I need to get a system for my car. I installed them myself in my last two cars, but im sick of it. If I have a Audio shop run the wires for my amp, (leaving the stock head unit) will they have issues? Im going to need a line converter right? I just dont feel like messing with everything. What do you think? Can I just have a shop do it for me no problem? Any info would help.
Stereo Install
- Thread starter MachVIII
- Start date
rmac694203
Dedicated LVC Member
I don't see why it would be a problem. I ran all my own power and speaker wires throughout the car and it wasn't bad. Just have to remove a lot of the interior. So I'm sure any shop could do it. I did have line converters before I put in my aftermarket HU, now I have a 4 channel for the interiors and a seperate amp for subs and it's all good.
Nitrobasher
Well-Known LVC Member
Yes you will need a line converter, for your stock radio. I bought a line converter and then my stock head unit crapped out. So I scraped up the dough for a NICE head unit and it was well worth it!
hooking up a system in the mark is pretty easy actually, If you know how to put a line converter on (just a clip on part) then run the wires to the trunk.
Honestly the hardest part of the whole process is trying to get your power, remote, and RCA's to the Amp.
If you are wanting new speakers thats even easier, you might already know this but basically, just pop out the screens, pull the speakers out and snip the wires off the stock speakers, and reverse the steps with the new speakers.
The door speakers are a different story, you have to take off the entire door panel, but dont let it get u discouraged its not actually that hard.
if you have any questions be sure to pm me and i can see if i can help ya out at all
I believe best buy charges out the :q:q:q:q:q:q:q to wire up headunits and amps but im not really sure. It would honestly save you lots of money if you just did it yourself. The only thing i wouldnt risk if i were you is the headunit. it is a pita
hooking up a system in the mark is pretty easy actually, If you know how to put a line converter on (just a clip on part) then run the wires to the trunk.
Honestly the hardest part of the whole process is trying to get your power, remote, and RCA's to the Amp.
If you are wanting new speakers thats even easier, you might already know this but basically, just pop out the screens, pull the speakers out and snip the wires off the stock speakers, and reverse the steps with the new speakers.
The door speakers are a different story, you have to take off the entire door panel, but dont let it get u discouraged its not actually that hard.
if you have any questions be sure to pm me and i can see if i can help ya out at all
I believe best buy charges out the :q:q:q:q:q:q:q to wire up headunits and amps but im not really sure. It would honestly save you lots of money if you just did it yourself. The only thing i wouldnt risk if i were you is the headunit. it is a pita
segxr7
Active LVC Member
Do you have the JBL stereo? I've replaced the JBL amp (leaving the stock headunit & speakers) on my and my friend's Marks. I would STRONGLY advise against having a Best Buy or similar place do this job. It is a complex setup and I doubt most installers would know how to wire everything properly, or be willing to take the time that is required. Your best bet is to either do it yourself or take it to a high-end stereo shop that's used to dealing with more elaborate installations.
For instance, you will need a crossover network (or at least some bass-blocker capacitors) since the woofers and tweeters are wired separately. Plus the front & rear woofers are wired together, so they will need to be rewired to work properly with a new amp. The head unit's amp turn-on signal is only 6 volts, whereas many aftermarket amps require a 12v signal. And to my knowledge there are no wiring adapters (there is one for the non-JBL Ford Premium stereo, however), so the factory wiring will have to be modified by hand. BTW, the HU's outputs are already line-level, so you do not need a converter.
The first time I did this job on my friend's Mark, it took 20+ hours to figure everything out, even with the factory wiring diagrams. After I learned all the intricacies of the system, it "only" took 7 hours to do my car. It was well worth it, though. I was amazed at how good the factory stereo sounds with a better amp.
For instance, you will need a crossover network (or at least some bass-blocker capacitors) since the woofers and tweeters are wired separately. Plus the front & rear woofers are wired together, so they will need to be rewired to work properly with a new amp. The head unit's amp turn-on signal is only 6 volts, whereas many aftermarket amps require a 12v signal. And to my knowledge there are no wiring adapters (there is one for the non-JBL Ford Premium stereo, however), so the factory wiring will have to be modified by hand. BTW, the HU's outputs are already line-level, so you do not need a converter.
The first time I did this job on my friend's Mark, it took 20+ hours to figure everything out, even with the factory wiring diagrams. After I learned all the intricacies of the system, it "only" took 7 hours to do my car. It was well worth it, though. I was amazed at how good the factory stereo sounds with a better amp.
Thats the thing, I know a fair amout of stuff about car stereos etc, but you sound like you know more, and it still took your 7 hours! 
thats what im trying to avoid. I just want some place to run my rca's,power, and remote, to the trunk for me. And yes I have the JBL. Why does everything have to be so complicated!
There is a nice car audio shop close to where I live, is there anything specific I should tell them if I bring it there?
thats what im trying to avoid. I just want some place to run my rca's,power, and remote, to the trunk for me. And yes I have the JBL. Why does everything have to be so complicated! There is a nice car audio shop close to where I live, is there anything specific I should tell them if I bring it there? segxr7
Active LVC Member
If you understand how to wire up a car stereo, it's really not that bad. Most of the time involved removing interior parts, running wires, soldering & taping connections, etc. Here's some info off the top of my head..
-The factory power feed (which consists of 3 small wires) isn't even good enough for the factory amp. In fact my connector was slightly melted. Definitely tape it off and run new wiring.
-Wal-Mart carries a decent Scosche amp wiring kit for $25 or so; it has everything you need (wire, fuse, grommet, terminals) to get power to the amp. I ran the power wire through the inside of the driver-side fender (there's a hole near the battery), and drilled a hole near the parking-brake cable to get through the firewall.
-The factory amp is mounted on a plastic tray in the top of the trunk. It's held up with a knob-shaped retainer on the driver-side of the tray that unscrews and pulls out, as well as two spring clips in the center. There's a hinge on the passenger side, so the whole tray swings down. The amp is held in place with plastic clips, which I had to snap off to accomodate the larger aftermarket amp. I used zip ties to keep it from shifting around inside the tray.
-You can get to everything easily by removing the rear seat and working from inside the car.
-The head unit's outputs are line-level, so I chopped off the factory connector and soldered on a set of RCA cables (which came with my amp wiring kit).
-As I mentioned before, the front & rear woofers are wired in parallel from the factory. I separated them by disconnecting the rears and running new wires to them.
-The factory amp has an internal crossover. As a side note, my biggest beef with the factory stereo was that there seemed to be a gap in the midrange between where the low-pass filter cut off and the high-pass picked up. For the aftermarket amp, I wired each channel's woofer & tweeter in parallel. I also put a 95uf capacitor in series with each tweeter to protect them from being blown out by low frequencies. The midrange response is much, much better now.
-I put an Alpine amp in my friend's car, which didn't respond to the HU's 6-volt turn-on signal. The antenna turn-on signal is 12 volts, but it cannot put out enough current to power both the antenna and amp relays. I managed to come up with a workaround, but to make a very long story short, get an amp that responds to the 6-volt signal.
My Sony amp handles it without any problems. I'm not usually a fan of their car stereo products, but I'm very satisfied with it and it certainly made the installation less painful.
I have the factory wiring diagrams on my computer somewhere; let me know if you need a copy and I'll try to dig 'em up. Good luck!
-The factory power feed (which consists of 3 small wires) isn't even good enough for the factory amp. In fact my connector was slightly melted. Definitely tape it off and run new wiring.
-Wal-Mart carries a decent Scosche amp wiring kit for $25 or so; it has everything you need (wire, fuse, grommet, terminals) to get power to the amp. I ran the power wire through the inside of the driver-side fender (there's a hole near the battery), and drilled a hole near the parking-brake cable to get through the firewall.
-The factory amp is mounted on a plastic tray in the top of the trunk. It's held up with a knob-shaped retainer on the driver-side of the tray that unscrews and pulls out, as well as two spring clips in the center. There's a hinge on the passenger side, so the whole tray swings down. The amp is held in place with plastic clips, which I had to snap off to accomodate the larger aftermarket amp. I used zip ties to keep it from shifting around inside the tray.
-You can get to everything easily by removing the rear seat and working from inside the car.
-The head unit's outputs are line-level, so I chopped off the factory connector and soldered on a set of RCA cables (which came with my amp wiring kit).
-As I mentioned before, the front & rear woofers are wired in parallel from the factory. I separated them by disconnecting the rears and running new wires to them.
-The factory amp has an internal crossover. As a side note, my biggest beef with the factory stereo was that there seemed to be a gap in the midrange between where the low-pass filter cut off and the high-pass picked up. For the aftermarket amp, I wired each channel's woofer & tweeter in parallel. I also put a 95uf capacitor in series with each tweeter to protect them from being blown out by low frequencies. The midrange response is much, much better now.
-I put an Alpine amp in my friend's car, which didn't respond to the HU's 6-volt turn-on signal. The antenna turn-on signal is 12 volts, but it cannot put out enough current to power both the antenna and amp relays. I managed to come up with a workaround, but to make a very long story short, get an amp that responds to the 6-volt signal.
My Sony amp handles it without any problems. I'm not usually a fan of their car stereo products, but I'm very satisfied with it and it certainly made the installation less painful.I have the factory wiring diagrams on my computer somewhere; let me know if you need a copy and I'll try to dig 'em up. Good luck!
Thanks segxr7, I still gotta decide what to do. I might end up going with a aftermarket HU. Im just thinking about sound quality now. But I just know that if I get an aftermarket Headunit it wont look as good. But Either way you def. gave me enough information to get me on my way if i decide to keep the factory head unit. Ill PM you if I need any more info. Thanks again!
MediumD
Dedicated LVC Member
On a related note...
Since the head unit's outputs are line level, I could wire in a 1/8" mini to the amp and play music from my PDA, right? Without having to use the FM transmitter I use now which eats batteries, gets static interference, and is overall low quality... I'd have to wire a 6v to turn on the amp but that's no big deal.
segxr7, have those diagrams handy?
Since the head unit's outputs are line level, I could wire in a 1/8" mini to the amp and play music from my PDA, right? Without having to use the FM transmitter I use now which eats batteries, gets static interference, and is overall low quality... I'd have to wire a 6v to turn on the amp but that's no big deal.
segxr7, have those diagrams handy?
segxr7
Active LVC Member
No problem, MachVIII. Good luck!
MediumD-- That should work, but I'm not sure how good it would sound. The H/U has 4 outputs. You could connect it to the front channels, but you'd obviously have no sound from the rears. If you wired the front & rear channel in parallel, the additional current draw would probably cause the signal to be quiet and/or distorted.
I use an adapter that replaces the CD changer with an auxiliary input. There are a few on the market, but I went with a USA-SPEC because it has two inputs. The head unit sees it as a 2-track CD; you switch inputs by changing tracks. I use it with my XM radio, and the second input goes to a 1/8" panel jack inside the center console. The sound quality is excellent, and I like how everything still looks factory.
If you already have a factory changer and don't mind giving it up, then you're all set. My 95's head unit did not have CD changer controls, so I swapped it with a changer-capable H/U from a '98. All 93-94 and 95-98 Mark VIII head units are plug-and-play as far as I know.
The wiring diagrams are attached. These should apply to all JBL-equipped Marks. My friend's Mark had a different signal input connector at the amp (C453), but the wire colors still matched up. I think it was a '93-only thing.
MediumD-- That should work, but I'm not sure how good it would sound. The H/U has 4 outputs. You could connect it to the front channels, but you'd obviously have no sound from the rears. If you wired the front & rear channel in parallel, the additional current draw would probably cause the signal to be quiet and/or distorted.
I use an adapter that replaces the CD changer with an auxiliary input. There are a few on the market, but I went with a USA-SPEC because it has two inputs. The head unit sees it as a 2-track CD; you switch inputs by changing tracks. I use it with my XM radio, and the second input goes to a 1/8" panel jack inside the center console. The sound quality is excellent, and I like how everything still looks factory.
If you already have a factory changer and don't mind giving it up, then you're all set. My 95's head unit did not have CD changer controls, so I swapped it with a changer-capable H/U from a '98. All 93-94 and 95-98 Mark VIII head units are plug-and-play as far as I know.
The wiring diagrams are attached. These should apply to all JBL-equipped Marks. My friend's Mark had a different signal input connector at the amp (C453), but the wire colors still matched up. I think it was a '93-only thing.
MediumD
Dedicated LVC Member
Jeez, for the price of that adapter and a head unit that has CD changer controls I may as well build another Car PC for the damn thing.
Thanks for the diagrams, I will do some poking around and see what I can do.. I don't think I'll end up with sound quality lower than my FM transmitter, and even if it's on par at least this way won't eat AAA batteries.
Thanks for the diagrams, I will do some poking around and see what I can do.. I don't think I'll end up with sound quality lower than my FM transmitter, and even if it's on par at least this way won't eat AAA batteries.
segxr7
Active LVC Member
The head unit shouldn't cost much.. Tape decks aren't worth anything and the changer controls don't make much difference. I got mine from a junkyard for $15.
BTW, there are FM modulators that plug into the cigarette lighter socket. I saw one at Wal-Mart that even has a USB charger port. That'd solve the battery problem and might put out a stronger signal.
BTW, there are FM modulators that plug into the cigarette lighter socket. I saw one at Wal-Mart that even has a USB charger port. That'd solve the battery problem and might put out a stronger signal.