Radio recommendations

[socalgvr4]

Was told by a guy at the radio shop that our stock amps put out a very specific impedence on the speakers that are not stock, hence replacement of the speakers radio, and amp is necessary.

Is this true or bullshit ?

Also any recommendations-- I think I'd like to convert to single din, and have my gauges in cluster above it. And when I mean "cluster" -- not a cluster F&*^k.

Lemme know what you guys come up with.

Thanks.

 

What I would do is get a speaker impedance bridge and measure the speaker lines. (wires from the amp or radio that connects to the speaker or speakers) From there, you can design what ever system you want, if you wish to use the same speakers. Most amps and radios can handle 4 to 16 ohms safely. You have to know what you have.

 

[iceman69510]

I don't recall if you have a '91 or '92, but stock radio setups are different.

In my '91 I took out the stock unit and ran another Mitsubishi radio with no problem. The '91 stock radio does use the separate amp in the trunk. If you leave that unplugged, the speakers operate fine without it with a different radio.


In the '92s, the amp is built into the stock radio unit.

 

[iceman69510]

Oh, and the stock speakers state the impedance right on the back if you want to check them.

 

[gvr4ever]

Quoting iceman69510:
I don't recall if you have a '91 or '92, but stock radio setups are different.

In my '91 I took out the stock unit and ran another Mitsubishi radio with no problem. The '91 stock radio does use the separate amp in the trunk. If you leave that unplugged, the speakers operate fine without it with a different radio.


In the '92s, the amp is built into the stock radio unit.



Did your 91 have the CD player option? Did all 91s have a amp in the trunk, or just the CD player option?

 

[socalgvr4]

Yep mine has a cd.

The reason i posted this, is that the balance right/left is not working, and when fading to front, and over to the right with balance nothing...same when i do the rear.

so in effect only the drivers side speakers front/back only work.

So I was thinking that it was the AMP.

 

[iceman69510]

Quoting gvr4ever:
Quoting iceman69510:
I don't recall if you have a '91 or '92, but stock radio setups are different.

In my '91 I took out the stock unit and ran another Mitsubishi radio with no problem. The '91 stock radio does use the separate amp in the trunk. If you leave that unplugged, the speakers operate fine without it with a different radio.

In the '92s, the amp is built into the stock radio unit.



Did your 91 have the CD player option? Did all 91s have a amp in the trunk, or just the CD player option?



Mine had the CD. I think all have the amp though, as the CD is only connected with a DIN cable to the radio, and the amp wiring harness plugs into the radio as well. I'm no audio expert though. The factory manual wiring harness diagram doesn't clearly describe the internal routing, just the external connections.

 

[mikus]

i didn't know we had a factory amp, huh.

You can usually run 6 OEM speakers to your aftermarket 4-channel deck - impedance is important though. Basics are:
- the lower the impedance, the more juice your deck (or amp) delivers. Don't go below 4ohms on an aftermarket deck.
- aftermarket decks usually like the same impedance on all four amplification channels
- you can measure impedance with an ohm meter (found on many volt meters), and want to be between 4-8ohms per channel.

So what you do is:
OEM 6-speaker setups often run two speakers on one amplification channel by parallel or serial wiring, they do this so they can use a (cheaper) 4-channel OEM amp. You can usually use this same configuration on the aftermarket deck.

If you find where the speakers meet the factory amp, find 4 amplification channels there, and find impedance on all four channels is equal and between 4-8ohms, you can just wire it up to an aftermarket deck.

If you find there's 6 amplification channels, or that impedance is goofy/unequal numbers, you need to read up a bit on parallel/serial wiring a bit to address this. the wiring is not complicated to learn.