Installing an aftermarket stereo

[revgolem]

Just an update if anyone is interested. I reqired my system to use the low power output to the EQ, then to the factory amps like i was planning. works like a DREAM. I just seperated the wires between the head and harness, put some connectors on the harness side and plugged them in!

[MatterHorn]

I have installed a major stereo in my Pathfinder and haven't run into any suck problems. If your worried about that amp jut run new wires. It not that hard to do honestly. I'm running a pioneer deck a 600 watt Panet amp. Front 6.5 inch neo's and 6x9 neo's in the back all concealed in original panels. I have fiberglassed the panels to create custom boxes and installed Resonant engineering 8's that pound. This took all of a day to do.

do you have some pics of this? ... I'd like to see how you did it ... thanks

[87pathy]

here are a couple of pics i took of the install. They were taken when i was done if you have any questions let me know.

 

stereo install

[Mr. Pickles]

Its extremely easy to just bypass the factory amps. 2 reasons for this: 1) Most aftermarket decks today can blow the old factory amps away in quality and power. 2) It eliminates any "guess work" and risk of damage to your speakers from the distortion that could be caused by running amplified signal from your new deck through another amp, then to your speakers. Use an aftermarket wiring harness, and just skip the connection of the speaker outputs from the deck to the harness. If you're not using an aftermarket amp, just run new wire from there to the speakers. The doors are easy, just note the coloring of the wiring at the back of the speaker, then you can tap into the wire from the harness behind the kick panel, just before it enters the door.

 

If you're running an aftermarket amp for your front speakers as well, its that much easier. Its easiest to mount the amps in back. You just run your power from battery and remote down one side of your truck (ground from the amp directly to the truck chassis as close as possible), and your RCA cord(s) and 2 speaker wires (for the front speakers) down the other side. The rear speakers are super easy to reach and run new wiring directly from the amps as all the panels and trim use either just a few screws or just snap in back there.

 

Its highly recommended that, if you're going to be driving the system very hard at all, and especially with subs, use at least crossovers built into your amp, install passive (really cheap!) or active crossovers (a bit spendy) to avoid blowing your speakers (and tweets if you have them).

[Trvlace]

 

Now taking bets on how long the stock speakers will last. I put a 40 Watt a channel JVC head unit and did not bypass the factory Nissan amps. It is loud. Sound quality is muffled. As expected I can run the volume up much over 30 and I know it will run up to 50 from where I had it last with out and amp.

 

I will keep it this way until I blow the factory speakers out then I will replace them with good speakers and run direct to the deck from them past the amps.

 

Trvl

[statikuz]

Sorry to make you guys read the first page again, but man, what's with people knocking Crutchfield? I got all my speakers and deck from them for just about the lowest prices I could find without shopping at Discount Jimbo's Bayou Electronics and I haven't had any problems. Their site claims that none fit, but I called them up and one of their techs knew the deal and said yep you can fit 5x7s without much trouble but you're going to have to trim out a little. This is true, the stock speakers in my Pathy weren't QUITE 5x7, but sure enough, took the Sawzall to the sheet metal, trimmed out a bit and the new ones [infinity] fit perfectly. I have no problems with them whatsoever.

[JonesyUSN]

i didnt bother to read all entries... but in reguards to disconneecting the factory amps... i did not.. i have a 92 se i put a cheap pioneer deck in.. i have two 6 polk 2 ways and 2 6x9 polk 3 ways. i assume the factory amp is still running though... i have a rockford 500 running one kicker comp vr 12.. and it pounds hard.. so hard in fact ive had to put my rear view mirror on several times.. now im to the point that i want another amp for my highs because i am in the process of cutting out the rear doors for some 8 inch subs and 4 tweeters in the corners of the cab..ill let you know how it goes

[flnl]

Mine speakers are killed. Every bass sound sounds bad...

I have (I gues they're stock) a k7 player (CK581) and a CD player (PV705) installed. Are they Bose? Or what brand? They don't have the logo.

I don't want to change the system for now, I just want to replace the killed speakers. But I heard someone say their impedance was 1 ohm. So I've looking in the internet for some tech info about these players. But didn't find any at all.

[flnl]

I found the K7 player on a auction site. It's a Clarion.

[jmcardamone]

Well, I got the deck working just fine. This may sound a little silly, but I hadn't hooked up the cigarette lighter prior to testing. I plugged it in and everything was good. I also replaced the 'room lamp' fuse before figuring out I had to plug the cig lighter in. As soon as I did this(replaced the fuse),

 

Check your ground. Ive found that sometimes Nissan's Black wire on the Harness will not Povide a Clean ground. by Hooking up the Cig Lighter may have connected your Ground. Allthough it should groud VIA the Antenna, IT may be an area to check. I know you got it working, just trying to shed some light on what may have happened

[hardwaretoad]

I've gotta agree with statikuz, I dealt with Crutchfield when I ran into a brickwall trying to find stereo gear while I was living in rural Nevada ~ a hopeless cause if ever there was one. They were professional, knowledgeable, and at the time (4-5 years ago) my '87 Pathy was included in their "What'll Fit" listings. All you have to do is call their toll-free number & actually speak to one of their sales reps. I selected a Kenwood KRC-607 cassette H/U, with their KDC-D300 CD player mounted under the dash.

I had them in 3 days from the East coast, included with them was 3 very complete diagrams to not only take apart the dash & remove the stock (Clarion) stereo ( which I'd done a couple years earlier), but also how to remove the front door panels & the rear quarter panels for the speaker installations. They also threw in free wiring hookups, an under dash mounting console, dash trim panel (black textured metal instead of plastic crap). Having allready replaced the speakers by way of a local shop, Alpine 6X9 3-ways in the rear & 6 1/2 3-ways in the doors, this wasn't needed, but if I'd had their sheets I would've probably tackeled this myself, having been charged an arm & a leg by the shop

Something I think I do remember is the shop telling me that the stock Clarion amp(s) were a positive ground rather than the more common negative ground. But then again, I might be confusing this with the stock Clarion I replaced in my RX7 (5 amps!). My '87 only had one amp as far as I know, located on the floor behind the center floor heater outlets in on the tranny tunnnel. So many cars..... so many stereos.....

When I ran into trouble trying to figure out where to tie the dimmer in, one call to them was all that was needed. They were able to bring up my wiring diagram from their data base, talked me thru tracing the wire I needed, and I was on my way.

Now this isn't to say that some folks might've run into probs, nobody's 100%, but you won't find me running them down from my experiences. There's allways another side....

[joeytattoo]

I have changed the stock stereo with a new one in my 88 pathy and I can't get the front channels to work . I have the rear ones working , I found an amp in the dash behind the radio and disconected it and used the output wires from the amp to the speakers to get sound but could only find wires for the back. Where would the other wires be for the front . :confused:

[ChromoTech]

Is there really an amp behind the deck? ive never really checked back there. mine is a 95 so it might be different (maybe)

[Slick]

Just a little hint if anyone is wondering where to installa bunch of stereo equipment..here's a couple of pics of how I did mine (ok..I picked..paid..chose locations and had it installed...I am soooooooooooo not safe with anything electrical).. I had the 2 amps mounted to the back of my seats..so I can still fold them down..I have a custom built (low/small) box that fits over the top of them made out of strong wood so tehy won't break if I pile anything on top of them...the 2x12's are completely removable if I go wheeling or need teh room..the wires are long enough so I can move the ANYWHERE within the back of my Nissy with the seats down....just a few hints if needed...

ok...my bf's computer is bein a butthead...so here's teh link to the pics of the stereo.... -thnkboutit- :X http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/slick8jeep/a...8jeep/my_photos

[Slick]

OH. let me just clarify the amps are mounted to a BOARD ...which is mounted to the seats...and I have (in stock speaker locations) 2 6x9's in back and 2 4x6's up front..and I hid my earthquake EQ in the glove box...fits nicely in there! -bounce-

[Guest audiosportconcepts]

my 88 has the stock clarion sound system and there is only one amp for the whole truck, and it is right behind the deck, when i put my system in, i just cut the output wires on the amp and put my output wires off my new clarion deck on to those wires. Worked great.It 's not an option to put high level input into the stock amp, becasue it had low level (pretty much looked like rca's) coming off the stock deck. I just took it right out and through it in the garbage.

[Guest hydropath]

I have a 94 Pathfinder. The front speakers (door and pillar) work fine but the rear speakers don't work. I tested them (larger speakers) with a battery and the cone moves and they make a sound so I think it is the amp controlling the rear speakers that has died. I installed a Pioneer stereo and it works fine on the front without sound in the rear. I pulled off the panels on the passenger side in the cargo area and found what looks to be three amps. One Nissan amp (gold) and a long rectangular Clarion amp and a smaller square Clarion amp. I would like to bypass the amps.

 

Are there connectors you can buy to do this without splicing, and if so where can I get them? If not can someone tell me what I need to do (splicing) to by-pass the amps. Just match the wire colors? What about crossover on the rear tweeters?

 

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

[Guest jaxybabe110]

ive got a 95 Pathfinder and me and my boyfriend installed the stereo blindly. the wiring system is really odd and we cant figure out how to get it to work we cant find any schematics online either. we did manage to get it hooked up but the volume is really loud on volume 2 and you can hear the cd change inbetween songs on the speakers. we want to do it right or possibly just rewire it by bypassing the amps because ive read thats easier. can anyone tell me how to access the rear speakers and front speakers so we can rewire this thing and get my darn stereo installed.

Edited March 2, 2005 by jaxybabe110

[statikuz]

Front speakers: take the door panels off.

Rear speakers: pop off the little grilles that cover the speakers in the roof of the cargo area (that's where yours are, right?)

[88pathoffroad]

Just use new speakers, they're close enough to work allright.

[nycxice13]

can i install a sub box with an amp without changing my stock system?

[Mr. Pickles]

can i install a sub box with an amp without changing my stock system?

Yes, its pretty easy. Get a line converter that attaches to a speaker wire and converts the signal to an RCA plug so you can run it to your amp (or you can find amps with speaker level inputs, but these are often lower end amps). Then find a switched power source, ideally the power going from the stereo to the power antenna, etc. and run it to the amp for the remote power. You can also use power from the cigarette lighter, the amp will just be on whenever the truck is, so you might get feedback through the speakers if you turn the stereo off and drive around, so just turn the volume all the way down if you want if off instead. From this point, just wire it up like any regular install.

[nycxice13]

thanks im gonna go pick up some subs today

[Mr. Pickles]

By the way, the converters seem to be a bit tough to find anymore, but I did see one at of all places, Walmart, for cheaper than I paid at a stereo shop (not for the Pathy, for our Acura). I think it was only like $10 or $15. Happy hunting, and good luck. It should be no biggie to hook the sub up without and aftermarket deck. Post if you run into any snags.

[derogate]

I kind of quickly skimmed through this thread so forgive me if I'm asking a question that has been asked once already. I was hooking up one of my old crappy amps and a sub in my 95SE, and i knew already that the stock amps where going to bug me, but I didn't really care, i just wanted to hook up a little 8" base cannon to handle the low end sounds, and leave the system stock. but as previously stated, you have to turn the music up really loud to evne hear the sub at all.... especially for me considering the dinky sub im using. I have a 12" I'm going to put in later once I build a secure housing for it in the back. Anyhow, I *really* dont want to rewire all the speakers just to bypass the stock amps, is there anyway to cut power to the amps and still have the stock system work?