Will I kill the stock amp?

[david zavetsky]

I just installed a Pioneer 45w x 4 Cd player in my 94 XLT.....I seem to have the "premium" package, or at least the wiring for it....(I had to buy the premium harness adaptor to make it work).....

Q. #1) How do I know if my truck has a factory amp? Where are they located? Can't seem to find any....

Q. #2) I just used the harness adaptor kit....will I hurt the stock amp (IF I have one) by doing so? I noticed that I could buy this gizmo that goes in line bewteen the output wires of the CD player and the input wires of the harness adaptor that says it will allow you to "optimize" the factory setup, ie adjust levels for each speaker.....

Any thoughts? The CD player sounds GREAT installed as is, but I don't really want to fry anything........I know you are not supposed to run amplified signals into and amps input.......

 

[JTang]

1) In previous discussion, it was concluded that if you had a knob type of stock radio, then you didn't have an amp. If you have a toggle switch style, than you do. The amp will be located just in front of the right rear wheel hump beneath the plastic paneling.

2) You will get different arguements. Some people will tell you it is necessary to use an amp bypass (if you have the amp) and allow the radio to power the speakers. I have heard other people who have used RCA outs and spliced them into the existing amp. Lastly, there are people like me who just used the harness and the powered speaker outs are going directly in to the amp inputs, probably like yourself. As for me, my head unit has a very weak signal so it has worked well for me with no problems. You have a better, higher powered radio, so your case is different. You may experience that the sound distorts at louder volumes earlier than you desire. Also, the higher amp input MAY damage an amp depending; it will shorten it's life span.

On higher powered setups like yours, you may need the "gizmo" you refer to. This simply cuts the gain with four little knobs, and runs about 50+ dollars. So it's expensive, AND you'll be cutting down the sound and power that you paid for. You can get these at and www.go2pac.com. The better alternative would be to buy the cheaper piece, the amp bypass, and put it in yourself, so you'll spend less money, and be able to use the power that you paid for in your head unit.

Check this out, and though the models are different, the basics are the same:
Good luck!

 

[4x4in]

Good idea JTang i have looked all over i'm also installing a 45 watt pioneer(they must be onsale this week) anyway i have lookeed all over were can i get this bypass kit everywere i asked they said "oh no u dont need it or just slice the wires" any ideas, thanks

 

[Shags2Dope]

if you pull out your old deck and get the wiring harness that fits for your vehicle then you dont need to remove any amp because it is in the deck that you just removed. the new amp is built into the cd deck that you just bought. I previously owned a pioneer till just this last month when it blew out 3 months past the warrantee, and it was their highest model of 98. if you guys know a good place to get pioneers fixed cheap let me know cuz then i could have two good cd players in both my rides

 

[4x4in]

so Shags2Dope your saying i f i get the wiring harness for my radio i dont have to get a harnes to bypass the amp i can leave the amp alone get the harness for the radio and not blow the amp?

 

[JTang]

That is true if you have an Explorer without a separate amp. You can just splice in the wires, because then you are powering your speakers with the little amp in the head unit. I think Shags2Dope was one of the lucky ones that didn't have the external amp.

However, in most 91-94 Explorers, there is a separate amp. Regardless if it's a stock or aftermarket amp, really, you're not supposed to put the already amplified speaker (high-level) signals into the inputs of an amp (low-levell RCA signals). This is because the amp was supposed to get a small signal and amplify it. But if you put in a large signal into the amp, it becomes too much for it, and it can be damaged. I was just able to splice in my power radio outs into the aftermarket amp because my radio is weak. The Pioneers are much stronger, and that is where you would need to worry about damaging the amp.

4x4in,

You can just splice the wires, and do it yourself, but if you get the harness, then you can just splice the wires to the harness and plug it in. It's not that splicing can't be done, it's just you could sit around and connect the harness wires to the head unit wires sitting in front of the TV, and then you just connect the radio with the click of the new harness being snapped into the OEM connector. If you want to save $15, you'll cut the OEM wiring and have to sit around and ID every single wire and see what you have to connect. The purpose of the harness is to save you the trouble of cutting the Ford stereo wiring and figuring out which wires are connected to what. The adapter harness will save you a lot of time.

 

[PunkChild]

I have a JVC LX-1 installed in my 96. The store that installed it said that if you wire it normally, the factory amp just adds power. It sound like he's right because I have to keep the bass at -4 and the treble at -5, and it still blew my speakers. Hope this helps.

 

[Kris Guilbeaux]

After wiring the CD with the Factory amp in place all I got was feedback. The only time I would use a factory amp in the explorer is if I had the stock sub (which means two amps then)... I have done the amp bypass many times and have not had a problem...


------------------
Kris Guilbeaux
--
http://www.tisd.net/~guilbeau/explorer.html

 

[dave zavetsky]

Just as an aside....

I found the harness I needed at Walmart for $10.00.....

Still haven't looked to see if I have a seperate amp or not....

I looked at the side of the old head unit.....it has what would APPEAR to be amp cooling fins on one side....not sure if that is what they are or not, though.....