recommendations on how to wire up new system

[slreno]

ok i will try to explain this as best as i can without getting everyone confused, including me!

i have a pioneer head (deh-x6500bt) it only has 2 pre outs and one can be a sub out that is controlled from the 6500bt from its menu.

i also have a 4 channel pioneer amp (gm-d8604) and it has a left and right rca ins and a pre out..

i have 4 full range speakers 2 in front doors and 2 in rear panels of my supercab f150 and i am hooking up a low profile sub under the rear seats.

now the ideal solution would be for my pioneer head to have 3 pre outs 2 for full range and 1 for sub but it dont have it. soooo what is the best way to hook this up so that i can control my sub from the head. ohhhh and i am not opposed to adding a second amp to the pioneer amps pre out for the sub only.

i assume i am probably going to be able to get this hooked up rite but my thinking is i am going to lose my fader control for front and rear speakers because of only having 2 pre outs (one of which is a sub out) would this be correct?

now i also read in my manual that i can hook up a sub to the speaker leads and when it is done this way it says to use the green wire and green with black stripe. since pioneer is giving this option in the manual does this mean that if i do use a sub with the speaker leads instead of the pre out (rca) that pioneer has enabled the sub control from the head using the green and green with black stripe also? if so then that seems to be the best way since i would still have the use of my fader for the front and rears because they would be hooked to the pre outs as full range speakers and the sub through the speaker leads.

this is where my confusion is coming in.. i am really trying to find a way to hook all of this up and be able to keep fader control for fronts and rears (door and rear panel speakers)

hope i didnt confuse anyone. and thanks for any help in advance!

steve

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[Joebobclark 10+ year member]

Looking at the manual for that amp, it appears that it will drive all 4 channels from input to the "Input A" RCA jacks.... Set the 2ch - 4ch switch to 4ch, connect front output from deck to "Input A" RCA jacks. Set Rear RCA to Subwoofer in the deck, run to subwoofer amp.

 

[slreno]

just read the manual and i see where it says if head only has one set of preouts to run it to a and select 4 channel but it doesnt really come out and say it will run all four channels with only the a input connected. can anyone confirm this? and one more thing i am thinking of rite now.

is the single left and right preout on the head going to pass all four speakers through the single set of preouts? (front and rears)? in other words is the front preouts on the head going to run the left front and rear on the left preout and the right front and rear on the right preout?

sorry if i am starting to make this sound confusing.

 

[Jepalan]

Option 1:

Connect Front L/R RCAs from head unit to Input pair A on 4-ch amp.

Connect Rear L/R RCAs from head unit to Input pair B on 4-ch amp.

Set 4-ch Amp to 4-channel mode

Set Head unit to full-range "Rear" RCA output mode.

Connect RCA L/R outputs from 4-ch amp to the sub amp inputs.

Set crossovers and gains correctly & good to go.

Option 2:

Connect Front L/R RCA outputs from HU to 4-ch amp Input pair A & Input Pair B with Y-Cables

Connect Rear/Sub L/R RCA outputs from HU to Sub Amp inputs

Set HU output to Subwoofer

Set 4-ch amp to 4-channel mode

Pros of Option 1 are that you can use you HU to fade front/rear, but cannot use HU to set subwoofer crossover & level (must do this on sub amp)

Pros of option 2 are that you have full control of sub crossover freq and levels at HU, but cannot control F/R fade (set via gain on rear output channels).

 

[slreno]

seems option 2 would be a better setup wouldnt you think, because once you get the gains set rite (actually useing the gains as fader control) then they virtually never need changed again since seating cant be changed and once its set really stays there!

and the sub can be controlled via the head which will be used a lot more than the fader.

think i am going with option 2.

will there be any audio loss at all by splitting the rca's ,,my head only has 2 volt preouts.

 

[CrossoverOre 10+ year member]

run front rca's from deck to input a on the amp. Select 2ch input on the amp, that allows just the one input to operate all 4 ch's of output. Then run rear rca output from deck to sub amp. Select sub output instead of full at the deck and that will give you a sub level control. No need to do y's on the rca's. Do it this way and it will work great.

 

[slreno]

run front rca's from deck to input a on the amp. Select 2ch input on the amp, that allows just the one input to operate all 4 ch's of output. Then run rear rca output from deck to sub amp. Select sub output instead of full at the deck and that will give you a sub level control. No need to do y's on the rca's. Do it this way and it will work great.

i am going to try it this way.. because this would be the best i think, but i need to be sure the amp will output all four channels with only one input.. i will find out for sure because am going to try this way first.

thanks

 

[Jepalan]

i am going to try it this way.. because this would be the best i think, but i need to be sure the amp will output all four channels with only one input.. i will find out for sure because am going to try this way first.thanks

Sorry. I didn't see that the amp had 2-ch input mode. (should have read more carefully). This will work fine. I can tell from the amp manual stereo/bridged wiring diagram that when in 2-ch input mode the amp will internally connect input A to input B (left to left and right to right).

Connect HU front outputs to input A of 4-ch amp and set it to 2-ch input mode. No y-cables needed.

Set HU rear/sub output to sub mode and connect to sub amp input.

Will definitely work fine.