank it outta the car and put in an aftermarket sub and amp. Even with a JL 6.5" sub in the factory box, it sounded like butt on the stock amp.

try an amp bypass harness, though.....your speakers will thank you. You're trying to amplify an amplifier without that harness, and you're likely gonna blow something up.

 

[mikeylikesit]

i would definately just get an aftermarket amp/sub to use instead of trying to find another stock one. the stock one doesnt pound too hard.

and for the stock amp... mine sounds fine using it with the stock speakers. with my old SLO i put alpine type s all around and with my deck i would have to turn the volume to 20-23 to make it sound clear/loud enough. now with the SHO on the stock JBL's, i turn it to 13 tops, with the same deck, same settings. sounds perfectly fine and most people think that i have aftermarket speakers in it. i just used the harness and amp plug.. i was thinking of an amp bypass kit but decided otherwise. maybe the stock amp u had was blown or messed up somehow.

 

[Mr95Gl]

With my aftermarket HU, the sound is pretty damn clear. I'm pretty sure the amp I have currently installed in there is working. I just don't have the amp that powers the sub, so the sub isn't working. With what's in there right now, people find it hard to believe that other then the HU, the speakers are stock. Would adding the stock amp be plug and play or would it involve re-wiring? And in that case, would I be better off getting an aftermarket one? One more thing (sorry for all the questions!!!), what size is the stock sub? 6.5" or 8"?

 

[shoteen95]

if you don't mind the little extra wiring, you don't even need to get an amp bypass kit. Since the speakers in our cars are dual wired, you simply splice the stereo into the secondary connector (which was used for the base base base audio systems in SLO's). It's located behind the stereo, and is usually tucked up into the dash somewhat. I believe it has a black connector..but the wires run straight to the speakers.

All the stock JBL components can be swapped into a SHO that came just the "premium sound" as factory equipment. Yuh, I did it a year or so back. Relatively simple, and all plug-n-play.

The stock sub is 6.5in in size, but you can throw an 8 in the box if you so desire...i have a polk 8in in my stock box. To swap in the JBL components: you gotta get the 2 amps that came in JBL equipped cars- a black one that says JBL which powers the 4 cabin speakers and the silver sub amp (not to be confused with the silver 4channel amp that came in premium sound cars), the little black box that comes attached to the amp bracket (i forget what it even is), and ofcourse, the sub.

 

[jdksho]

I also have a 94 atx and when I put in the aftermarket radio, I bought a special adapter from Crutchfield audio (www.crutchfield.com) that allowed me to keep the factory amps and speakers as well as the remote buttons on the dash.

 

[SuperHO]

I also have a 94 atx and when I put in the aftermarket radio, I bought a special adapter from Crutchfield audio (www.crutchfield.com) that allowed me to keep the factory amps and speakers as well as the remote buttons on the dash.

Remote buttons on the dash??? I thought you had to hardwire into the HU to do that....

 

[SlowHeavyObject]

They did have a harness that let you use those buttons on your dash. As I currently use them with my Alpine unit. The harness they use is made from Scosche or PAC but I don't think they offer it anymore. Try looking there or Metra and American International as they make harnesses as well. Also I bought an 8" sub from JBL that fit the box perfectly with no cutting required. I also remember in a previous car I had where I used a JL Audio 8". I can't remember the model numbers right now. The cutout in the box can fit them because the stock sub is 8" but the actual cone is more like 6.5 to 7"

 

[SlowHeavyObject]

if you don't mind the little extra wiring, you don't even need to get an amp bypass kit. Since the speakers in our cars are dual wired, you simply splice the stereo into the secondary connector (which was used for the base base base audio systems in SLO's). It's located behind the stereo, and is usually tucked up into the dash somewhat. I believe it has a black connector..but the wires run straight to the speakers.

Does the car also come prewired for the CD slave unit? I remember my neighbors SLO with the base system also had the wires tucked away for the Premium, High-level, and JBL systems too, but it didn't have the CD addon harness. I'm actually not concerned about the connector that links it to the cassette, but the red(? i think) small plug that provides power and dimmer wires and such to the slave unit. I remember that the taurus has 2 different radio harnesses that plug into the inline harness way under the dash. Just wanted to know if one was w/CD and one w/o. Thanks.

 

[shoteen95]

I really have no idea, neither my dads 93 (JBL equipped), or my 95 (premium sound) had a slave CD player. And since aftermarket headunits now occupy both cars, I had not thought about the factory CD player in the least, sorry.

P.S. It's freaking 4 in the morning...how is anyone else still awake and on shoforum at such an hour?

 

[SlowHeavyObject]

Thanks anyway, I'll have to take a look then.

P.S. - I work super late, so I'm wide awake at this time. Maybe I'm just a vampire and don't know it yet.

 

[SuperHO]

Oddly enough, I WAS awake at 4am this morning...but they don't unlock the doors for the computer rooms until 7...go figure..


Anyway, for some sick, sad reason, I've NEVER been able to get the right HU wiring harness for a JBL equipped SHO. I've always had to hard wire the deck in, which is no problem, cuz I can read schematics.

 

[mikeylikesit]

by SuperHO

Anyway, for some sick, sad reason, I've NEVER been able to get the right HU wiring harness for a JBL equipped SHO. I've always had to hard wire the deck in, which is no problem, cuz I can read schematics.

by me

do you have a model number of the harness? the one i used is 70-5511 which comes with the harness and the amp integration plug.

all you need to do is go to any car audio place that does installations and ask if they can sell you the harness. best if you know someone there and they can check cost for you. if not they'll double the price of it because it doesnt really have a price to sell it.