Sound System Jacked: Problems on Replacement Install
 

A few mornings ago, I hopped in my car to warm it up for work, and I noticed the majority of the center of my dash laying in my front seats and floorboard - plus a big gaping hole where my new Clarion mp3/CD player once resided. I took great pains to keep everything as close to stock as I could, so I bought a Clarion mp3/CD that illuminated the same color as my gauges - and man, it was hard to find. It almost looked like it was supposed to be there, with the help of Crutchfield. I replaced the front dash speakers with 4" Polks, and the door and rear with 6.5" Infiniti's. I simply plugged in my deck, and boom - decent sound from 6 speakers. I was happy.

Now, with no deck, I am not happy. But, what can you do? I just pray the little buggers that took my deck someday understand the peril in such activity. I went to Mazda and got an estimate on fixing my dash - which they busted up pretty good (close to 600 bones). And then, I went to a reputable car audio dealer and got an estimate to replace what was stolen in the way of an aftermarket deck (clost to another 600 bones). They sold me an Eclipse.

Brought it home yesterday, wired it up the same as my Clarion, plugged it in and DANG... No sound out of the door speakers. Good sound out of front dash and rear (balanced well and faded well with those 4 speakers). BUT, now I don't have any sound out of the doors??? I always solder my wires completely. I've pulled the deck and checked EVERYTHING. I just don't understand how there is no sound coming out of my door speakers and good sound everywhere else. And yes, the door speakers are still in my doors, too.

Iceman and Aaron - I always research for at least an hour before I post, and I just couldn't find a specific enough answer for this. I could use a bump somewhere in the neighborhood of factory amp troubleshooting - although I am having a hard time digesting how my door speakers worked before the Clarion was stolen, but now they don't...

Any help will be greatly appreciated as always... Thanks.

Sorry i can't help you, but Eclipse is such a nice maker of decks. And you should esplain how you connect your 6 speakers up, since i believe eclipse head units only have four outputs (FR, FL, RR, RL).

Sorry to hear about your loss.

Do you use an external aftermarket or factory amp for the door speakers, or are they powered by the front amp channels of the headunit?

Well... I buy a wiring harness adapter. Then, I solder the wires that match the deck with the kit. There was only eight wires connecting the adapter on the Clarion (Front - +/- and Rear - +/-) as with my new Eclipse. This is why I'm confused. I was assuming there is some kind of factory amp powering 'some' speakers in the car, because of the fact that my Clarion four channel deck could facilitate sound into 6 speakers. Thusly, my delimma is getting the best of me.

According to the 89-91 FSM, the door speakers are powered by an amp (one for each speaker), the inputs to these amps are tied into the front speaker channels of the headunit. The factory door amps are located on either end of the dash board, with the leads running into the doors.

So, either you burned out the amps with the high power of the head unit, or these's a separate fuse for the amps that blew, or the turn-on lead isn't connected.

You can either bypass the amps, or buy an aftermarket amp and run it off the front RCA line outputs on the Eclipse unit (instead of the speaker outputs).

Stop messing around with stock wiring or speakers.

Use good wire (16 gauge) for your speakers, strong connectors (butt connectors are fine) and good clean work.

Never use the stock wiring, especially on a car known for it's terrible wiring like the RX-7

I'm assuming there is some kind of factory amp powering the extra two speakers... This is why I'm confused. The same amount of speaker wires within my deck before produced or' facilitated' the production of sound in 6 speakers without modification. I would tend to assume there is a factory amp somewhere in the wiring of the system because of the above situation.

Adapter Kit (For both decks):
Power Supply
Accessory
Power Antenna
Illumination
Dimmer
8 Speaker Wires

people who break into cars should be shot, I'm luck enough to have garage space.

Get the 89-91 FSM, the Body Electrical System section, the links are located in the FAQ thread. It shows the location of the door amps and a schematic of the wiring.

Plus, reread my thead. The door speakers are powered by individual amps, one at each end of the dash board. Either they're not turning on with the headunit, blown, or there's a blown fuse for the amps.

Also, check the connectors to the door speakers themselves. Maybe those morons did try to steal your door speakers.

radio wires thread has been posted many times, use the search with "radio wires" to find the wiring.

You must hook up the correct wires, not just match what you did on a different radio.

NO! Do not hook up the correct wires.
Screw the factory wiring and crappy amps.
Put in new higher quality wiring and components.

What's it cost you to put in better wires and connectors, ensuring durability and longevity longer than the car will ever last... $15?

Sponge speaks great wisdom- I took my 'vert to have some "professional" audio shop do an install, and after being quoted an "additional" 150 for what they termed an "amplifier bypass" I thought - what ****tards- and did it myself, after working out the tricky power antenna glitch (thanks forum search!) without bypassing jack squat. I simply removed all the stock amps, tossed them out, and installed the new gear from scratch.

Aboslutely tru sponge, especially with such a nice head unit, if you need to get some cheap aftermarket stuff always check either

www.thezeb.com

-or-

www.ikesound.com

These sites are cheap and trusted greatly on the caraudio froums.

With all your help... I figured out the problem. I should have known when the turbo kit for my new deck (faceplate adapter) didn't work, that I should have looked into other things... Crutchfield's faceplat adapter was so bullet proof, I was able to piece it back together - post theft. Although the little buggers did take my wiring harness, they were nice enough to leave my dash adapter behind. Well, the wiring harness the pro audio place sold me doesn't power up the amps like the one from Crutchfield did. It is simple stupid wired for a four channel setup, thus wiping out the power for factory amp signaling to my door speakers.

You were right Ice... You can't just wire it up like the other, unless of course, you have the same wires - and I didn't.

Thanks again, fellas. AND, I sure wish I would have checked out those websites before I bought my new deck. There's some good deals there. But, I think I'll be happy with my Eclipse - and the fact that they have an ESN security technology that surpasses industry standards.

Viva septa...