Solved!

[Exp98]

so without reading kris's helpful thread quick audio refence, i bought a mach sub and amp and the enclosurr at the JY and ran all my shielded cable eyc to plug into the favtory plug on the back of my PREMIUM headunit (well im assuming premium, because it looks the same as teh ones in the mach equipped explorer, but runs the sub horribly (as in i have a kicker sub in the enclosure and i have to put my ear up to it to hear it)), so is there a way i could retain my current headunit to work with the mach sub? thanks!

 

[CDW6212R]

The Premium and Mach are not compatible for circuitry. The Premium has four output signals, full range for the speakers. The Mach has five outputs, four high pass speaker signals, and one low pass sub signal. So you have to understand that the frequencies are different that they push out, and decide what you want the speakers to receive.

Did you also get the Mach sub wiring harness, which plugs into the sub, and into the dash harness near the right kick panel? I'm not sure how you may be able to alter the wiring to change to the Mach deck, you might do better to keep the Premium if the display works, and do what other people have with four outputs and adding a sub.

 

[Exp98]

The Premium and Mach are not compatible for circuitry. The Premium has four output signals, full range for the speakers. The Mach has five outputs, four high pass speaker signals, and one low pass sub signal. So you have to understand that the frequencies are different that they push out, and decide what you want the speakers to receive.

Did you also get the Mach sub wiring harness, which plugs into the sub, and into the dash harness near the right kick panel? I'm not sure how you may be able to alter the wiring to change to the Mach deck, you might do better to keep the Premium if the display works, and do what other people have with four outputs and adding a sub.

yep, i took all of the harnesses and followed the wiring diagram from J_C's links, when i thought i had the mach HU... is it possible to tap into one of the speaker wires and run that to a line converter to use RCAs and use the factory turn on from the harness i have/made... or just run the speaker signal to the factory amp so i can keep the high audio mute and use the factory turn on?

 

[CDW6212R]

Yes that's the path you might be best to take. I've never done that with a line converter etc, to adapt a radio to amps etc.

I can tell you that these two Pioneer radios do have low level signals inside of them, it is possible to add RCA's to them. I have my first Mach with five RCA cables coming out of it, I had a man who knew how to fix these 15 years ago, do mine and see if he could find the RCA signals. He did and I have yet to get around to adding amps and the RCA cables etc.

So these decks are very good, but the display issue has run people away from them, and most repair businesses have no idea of what else is possible besides repairing the display or other minor issues.

 

[Exp98]

Yes that's the path you might be best to take. I've never done that with a line converter etc, to adapt a radio to amps etc.

I can tell you that these two Pioneer radios do have low level signals inside of them, it is possible to add RCA's to them. I have my first Mach with five RCA cables coming out of it, I had a man who knew how to fix these 15 years ago, do mine and see if he could find the RCA signals. He did and I have yet to get around to adding amps and the RCA cables etc.

So these decks are very good, but the display issue has run people away from them, and most repair businesses have no idea of what else is possible besides repairing the display or other minor issues.

alright! well ill experiment with it and see! :biggthump:

 

[Exp98]

alright! well ill experiment with it and see! :biggthump:

update, i scored a mach HU at my local JY and plugged it into my harness and all works as it should! sub is thumping nicely! much more bass than no sub out of curiosity; sinde these are pioneer decks, how do these compare to the HUs from BOSS in today? i know the difference is 22 years, but the BOSS is a lesser expensive option than many ive seen (sww it at walmart for lime 80 bucks), i dont know if i want to pay for an alpine at the moment

 

[CDW6212R]

I would guess the old Pioneer still have a very clear radio reception, and the new off brand stuff should be close to it. I've kept mine for the large buttons and low theft chance, plus later on the RCA low level output qualities.

If there are other features you need, then the new decks will all have more of those. I was going to get a lower cost DD DVD player so I could add a back up camera, plus the MP3 play back of CD's etc. The blue tooth would be nice too for answering calls etc.

 

[Exp98]

I would guess the old Pioneer still have a very clear radio reception, and the new off brand stuff should be close to it. I've kept mine for the large buttons and low theft chance, plus later on the RCA low level output qualities.

If there are other features you need, then the new decks will all have more of those. I was going to get a lower cost DD DVD player so I could add a back up camera, plus the MP3 play back of CD's etc. The blue tooth would be nice too for answering calls etc.

it still sounds really clear (to me at least... having only had factory audio systems in years past, so this upgrade sounds great to me!), and usually i listen to CDs anyways (still have a working changer!), so it all sounds really good to me... and now i dont have bass all the way up on the deck, its more like +1 or 2 depending on the song/mood

 

[CDW6212R]

That's great, that you like it. I haven't had a nice higher end stereo in 20+ years, I used to crank up favorite songs when they came on. With normal OEM radios, it's not the same to play anything at high volumes, when you have heard it on better stereos before. The highest volumes have too much distortion for me, it bothers me even with great songs. My first car was a 72 Ford, and with a cheap deck and Nakamichi amp, in 1981, that was really good compared to anything stock. That was just a 30w x2 amp(PA 200), for just two door speakers, but it would get too loud to hear anything but the music. It had no distortion that you could tell at high volumes, unlike any OEM stereos. I have a few of those amps that I have found and collected, I hope to be using them near future again.

 

[Exp98]

That's great, that you like it. I haven't had a nice higher end stereo in 20+ years, I used to crank up favorite songs when they came on. With normal OEM radios, it's not the same to play anything at high volumes, when you have heard it on better stereos before. The highest volumes have too much distortion for me, it bothers me even with great songs. My first car was a 72 Ford, and with a cheap deck and Nakamichi amp, in 1981, that was really good compared to anything stock. That was just a 30w x2 amp(PA 200), for just two door speakers, but it would get too loud to hear anything but the music. It had no distortion that you could tell at high volumes, unlike any OEM stereos. I have a few of those amps that I have found and collected, I hope to be using them near future again.

well.... all ive heard is my OEM stereo/speakers and the oe systems of other cars, so this is my first "modified" system, so between the mach HU and the kicker coaxial speakers and subs, huge difference imo! hopefully i never hear a nice HU, or else im going to want to buy one! my wallet is already upset with me

 

[CDW6212R]

All true, people get used to what they know. I never had the money to afford any high end systems, so my hearing isn't ruined at my age. But you can do very well with good choices, I only had about $325 in my first car's two speaker stereo system. The amp was $210 of that, in 1981. Now those amps are very old and rare, but when they do pop up, they usually run about $150 or more. Any RCA output signals should provide great sound in general, if the amp is low distortion, and the speakers etc, are decent.