Not the greatest with car audio. A while back I replaced all the stock speakers with infinity kappas. While the sq improved slightly, I was happy with it at the time. I also have a one 10" alpine type-r in a sealed box.

Now I would like to replace the stock amp to try and let these infinity speakers shine while retaining the stock head unit (not trying to win and competitions here)

The speakers are 10.9t tweets, 63.9i in the doors and rear deck and a 32.9cf in the center. All are rated at 2ohms but on infinity's site they call them "true four ohm." Whatever that means.

I was figuring on getting a 4 channel amp and I would have to lose the center speaker which is no big deal.

Also looking for recommendations on what amp to get. I guess my budget is around 200$ for this amp. Should I be putting this under the passenger seat or try to find something small and keep it in the stock location?

I have the wiring diagram for the stock amp and this looks like a simple splice job. Is this as simple as cutting off the stock connector, extending the speaker/power wires and wiring it into the new amp?

B16 says amplifier mute. What is that and how does that get wired? Is there anything special that I need to do in order to retain the HFL?

 

Here is what I did!
https://acurazine.com/forums/3g-tl-audio-bluetooth-electronics-navigation-94/mild-grade-fever-854353/

Long story short is 5 channel under drivers seat bridged to front components.
center channel and rear fill on OEM amplification
sub channel to IB sub

 

Ill read your thread later.

Since I already have a separate amp for my sub, whats the best way to wire the sub to the new amp? Should I just share the signal with the rear deck?

after a little reading I came across a post that said...

"What you will need to do is tap after the stock amplifier since the signal is to weak after the head unit. "

Does that mean that I can take the speaker wires after the oem amp for the doors/tweeters and rears, run them into my new 4 channel amp then back to the speakers and be done with it?

 

If you want to amplify a dirty signal! Depending on the amp you choose it will work with the low level signal from the HU. Thats a critical thing to pay attention too. A line driver can always be used

 

For the sub amp, pulling the signal from the stock sub plug and sending it to your aftermarket amp is fine. This would be a post factory amp signal. You will retain the factory HU control of the subwoofer. Depending on your exact amp you might have to install a line out converter (loc) to knock down the voltage a little. Some amps will take the full factory amp voltage, some will need the voltage reduced via a loc.

If you plan to amp the fronts as well, you're best off pulling the signal from the head unit, before the factory amp. Infinities are super bright, you probably won't like the tweeters very much once you amp them. The signal after the stock amp is dirty. There will be a hiss you will never be able to get rid of because you're amplifying a dirty signal. The Infinity tweeters will make the hiss worse. It's ok to use the post-amp signal on the subwoofer since the hiss is not in the sub's bandpass.

I would tap in before the factory amp to the left front and right front signal. Again depending on your amp you might have to install a line driver. This is the opposite of the LOC mentioned earlier. Instead of cutting the voltage, it will boost the voltage. The factory headunit has a very low voltage, .8v at full tilt. Some amps will accept this super low voltage without it being boosted, some will not. If you grab the signal before the factory amp, it will be clean, free of any hiss.

If you want an all in one amp that is extremely efficient, runs cool, very small, and is a power house, the JL HD series amps are great. I have one under each of my seats. If you need another great amp that's a little cheaper but with most of the same benefits and a little smaller but less powerful, the JL XD amps are great.

Anything that will fit in the factory amp location will be weak and likely overheat. Several have tried it and ended in failure.

There are many things you can do to take up dead space for a no compromise sytem. I have a 3-way front stage that looks almost factory. The midranges are in the modified factory kick panels and take up zero room. They're barely noticeable to anyone but another TL owner. The amps are hidden under the seats, the 15s are infinite baffle so there's no enclosure taking up trunk space or adding weight.

 

Not sure what you mean? Keep your sub on its amp the way it is. New amp only for front components. Rears and center on OEM amp

 

i was looking at the ALPINE MRP-F300. Please explain "dirty signal" lol

How do I decide to tap before or after the stock amp? What should I look for when looking at amps?


Excellent explanation. Makes sense to me. My sub and sub amp have been up and running for years with a loc off the stock sub wiring. Dont plan on changing that.

So looks like Ill be taking the signal directly from the head unit and feeding that to my new 4 channel for the interiors.

What determines if I will need a line driver?

The XD400/4 looks nice at 300$. And the alpine MRP-F300 is 150$. Would either one of these require a line driver if Im taking the signal pre oem amp?

Yea disregard that post. A new amp for the interiors only is what Im aiming for while leaving the sub alone

 

You'll get a better bang for buck with one of these
http://www.woofersetc.com/p-10138-p9...amplifier.aspx

This amp would require a loc, though.

 

You mean a line driver? After reading this, it looks like it's definitely required:

About the only minor gripe I had was the amp didn’t have quite as much gain as I might have liked, requiring about 280mV of input to drive it to clipping with the gains maxed. This is no problem if you have a high volt output radio, but if your head unit’s preamp output voltage is on the anemic side, high quality recordings with wide dynamic range and lots of crest factor may not be able to get the amp to full power. But any good 4 volt or higher sources will be perfect."


When you figure in the price of a line driver, price is a wash. At the same price I would go JL any day. You get incredible reliability, a very low noise floor, a great crossover section, more than rated power, all in a very small size. I believe the XDs are some of the more efficient class D amps as well. The PPI probably wins the watts vs price battle but the difference would be lost on Infinity speakers. I know from experience those Infinities can't come close to handling 75w with an 80hz highpass without bottoming and the tweeter is going to blow you out of the car with more than a few watts.

 

Still reading and learning....

Stopped by a local shop and ran my setup by them. Their setup would be taking the signal after the stock amp and feeding it into something like the audio control lc6 then into my new amp. Seems like a lot more work and money then necessary since i really only want a little more sound.

you guys all mention taking the signal from the headunit and going from there to eliminate any noise I may get. I understand that.

Looks like if choose the alpine amp then I would need a line driver. If i pick the JL amp then I can wire directly to amp without a line driver. Is that right?

All thats left would be splicing in some rca's to the wiring from the head unit and feeding it to the JL amp.

Am I on the right track here?

 

My JL amp works great with the low signal from the HU. Its under the seat so no long runs to pick up noise.

 

^you have the XD 700/5 right?

SO you kept the oem amp in place for the hfl and navi right? And just bypassed the amp for the speakers correct?

Any pics of how you spliced the RCA's into the stock wiring?

 

^ This

 

It's as easy as using the front left and right, splicing RCAs onto it (or you can buy a connector that makes it easy for you) and sending them into your amp.

If you still want to use the navi voice commands, you can leave the stock amp in for the center channel. If your sub is getting it's signal post amp, you have to leave it in anyway.

HFL and navi will still work without the stock amp assuming you have them hooked into your aftermarket amp. If you use the front left and right signals into your aftermarket amp, HFL will work fine through your aftermarket amp, even with the stock one bypassed on those channels. In fact, with my stock amp removed I had full HFL and navi prompts working just fine. I run a processor and it's pretty neat having your HFL come out over the entire front stage and sub. Talk about a real sounding phone conversation. It would be a little harder to integrate the center into the aftermarket amp pre stock amp without a processor but still not that hard.

Just a heads up though, you might not like the Infinities a whole lot anymore once you send some power to them. They get extremely bright.

Some people use these. I'm about to order a few for myself today.

http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_...SL-09ZISL.html

 

correct XD 700/5. no pictures of wire splices. I did not solder.

 

Those rca's look very user friendly. I would need two of those for the front/tweeters and rears correct?

As far as the infinities are concerned, its what Im stuck with at this point so they will have to work. Right now I have the treble on the stock system on 6 and its not nearly enough. Almost all my music comes from streaming it using the bluetooth on my phone. The volume is considerably lower when using this method.

 

do remember about how far you needed to turn to the input sensitivity knob for your interior speakers?

 

prolly 2/3 or so

 

It will totally vary depending on your speakers' efficiency and on the input voltage. Infinities are pretty efficient, it probably won't take a whole lot of gain.

 

Bought a pair of those kicker rca's, rockford amp kit and some extra speaker wire. Just need to decide on the amp.

I was all for the jl xd400 after seeing that Pohljm had a good experience using this amp and NO line driver. However, Im still looking at the alpine f300 and noticed that it has an input sensitivity very similar to the jl amp.

Alpine f300 - Input Sensitivity: 0.2 - 4.0V
jl xd400 - Input Voltage Range @ RCA Inputs 100 mV - 4 V RMS

The alpine is only 140$ shipped compared to double that for the JL. Cant decide if its worth it....

 

The JL has a very good crossover section and generally better technology. Unless you decide to upgrade with more power or need more channels down the road, the JL should last a lifetime and will likely be the last amp you buy. Keep in mind, with a maximum HU output voltage of 800mv, the additional sensitivity of the JL amp will likely be needed without a line driver. It's very possible at volume 10 on the headunit you will be down around .2v assuming it's linear. Then there's noise floor. Previous Alpines have had issues with a high noise floor or hiss. The JL has as close to zero as you can get. I can crank the gain all the way up on the tweeters and only hear something if I put my ear up to it. That particular Alpine might not have any issues but with the JL you're guaranteed to have a great trouble free product. If it were just for a sub, I might go with the cheaper Alpine but those Infinities of yours are going to bring out hiss like no other. You will probably hate your speakers when this is all over with.

If you can find someone who has actually used the Alpine in a TL off of the HU and without a line driver, it might change things. With such low input voltage, you're probably going to have the gains pretty high and that was part of why I'm worrying about hiss.

I don't know if I mentioned it yet but the JL is a Class D, the Alpine is a class AB. The JL is significantly more efficient, will draw less power from the car's electrical system for the same output power.

 

You might want to find out whether the Alpine amp will accept a differential balanced input before you make your decision, otherwise you may end up having to buy a balanced line driver to make it work.

 

Get a JL. Their superior input circuitry makes these cars really easy. I can nearly promise you that you will spend as much on line drivers, converters and the like if you buy a cheaper amp... not to mention the headache.

All you need is a High Pass filter and a gain. Even the XD, which is not as feature rich as even the older slash amps, will more than get the job done. The D vs AB is of no consequence above 100 hertz (generally) and with this little power there is no issue.

I would buy a used JL (slash, XD, HD... not e series or the cheap ones) before i would buy that new alpine. I fear that you will not have enough money to be cheap on this one...

 

On his particular car, the class D's efficiency might come into play even though we're only talking 400w. It could be the difference in drawing 440w from the car vs 800w from the car. With the turbo and making almost 600whp, he needs every bit of ignition juice available to not misfire.