Could i use the same power and signal wires from the factory amp??

[Mr. Limited]

I was wondering if instead of running new wires from the battery, i could get rid of the factory JBL amp and sub enclosure from the cargo area and use the existing power wires and input wires to run my new amp. The amp is only 240 watts.
hope u understand what i mean, ask me anything to help yourself understand. ALL and ANY suggestions i will be greatful for.

Thanx

 

[Mike 92 XLT]

By input, do you mean the inputs for the speakers, or do you mean the remote turn on lead? The remote turn on lead will be fine, but I recommend running new speaker wire. You can use the old wires if you want to (it won't hurt anything), but the factory wiring isn't very heavy gauge. For the power, run a new wire. The factory wire is nowhere near large enough for your new amp. The power wire is not the place to cut corners. It needs to be run directly to the battery, and fused between 6"-18" from the battery.
Hope that all made sense.

peace

Mike

 

[JTang]

Hi Mr. Limited,

I agree with Mike92. Actually, I would really really suggest you to at least run the new, thicker power wire. You may think that the amps only 240 watts, but that's a huge different from our puny stock amps. If you always played the amp at low volume, than it wouldn't make a difference, but if you want it loud and your amp is trying to pull more power than the wiring will let through, it hurts the amp and shortens its life span. Amp kits for your amp should run no more than $20 for everything, including the inline fuse that's usually already spliced in for you.

Are you keeping the stock radio, or are you using an aftermarket? Although it seems like a bit of work that you're trying to avoid, what you're attempting to do is actually probably the most intimidating part of the whole thing. If you're going to open panels, remove the stock sub and replace amps, you might as well go the few extra steps and run wiring while you're at it.

As for the signal inputs, I don't really know for sure. A long, long, LONG time ago, there was a post on this board where someone just spliced RCA's on to the existing signal inputs, and he said it worked fine, but I don't know of anyone else who has done this, so I won't totally back this, only because I don't know what the stock head unit puts out in signal voltage.

However, you could probably ask any tech person at the following sites that deal with this stuff:

http://www.stinger-aamp.com Look in the Periperals Electronics pages.

http://www.pie.net

http://www.soundgate.com

All of them deal with this type of stuff, mostly adapters for new radios to stock amps. What you want is new amp to stock radio, so tell them that, and they should hopefully help ya out!

Jon

 

[Mike 92 XLT]

JTang's post reminded me of something I forgot to mention in my other post. The stock amps use speaker level inputs. Most aftermarket amps amps use RCA inputs. If you're keeping the stock radio, and have an amp that only has RCA inputs, then you'll need a speaker-to-RCA convertor (called a high-low level convertor). This will take the high speaker level output of your stock head unit (if that's what you're using), and turn it into a low RCA level input for your amp. Now, if you have an aftermarket head unit with RCA outputs, just run new RCA cables.

peace

Mike

 

[JTang]

Hey Mike,

Just wondering something about the same problem. If he DOES need an RCA converter, though, is the high level signal AFTER the amp, or is the head unit basically sending a normal head unit powered signal to the amplifier where it is then amplified more? At first, all I could think of is to use the RCA converter after the amp so the signal is actually converted from high to low level, but then that would defeat the purpose. Or can he just use the high to low converter prior to the signal being powered, and it will still work? I'm not sure if the head unit is actually putting out something that's really considered "speaker level" or not. Has anyone ever measured the voltage of the signal inputs to see if they're similar to industry standard RCA level, or are they at some weird Ford OEM equipement voltage setting?


Jon

 

[Mr. Limited]

Yes i am keeping the factory radio, all i want to do is hook up the amp. After your advise i am going to run new wires for power from the battery. As for the signal wires im not to sure yet. When i took off the passenger panel theres what looks to be another amp, with heatsinks and circuits on it, it could be the "Brain" for the system since i heard that behind the factory radio is nothing but wires that run all over. All the wires from the factory radio plugged in to this "Brain" and then from there it went to the factory amp. So where should i cut to access the signal input for my new amp?

By the way thanx for all the help so far.

 

[Mike 92 XLT]

Hey JTang

Hmmmm....you know, that's a very good question. I don't know enough about the factory system to know whether it's a high or low level signal or not. I'm almost positive that it's not an amplified signal, since I can't imagine Ford building a head unit with an internal amp section and then having outboard amps as well. But the question is whether or not that signal is a high or low level one. I suppose the only way to know for sure would be to measure it with a multimeter. However, I just thought of something. A few years ago, when I put in a new CD player and wanted to keep the JBL system, my dealer accidently sold me the adapter for the premium system, not the JBL system. The instructions said something like "solder RCA plugs onto the speaker leads on the wiring harness and plug them into the RCA outputs of the new head unit." When I got the correct adapter for the JBL system, it took the speaker level outputs from the new CD player, and passed them through a convertor before sending them to the amps. So I think you're right, the factory head unit does put out a low level signal. Good call, man. I didn't even think about that.

peace

Mike