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If you want to upgrade your sound system in your car by adding a sub woofer or speakers powered by an auxiliary amplifier without having to get a new head unit then hopefully this should help you :)
I decided to keep my standard head unit because it looks well in the car, is less likely to attract thieves than a shiny after-market unit and it is a factory upgraded unit anyway and i find it gives pretty good audio quality, it works with the steering wheel controls and has bluetooth and aux-in, so an after-market unit wouldn't offer a substantial upgrade.
Factory head units rarely have RCA or "Low line" outputs which your amplifier will need for it's input signal.
A "Low line converter" is a device which will piggy back your speaker outputs from your head unit and convert them to Low Line RCA outputs for your amplifier
The converter i bought also gives you a "remote wire" output which tells your Amp when the car is on so it doesn't drain your battery, if you get a converter without this option you can just join the remote wire to the Acc circuit of your car, or the 12V circuit with a switch (you will have to remember to turn it off though or your amp will drain your battery)
The methods i used will require an understanding of car/car stereo electrics so just be careful so as not to damage your car or yourself :)
I decided to keep my standard head unit because it looks well in the car, is less likely to attract thieves than a shiny after-market unit and it is a factory upgraded unit anyway and i find it gives pretty good audio quality, it works with the steering wheel controls and has bluetooth and aux-in, so an after-market unit wouldn't offer a substantial upgrade.
Factory head units rarely have RCA or "Low line" outputs which your amplifier will need for it's input signal.
A "Low line converter" is a device which will piggy back your speaker outputs from your head unit and convert them to Low Line RCA outputs for your amplifier
The converter i bought also gives you a "remote wire" output which tells your Amp when the car is on so it doesn't drain your battery, if you get a converter without this option you can just join the remote wire to the Acc circuit of your car, or the 12V circuit with a switch (you will have to remember to turn it off though or your amp will drain your battery)
The methods i used will require an understanding of car/car stereo electrics so just be careful so as not to damage your car or yourself :)
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Bits You'll need:
Low Line Converter, I got mine on Ebay here for £6.00
Stereo Keys to remove your head unit, you may not need these depending on the manufacturer and fitting type in your car
Multimeter
Wire Cutters
Pliers
Sharp knife or wire strippers
Torch
Electrical tape or heatshrink tubing
Wire to extend the piggyback cables on the converter (i used around 20 AWG)
Soldering iron to solder extension wire if needed
Scotch Blocks i ended up using 6
Cable ties not essential but handy for keeping wiring neat
Before you unplug your factory fitted radio, make sure you have the "unlock code" usually in the owners handbook. If you dont have it then you should acquire it from your car manufacturers customer service phone number, your local dealer or the internet.
Getting them online can be a bit unreliable and expensive. I already had mine but i certainly wouldnt pay more than £5 for the dealer to look it up on a database. If you dont have the code and you unplug your stereo it will not allow you to listen to it as it will assume it's been stolen. Don't guess the code as you usually only get a few attempts before it will permanently lock it'self!
Low Line Converter, I got mine on Ebay here for £6.00
Stereo Keys to remove your head unit, you may not need these depending on the manufacturer and fitting type in your car
Multimeter
Wire Cutters
Pliers
Sharp knife or wire strippers
Torch
Electrical tape or heatshrink tubing
Wire to extend the piggyback cables on the converter (i used around 20 AWG)
Soldering iron to solder extension wire if needed
Scotch Blocks i ended up using 6
Cable ties not essential but handy for keeping wiring neat
Before you unplug your factory fitted radio, make sure you have the "unlock code" usually in the owners handbook. If you dont have it then you should acquire it from your car manufacturers customer service phone number, your local dealer or the internet.
Getting them online can be a bit unreliable and expensive. I already had mine but i certainly wouldnt pay more than £5 for the dealer to look it up on a database. If you dont have the code and you unplug your stereo it will not allow you to listen to it as it will assume it's been stolen. Don't guess the code as you usually only get a few attempts before it will permanently lock it'self!
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Jan 20, 2012. 7:03 PM
Yerboogieman
says:
Yerboogieman
says:
I thought about this but was worried about losing sound quality and I wasn't sure how well it would work with my 5-channel amp. (Besides, the stock radio didn't have as many options as yours.)
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Jan 21, 2012. 3:18 AMg199 (author)
says:
I was really surprised at how good the sound quality is, I only run a sub through it but I tested some speakers and I couldn't pick up any signal loss, if the radio isn't as complicated it should only really make it easier to work out which wires are which, but obviously don't chop into them if you're not sure. Thanks for the comment
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