inexpencive audio head

[Shuttleman]

Just bought one of these to replace the chrome aftermarket unit in mine. $89.

http://www.alpine-usa.com/product/view/ute-42bt

Should be an easy replacement.

[MooseDriver]

Nice! I was looking at a JVC KD-X200 but I think I like this Alpine more.

What do you have as far as speakers? Stock wiring?

[Shuttleman]

Right now, It's gonna be a plug and play and hook up the mic. I need to figure out what a previous owner did to the wiring on the factory amps.

[stokjeep]

Just bought one of these to replace the chrome aftermarket unit in mine. $89.

http://www.alpine-usa.com/product/view/ute-42bt

Should be an easy replacement.

FYI and YMMV ...

The installation depth of that Alpine is (W x H x D) in: 7'' x 2'' x 6-3/8'' ( 3-3/8" being the depth of mounting ) ....

I put in a JVC KD-X80BT With Installation Size 7-3/16'' x 2-1/16'' x 6-5/16'' (181.6 x 51.6 x 159.2mm)

The JVC is a already a bit too DEEP in the hole and tilts slightly down as the back end is pushed "up" the slope of the trans tunnel

I am gonna end up sourcing a small spacer ( 1/8" or 1/4" ) to pull my headunit out a bit to sure the sloped install ...

[Shuttleman]

Guess I'll measure/compare the existing and new DIN boxes and know tomorrow! The Crutchfield database showed it as a drop in, not that they are 100%.

[Shuttleman]

The alpine head is about the same depth as the other head was...and all the padding back there was still in.

[Shuttleman]

Somebody butchered the wiring..... but I expected that. The trunk amp has wires cut.
Time to get out the wiring diagram....It's possible that some of this could be my current drain.

[Shuttleman]

Rather than installing a floating neutral adapter looks like he may have just hardwired the speakers and then cut the amp out.

Rather than using the existing power lines etc. he may have just run new wires. Not unusual. Here are the now unused amp inputs.

[Shuttleman]

....that connector was incase there was a fader installed.

[Shuttleman]

I'm not going for originality and I doubt the factory amps were THAT great.... best solution might be to just plug in a small Alpine booster after I check the speaker wiring and pull out the old amps.

[MooseDriver]

Thanks for posting all this, I'm following this thread closely as I'll be most likely doing this in my car soon. Just trying to figure out the differences between your cars setup and mine...do you have a fader and/or the premium factory speakers? My 85 has a fader in the console and the basic 4x6's all around. I don't think I have a factory amp in mine, but I'll check by the antenna next time I get a chance.

My wiring looks about as messed up as yours does, I'm really thinking about running new wires to new 4x6's in the original enclosures (if I can find some that will fit) and driving them off the head unit. Won't make for really full sound, but it'll do for now at least.

The manual for your new head unit mentions reinforcing the unit with a metal mounting strap at the rear. How does the unit fit in the slot without this support?

Thanks again!
-Shane

[Shuttleman]

Most manufacturers recommend a strap. They don't want the cantilevered head bouncing about. Do a good job on the clips and with so little room in there you should be fine. Mine has the BMW amp in the corner of the trunk. One nice things about the Alpine heads is that if later you want a little more power, you can just plug in the 445A power box....if you can find room under the dash for it.

[Shuttleman]

Clean and easy to retrofit later if needed.

http://www.alpine-usa.com/product/view/ktp-445a/

No extra wiring needed

[Shuttleman]

This connector is on the radio end of the harness that goes to the factory installed amp mounted in the trunk. I'll try to fish it out of the way.

[Shuttleman]

Somewhere along the line, the factory Blauplunk amp got bypassed. The connector from the factory head got unplugged and the amp outputs (in the trunk) got clipped and new wires spliced into these wires leading to the speakers. Someone either didn't want to install the adapter between the old Kenwood replacment head (maybe $15-20) and the factory amp or the amp could have been bad......

The new Alpine head has 25 watts RMS per channel. If that isn't enough, I can always add the Alpine power boster.

[bakemono]

I'm really thinking about running new wires to new 4x6's in the original enclosures (if I can find some that will fit) and driving them off the head unit.

I just installed a pair of pioneer ts-g4644r in the front of my 633. I had been looking at ts-g4643r and lucked out on getting the '44s for the same price even though they are higher wattage. They don't fit flush like the stock ones (I haven't seen any new speakers that do...) so I opted to leave the stock plastic covers off. But they don't rub the glovebox or hood release.

I haven't replaced the rear speakers yet. I'm debating cutting the lids to fit a pair of round speakers I have. Or I could buy more 4x6's. Then I will disconnect the fader and use the stock wiring for the rears, with new wires for the fronts in place of the old ones that were common between front and rear. It seems like all the speakers I see now are 4ohms unlike the stock ones which were 8ohms. Hence it is better to run them on separate channels rather than tied together through the fader. My head unit is an older Pioneer DEH-1500 (50W or 22W RMS per channel), and IIRC it says in the manual that 4ohms should be the minimum impedance.

[Shuttleman]

Interesting ....tech support at Schoche (sp?) Said that the stock factory amp should work with new heads if the turn on line is attached.

[Sprocket]

FYI and YMMV ...

The installation depth of that Alpine is (W x H x D) in: 7'' x 2'' x 6-3/8'' ( 3-3/8" being the depth of mounting ) ....

I put in a JVC KD-X80BT With Installation Size 7-3/16'' x 2-1/16'' x 6-5/16'' (181.6 x 51.6 x 159.2mm)

The JVC is a already a bit too DEEP in the hole and tilts slightly down as the back end is pushed "up" the slope of the trans tunnel

I am gonna end up sourcing a small spacer ( 1/8" or 1/4" ) to pull my headunit out a bit to sure the sloped install ...

I installed the same unit in mine, and had plenty of room. I did, however, mangle the evap temp sensor the first time I tried to insert it and with a little shove at the end. If I had just pulled the wiring from the back, as I pushed the unit from the front, it (the wiring) would have been out of the way. After a new sensor (no A/C without one) and more care, it went it with no problem.

I really like that unit.

[Shuttleman]

Well, finished installing the new connector and tidied up the remaining wiring behind the radio. Lots of strange non-factory wiring. Well, not only does the radio not work, but the car will not crank!

[hornhospital]

Sounds like a typical radio install to me.

[Shuttleman]

It's not usually too bad starting from scratch.... but when someone has already been in there being "creative"....... When you have "non-factory" wires hanging out and you can't trace them back.

[Shuttleman]

....it's been way too cold in the garage to finish this!

[mattv228]

been staring at this thing for the past month. Its 100$ at best buy right now but my wiring is so butchered i have no idea where to start installing mine

[MooseDriver]

been staring at this thing for the past month. Its 100$ at best buy right now but my wiring is so butchered i have no idea where to start installing mine

Same here, didn't know it was carried locally for that price, that may be enough to convince me to pull the trigger.

I hear ya on the wiring, mine has had some aftermarket butchering as well, to include a car phone being wired into it. My plan is to follow the color coding in the ETM to ID the power/ignition/ground/illum/antenna power, splice in some new leads from these (what's a few more strands added to the rats nest at this point!), and run new speaker wire to all four corners. I hmmed and hawwed about all the subwoofer options (below rear seats, powered mini sub on rear floor, or even under-seat custom box build) but I think I'm going to settle with 4x6s up front and probably 6x9s on a custom rear shelf. Should be plenty, considering I'm just fine with my current setup of the old stock radio and 1 of 4 speakers working

[mattv228]

been staring at this thing for the past month. Its 100$ at best buy right now but my wiring is so butchered i have no idea where to start installing mine

Same here, didn't know it was carried locally for that price, that may be enough to convince me to pull the trigger.

I hear ya on the wiring, mine has had some aftermarket butchering as well, to include a car phone being wired into it. My plan is to follow the color coding in the ETM to ID the power/ignition/ground/illum/antenna power, splice in some new leads from these (what's a few more strands added to the rats nest at this point!), and run new speaker wire to all four corners. I hmmed and hawwed about all the subwoofer options (below rear seats, powered mini sub on rear floor, or even under-seat custom box build) but I think I'm going to settle with 4x6s up front and probably 6x9s on a custom rear shelf. Should be plenty, considering I'm just fine with my current setup of the old stock radio and 1 of 4 speakers working

That set up looks awesome. And I may just run new wiring. My was a butchered alpine set up from the 90s. May spend some days wiring it with it being 70 here in Texas