this amp has a separate harness that simply plugs inline with the factory to provide everything you need. anyone have any experience with this? the reviews i found seem to say its pretty good for what it is. obviously not the best amp going but for better sound without a ton of wiring, and for us factory nav guys this seems like it might be alright. just curious what the more knowledgeable audio guys think.

 

I have the THA555 in my truck. I'm happy with it. The plug and play makes it very easy to install, but I think Blaupunkt has discontinued the harnesses. If you can't find one then you may have to make your own, but then it sort of defeats the reason to choose this amp in the first place.

 

what would you rate it in terms of sound quality?

 

I looked at a few different online sources for the plug-n-play harness and all list it as disconnected. Unfortunately the closest dealer is over 100 miles away so I didn't even bother investigating further. Metra makes adapters that plug into the radio and into the car harness allowing you to make your own like Windsor says. And like he says you might as well consider other amps with speaker level inputs too at that point. Or even something like the JL Audio Clean Sweep or Rockford Fosgate 3.Sixty which the guys over at DIYMA are telling me I pretty much have to have to get good sound quality from the factory head unit. That's driving my upgrade cost up higher than I had wanted to spend.

 

What matt_m says is probably right. The amp reproduces the exact sound coming out of the head unit. After reading up on the 3sixty, I ordered one, so I'll be installing it in the near future. I'm pretty sure the high and very low sound levels are cranked up and the mids reduced out of the factory HU. My system's highs are a little too brilliant and it lacks mid-range. If you don't have plans for a sub and a means to power it, your system will be lacking. Getting a 5 channel amp would allow you to do both. The 555 has enough power for me, but I'd probably done something different had I planned on the 3sixty at the beginning, since I don't need speaker level inputs with that device.

 

I LOVE my 3Sixty.2!!!

 

why cant there just be preouts on these factory units. would make things much easier