Stereo Question On 2004 Spec V

[darimont]

Hi all,
I new here and I'm glad I found this great board.

I have a new spec v and am going to put a different head unit in and have a question for you. I took the stock head unit out and noticed there are 3 plugs on the back instead of two. The wiring plug adapter that came with the new head unit only has two plugs. I was wondering what the 3rd plug on the stock setup is for, (maybe a CD changer)?

Thanks for the Help.
Dan

[sr20de4evr]

what does it look like?
Is it a skinny black plug?

If so that's the antenna

[darimont]

sr20de4evr,

Thanks for the reply.

Its not the antenna. This plug has 6 or 8 wires coming from it

[sr20de4evr]

I only had 2 plugs other than the antenna if I remember right, and I only used one of them. One had all of the speaker wires, I just left that one alone since it was pretty useless, the other had things like permanent power, switched power, ground, remote, etc.

[jonnyd91]

Its for the subwoffer in the rear deck you cant use it with the aftermarket radio just let it hang

[sr20de4evr]

The sub in the rear deck taps into the rear speaker signals, and it has it's own amp hanging in the basket below it, that plug on the back of the headunit is not for it.

[jonnyd91]

Originally Posted by sr20de4evr

The sub in the rear deck taps into the rear speaker signals, and it has it's own amp hanging in the basket below it, that plug on the back of the headunit is not for it.

mine is not like that i have no extra amp. the stock head unit is split to another channel in order to drive that sub therfore the third wire

[sr20de4evr]

yes there is an extra amp

I beat my to pieces with a hammer because that "sub" pissed me off by sucking so horribly, don't try and tell me there isn't an amp there

[jonnyd91]

Originally Posted by sr20de4evr

yes there is an extra amp

I beat my to pieces with a hammer because that "sub" pissed me off by sucking so horribly, don't try and tell me there isn't an amp there

sorry
my bad i was mistaking it for the stereo upgrade that comes with some cars. the thing is when that 3rd wire harness is unpluged that sub doesnt work. im not sure if the remote wire to that sub/amp combo is connected to the third harness or it is connected to the main two. I used a harness to install my head unit so I did not hook up the remote wire to anything. Also I dont know if it is like this on the older cars but my 04 seems to use the antenna as a ground for the radio. I just thought it was kinda strange. since the stereo only turns on with the antenna connected. Also the 04 radio is satillite ready not sure about the older cars mabye thats what the 3 harness is for. Reguardless i just left ith hanging and mine works fine (with out the sub) but im going to go in and find that remote wire to get the sub working

[sr20de4evr]

Don't bother, the little sub actually hurts the sound more than it helps it. It sounds crazy, but it really does, it sounds better without it playing at all.

[jonnyd91]

Originally Posted by sr20de4evr

Don't bother, the little sub actually hurts the sound more than it helps it. It sounds crazy, but it really does, it sounds better without it playing at all.

do you thin putting in an aftermarket speake with a small amp would sound good. I dont really want to take up too much space in the trunk with a big sub? that speaker is a 6 1/2 right?

[darimont]

Thanks for the replies guy's.

I also found out that if you unplug that 3rd plug the sub doesn't work. I find it odd that there are so many wires coming off that plug just to run a sub.

sr20de4evr,

So you say that the 3rd plug probably only supplies power to the sub amp. Wonder what all the other wires are for?

It sounds like I can just hook up the new head with the 2 adapter plugs and forget about the cheap sub and the other six speakers should work fine.

Thanks
Dan

[sr20de4evr]

Honestly I don't know what the 3rd plug goes to, I never remember having a 3rd plug on mine and I have that ghetto sub back there (or used to have atleast). If everything works fine without that plug except for the sub, then I don't see why you couldn't just leave it unplugged with your new headunit and be perfectly fine.

And yes, putting in new speakers with an aftermarket amp would sound MUCH better than stock. I can't tell you how much better, since the amp I have isn't exactly "small", but I guarantee you that you would be able to tell a very noticable improvement in sound quality.

[Fritz]

Hi,

Don't know if you still care or not, but the third plug you are looking at may be the prewiring harness for Sat. radio. Depending on the month your car was made, it includes the pre-wiring. Check your door jam to find out.

See ya.