I would like to hook up a 4 channel amp, to power my two rear doors and two front doors. Also, I would like to hook up a 2 channel to power a 10" sub in the rear panel. Can you hook up amps to the factory headunit?

I was also kicking around the idea of one of these.


With one of the kick panel deals, then two speakers in the front doors, the two speakers in the rear doors and maybe a tweeter aimed up high in the back, it should be plenty of sound for those long river trips. It would also look pretty close to stock, I would mount the amps under the front seats, or somewhere out of the way.

 

Since this is an amp question, I will answer the post in the amp section. YOU ONLY NEED TO POST YOUR QUESTION 1 TIME, NOT IN EVERY SECTION. But to answer your question, yes you can. You would need to purchase a line output convertor. This turns your speaker wire into rca connections. And since were at it DO A SEARCH BEFORE POSTING MULTIPLE THREADS WITH THE SAME QUESTION. We beat this topic to death once a week.

 

Chill out, it's Christmas time. :santa:

 

To preface--I have little experience with this, but bought an after market stereo for my car so I had 3 set of RCA outputs on the HU.
So where would you find this output converter, and would you be able have a 3 channel out put with this set up (ie:forward r/l; rear r/l; and nonfading (sub)? I would assume not, but it doesn't hurt to ask...
Also I would assume that you would have to find a way to reduce the voltage coming out of the OEM HU to OEM speakers, since you are putting those HU outputs into an external amp, right (unless your amp had a **** or switch for this)? Or would this output converter keep those speaker lines at the output level (5 volts) like aftermarket heads with two or three sets of RCA outputs?
Thanks,
HAM

 

You should be able to find the convertors at any place that carries car audio. Even Walmart carries a 4 channel model from Scosche. I have not seen one that is 5 channel capable but, there may be one.

I put my factory stereo in while I search for a new aftermarket and I used a simple 2 channel convertor from PAC. The convertor has a level adjustment to better match the oem output to the amp input. I used a y adapter on one of the channels and ran it into my sub channel so I basically made a 3 channel convertor out of a 2 channel. They really work pretty good and the factory head sounds alot better than most I have heard.

 

OK, I have the basic understanding of how this converter works. But do you have to use one for the forward speakers and one for the rear? I see only two RCA's on this. And a bunch of wires going into it. Still not 100% clear.

 

That depends on your amp and how you want to control it. If you have a 4 channel amp, alot of them allow for all 4 channels to be used with only one input. In this case, you would only need a 2 channel convertor. However, you loose the ability to fade between front and rear speakers with this method. If you need that ability, you would have to go with a 4 channel convertor.