installing eq and amp to stock hu

[treefitty]

i would like to keep the stock head unit, but i want to add an eq and 5 channel amp to power aftermarket speakers and sub. how would i connect the eq and amp (particularly the eq) to the stock head unit? the eq is the kenwood kgc-4042a. the eq only allows for one set of pre-out inputs. if i use a loc, would i just use it on one set of speaker leads, then hook the rca's to the eq. or do i need a loc for front and rear speaker leads then use y-adapters to take the front to a single rca and the rear to a single rca. then hook up the single front and rear rca's to eq. also, do i need to get the speaker levels before or after the stock amp? hopefully this made sense.

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[Altima718]

I think I know what you were trying to say. If I understood you right, you basically don't want to spend money on another deck. I tried that when I first started, but it's much easier in the end to buy a good deck and start new. Usually when you stick w/ a stock HU, it doesn't put out enough umf. If you do keep the old HU, radio shack sells just the part you need to get around that rca problem. It's an rca-speaker wire transfer. However, I don't recommend that only because it can lead to interference down the road if not hooked up correctly. My advice, save up and buy a good deck. good luck.

Alti

 

[treefitty]

Thanks for the reply. When you said the stock head unit would not put out enough umf, what does umf mean? I assumed it meant power, but I want to make sure. Is the rca-speaker wire transer the same thing as a line out converter? Basically, I'm not going to buy a new head unit. I used to have a very nice pioneer in my old car a few years ago which ran a pretty decent system. But since it got stolen twice (I had the faceplates with me), I've determined it's not worth the extra money. Because it's not just money for a new hu, it's also extra money for a better than factory alarm. with the stock hu and so-so factory alarm, no one knows what's in the car and passes it by. So I'm hoping that you and/or some others could help me figure out the best way to hook up the eq to the factory deck. Once I get that, it's pretty much down hill from there as far as wiring up the amp. Any help offered is greatly appreciated.

 

[mykeys 10+ year member]

Altima hit it pretty much on the mark.. If you must keep the stock deck, then you must either use the lineout converters( yes it is what He was talking about) or find an EQ with a speaker level inputs.

Mike

 

[treefitty]

perfect. now, what i was trying to figure out is that the eq has input for only one set of rca's. with a loc, do i just need to connect it to the front or rear speaker wires then connect to eq (and from there the eq will send signal back out to front and rear speakers)? or do i need to connect a loc to each front and rear speaker wires (this would give me 2 sets of rca's) and then use a y-adapter to take the front pair of rca's and rear pair of rca's down to a single rca connection. this would give me a single rca for the front and a single rca for the back. i hope i explained that well enough. thanks again for the help.

 

[mykeys 10+ year member]

If the RCa only has one input I would connect from the front speakers. BTW why would you wanna use a Y adapter to combine two channels? Why not use them for one thing or another or just leave them unconnected.

Mike

 

[lamontjersey 10+ year member]

if you need line-out converters, i have some, 5 dollars including shipping each for the white ones only , i can sell them to you through ebay or directly, paypal or check email me at lamont_jersey@yahoo.com please dont contact me via car audio i never read those things

 

[lamontjersey 10+ year member]

what he is saying is this, his head unit has speaker level front and rear out put, but the eq only allows one low level input, and he doesnt know if he should connect the front or rear or both to the input of the eq.

the answer is, you can connect either the front or the rear, it doesnt matter, once you connnect it you wont be able to fade with the head unit anymore, the eq will take over the fading. ( i dont think you are supposed to combine front and rear rca's i t hink that can harm the stereo normally, however, if you use two line out adapters, you might be able to do it because they will actually be isolated from the stereo via the tiny transformers inside the lineout converters)

after you connect the front or rear input of the head unit into the eq , you will be able to fade front to rear and adjust the sub woofer volume all with the eq.

 

[treefitty]

lamontjersey - that's it!!

I'll just connect the front.

Thanks to everyone for their input.

 

[lamontjersey 10+ year member]

its christmas and i admire people who do things as inexpensively as possible, if you want the white and red line out converter, email me a shipping address and i willmail it to you for free, just when ever anybody asks you about it tell them where you got it from. shipping should only be about a dollar so i will pay for that too.

 

[treefitty]

i appreciate the offer lamontjersey, but i already have a loc. i don't want to just take it because you are offering it for free. so maybe there's someone else on the forum that could benefit from a free loc. thanks again for your kindness.