I own an Acura Cl-S w/o Navi and want to do some upgrades. I have a 4 channel Amp (Kenwood w/o speaker level inputs) and front speakers (Infinity) that I took out of my old car, and I just bought the Parrot CK3000 Bluetooth system (it’s on its way). I been searching both the CL and TL forums to figure out what’s the best way to go about this and still not sure which way to go. If you guys can answer/give insights/advise etc, that would be great.

I want to install the above components and also keep the stock HU and still make the steering wheel control work.

1) For the external amp, it seems like I got two options. Bypass the EQ or tap into the speaker wires.

Option A: Bypass the EQ
The wires from the HU to EQ are low level signals. Will I still need a Line Driver when I am hooking these wires to the external amp? Is the Line Driver for EQ purposes? What happens to the steering wheel control if I do this? I am not sure what the steering wheel voulume control actually controls in the HU. Does it control the signals going to the EQ or signals going to the speakers? If I do go this route, I plan to leave the sub wiring alone.

Option B: Speaker wires to Amp
I assume the answer here is LOC. Some of you suggested AudioLink PD4. Why not go with a cheaper version of AudioLink II?

2) Bluetooth questions; all I got from the retailers is “have a professional do it”. *^&kers.

Can I tap into the Navi mute in the HU? I am not sure whether you guys are familiar with Parrot product. The schematic shows the bluetooth unit tapping into the speaker wires, but it also has a separate wire to plug into the mute plug on the HU. It would be great if I could just tap the whole bluetooth unit in the Navi inputs on the HU. I guess I will find out.