Question on Aftermarket HU & amp in '05 F150
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From: Northern California
Question on Aftermarket HU & amp in '05 F150
I currently have the factory 6-disk mp3 (non-audiophile) HU. Front speakers are Alpine Type S 5x7 components, rears are Alpine Type S co-ax's. Speakers are powered by Alpine MRP-F240 amp. Sub is Diamond D1, powered by Alpine MRP-M450.
Sometime last week, one of my speakers started cutting out. I traced it to a bad connection between the LOC and the RCA cable. Instead of trying to guess at which was the culprit, I replaced the LOC's and the RCA cables... Problem now is that I get 'noise' from from front-right speaker. It humm's when the dome light dimms off, and I also hear crackling noise when the radio is turned OFF... Yes, everything is grounded VERY WELL. The only thing I can think of is the LOC's causing it. The cables are the best that CC carried ($125 for the 4-channel set, brand is Tsunami). The LOC was a 4-channel by AXXESS (by Metra). So I replaced the AXXESS LOC with 2 2-channel Fosgate LOC's. Same thing, still get the noise.
So getting really fed up right now, I'm thinking about going with an aftermarket HU with pre-outs. Hopefully that will eliminate the noise from the LOC's.
My question is though, if I get a good quality HU, will I still need the amp that is powering the 4 speakers?? In terms of what HU to get, I'm thinking something simple but good quality, in the $300-$450 range, probably by Alpine, Pioneer, or Eclipse. I know when I bought the Alpine amp, it wasn't very expensive, so I'm wondering if the amps that are built into new HU's are better than what I currently have..??.. What do you all think?
Sometime last week, one of my speakers started cutting out. I traced it to a bad connection between the LOC and the RCA cable. Instead of trying to guess at which was the culprit, I replaced the LOC's and the RCA cables... Problem now is that I get 'noise' from from front-right speaker. It humm's when the dome light dimms off, and I also hear crackling noise when the radio is turned OFF... Yes, everything is grounded VERY WELL. The only thing I can think of is the LOC's causing it. The cables are the best that CC carried ($125 for the 4-channel set, brand is Tsunami). The LOC was a 4-channel by AXXESS (by Metra). So I replaced the AXXESS LOC with 2 2-channel Fosgate LOC's. Same thing, still get the noise.
So getting really fed up right now, I'm thinking about going with an aftermarket HU with pre-outs. Hopefully that will eliminate the noise from the LOC's.
My question is though, if I get a good quality HU, will I still need the amp that is powering the 4 speakers?? In terms of what HU to get, I'm thinking something simple but good quality, in the $300-$450 range, probably by Alpine, Pioneer, or Eclipse. I know when I bought the Alpine amp, it wasn't very expensive, so I'm wondering if the amps that are built into new HU's are better than what I currently have..??.. What do you all think?
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Joined: Jun 2006
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From: Fort Worth, TX
Originally Posted by bamorris2
I currently have the factory 6-disk mp3 (non-audiophile) HU. Front speakers are Alpine Type S 5x7 components, rears are Alpine Type S co-ax's. Speakers are powered by Alpine MRP-F240 amp. Sub is Diamond D1, powered by Alpine MRP-M450.
Sometime last week, one of my speakers started cutting out. I traced it to a bad connection between the LOC and the RCA cable. Instead of trying to guess at which was the culprit, I replaced the LOC's and the RCA cables... Problem now is that I get 'noise' from from front-right speaker. It humm's when the dome light dimms off, and I also hear crackling noise when the radio is turned OFF... Yes, everything is grounded VERY WELL. The only thing I can think of is the LOC's causing it. The cables are the best that CC carried ($125 for the 4-channel set, brand is Tsunami). The LOC was a 4-channel by AXXESS (by Metra). So I replaced the AXXESS LOC with 2 2-channel Fosgate LOC's. Same thing, still get the noise.
So getting really fed up right now, I'm thinking about going with an aftermarket HU with pre-outs. Hopefully that will eliminate the noise from the LOC's.
My question is though, if I get a good quality HU, will I still need the amp that is powering the 4 speakers?? In terms of what HU to get, I'm thinking
something simple but good quality, in the $300-$450 range, probably by Alpine, Pioneer, or Eclipse. I know when I bought the Alpine amp, it wasn't very expensive, so I'm wondering if the amps that are built into new HU's are better than what I currently have..??.. What do you all think?
Sometime last week, one of my speakers started cutting out. I traced it to a bad connection between the LOC and the RCA cable. Instead of trying to guess at which was the culprit, I replaced the LOC's and the RCA cables... Problem now is that I get 'noise' from from front-right speaker. It humm's when the dome light dimms off, and I also hear crackling noise when the radio is turned OFF... Yes, everything is grounded VERY WELL. The only thing I can think of is the LOC's causing it. The cables are the best that CC carried ($125 for the 4-channel set, brand is Tsunami). The LOC was a 4-channel by AXXESS (by Metra). So I replaced the AXXESS LOC with 2 2-channel Fosgate LOC's. Same thing, still get the noise.
So getting really fed up right now, I'm thinking about going with an aftermarket HU with pre-outs. Hopefully that will eliminate the noise from the LOC's.
My question is though, if I get a good quality HU, will I still need the amp that is powering the 4 speakers?? In terms of what HU to get, I'm thinking
something simple but good quality, in the $300-$450 range, probably by Alpine, Pioneer, or Eclipse. I know when I bought the Alpine amp, it wasn't very expensive, so I'm wondering if the amps that are built into new HU's are better than what I currently have..??.. What do you all think?
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Senior Member
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 1,430
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From: Northern California
Originally Posted by BestNTx
Well I have the Kenwood DPX 301 head unit and just bought the alpine mrp f250. I know i had a system hooked to stock head unit and when i hooked it to the aftermarket head unit it sounded 10 times better due to the direct gold plated rca preouts. I would deffinetly suggest getting a new head unit and keeping the amp. The internal amplifiers on the head units are severely overated as far as wattage goes. Most HU's that say 50x4 are more like 10-20x4. I have the kenwood but i would go with an alpine head unit, have heard nothing but good things about them.