Posted in electrical but only one response so I'm trying here. I was hookin up my amp today in my 09 MCS and thought it was all going well. Finished hookin up the speaker level converter to the x9331. Put the key in and and all of the speakers popped like 4 times and then nothing. I unhooked the converter and put it all back to stock and now i have no sound from my speakers. The radio turns on but no sound and no gong. Any ideas what i have done? I have checked all the fuses and they seem fine.

 

You blew the fuse on the back of the radio head unit.

 

I agree with stobeyprobey - that's your most likely bet.

Also, assuming you have at least a moderately decent amp that can handle a balanced input signal, you don't need any attenuation of the input signal and are better off not using the converter.

 

Unfortunately my amp does not have speaker level inputs. It only accepts RCA's. It's made by Sundown if I remember correctly.

 

I was assuming that it didn't have high-level inputs - otherwise you'd be using them instead of an LOC. The point I was making is that you still don't need the LOC - simply solder RCA's onto your input signal wiring. The factory head unit puts out only ~7V max signal. As long as your amp's gain/sensitivity isn't set too low you won't clip the input circuitry of your amp, and you can eliminate the converter and simplify your signal chain. A simpler signal chain is generally a better signal chain.

 

Wow I wish I had know this. Thanks for that bit of info. That would have made things so much easier on me.

 

I figured, that's why I mentioned it

Just make sure you understand the concepts behind setting the gain/sensitivity in your signal chain. Basically, you want each piece in the chain to deliver it's maximum clean output signal at the same time, without clipping the input stages of any of the components. It is best done with an ocilliscope, but can be done by "ear" if you understand what you are doing.

 

So I tore the dash apart last night and pulled the fuse. It was fine. Any ideas now? Do you think maybe the amp made on the side of the radio is dead?

 

Oh NO! Sorry that fuse wasn't blown, I know how much work it is getting the head unit out!!!!! Ugh...Okay so can you access the "TUNER" and "CD" in the Audio menu? Does it look like it is playing a CD? If so, you may have blown the head unit amp. There are used head units available on car-part.com and on ebay occasionally.

But you never said specifically if you have the HIFI (with the amp in the back) or just the regular BOOST system?

 

Oh yeah sorry bout that. Yeah i just have the boost system. Everything seems to be working with the head unit just not the sound. I can here the CD player spinning if i put in a cd. The posts on the fuse did look slightly browned but it was a good fuse. I checked it on a meter and even swapped it with another 10 amp fuse just to be sure.

 

Yikes.

Can you tell us EXACTLY which wires you connected to what that caused the problem in the first place?

 

i cant remember colors now but i was connecting the front speakers to the amp. I was actually using instructions from your company for hooking up the IA sub. If i remember correctly i used the male side of the x9331 to send the signal to the converter on its way to the amp. then from the amp i tapped into the same wires on the female side to send the signal to the speakers. I ran power to the converter from the black wire at pin 1 on the black harness that connects to the x9331 per a post that I found on here somewhere. I think thats it. I really wish i had known that I didn't have to use that damn converter box.

 

If I am correctly reading what you wrote above, you connected the output stage of your HU to the output stage of your amp - not good . The signal from the HU comes from the FEMALE side of the X9331 (the socket side), not the male side (the pin side). In our subwoofer system, we are simply tapping into the signal, so it isn't necessary to determine which side of the connector is which. Even so, the pictures show tapping into the female side.

If this is the case, unfortunately you are probably going to be giving your dealer some $$$ for a new head unit.

 

Yeah i honestly don't remember which side i tapped to which. Apparently i did it the way i just described though based on my outcome. thank you Kevin. You have been a huge help man. Hopefully i can get all this fixed and not go broke in the process. I guess we will see.

 

Sure thing. Sorry to have been the bearer of bad news. Call me before you start next time, we could have had you fixed up with our Soundstage upgrade for less than you are ultimately going to end up spending!