I'm Stumped! (Stock to Aftermarket Integration)

[scionic-breeze]

I have an '08 tC with the base model Pioneer sound system. I think the little 6" stock sub sounds like butt, so I wanted to put in a better sub. I'm working with a 10" Rockford P3 & a Kenwood KAC-8104D.

I still have my stock headunit, so I got a low-level output converter, so that I could hook up RCAs to run to the amp. I tapped into the rear speakers (yellow/brown & red/white) and the gray ACC wire for the remote turn on. I've verified that the speaker taps are actually hitting wire & they're all reading 6.2 volts.

I have run a 4g fused power wire from the battery... it is reading 12.4v at the back of the car. The remote wire is reading 12.4v at the back, also. The ground wire is grounded underneath the rear seat

The amp IS powering on.

I'm getting no signal from the amp to the sub. I then tested the RCA, and do not appear to be getting any signal down the wire, either.

I thought maybe the converter was bad... I happened to have another one & again, same results.

What am missing? I've checked the levels, the gains, all the obvious (to me) stuff.

Any suggestions would be helpful! I'm going nuts! :threat:

[chyzdad]

Does you converter have multiple settings similar to that on the scoshe line out converter??? If so make sure you have them set the right...

[scionic-breeze]

No, the 2nd one I have is very simple:

http://app.infopia.com/img/image/fp/VPID/1583047/size/175

[tCMetaLFReaK]

I have the same amp (recently installed). What RCA are you referring to? If I read the manual right for this amp, its either the remote turn on wire (to the speakers) OR the RCA, you can't/shouldn't use both.


Do not connect cables and leads to both RCA cable input jacks and the speaker level input terminals simultaneously, for this may cause malfunction or damage.

[scionic-breeze]

The amp does have two input types... low level (RCA) & High Level (Speaker wire). I wanted to use RCAs, hense the low level adapter pictured above. I think you're confusing those two hookups with the remote wire.

All amps must have a remote wire to function. It's the small(er) wire located underneath the power & ground terminals on the amp. This wire tells the amp that the radio is on, else the amp would be on 24/7.

[scionic-breeze]

Speaking of which, I think I'm going to temporarily try to hook up the amp using speaker wire & see if it works. At least that way I can knock a faulty amp off my list of possible problems.

[tCMetaLFReaK]

In the manual it states it senses the current of power. How I have mine, I used the remote power wire with my RCA inputs.

[scionic-breeze]

I used to do installs for a living and I've never seen an amp install that didn't have a remote turn-on wire? Do you have a picture of your install? You have my curiousity peaked now...

[tCMetaLFReaK]

http://inform3.kenwoodusa.com/manuals%5Ckac8104d.pdf

There's the manual. I have the RCA style hookup. Remote turn on wire and the RCA inputs. Didn't touch the speaker leads since I have an aftermarket kenwood H/U.
But I can take a pic later for you.

And I hear exactly what you're saying, but this must be a new feature for this series of Kenwood amp. I replaced an older model that would use exactly what you're talking about (converter to RCA and the remote power to sense turn ons), but this works differently.

[Spock]

ok check all the simple crap first. Is the radio faded to the front? Are you sure that you have the RCA's plugged into the inputs on the amp not outputs? Is there a crossover on the amp? Make sure it is set to LP or low pass. Is the amp in protection? normally indicated by a red light instead of green.

[Spock]

I have the same amp (recently installed). What RCA are you referring to? If I read the manual right for this amp, its either the remote turn on wire (to the speakers) OR the RCA, you can't/shouldn't use both.

you are really confused. The speaker wire and the RCA's must be connected to the line out converter. On the amp only high level(speakers) or low level(RCA's) can be connected.

[tCMetaLFReaK]

Did you read the amp's manual?
And I'm just asking, not being snooty :up:

[20bsp05]

whats up matt?? i am interested in this too and i am about to read this manual right now...i too do installs on the side and have hooked up countless Hight quality top of the line systems and i do not see how an amplifier could work without both. The remote wire sends the power from the head unit to the amp when the head unit is on and the RCA's send the signal to the amp that puts the sound out to the speakers/ sub i am by no means saying i dont believe you but as an installer i am VERY intrigued as to how an amplifier can work otherwhise, like i said i have not read the manual yet but i am starting now!!

back to the OP...did you check your ground with a tester?? if you are getting 12V from power and remote and are not getting power to your amp ( and your sure the amp works properly ) it must be a bad ground. my ground is behind the seat in my TC as well but finding a good ground was not as easy as finding a clean piece of metal. i had to use my voltometer with a ground test for a while to find a good, srong, stable ground. i would def. say bad ground bro try changing it and see if the amp kicks on. good luck man if you have any more questions feel free to ask i will do what i can to help.

[tCMetaLFReaK]

This amp is interesting. It uses either a remote power/rca hook up for after market stereos OR the speaker leads to sense that the unit should turn on for factory stereos. Believe me, I was a little confused right before I installed this puppy. On the right side of the unit is a plug where a dongle (or plug with wires) goes for the speaker leads.

When you see it, you'll get the idea.

The best way is probably just to ignore those speaker leads and use the remote turn on and RCA/converter (similar to what I have set up).

[20bsp05]

oo i see what you mean now...i have honestly never seen anything like it before...i honestly think it is a ground issue though...like i said in my last post i had to look around for a good ground even though one looked like it would be good it wasnt. in the end i used a self tapping screw into the bear metal right behind were the spare tire is, that was the best ground i could find and since i am running two amps and over 1000 watts of power i needed something stable.

[tCMetaLFReaK]

I used the bolt for the trunk tie-down behind the back seat for my ground and it works really well.

[Spock]

Did you read the amp's manual?
And I'm just asking, not being snooty :up:

Yeah I did read it. I saw exactly what you quoted. I was not trying to be a jerk or anything I am sorry if I came across that way.



Oh yeah and there are many amps that function this way where they have auto turn on's when connected to speaker level inputs. Another example is the Infinity BassLink and I want to say the new Kickers have it too but not 100%

[_Keith_]

Do this... tap both positive wires on the convertor to one speaker.. and both negative to the coresponding negative... or just tap the wires where it plug into the stock sub...

[scionic-breeze]

I have power to my amp, so I don't think the amp powering on is the issue... I think the problem lies somewhere towards the front of the car, but I cannot for the life of me figure it out!! I feel completely retarded because I've done 100's of installs in the past!!

When I use my volt meter, I'm getting 6.2v on all the tapped speakers going into the LOC. When I read the voltage of the rca inputs on the LOC I get 0. I've talked to tech support for the product, just incase I was missing something obvious, and he walked me through a bunch of things & came to the conclusion that the unit itself was bad. I just don't see this as an option because I have the same results with another scoche LOC I have... The odds are probably higher for me winning the lottery than having 2 bad, brand new LOCs!!

I was about to say forget it & hook it up with the harness (forget the RCAs all together) but I've seemed to have misplaced it! Doh!!

[tCMetaLFReaK]

Please keep us in the loop, I'm curious to see what happened. And I'll take a pic of my setup as well today.

[_Keith_]

I have power to my amp, so I don't think the amp powering on is the issue... I think the problem lies somewhere towards the front of the car, but I cannot for the life of me figure it out!! I feel completely retarded because I've done 100's of installs in the past!!

When I use my volt meter, I'm getting 6.2v on all the tapped speakers going into the LOC. When I read the voltage of the rca inputs on the LOC I get 0. I've talked to tech support for the product, just incase I was missing something obvious, and he walked me through a bunch of things & came to the conclusion that the unit itself was bad. I just don't see this as an option because I have the same results with another scoche LOC I have... The odds are probably higher for me winning the lottery than having 2 bad, brand new LOCs!!

I was about to say forget it & hook it up with the harness (forget the RCAs all together) but I've seemed to have misplaced it! Doh!!


Do this... tap both positive wires on the convertor to one speaker.. and both negative to the coresponding negative... or just tap the wires where it plug into the stock sub...

JUst try what I said man...

[scionic-breeze]

I'll be damned... it ended up being the LOC unit was bad! I took it back to the store, explained the situation, and the guy was really cool. He let me just get a new LOC unit itself & leave the old harness hooked up (not that it's that much wiring), but I plugged it in & I was golden.

So it really does look like I had 2 bad LOCs... what are the odds? I wish I could have that kinda luck with the lottery!

[tCMetaLFReaK]

Don't think you'd want that kind of luck :lol: