I was wondering if changing the headunit and leaving in the stock speakers and everytihng else will make a difference(better or worse)? My stock HU takes too long to pick up burned cd's and is really getting on my nerves so I want to change the HU so the burned cd's will play better. Also will the max volume be lower than stock or not?

 

chinoz...

I recently added a pioneer 740mp, and it sounds 1000% better. My set up all stock excpet for a 12 inch JL sub, and for some reason the sub isn't working ( I'll have to fix that later). Anyway, I wanted to hear how the system would sound with only the HU changed, and it made a big difference. When I listened to some MP3s off the deck I thought my Subwoofer was on, but later I found that the sub wasn't!!! I was very impressed by the midbass output from the stock speakers, BUT it could improve a lot more....Therefore, I am going to tell you that the sound quality from the stock speakers with aftermarket HU is decent, but would be MUCH MUCH MUCH better with the speakers changed out..BTW, I am planning on changing out the fronts with focal 165Ks, and the rears with the focal 165HCs. I can't friggin wait to hear the difference....Of course an amp will follow after I gather up more money for it, but this is my experience...Also, if you are going to get a HU...I would definitely suggest an MP# deck...I drove from san diego and back, and DID NOT hear the same song twice!!!! VERY convenient...Just my input...In addition, the SQ is pretty much on par with CDs...I've read some posts by people that the SQ from their MP3 HUs were not CD quality, but the SQ that I hear is good enough for me...Hope this helps, and sorry for being so long...good luck

 

Is there anything special you have to do wit the wires or just add the new headunit with a wiring harness directly into the stock harness?

 

I simply hooked up the harness directly...However, reading other posts online, I think I wired the HU by bypassing the Stock EQ, then I think I should get better sound...maybe "truer" sound...I hope someone can confirm this. But, like I said, my set-up right now is temporary because I wanted to see if the HU worked, and I wanted to hear the difference. And there WAS a difference.

 

IF you change the headunit does the stock amps still work?? and also how do you bypass the stock eq's

 

hemoglobin23:
Not entirely sure how you have your aftermarket HU setup...but if it's running through the stock EQ your sound must sound terrible. The EQ really ruins the spectral wave. To bypass the EQ to put in an aftermarket amp, you just tap the 3 wires in the small black harness white, red, and black for left, right and ground, and run those to your amp, white/ground = left channel, red/ground = right channel. Talking about bypassing the EQ with an aftermarket HU, unless you're totally lazy, is a moot point. You just wire the speaker wire coming out of the HU that goes to the speakers to your aftermarket HU, and run power and ground. You wouldn't use the EQ at all.

Austin519

 

ok so does the stock amps still work and the stock sub?

 

ChinozTL:
I don't understand?

Austin519

 

Ok..........you said to hook up the aftermarket HU by simply running the speaker output wires to the stock wiring harness?? So is the stock eq built into the stock HU? Also if you do this you have 4 channels right? So where does the stock sub come into all this? Also if you change the HU does the stock amps still work?

 

ChinozTL:
Okay, now I understand, sorry. Disregard anything I said before. If you're changing the HU, then the stock speakers are hooked up to it. The EQ is also hooked up to it in a loop where the HU feeds the EQ which feeds the HU. So if you were to add an aftermarket HU, you definitely could hook it up to the stock harness that the stock HU was attached to but then you'd be going through the EQ. The better solution would be to just wire in the stock speaker wires to the HU directly. If your HU has a sub out, you would hook that up to the line out signal feeding the stock sub amp, and of course the remote wire as well. Otherwise you need to use a crossover and cross the stereo signal and feed that to your stock amp. I haven't done this on a TL yet, so I don't know all the wiring colors, but I'm sure they're here somewhere. I believe that is how you would do it, and sorry for the confusion. I thought for some reason you were keeping the stock sub and wiring an aftermarket amp...

Austin519