strohk

Prepare for the word fort to come

I just got my 2004 6sp TL a couple of weeks ago. I love just about everything about the car, but I'm a little underwhelmed with the audio system. My low grade Jeep Grand Cherokee work truck sounds better, but I digress...

I've been reading what seems like hundreds of threads here and am a bit confused on a couple of things. I know everything has probably been answered, I've searched, but I'm finding a bit of conflicting information.

I guess I'll start with what I have to work with. I have an old Directed 4200 4-channel amp a Directed 250d mono sub amp and an Xtant A1044A 10" sub. Old, I know, but they worked in a couple other cars I've had, I like them, and, best of all, I already own them. I plan on building my own enclosure and will be upgrading the front and rear speakers as a part of the whole "build."

Based on previous installs, I know that the D4200 will power all four channels off of one set of RCAs. It also has an RCA out that can feed another amp. In this case, the D250d.

So, finally getting to my questions:

Is it possible to run the two fronts, two rears, and sub with one RCA cable running from the HU into the D4200, then a pigtail from the D4200 to the D250d? If yes, where should I pull the RCA feed from? I know from reading that the only full frequency channels are the fronts. So, if I can run the whole system off of one set of RCAs, should I pull off of the front channel pre-amp or post-amp? In all of my reading, I've never been able to come up with a consensus answer on which is best. Not sure if it helps, but the D4200 can accept line inputs from 150mV to 8V. Can I just solder on a set of RCAs to the front channel speaker wires, or do I need some kind of line converter? I plan on keeping the stock amp in place to power the center channel.

I can control the settings of all of the speakers from the amps themselves. I've never messed with the fade or balance settings from the HU when I've had the amps set up before, so being able to control the channels directly from the HU is not a big deal to me.

Huge thanks in advance for any help and/or info!

pohljm

I am not a fan of amplifying a noisy signal to use as your source so I will always recommend using the pre amp signal. The TL headunit is a little tricky with its low output balanced differential signal. I can tell you that The JL amps will work without a line driver. Any other amp and its try and see. The 150mV capability sounds promising. One issue you may have will be sub control unless you have remote gain capability on the sub amp or you also take the sub preamp signal from the HU. This signal may be cut, I cannot personally confirm this, but i only used FL + FR signal.

I would also recommend leaving the rears and center on the OEM amp and bridging your 4 channels to the fronts only.

strohk

Thanks for the input. I really appreciate it.

The 250d does have gain control on it. It also has input sensitivity from 150mV to 8V. Any reason to keep the rears on the stock amp? I know they are just used for fill as they are not full range with the stock set up. I was planning on using the rear speaker wiring to get the signal from the amps to the front speakers - splicing the rears to the fronts at the stock amp location. I don't think there will be any issue with the 35w to 50w the 4200 puts out on the stock wiring. I hate trying to pull new speaker wire into the doors, unless there is an easy way to do it on the TL.

pohljm

center and rears on stock amp is what I have. rears never on. front channels bridged to components. No easy way to pull speaker wires into the door. You can repin the molex, or there is a post here.
https://acurazine.com/forums/3g-tl-audio-bluetooth-electronics-navigation-94/how-route-speaker-wire-front-door-speakers-w-pics-859849/

Or just run up to door and use stock wiring across molex and to speaker like most will do.

not sure about the rear signal being full range but there have been discussions on that.

jda123

If the directed cannot take a balanced differential signal, even at low voltage, then it might still have noise. I would try and wire it up straight... and then buy a balanced line driver if you need to.

I run my whole system off (fronts/sub) of the front signal. However, the rears are off of the stock amp which is plenty for some fill. In my 2004 and 2006, the rears are midbass only - no idea what the signal range is (full or cut), but there is only a 6.5 midrange down there.