Another question from the technically challanged:

For my 05 MCS audio upgrade, I'm thinking of keeping the oem head unit, putting Boston SL 60s up front, 6x9s rear, and sticking an Alpine 240 4ch amp in the boot cubby.

I can either buy a line output converter which will provide rca connectors that do not exist on the factory hu, or utilize the speaker level inputs of the amp.

I don't understand what the advantage or disadavantage of either plan would be.

Help!

hs

 

the speaker level inputs are a last resort. they sound like crap. get yourself a line out converter if your gonna try and put in RCA's.

also, if your gonna run a 4 channel amp, you will have a left and right RCA input. dont cheap out here. dont just get spliters and use one RCA for two sets of RCA inputs. get2 line outs, one left, one right and use two seperate RCA's for left and right.

If you have the HK in your car, this opens up a whole nother can of worms, be prepared for an uphill battle with the HK.

 

If you have an HK system in your MINI, please read my previous post in another thread about Differential Balanced Signaling and follow the links within it.

DBS Post

Theo

 

I do agree that you can get a better sound out of a line converter and utilization of the low level input of your amp. That is the primary input of manufacturers becasue when you use the high level inputs the amp is forced to convert it to a low signal then amplify it again.

Now where my opinion differs is the results. No it is does not sound like crap. Yes the converter would be better (and a low level signal straight from the head unit would be better than that but that is not an option) but unless he is planning to have an IASCA show car (which I doubt)then the difference is not gonna be noticed by the average consumer. Secondly, the four channel amp CAN be used with a Y adapter from a one RCA source with no degredation in sound quality. My amp is a four channel that can essentially be split into two seperate amps with the built in crossover network, this is exactly how I put it in my car. And yes, I installed the system. If your 4 channel amp works the same way by all means do it you don't need to have 2 seperate channels from the converter.

This is with the Boost radio system (now that thing sounded like crap)

 

Thank you all for the replies so far!

Sorry. I forgot to say it's the standard NON-HK system.

Should also have mentioned I'm not looking to blow the windows out of the car...just need something that does justice to my jazz, symphonic, and 60s/70s/80s rock.

hs

 

well, the only time i ever combine a signal from an RCA with a y converter is if i'm going to use the amp fo a sub only. ive used them before to power 4 channel amps for my other cars (even a 6 channel) but until i started using both left and right, i never noticed how much clearer of a sound i can get without using a Y adatper.

if you have anymore questions, post em here, it seems like there are some people that know what they are talking about here!

 

Maybe we are talking two different things here. I am talking about using a Y adapter to split one set of RCA into 2 (one Y on the Right...and one Y on the Left). Yeah you still have stereo seperation but now you have 2 lefts and 2 rights, just what you need for a 4 channel amp. I will post a pic if I can get my webspace to work right!

 

yes, i know what your talking about this is what i'm talking about lol.

this only appies for cars with no rca's in the HU.

no rca's, so i pull one side from the left speakers, and one side from the right using line out converters. ive found that doing this makes the system clearer when replacing speakers and amplifying them with a factory HU.

if you have an aftermarket HU, and your amplifying speakers, i use a seperate amp for each set of RCA's : front, rear and sub. (if your head unit has a set of 3 rca's) then it is fine to use a y adapter since the signal is specificly for front, rear or sub channels.

also, for most sub amps, you only have one set of RCA's in the amp, so it doesnt matter here either. (monoblock)

i'm gonna scan in a drawing here in a few min.....

 

ok, heres a pic of what i mean, i think this is what were both talking about!

 

Ok...here is the pic. It is a 4 channel amp. the converter is the little black box on the side there. The blue pair of wires going into the converter (I soldered these in place of the original wires for uniformity) are the Left and Right front signal from the stereo. One set of RCA out is the result (low level for the original poster), the Black and Red plugs. One Y on the Black (left signal) one Y on the Red (right signal) going into the 4 inputs of the amp. I have always felt that a "rear" channel is totally useless in a "stereo" configuration....there is no rear signal in "stereo". Unless your head unit supports surround sound (and they are out there) what is the point of using a "rear" channel if you don't have to?
I used my "rear" channel factory head unit to run a pair of tweeters for a little rear fill...mainly because hell I had a pair of tweeters that came with my 6x9s and the factory amp will keep their volume WAY lower than the front speakers, which is what I was going for.

 

wow, nice neat wiring. ive always had a problem with that!

i see what your saying now, i dont know, id have to go back and look at one of the cars ive done before, most are sold or wrecked, to see what i had done. the more that i think about it, the more its making me think. id have to think aobut it longer to make sense of what ive been saying....its been a long day lol

but, back to the topic at hand, GET A LINE OUT CONVERTER!!!!!

 

The second pic I have no problems with...2 component speaker sets and a sub, which happens to be how my Jetta speakers are arranged.

The first I need some clarification. Starting from your HU the BR and BL are POSITIVE and NEGATIVE wires (amplified). When they go into the converter only ONE RCA plug is the result from pos and neg. In your pic you appear to have 2 RCA plugs coming from one pos&neg speaker wire. Unless there are converters out there that can convert one signal to a pair of RCAs.

 

Tywraps!!! An installers best friggin friend!

Yeah sorry to hijack your thread~! Get a converter!!! Easy and you won't regret it.

BTW- who plans to put it in?

 

nevermind, i'm a fool.

i'm not thinking right tonight. just look at the other picture, the the right way to do it lol

line out used 4 wire hookup not 2, as i illistrated.

line out is a simple install and it will save you alot of frustration vs the hi level input of an amp.

with my experiences with the inputs, they never work right and sometimes i get wird static that goes away once i do it the right way and use a line out.

the answer is simple LINE OUT CONVERTER.

they sell them at circuit city for 19.99, no doubt worth the money

 

It's all good. This stuff IS confusing!

I totally agree though....the line out converter is cheap, easy and sounds better than the high level inputs. It is the prefered way to go for people who want to keep the factory look (me ).

 

me also, i like a nice clean look without any clutter.

unfotunately for me, i have the HK (well unfortunatly casue its hard to work on, not because it lacks in sound quality for sure!) i'm going thru the process or adding the sub and finalizing all the wiring. we'll see what happens when i get my new kicker amp here soon, time to redo all that crappy, half assed wiring i did "just to test it" 2 months ago

i'll post some pics when its all done