They cut the radio harness: NOOOO!!!!!! LOL

[usarover]

It's a heartbreaker to see. This all started with a noisy fader (of course) then I decided to see how this was was wired because the fader was not only noisy it only worked in front mode. I said to myself, "I'll bet they put in adapter harnesses and it's all good." Damn fool.

 

[gsxr]

Do you have an aftermarket radio, or stock head unit? Is your car a 1992 or 1993?

 

[usarover]

I purchased this car with an aftermarket head unit, the original was long gone. It's my 93.

 

[gsxr]

I purchased this car with an aftermarket head unit, the original was long gone. It's my 93.

Ohhhhhh. It's difficult to upgrade the 92-93 systems. Do you get any sound out of the front door speakers? Or the rear speakers?

 

[usarover]

Every speaker puts out sound, the fader switch is noisy (no kidding) and only works in forward position. So I got 'curious' as to how this aftermarket was wired into the fader. Am I remembering that the 93's have a downstream amp? This unit is overly complicated with "...turn the main dial twice to the right then press it twice to get to the DSP menu..." The USB worked great though!

The head until is dated 2009. I feel like the previous owner went to a Best Buy type place and said DO IT. The speakers sound darn good when the fader is happy and I found one of those little plastic security stickers on the back of the unit.

 

[gsxr]

Yep, the 92-93 have the tuner/amp in the trunk... I'm curious how they have your head unit wired to make it work with the trunk amp.

Typically, the 92-93 head unit "upgrades" bypass the trunk amp, which results in a drastic reduction in sound quality.

 

[usarover]

I'm on the road until Monday, I'll do some serious digging then!

 

[Jlaa]

Every speaker puts out sound, the fader switch is noisy (no kidding) and only works in forward position. So I got 'curious' as to how this aftermarket was wired into the fader. Am I remembering that the 93's have a downstream amp? This unit is overly complicated with "...turn the main dial twice to the right then press it twice to get to the DSP menu..." The USB worked great though!

The head until is dated 2009. I feel like the previous owner went to a Best Buy type place and said DO IT. The speakers sound darn good when the fader is happy and I found one of those little plastic security stickers on the back of the unit.

Yep, the 92-93 have the tuner/amp in the trunk... I'm curious how they have your head unit wired to make it work with the trunk amp.

Typically, the 92-93 head unit "upgrades" bypass the trunk amp, which results in a drastic reduction in sound quality.

Just FYI - @usarover - should you wish to put the connection back to stock, note that the fader on the 1432 "sound system" is line level. The fader fades between line-level front / rear to the two amps at the back --- see diagram in this post: Becker 1432 and aftermarket external amplifiers and speaker? | In-Car Entertainment (ICE)

This is in contrast to pedestrian w124s with "activ bass" where the fader is not at line level. "Installers" nearly always assumed that the 500E's "sound system" package were like the pedestrian w124's "activ bass" package (since these were much more common) and hacked into the fader wires, thus messing everything up.

It is actually very very easy to tap just aft of the OE fader to feed aftermarket amps. in the "sound system" package.

 

[maw1124]

It is actually very very easy to tap just aft of the OE fader to feed aftermarket amps. in the "sound system" package.

Elegant. Line level into aftermarket amps with speaker connections in situ.

@Jlaa, did you remove the factory amps or just leave them there and deactivate them?

maw

 

[gsxr]

This is very useful if you want to keep the Becker 1432 head unit, and use an aftermarket amp (with DSP - not much point otherwise). That's what Jlaa did with his amazing stereo install.

I think many (most?) people want a different head unit, and find that difficult to integrate with the stock trunk amps. It might be possible to do this if the HU has enough line-level (RCA) output voltage to properly feed the Becker trunk amp. I assume speaker-level HU outputs would be excessive voltage and not work. I'm curious what exactly was done to usarover's install as it kinda looks like speaker-level HU outputs feeding into the hacked DIN cable. Hmmm

 

[Jlaa]

Elegant. Line level into aftermarket amps with speaker connections in situ.

@Jlaa, did you remove the factory amps or just leave them there and deactivate them?

maw

I just left the factory amps installed in the trunk and put molex connectors on the wiring leading up to the factory amps so that I could swap back to using the factor amps if I ever wanted to (which would probably be never )

I also mounted the MX3192 next to the factory amps (this is the component that allows me to run a Bluetooth Dongle emulating an Alpine CD Changer that feeds the Becker 1432 [which nominally uses Sony signaling for CD changers])

 

[usarover]

I'm curious what exactly was done to usarover's install as it kinda looks like speaker-level HU outputs feeding into the hacked DIN cable. Hmmm

I did some digging yesterday and that's what they did. Front only (Pioneer) head unit speaker outputs into the hacked DIN cables.

Just FYI - @usarover - should you wish to put the connection back to stock, note that the fader on the 1432 "sound system" is line level. The fader fades between line-level front / rear to the two amps at the back --- see diagram in this post: Becker 1432 and aftermarket external amplifiers and speaker? | In-Car Entertainment (ICE)

... It is actually very very easy to tap just aft of the OE fader to feed aftermarket amps. in the "sound system" package.

So in the future, I could attempt to use RCA outs to the front and rear, regaining that control. That is if the RCA's have enough level. I started looking just for the sake of curiosity. It all works, I just want it to work better!

 

[usarover]

Thanks to everyone for the info, the diagrams and the fellowship! My 92 (Rusty) has an Alpine in it with BT and a mic. Next time I'm home (storage) I'll take the removal tools with me to see how that one was installed.