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| Topic: Installing a car amp | |
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So, I'm trying to hook up an old amp in my car. I just have the factory head unit installed, but it doesn't have the RCA outputs. Do I have to buy the converter, or shouldn't I be able to use the amp without the RCA hookups?
This is just a temporary setup until I get my Alpine system, so I'm not really looking to put alot of work or money into this project. So far I just bought some cheap $10 Wal-mart speakers because the old speakers in my car were blown, so I just wanted to get something cheap for now. And a friend gave me this amp, so I figured I may as well install it. I did get the amp wiring kit. I haven't hooked it up yet though. |
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If there are no RCA's you will need a converter
Also be certain there is the trigger wire for the power to the amp from the head unit..If you dont have that chances are the radio is capable of an amp. THat wire is usually blue |
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Edited by
ujGearhead
on
Sun 04/13/08 05:11 PM
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You can use the speaker outs as the inputs for the amp if you really want to as long as you get the male RCA jacks, but it can cause problems. 1. Any noise picked up from the head units amp will be amplified in the power amp you're installing resulting in added noise. 2. You'll have to keep the head's volume alot lower to prevent frying the new amp (for several reasons). 3. The head unit's amp is meant to run with an 8 ohm load, so you may have to add resistors accordingly. There's other factors to consider, but why waste your time adding an amp to crappy $10 speakers? Chances are that it will just sound worse than it did originally.
Don't worry about if there's a power lead coming from the head unit like Jim was saying. All that does is use the on/off switch on the radio. You can accomplish the same thing by hooking the lead from the amp directly to a circuit from the fuse box that has power only with the key in the 'on' position. |
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Edited by
Totage
on
Sun 04/13/08 05:25 PM
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You can use the speaker outs as the inputs for the amp if you really want to as long as you get the male RCA jacks, but it can cause problems. 1. Any noise picked up from the head units amp will be amplified in the power amp you're installing resulting in added noise. 2. You'll have to keep the head's volume alot lower to prevent frying the new amp (for several reasons). 3. The head unit's amp is meant to run with an 8 ohm load, so you may have to add resistors accordingly. There's other factors to consider, but why waste your time adding an amp to crappy $10 speakers? Chances are that it will just sound worse than it did originally. Don't worry about if there's a power lead coming from the head unit like Jim was saying. All that does is use the on/off switch on the radio. You can accomplish the same thing by hooking the lead from the amp directly to a circuit from the fuse box that has power only with the key in the 'on' position. The reason I want to do it, is because the amp was free. It's only a little 50 watt amp anyway. LOL The speakers really aren't that bad though for only $10, I'm surprised they even work. LOL Yeah, I have power lead wire, I just didn't see any RCA outputs on the head unit. Thanks for the help. Oh and the reason I got the cheap speakers is because the old speakers didn't work at all. They're just a temporary fix until I get a better system though. |
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I think I'm just going to get a new head unit, the factory is just a radio/cassete deck, and I use my MP3 player throught the cassette deck, using the CD player adapter kit. That adds some disstortion to the sound, so I'm just going to get a head unit that already has the RCAs and an aux. input for my MP3 player.
I'll just wait until I get that installed before I install my amp. |
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