I would like to upgrade the speakers and sub-woofer, and possibly install an amp. Not a real big one maybe 40-60 watts. A guy a Car Toys told me I can't install an amp as the factory deck only puts out high tones? I am not very knowledgable about audio terms, I know electricity inside and out, but don't have a clue as to whether or not he was blowin smoke up my back side.
Is what he is telling me true, I find it hard to believe but he even went out back and talked to his installers and they confirmed it. I want to keep the factory deck as we have a DVD player(factory).
I don't want to vibrate the neighbors windows, just clean up and make the system sound better.
I know there is a lot of very knowledgable folks here, hiding in the weeds, so if you can help me out I'd appreciate it. I tried searching but the Boss says I'm not authorized??

 

Well i have an aftermarket stereo and it has RCA pre-amp out leads that give out the full range of notes. I hooked up an amp to it and since my amp had a treble and bass switch i turned the treble all the way down and the bass all the way up. You couldn't hear too much of the top frequencys, but it isnt as clear as it would be with a SUB-preamp out. The sub-preamp out gives only low tone notes, and sounds much better. You might be able to splice in some filters that block out high pitch frequencys. You might want a little more than just 40 watts, but its just a suggestion.

 

The stereo store weenies don't know what they are dealing with. The Audiophile 6-disk radio/DVD system has front/rear left and right outputs driving regular speakers BUT(!) the bass is filtered out of that output and is sent to a seperate connector on the back of the radio which then sends a line-level output to the factory sub and amp in the cargo area. The sub and amp are upgradable. Adding an amp to the speakers is easy too just as long as you buy one that allows for speaker level inputs (or buy a speaker to line level converter). Not too hard to do.

 

I installed a new amp (Zapco) and speakers (Infinity Kappas) on my 03 EB Expy with factory CD changer and DVD... Now I'm disappointed because the system has a harsh high end with hiss. Sounds like an old tape deck, even with my best CDs. Also, I have almost no bass. Did the installer do a bad job? Should I replace the head unit (I don't want to do this unless I absolutely have to). Any help appreciated.

 

I wouldn't replace it. Do you have the factory sub in the rear cargo area? I also need to know if just 1 amp was installed for the door speakers. I will assume that the installer used either the high-level (speaker level) inputs on the amp or they used a speaker-level converter. Either way, the hiss you are getting are likely due to the gain of the amp being too high and the speaker level converters may be set too low.

More info please on the sub..

Erik

 

Thanks for the response. The Zapco amp is four channels powering the door speakers. It should be more than enough to do the job (though the door speakers aren't producing much bass at all).

I do have the factory sub, which also seems limited. I believe that the sub is still getting a direct feed from the HU.

Is there an output converter that you recommend?

Also, I assume that if I replace the HU with something high-end like Nakamichi I'll lose the steering wheel controls and DVD functionality, right? I don't want to rip the whole damn truck apart...

 

Yeah, I wouldn't rip the truck apart either.

I think you need to turn the amp down so the bass from the factory sub can keep up. There should not be much bass at the door speakers as that HU filters the bass out off the speaker outputs and sends it to the subwoofer output which is a seperate 8-pin plug on the back of the radio.

Erik

 

BTW- some aftermarket radio manufacturers do offer interfaces for steering wheel controls. If you decide to replace the HU, research who offers full compatibility with those controls. You will still lose the rear seat headphones though..

Erik

 

Thanks for the help, Erik. One more thing: do you have any idea why the factory DVD player outputs at a constant (loud) level since the amp went in? The installer claims it's not his fault, but it must be.

-Greg

 

I am not sure why it would output a higher level either. It should operate just as it did before the install since the audio output from the DVD is connected to a seperate connector on teh back of the HU than the speaker outputs are. Am I understanding you correctly that you cannot control the volume level with the HU anymore?

 

That's right. DVD outputs audio at a constant level, not controllable by volume ****. Weird, eh? I wonder if this has something to do with the rear seat audio controls not be set up properly during the install.

 

The rear seat audio controls AND the DVD player are using the same connector for the DVD audio and the control portion of both the DVD and headphone (or rear seat) control. The audio for the rear seat headphones comes from the speaker output connector.

A few questions: Does the DVD player still switch the HU to AUX mode when a DVD is played? Does the rear seat audio control still switch modes? Does the rear seat control still control single play/dual play on the HU? Does the rear seat control change stations/tracks?

 

I'll run through these test tomorrow, before I take it back to the installer. I'm pretty sure that the back seat controls work as expected. The more information I can give the installer, the better.