Do any of you audio masters know if I can replace my stock amp with a few nice powerful after market amps (soundstream...Alpine...Phoenix Gold) and then do all of my speakers....but leave the stock head unit in?

It sounds like there is a seperate stock amp from the head unit, so I was wondering if the head unit feeds the signal to the amp via RCA plugs....or speaker level inputs (which would not sound as good)

If it uses RCA's then it seams like it would be simple to change out the amp and all the speakers, and have it sound MUCH superior, without sacrificing the stock look.

Let me know what y'all think.

Peace

 

B.V. -

You are raising an interesting previous topic, and one that unfortunately got deleted when the server went down a week or two ago.

I don't have the time right now to elaborate (I've been known to put a lecture or two on these forums), but suffice it to say that you may not have an easy road ahead if you want to replace existing drivers and amplifiers.

Since the early '80s, the higher-end audio systems in cars are "tuned" to their specific car environment. A very common way that this is done is for the audio system manufacturer to re-equalize the amplifier/driver combination as a single entity to compensate for the sound characteristics of the car.

What this can mean to you is that replacing drivers, amplifiers, or both can create new problems while you try to solve existing problems. Audio design in an automotive environment is extremely tricky, with multiple surfaces & densities that interract with the radiated sound. If the ELS sound system is "tuned" to the TL at the head unit outputs, you have an extra set of problems to overcome.

Don't let this stop you if you want to try. I'm just giving you an idea of what you might be up against.

 

Well I have had plenty of cars in the 90's, and I have completely replaced the entire stereo in all of them.....and they all sounded WAY better after the upgrade. I think that quality upgrades always sound better, in my experience.

My main question for all of the stereo guys is......does the factory head unit run RCA's to the factory amplifier?

Thanks in advance

 

yes. i too would like to know if the headunit sends signals via RCAs. I'm with you here Black Velvet, as I have re-done entire systems before but am no "expert".