jbwm2311 Posted December 15, 2014 Share Posted December 15, 2014 Hi all I've just fitted a far better head unit to the car to replace the mid-line Clarion radio cassette. I know there has been a bit of chatter around this topic before, but I just wanted some clarity. How can I make the factory sub and little amp in the boot work with my head unit!! It's ample for my needs so I'm not keen on ripping out and fitting a new system, so trying this first. The old loom has two ISO plugs, which are accommodated by the supplied adapter harness and then the dreaded third pink plug which does something to the sub. It is a long thin plug, with two wires coming from it, and an earth. I'm guessing that this provides power to the sub amp. How do I, and onto what, do I need to splice these two wires wires to make the sub work again. With a bit of experimenting I thought I had it but instead all I got was the sub sounding like a helicopter - just going 'pop-pop-pop-pop' rapidly and with no volume control. Any ideas?! Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobtailrangie Posted December 15, 2014 Share Posted December 15, 2014 Cant help too much with the range rover side of the wiring but generally the blue wire from head unit will give a +12v to switch on the amp Aftermarkets amps just have a large earth, a large live to battery + the small remote wire from head unit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elbekko Posted December 16, 2014 Share Posted December 16, 2014 Is this of any help? You can find the full RAVE for the RRC here: http://rave.stringsandints.com/Discovery%20-%20Freelander%20-%20RR%20Classic.rar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbwm2311 Posted December 16, 2014 Author Share Posted December 16, 2014 Thanks for the wiring diagram - unfortunately I'm hopeless at decoding them. If I can dismantle it, or hit it with a copper hammer, I'm fine. If it involves wires, not so much... And thanks too Bobtail - I've got as far as getting power to it with a light red/orange wire spliced to the back-up ignition feed in the stereo loom so getting some power from there The earth is screwed to the back of the H/U. That just causes the fast popping helicopter noise so I guess the (other) black wire needs to go somewhere but god only knows where. Given it's such a basic system in principle, it can't believe it's impossible to cheat it into working with a newer head unit! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete3000 Posted December 16, 2014 Share Posted December 16, 2014 Looking at the diagram, you are probably only interested in the radio end? c2030 B=ground ry= audio signal probably low pass filtered for sub frequencies. Can either be low level phono type signal or speaker level output. depends on how clarion do it. Usually only bother with one sub out either left or combo of left and right mixed together. Guessing E6.5 / c213 is the remote power which switches the amp on when the radio is on. via the lead that says remote antenna or similar (blue) check with multimeter! Anything B is black or ground, except the speaker connectors, which must not be grounded, as the amps work pos and neg around the supply. LGO C412 is the perm fused +12v feed to the subwoofer, the purple and yellow (E6-5 knocks it off when you don't have radio on.) OR have alook at these http://www.nexxia.co.uk/product.asp?s=Harness%20Adaptor&c=Range%20Rover%20Harness%20Adaptors&product_code=H2L-RR http://www.nexxia.co.uk/products.asp?s=Car%20Stereo%20Fitting%20Kits&c=Range%20Rover%20Fitting%20Kits Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbwm2311 Posted December 16, 2014 Author Share Posted December 16, 2014 Thanks Pete - That's useful decoding. It's been so long since I looked at a wiring diagram that I'd forgotten it was all colour coded! If the RY gives the signal in to the sub then I may need to splice that into a speaker output wire to pick up a signal, perhaps? I can't believe that the clarion tape deck of 20 years ago was sufficiently sophisticated as to have a dedicated low frequency output! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrRob Posted December 16, 2014 Share Posted December 16, 2014 Take it to a good car audio fitter (not Halfords!) and save yourself the mither! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete3000 Posted December 16, 2014 Share Posted December 16, 2014 try either speaker out on low volume or if it's overdriven, use a phono subwoofer out if your new deck has one. otherwise have a look at the converters in my link. You may need something to reduce the speaker level down to 1.5v or so and act as a low pass filter. low pass filter http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fixapart-Subwoofer-crossover-/281526009997?pt=UK_In_Car_Technology&hash=item418c42008d You would still need low level inputs to this though, not speaker level. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete3000 Posted December 16, 2014 Share Posted December 16, 2014 high to low converter http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Car-Auto-High-Level-Speaker-to-Low-Level-RCA-Output-Line-Phono-Convertor-Adapter-/111393023065?pt=UK_In_Car_Technology&hash=item19ef8aa459 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
task Posted December 18, 2014 Share Posted December 18, 2014 I've just replaced the head unit in my 93 RRC that has the high spec subwoofer and speaker amp audio setup. The normal stereo feeds a low level input to the amps, I cut the connector plug off and soldered on RCA connectors, my head unit has connectors for front/rear/sub RCA outputs so this was easiest option for me. My headunit now drives the factory sub and speaker amps, think there are some photos in my members vehicle thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KingTrail Posted February 16, 2022 Share Posted February 16, 2022 Hello from Germany. I know this conversation stopped years ago. But as I'm facing a HU change in my 1995 LSE with Harman/Kardon high spec sub and amps, I thought you, task (or anyone else who performed this change) could provide info about how you did the wiring and what wires (color) are feeding which speaker. I'm considering using Rockford Fosgate RCA to line adapters to link the front/rear/sub pre outs of the new HU to the existing low level lines connected to the original amps. Does anyone know the impedance and the RMS-Power of the original H/K Speakers and Sub of the high spec Audio System? I'm planning to change all speakers to new ones with keeping the original amps. And I don't want to overwhelm the original amps with oversized speakers. Here's the information I've gathered so far: Front Speaker: Low: 5.25" RMS: ? Impedance: ? Mid: 4" RMS: ? Impedance: ? High: ? RMS: ? Impedance: ? Rear Speaker: 4" Coaxial RMS: ? Impedance: ? Sub: 6,5" Dual Voice Coil RMS: ? Impedance: ? Any further information or confirmation of the existing is welcome. Thanks, David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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