replacing mcintosh head unit

[Guest]

I need some help replacing my default mcintosh head unit with a sony i bought to play mp3.

My 2000 b4 rsk has the mcintosh amp under the drivers seat and sub in the back window (both factory).

I bought a harness for my sony and connected that up but when i turned the sony on - the speakers start a reasonably loud hum (sounds like a video tape rewinding). I can hear the button presses on the sony ("beep beep") ok and can play music but the system definately wasnt happy so I unplugged it again.

Anybody know what I could be doing wrong? Am I able to reuse the factory amp with my new head unit?

I have spend forever searching the interweb for help but have not found anything useful.

Cheers

[Guest boostcut]

do you have a real good earth???? it could be tryin to earth out thru the speakers??? not too sure but a good place to start

[Guest keltik]

Have you modified the wiring in the footwell to re-route the sound around the amplifier? Theres a guide to it somewhere on here

[Guest]

radio is grounded properly.

No I have not rerouted any wires to bypass the sub. That sounds promising. Cannot find that thread, only a reference to a thread from the old message board that had a stereo replacement guide.

[Guest keltik]

I think its Scoobydoo whos the expert on that one. Ive never done it - only read about it. But basically you swap a couple wires over so that the speakers are fed by the headunit direct

[Guest]

Thanks for trying to help.

So far I *think* the Mcintosh HU connects to the amp via a 13pin round din.

http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=749402

The link from the other thread suggests that the speaker connections in the harness should dead end but for some reason mine are working. When I connect my new HU via the harness, it produces sound which must mean that the harness is wired through to the speakers as well. Perhaps the amp doesnt like the new head unit driving the speakers directly becauase it is connected to the speakers as well. I will experiment with disconnecting the amp and seeing if the hum goes away.

If anyone knows any more, please reply.

cheers

[spark_38]

the front speakers and sub are amped thru the amplifier under the seat the rear ones are straight pass. it pays to rewire them anyway. Ignore the DIN connector on the amplifier

Look at the amp - its the connector that looks like the standard subaru wiring loom that is of interest - buy another clip on one and you'll find the speaker pin-outs are the same. It is a lot easier than having to remove the seat and crimp the wires separately (as i found out the hard way)

Run the 4 sets of speaker wires from the connector to the one you already have coming from behind the factory headunit - or place ur aftermarket amp under the drivers seat if ur planning on running aftermarket speakers at a later stage, makes the wiring a lot easier/tidier

[Guest]

 

the front speakers and sub are amped thru the amplifier under the seat the rear ones are straight pass. it pays to rewire them anyway. Ignore the DIN connector on the amplifier

Look at the amp - its the connector that looks like the standard subaru wiring loom that is of interest - buy another clip on one and you'll find the speaker pin-outs are the same. It is a lot easier than having to remove the seat and crimp the wires separately (as i found out the hard way)

Run the 4 sets of speaker wires from the connector to the one you already have coming from behind the factory headunit - or place ur aftermarket amp under the drivers seat if ur planning on running aftermarket speakers at a later stage, makes the wiring a lot easier/tidier

Thanks for the info. I just came inside to check the message forum after removing the drivers seat to get access to the amp. The back speakers are pass through as you say and the sub and front speakers are no longer working since I pulled the cable for the amp.

I was a bit worried that I had broken things so thanks for the confirmation. I have seen the std subaru connector you are talking about that connected to the amp.

The harness sounds like a good idea. But it sounds like I still have to run wires from the connector/harness that used to plug into the amp under the seat to the subaru harness in the front console.

Do you know if all speakers are connected at the amp connector? Or are the back speakers not connected at the amp because they are straight through from the head unit.

cheers

[spark_38]

yip all speaker wires are common at the amp connector. I haven't pulled the amp apart to see whats actually connected inside - but i suspect it's only a 2.1 channel amp and there is no output going to the rear speakers... the rear speakers may be commonly wired at the headunit end as a provision for different factory units - one to employ a 4.1 channel amp, for example - in which case the headunit wouldn't give any output at all to the speakers

[Scoobydoo]

http://www.clubsub.org.nz/forum/index.php?topic=766.0

http://www.clubsub.org.nz/forum/index.php?topic=763.0