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| crimsonbinome22 |
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I have a 2005 MkII BA Fairmont and am considering upgrading its sound system, for the moment I was just intending to put in an amp and sub, but wanted to keep my options open for the future when I might put some new splits in. Its proving to be bit of a daunting research project though and hence have a few questions. Sedan btw.
As far as I can tell, from talking to various audio specialists I have two options. Due to the BA's fancypants climate control I can put in a line level converter from the rear speakers and wire that into the amp and sub. This works okay for the sub but when I replace the rest of speakers I assume I'll need another 4 channel line level converter and some more confusion. Also I have heard that this route will lead to some loss of quality through the converter, as opposed to just putting in a headunit. Is that true, and how noticeable is it? Is the difference only noticeable to an audiophile? (I'm not one). The other option is to just put in an aftermarket head unit. This saves me trouble in the future when I don't have to put in a second converter when I upgrade the rest of the speakers but causes me a hell of a lot of trouble now when I have to wire all my current speakers through it. I'm told I'll notice a considerable improvement in sound doing this. But I don't like rendering half my existing climate control buttons (cd player/steering wheel volume control/play/skip/stop) useless, just seems like a waste. I'm told I'll notice a considerable improvement in sound though. A problem I have with the head unit route is that I think I'll lose my rear parking sensors. The tone plays through the rear speakers and I assume comes through the climate control unit. If i wire the entire sound system through a head unit so it isn't attached to climate control I fear I will lose that. Is there a possibility that the parking sensor is a separate unit that can be wired into the headunit as a second input? Are there wiring schematics for the BA climate control unit available? If possible I'd like to know before I start which wires connect what. Thanks in advance! |
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| low_ryda |
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afaik theres 2 types of reverse sensors in the bf, the ba might be the same. one type will mute the stereo and use the speakers, the other won't mute the stereo and would seem to come from the rear. i have the latter.
honestly, if you wish to retain the stock components in your car, i would just go the line converter route. my last car had 5k worth of competition stereo, now i have pov pack aka: treble master premium sound (tweeters but no sub) with a line converter and a good 12" in one of those moulded boxes with a good amp and i'm more than happy with the sound. sure it's not competition, but it's an everyday road car.
_________________ Not to get technical, but according to chemistry alcohol is a solution. |
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| crimsonbinome22 |
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I agree now, it's not for competition so functionality is more important at the moment. Regardless of the quality gains from wiring everything through a head unit, I simply don't want to lose the the steering wheel volume control and parking sensors.
I've been scouting out possible subs and amps and I'm thinking of a Kicker CompVR 12" (50-400W RMS) with either the Alpine 500W monoblock amp, or the cheaper Kenwood equivalent. I'm not sure I've understood it right, but with this setup I'll be able to connect the sub (dual 2ohm voice coils) to the monoblock amp in series for 8ohms, or in parrallel for 1ohm providing much more power according to the Alpine wiring diagrams. Have I understood this correctly and will the amp handle this? Also, if all I do for now is put in the amp and sub, is the sound of my car as a whole still going to sound good, or will the factory splits with aftermarket subwoofer (put through line converter) sound bad? |
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| low_ryda |
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the factory system with tweeters does a fine job. could always do with that bit more though, my next plan is just to replace the 5x7's, then see if i need to amp them straight away or not hehe.
biggest problem with late model cars, specially monts onwards is theres too much sound deadening and insulation and they will never sound acoustically perfect. you can talk expensive stereos all day but they mean nothing without good acoustics. thats why i think the stock setup with an easy add on is a great compromise/solution.
_________________ Not to get technical, but according to chemistry alcohol is a solution. |
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| Fairmont_03_5.4 |
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Hey guys,
Ive just made up a box to go into my ba fairmont and i have the standard amp in there. I know how to hook up the power but i dont know which wires going into the factory amp are for the + and - for the factory sub and which one is the remote? My pioneer amp has the option of plugging in wires striaght from the deck as well as pre outs. And what is a line converter? how do i hook one up if i get one? Thank Heaps! 
_________________ Chaos, Panic and Disorder. My work here is finally done. |
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| fourL6 |
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{USERNAME} wrote: Hey guys, Ive just made up a box to go into my ba fairmont and i have the standard amp in there. I know how to hook up the power but i dont know which wires going into the factory amp are for the + and - for the factory sub and which one is the remote? My pioneer amp has the option of plugging in wires striaght from the deck as well as pre outs. And what is a line converter? how do i hook one up if i get one? Thank Heaps! sounds like your amp has a built in line converter (should say high level input or something or as you said wires straight from the head unit) you can just use any acc. wire or the remote on... are you using the new amp for just the sub or speakers as well? you could just get the input from your rear left speaker if your only using it for the subs...
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| Fairmont_03_5.4 |
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Hey Four L6,
Cheers for the response, i managed to get it sorted out  . I looped the remote to the power for now while im testing and ill hook it up to the ciggie lighter once im happy its all working good. I looked at the plug that goes into the factory AMP and i spliced into two wires there and managed to get the sub kicking but it doesnt do much so i might grab the input from the two rear speakers. For some weird reason my "Mono Block" has a stereo input? so i think the sub is running on mono at the moment. Ill be posting a thread today on the whole project from start to finish .
_________________ Chaos, Panic and Disorder. My work here is finally done. |
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| fourL6 |
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it would have stereo input so it doesnt miss any bass... (for example if bass was only to come from right speakers and sub was hooked to rear left your sub wouldnt move...
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| crimsonbinome22 |
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I ended up buying the MRP-M500 and a 12" Type-S sub and installing them going the line converter route and am fairly pleased with the results. The system however is a little lackluster, running off the rear speakers I have to turn bass eq and gain to nearly max to get anything out of it.
I have an idea however. I've noticed if I change the volume balance (so that sound only comes from one side of car) using the ICC, the subwoofer becomes twice as loud, despite normal sound becoming quieter since only one side of the car is producing sound. I think I might be able to simulate this but I wanted run the idea through here before I catch something on fire. I figured if i disconnect one speaker permanently from the line converter I should be able to achieve the same effect as above, but it did nothing. To achieve this do I need to bridge two of the outputs on the line converter? (It has five, two for left speaker, two meant for right speaker (which I would instead bridge) and one for ground). And if I was to bridge it, should i use a small resistor (since a speaker has some resistance). Doing this would allow me to just have gain and bass eq set to a much lower setting and give me better control over how it sounds, will it work? |
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| Fairmont_03_5.4 |
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Hey Guys,
Just letting you know i got mine sorted out and i have attached a couple of images to help. Basically my amp has the ability to connect speaker wires and pre outs not just pre outs like most amps. First i connected my aftermarket AMP up to the wires going to the factory AMP. And i noticed there was f**k all bass. So the next day i re-wired it up to the two rear speakers on the parcel shelf and the sound was much much louder coming from the sub. On the stereo i have set the bass to one above the middle and thats heaps of bass. crimson have you got any pics to show your setup? i might be able to help if i can see it. I wonder if it is possible to grab the input from the rear speakers and not put them through a line converter but rather wire them striaght upto an RCA plug? I have personally never tried this but i dont see why it wont work?
_________________ Chaos, Panic and Disorder. My work here is finally done. |
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| fourL6 |
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{USERNAME} wrote: crimson have you got any pics to show your setup? i might be able to help if i can see it. I wonder if it is possible to grab the input from the rear speakers and not put them through a line converter but rather wire them striaght upto an RCA plug? I have personally never tried this but i dont see why it wont work? 10 points for the idea but it wont work as RCA is very low voltage and would just blow the input on the amp... but most amps have a "High Input" for connecting to rear speakers (like you have in the last pic)
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| crimsonbinome22 |
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No need to anyway. It was just my stupidity and I had wired the speakers into the converter out of phase. Switched one around and it absolutely blasts now, which brings me to the next problem: Rattles.
The sub creates fairly horrific boot and rearview mirror rattle. I'm thinking I can eliminate the boot rattle by lining the edge of the lid with a bit of carpet so it seals tighter, but I have no idea about the mirror, which is really the more problematic sound since you can hear it from inside the car. Are there solutions for this (apart from getting a new mirror)? |
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| fourL6 |
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{USERNAME} wrote: but I have no idea about the mirror, which is really the more problematic sound since you can hear it from inside the car. Are there solutions for this (apart from getting a new mirror)? if your talking about the one on the windscreen put some blutac in the join that rattles...
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| Fairmont_03_5.4 |
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Gday,
Yeah i have the same problem, people say to line your boot with dynamat and ive herd it’s a good product but ive never used it myself as its expensive. Otherwise i can suggest putting heaps of silicone in between the boot skin and the frame and putting a bit of foam in between the numberplate and the boot and if possible adding the two bottom screws to the number plate. Also stuff a layer of foam underneath the parcel shelf cover, I did these four things in my AU and got rid of most of the rattles. Hope this helps,
_________________ Chaos, Panic and Disorder. My work here is finally done. |
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| Fairmont_03_5.4 |
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Forgot to add this,
Quote: I'm thinking I can eliminate the boot rattle by lining the edge of the lid with a bit of carpet so it seals tighter I done the same with foam and this worked a treat. You can get all sorts of foam at Clark Rubber.
_________________ Chaos, Panic and Disorder. My work here is finally done. |
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