[ixius]

Ok, I am not 100% sure if I am even in the right area for this. I was informed by several installers that I am going to need to bypass the onboard amp to get my aftermarket equipment to work, what I am wanting to do is use the existing headunit and put in an amp to control my mids and highs, and another amp to control my sub.

Do I need to bypass the onboard amp to do this, if so will I lose my steering wheel controls?

Any guidance you guys can provide would be greatly appreciated.

I am new to the forums

 

[Cool_V_300C]

Ok, I am not 100% sure if I am even in the right area for this. I was informed by several installers that I am going to need to bypass the onboard amp to get my aftermarket equipment to work, what I am wanting to do is use the existing headunit and put in an amp to control my mids and highs, and another amp to control my sub.

Do I need to bypass the onboard amp to do this, if so will I lose my steering wheel controls?

Any guidance you guys can provide would be greatly appreciated.

I am new to the forums

The answer is NO, you don't "have" to bypass the amp. In fact
does your car have Navvoice or Uconnect? If it does, you want
to keep the amp in the chain otherwise you'll lose the audio for
those features.

First things to confirm is your car actually has an amp, you didn't mention
which sound group option the car came with. If it is sound group I or
II, or says "Boston Acoustics", they you definitely have an amp.

If so, you have options:

1. PAC c2a-chy: This is an adapter that gives you 2 sets of pre-outs to
add aftermarket amps, plus the pre-outs

2. JL Audio Cleansweep and summing unit: You will use the summing unit
to combine all of the outputs from the stock amp into a full range signal,
then the cleansweep will apply eq and smooth the signal and provide
you pre-amp outputs to run to a set of aftermarket amps

3. Rockford Fosgate 3sixty.1 or .2: Same as above, except you now
have access to the adjustments via bluetooth pda or laptop

4. AudioControl LC6 or LC8: This is a unit which will sum your stock
amp outputs and give you pre-out signals for aftermarket amps. It
does not have equalization features or smoothing of the signal
that items 2 and 3 do, but it gets the job done.

There are many others, but I think you get the idea. Notice in the
above that I have not stated that you need to bypass your stock amp.

 

[ixius]

Hey Cool,

The car has a Boston Acoustics system in it, it is not a NAV or UConnect system just a single disc CD/SAT system.

I have confirmed that there is indeed an amp under the left part of the steering wheel, it is silver. I have not yet pulled it out or anything.

I was looking over the AudioControl LC8 (I assume I have 8 interior speakers, I have not confirmed this yet).

With the rockford system I have seen people stating that you lose the wheel controls, this is kind of important to me that I do not lose these. Can you confirm whether or not this is true?

Just to confirm, I do not need to bypass the amp?

 

[Cool_V_300C]

Hi,

If you have sound group II, you'll have the 8 speaker system, unless
something changed in the 2007 year.

none of these items will cause you to lose your steering wheel controls.
I'm not sure why someone would tell you this information. In fact
if you bypass the amp, you will have steering wheel controls. And
if you leave the amp in and connect after the amp, you will STILL have
steering wheel controls.

The only problem I've seen with this is when you connect to the
radio before the amp, and leave the amp connected to the radio. In
this case only, you will not be able to control the volume from
the steering wheel, but everything else will still work.

All of the options I've given you (except the PAC piece) will connect
AFTER the stock amp, so there is no impact to your head unit at all.
The PAC piece is CAN-BUS compatible and is plug-and-play, so it will not interfere with your stock functions either.

There are many LC8 users here, maybe they can give some feedback
on this piece.

There is a also a member mr.INCREDIBLE on here and the lxforum, who
used the 3sixty in his system without any problems. He would be a good
resource if you go this route.

Likewise there are members who have used the cleansweep.

 

[ixius]

Hey Cool,

Again, thanks. I have decided I like the 3sixty.2 system and will likely invest in this, my only other question is with all of these systems (except the pac since you say it is plug n play?) will I need to do any cutting of the existing wiring?

Additionally, to confirm. If I do not bypass the amp your saying I will be able to use the volume control, but if I do bypass the amp I will likely lose the volume control however my other controls should continue working?

The volume is actually what I need to keep.

 

[mtroute]

Not to hijack the post but can I use the PAC c2a-chy in conjunction with the iPAC-CHY ipod adapter?

 

[Cool_V_300C]

Hey Cool,

Again, thanks. I have decided I like the 3sixty.2 system and will likely invest in this, my only other question is with all of these systems (except the pac since you say it is plug n play?) will I need to do any cutting of the existing wiring?

Additionally, to confirm. If I do not bypass the amp your saying I will be able to use the volume control, but if I do bypass the amp I will likely lose the volume control however my other controls should continue working?

The volume is actually what I need to keep.

You will have to do some cutting/splicing to install the 3sixty. But
it would only be to run the outputs from the stock amp to the 3sixty,
and from your amps you would need to run speaker leads back to
your speakers.

About the volume control, sorry for adding confusion, but you will
NOT lose the volume control with the 3sixty. One rule to remember,
if you leave the amp in and leave it connected, you must do all
wiring on the OUTPUT side of the amp.

If you tap right behind the radio, you will need to unplug the harness
at the amp, effectively bypassing it.

My own opinion is if you bypass the amp completely, you don't really
need any of the units we've been discussing. That is a different
discussion, however.

Bottom line, if you take the outputs of the amp and use the 3sixty
to sum them, you'll be fine.

 

[300CAWDDUB]

You will have to do some cutting/splicing to install the 3sixty. But
it would only be to run the outputs from the stock amp to the 3sixty,
and from your amps you would need to run speaker leads back to
your speakers.

About the volume control, sorry for adding confusion, but you will
NOT lose the volume control with the 3sixty. One rule to remember,
if you leave the amp in and leave it connected, you must do all
wiring on the OUTPUT side of the amp.

If you tap right behind the radio, you will need to unplug the harness
at the amp, effectively bypassing it.

My own opinion is if you bypass the amp completely, you don't really
need any of the units we've been discussing. That is a different
discussion, however.

Bottom line, if you take the outputs of the amp and use the 3sixty
to sum them, you'll be fine.

What he said.

Ive heard a few different cars with a 360 set up and it sounds great! (as long as the amps and speakers your plugging into it are of good quality anyway)

 

[ixius]

W00t,

I forgot about this thread, I bought a 3sixty.2 now my only question is, which wiring from the amp is the "output" I can only assume it is the smaller disconnect of the two which are connected, however when I disconnect this, sound still plays through the speakers... but when I remove the larger one, no sound goes out at all. Removing the smaller one only appears to kill any bass that I had.