BlueCrush's Head Unit install

BlueCrush · Post by **BlueCrush** » Fri May 29, 2009 2:51 pm

Connect the GM adapter to the output side of the Scosche:Connet the Head Unit harness to the input side of the Scosche:Overview of the Connections to the Scosche:The output connections to the Scosche:The Input connections to the ScoscheClose-up of the both input and output connections on the Scosche:Overview of the completed wiring harnesses:Front of the Head Unit assembly:Front view of the Head Unit assembly:Overhead view of entire assembly:Rear view of head unit and harness assembly:Head unit installed:Crappy Pic of the unit turned on:I abolutely love the sound. It's amazing! The HD Radio is Kick A$$!!!Thanks again to KeithVibe for his help on getting the wiring and harnesses sorted out. He helped me go from being "overwhelmed" to "this is a piece of cake".

ajflan · Post by **ajflan** » Fri May 29, 2009 4:17 pm

Nice install!

ColonelPanic · Post by **ColonelPanic** » Fri May 29, 2009 9:27 pm

Good job, BC! Looks great. I bet it sounds pretty good too. See, not so hard is it?

BlueCrush · Post by **BlueCrush** » Sat May 30, 2009 12:33 am

Quote, originally posted by ajflan Â»Nice install!Thanks, AJ.Quote, originally posted by ColonelPanic Â»Good job, BC! Looks great. I bet it sounds pretty good too. See, not so hard is it?Thanks, CP. IT sounds so good that I have to agree with Keith that there may not be a need to upgrade the speakers, unless I blow them out from crankin' it up...lol. Seeing as I only needed to connect 5 wires together and the other 8 from each harness connected to the Scosche in equal but opposite locations, it was easier than hard wiring in a Camcon. Again, thinks to Keith for helping me out (probebly while he was packing for the HCMO meet this weekend.)

keithvibe · Post by **keithvibe** » Sat May 30, 2009 9:30 am

Quote, originally posted by BlueCrush Â»Again, thinks to Keith for helping me out (probebly while he was packing for the HCMO meet this weekend.) Your correct I was packing. I am now posting from the hotel room in Erie. LOL Looks great. I sent you a PM for you to look over. Follow that info and you shouldn't run in to the problem I did when i did my install.Sorry to have rushed and gave you crappy photos to work with but i was in a hurry LOL

BlueCrush · Post by **BlueCrush** » Sat May 30, 2009 10:08 am

Quote, originally posted by keithvibe Â»Your correct I was packing. I am now posting from the hotel room in Erie. LOL Looks great. I sent you a PM for you to look over. Follow that info and you shouldn't run in to the problem I did when i did my install.Sorry to have rushed and gave you crappy photos to work with but i was in a hurry LOLThe pics work out great I saved then to my hard drive for future reference. Any other Viber's at the HCMO meet?

damronjr · Post by **damronjr** » Sat May 30, 2009 2:07 pm

Why the line converter if it didn't have enough terminals and you were going to have to make a bunch of external connections anyways?

keithvibe · Post by **keithvibe** » Sat May 30, 2009 2:09 pm

Quote, originally posted by BlueCrush Â»Any other Viber's at the HCMO meet?yep... but you have to come to a meet to find out who LOL

bull77 · Post by **bull77** » Sat May 30, 2009 11:07 pm

nice work!Quote, originally posted by keithvibe Â»yep... but you have to come to a meet to find out who LOLwe'll need to see some pics once you get back

BlueCrush · Post by **BlueCrush** » Sat May 30, 2009 11:16 pm

Quote, originally posted by damronjr Â»Why the line converter if it didn't have enough terminals and you were going to have to make a bunch of external connections anyways?The converter is for the 8 +/- speaker wires only.

cp_stunna_2011 · Post by **cp_stunna_2011** » Sun May 31, 2009 12:27 am

i connected the gm harness to the Pontiac harness and then crimped the aftermarket harness wires to the gm wires, that seems like ti would work better than that way, or do you have an ulterior motive?

BlueCrush · Post by **BlueCrush** » Sun May 31, 2009 1:58 am

Quote, originally posted by cp_stunna_2011 Â»i connected the gm harness to the Pontiac harness and then crimped the aftermarket harness wires to the gm wires, that seems like ti would work better than that way, or do you have an ulterior motive? No alterior motive. Ths Scosche is what was recommended to me to prevent the white noise issue with the M&T factory amp.

cp_stunna_2011 · Post by **cp_stunna_2011** » Tue Jun 02, 2009 6:23 am

oh, i see that makes sense, cool

HighMileVibe · Post by **HighMileVibe** » Tue Jun 02, 2009 8:46 am

The Scosche is a line level and impedance converter. The output of the stereo is setup for 4-8 ohm with full power. The input to the factory M&S amp is 1kOhm and looking for 1 volt max. By sending the speaker output into it, the impedence does not match resulting in loss of frequency response (bad highs and lows) and the output from the stereo will start distorting at higher levels - the white noise issue.Alternative connection: cut and strip some RCA cables and use the RCA outputs from the stereo. These are designed for 1kohm input amps. Though, after some reading, newer stereos are using higher voltages now to assist in lower distortion. Some of these are 2V, 3V and even 4V outputs on the RCA connections. If the factory M&S amp is designed to see 1V max, these higher level outputs can also cause overdriving the input of the amp but only at the higher levels. The impedance is matched so there are no frequency response issues.If you have some soldering ability and would like to make your own 2-4V down to 1V converter, I am working up a solution after some web research and testing on my new stereo (due in any day). I made some 5 dB attenuators for the RCA outputs to try first (1k Ohm in series, and 5 kOhm parallel) on each of the 4 RCA outputs because I saw the preamp outputs are rated at 2V. These 5db attenuators should bring the max output down to just above 1V. It was only a few dollars worth of resistors vs. the $30 module from Crutchfield.I also came across a "pi" resistor network that will convert your low-impedance output (4-8 ohm) into a high impedance amp (1 kOhm). I will run the math on it to make sure the values are correct and post it here. This would be the poor-man's option vs buying the scosche or PAC-OEM2 adapter.If you are asking how I know this stuff - 25 years in electronics and dabbled in electrical engineering many times.Here's what I bought but not are Crutchfield (www.savingslots.com for $229)http://www.crutchfield.com/p_1...specs

BlueCrush · Post by **BlueCrush** » Tue Jun 02, 2009 9:36 am

Quote, originally posted by HighMileVibe Â»The Scosche is a line level and impedance converter. The output of the stereo is setup for 4-8 ohm with full power. The input to the factory M&S amp is 1kOhm and looking for 1 volt max. By sending the speaker output into it, the impedence does not match resulting in loss of frequency response (bad highs and lows) and the output from the stereo will start distorting at higher levels - the white noise issue.Alternative connection: cut and strip some RCA cables and use the RCA outputs from the stereo. These are designed for 1kohm input amps. Though, after some reading, newer stereos are using higher voltages now to assist in lower distortion. Some of these are 2V, 3V and even 4V outputs on the RCA connections. If the factory M&S amp is designed to see 1V max, these higher level outputs can also cause overdriving the input of the amp but only at the higher levels. The impedance is matched so there are no frequency response issues.If you have some soldering ability and would like to make your own 2-4V down to 1V converter, I am working up a solution after some web research and testing on my new stereo (due in any day). I made some 5 dB attenuators for the RCA outputs to try first (1k Ohm in series, and 5 kOhm parallel) on each of the 4 RCA outputs because I saw the preamp outputs are rated at 2V. These 5db attenuators should bring the max output down to just above 1V. It was only a few dollars worth of resistors vs. the $30 module from Crutchfield.I also came across a "pi" resistor network that will convert your low-impedance output (4-8 ohm) into a high impedance amp (1 kOhm). I will run the math on it to make sure the values are correct and post it here. This would be the poor-man's option vs buying the scosche or PAC-OEM2 adapter.If you are asking how I know this stuff - 25 years in electronics and dabbled in electrical engineering many times.Here's what I bought but not are Crutchfield (www.savingslots.com for $229)http://www.crutchfield.com/p_1...specs Thanks for the interesting info. I would rather pay for the Scosche than try to make my own, but you post good info for those wanting to do that. I was also, looking at the unit you purchased. It was one of my top 3. How do you like it?

HighMileVibe · Post by **HighMileVibe** » Wed Jun 03, 2009 12:26 am

Still waiting for it to arrive - I have my attenuators made up and wiring harness. waiting for the antenna adapter too. I got the metra harness and antenna off of eBay for less than half the web price too.after crunching some numbers, the Scosche adapter is probably the better way to go for converting SPEAKER outputs down to line level (into an amp) output. The power on the speaker outputs is just too high to effectively match since it would take a large, expensive load resistor. The adapters must use some transistors / transformers to absorb the power without generating heat in their conversion to line level output.

Sublimewind · Post by **Sublimewind** » Wed Jun 03, 2009 3:26 am

BC, NICE jerb mang... lol... say, does your new HU have internal crossovers? if so, set it to 60-80hz high pass and cut some of the lows from getting to the speakers that CAN'T handle it... It should help make them last longer.. but cuts a little of the lows out..

cp_stunna_2011 · Post by **cp_stunna_2011** » Wed Jun 03, 2009 4:15 am

im gunna just run my new pioneer premier speakers to the deck itself or get a soudstream or hifonics 4 channel amp, and run my rcas to it solving everything either way

Sublimewind · Post by **Sublimewind** » Wed Jun 03, 2009 10:22 pm

Quote, originally posted by cp_stunna_2011 Â»im gunna just run my new pioneer premier speakers to the deck itself or get a soudstream or hifonics 4 channel amp, and run my rcas to it solving everything either wayWhich Premier speakers are you running...?? I'll be using the TS-D720PRS mids in my install(for now), i'll use some other tweet though...

audiovibe · Post by **audiovibe** » Fri Jun 05, 2009 5:12 am

Brian Radio looks great man!! I love the fact the lighting matches, I'm not sure why companies stopped making orange displays for the most part.B.T.W. If you twist the wires you get like an extra 50-55 watts just unbelievable. Aron

rebbierae · Post by **rebbierae** » Mon Jun 08, 2009 2:28 am

Hey Brian I want to talk to you about this! I'm thinking of a new stereo and have no idea what to get. I still have the OEM stereo in my car, and had the iPod2Car installed to listen to my iPod...liked it fine, it works for me. But a few months ago I got a new iPod, and I guess the newer ones don't play nice with the old iPod2Car things. I was just going to replace that, but then a friend showed me his stereo system and the way the iPod integrates with it. So now I am thinking I want a new stereo. My friend's plugs in to the bottom of his iPod so it charges, which is a must for me. And he can control it from the stereo, which I dig too. So let me know how you like your new one!I miss you!!

BlueCrush · Post by **BlueCrush** » Mon Jun 08, 2009 5:48 am

Thanks guys! I couldn't have done it with out this site. IM'd you, Becky.

cp_stunna_2011 · Post by **cp_stunna_2011** » Fri Jun 12, 2009 12:21 am

Im not using the pioneer premiers anymore, im using i slightly nicer and more bassier Rockford Fosgate mids in my doors, my tweets will be installed in the cover for the mirror wires, (has anyone done this before), i then will most likely temporarily use the deck to power those and then later get an orion/cobalt competition 4 channel amp fo them.

Sublimewind · Post by **Sublimewind** » Fri Jun 12, 2009 1:35 am

Quote, originally posted by cp_stunna_2011 Â»Im not using the pioneer premiers anymore, im using i slightly nicer and more bassier Rockford Fosgate mids in my doors, my tweets will be installed in the cover for the mirror wires, (has anyone done this before), i then will most likely temporarily use the deck to power those and then later get an orion/cobalt competition 4 channel amp fo them. Hay man, start a new thread regarding this, we should discuss this a little..

spacemonkey · Post by **spacemonkey** » Mon Aug 03, 2009 1:26 am

I ordered a headunit and speakers from Crutchfield. They are sending the harness, dash adapter, and an antenna adapter. They aren't sending the Scosche SLC4. They said I wouldn't need anything else. I have the Moon & Tunes (6 speakers, amp under the passenger seat, no sub). Do I need the Scosche SLC4? Are people installing without the SLC4 and is it working well, or are you getting hiss, etc?

BlueCrush · Post by **BlueCrush** » Mon Aug 03, 2009 2:12 am

Quote, originally posted by spacemonkey Â»I ordered a headunit and speakers from Crutchfield. They are sending the harness, dash adapter, and an antenna adapter. They aren't sending the Scosche SLC4. They said I wouldn't need anything else. I have the Moon & Tunes (6 speakers, amp under the passenger seat, no sub). Do I need the Scosche SLC4? Are people installing without the SLC4 and is it working well, or are you getting hiss, etc?I would recommend it if you are replacing the head unit to eliminate the hiss/white noise. It worked great for me...no hiss at all. I also have a PAC OEM-2 that does the same thing for sale: http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=37485

spacemonkey · Post by **spacemonkey** » Mon Aug 03, 2009 2:19 am

Thanks BlueCrush!So, how does one set the gains to the right levels on the SLC4? Is there a trick for getting them to the right place before you tuck everything into the dash?

BlueCrush · Post by **BlueCrush** » Mon Aug 03, 2009 2:25 am

For the Scosche, the instructions had me turn the gains all the way down for each speaker then turn the volume up to 75% of the max. Then go thru each speaker indiviually and turn the gains up until you start to hear distortion the back it off a bit. With mine I was able to turn the gains all the way up without any distortion, so kept all 4 of them at the max on the Scosche. Same instructions would go with the PAC OEM-2.

spacemonkey · Post by **spacemonkey** » Mon Aug 03, 2009 2:43 am

Thanks again, BlueCrush.With all of the gains at the max, wouldn't that be the same as not having the Scosche inline?

BlueCrush · Post by **BlueCrush** » Mon Aug 03, 2009 3:10 am

Quote, originally posted by spacemonkey Â»Thanks again, BlueCrush.With all of the gains at the max, wouldn't that be the same as not having the Scosche inline? Good question!!! Not sure on that one, but it makes sense. Maybe that was just for my particular head unit. Other's may not be able to have the same settings.

Sublimewind · Post by **Sublimewind** » Mon Aug 03, 2009 3:34 am

FYI having gains on ANYTHING maxed is not a good thing... You should really be able to turn the HU up more than 75%... I like test tones for initial gain setting... 1000Hz (1kHz) and 60hz... 1kHz for mid.high setting and 60Hz for subs.. Play through the PAC-2, gains all the way down, play the 1kHz tone on repeat, turn HU up until you hear distortion, or a distinct change in the tone.. back off slightly... try it again, make sure your max point is right... Now, that should be considered MAX for the HU... Then move to the PAC-2, play the tone at the HU max, and bring the gain on the PAC up until a change is herd (a bad change obviously) THEN, proceed to listen to music that you know well and make adjustments from there...

BlueCrush · Post by **BlueCrush** » Mon Aug 03, 2009 3:53 am

Quote, originally posted by Sublimewind Â»FYI having gains on ANYTHING maxed is not a good thing... You should really be able to turn the HU up more than 75%... I followed the instructions that came with the Scosche to a "T". Did exactly what it said and it worked fine...and at 75%(37 out of 50 on the volume#) it was loud as hell with no distortion and the gains on the Scosche were maxed out, so I left it. I knew I would never have it any louder than that and the loudest I ever really had it while listening to music was 30.

spacemonkey · Post by **spacemonkey** » Mon Aug 03, 2009 6:21 am

Thank you all for this discussion, it is really helping me understand the situation! I really appreciate your help!I am not sure exactly how these line output converters work (Scosche SLC4), but I think they are more of an attenuator than an amplifier, so they might have misused the word "gain". Because the SLC4 is not powered, I think that if you max out the "gain" adjustments, you are just letting all the signal through. It looks like the more you twist it back, the less of the incoming signal (from the headunit) goes through. Does that sound right to you all?

BlueCrush · Post by **BlueCrush** » Mon Aug 03, 2009 6:23 am

Quote, originally posted by spacemonkey Â»Thank you all for this discussion, it is really helping me understand the situation! I really appreciate your help!I am not sure exactly how these line output converters work (Scosche SLC4), but I think they are more of an attenuator than an amplifier, so they might have misused the word "gain". Because the SLC4 is not powered, I think that if you max out the "gain" adjustments, you are just letting all the signal through. It looks like the more you twist it back, the less of the incoming signal (from the headunit) goes through. Does that sound right to you all?That is how I understand it also.

jscherf92 · Post by **jscherf92** » Mon Aug 24, 2009 11:48 am

Agreed. About as far as i can tell all it does is control the amount of signal.

ou.grizzly · Post by **ou.grizzly** » Thu Aug 27, 2009 4:36 am

BC,Did you end up with your new HU and install it yet?

BlueCrush · Post by **BlueCrush** » Thu Aug 27, 2009 5:01 am

Yup. - http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=38241

arracado · Post by **arracado** » Sat Dec 26, 2009 6:09 am

Hi BlueCrush--My girlfriend has an '04 Vibe, and whoever did the HU install has a wiring harness (what you refer to as the GM adapter) that has two plug ends on it, one end looks like the one in your pic, but the other is wired to that and is not being used. I think this is the wrong harness and was wondering what harness you used in your install.Thanks!

keithvibe · Post by **keithvibe** » Sat Dec 26, 2009 9:34 am

one of the stock plugs are unused when installing an aftermarket HU. Mine is the same way.

BlueCrush · Post by **BlueCrush** » Sun Jan 03, 2010 5:25 am

Quote, originally posted by arracado Â»Hi BlueCrush--My girlfriend has an '04 Vibe, and whoever did the HU install has a wiring harness (what you refer to as the GM adapter) that has two plug ends on it, one end looks like the one in your pic, but the other is wired to that and is not being used. I think this is the wrong harness and was wondering what harness you used in your install.Thanks!I just used the GM adapter harness that came from crutchfield. I have another new GM adapter harness one if you want to buy it? let me know.

dvance06vibe · Post by **dvance06vibe** » Sat Jan 09, 2010 1:29 am

Where do you connect the black wire coming out of the side of the scosche? Do you ground it to the car?

BlueCrush · Post by **BlueCrush** » Sat Jan 09, 2010 2:39 am

You can, but I just taped it off. I think Keith did as well.

Dispatch27 · Post by **Dispatch27** » Tue Feb 16, 2010 5:13 am

HelloDo you know if they work on a Vibe 2007 with Monsoon system?I have try today to change my HU at Bestbuy and the tech dsicover the jvc radio (same as your) can't be connect with the GM harness from Metra, they sais they have to disconnect the amp on rear of the car and bypass it for perform speakers connectionAny Help appreciatedJD Dispatch27

vibe_n00b · Post by **vibe_n00b** » Sun Sep 26, 2010 12:30 pm

Just want to say thanks to this topic, I have successfully installed a JVC HU on my 2007 Vibe with Monsoon system. I bought the Metra harness for GM, Scosche (different model, pick up from Walmart), and a double din mounting kit. It works GREAT~~~

bassplayaz06 · Post by **bassplayaz06** » Tue Nov 30, 2010 6:17 am

so would the RMS power from an aftermarket radio need to be a certain value since our vibe's have the separate amp that powers the speakers? and what is the RMS power coming off that amp?

jscherf92 · Post by **jscherf92** » Tue Nov 30, 2010 9:36 am

If youre using the SLC4 like alot of people then the head unit RMS doesnt matter so much, most of the low to mid grade head units have been 15 and 20 watts per channel but with an adjustable gain level you can just set the SLC4 to a higher or lower level for your car.

bassplayaz06 · Post by **bassplayaz06** » Wed Dec 01, 2010 7:02 am

ok. the stock head unit was replaced with a 200 watt unit, still a stock GM unit from another car. i've got 50 watts running to each speaker with a 460 watt amp running 2 12" subs.

audiovibe · Post by **audiovibe** » Thu Dec 02, 2010 1:14 pm

The RMS value on the aftermarket does play somewhat of a role when using the factory amp, If the RMS of the aftermarket is higher then the RMS of the stock radio for the vibe you would get louder audio but it would come at a cost. The output of the aftermarket radio would produce a higher voltage from the speaker levels as it is turned up, this in turn drives up the input voltage on the stock amplifier giving more output from the stock amplifier I.E. it sounds louder. The downside is you will create more distortion at louder volumes because the stock amplifier is designed for a certain voltage input and when you go over that voltage you overdrive the amplifier you get distortion and heat.That is where the SLC4 comes to play and allows you to level match the aftermarket radio with the stock amplifier to minimize distortion.

bassplayaz06 · Post by **bassplayaz06** » Sun Dec 05, 2010 10:00 am

ok. i already have one of those blue schoche boxes sending the signal line to my amp for the subs. im planning on getting a new head unit around christmas. either pioneer, jensen, or sony.

epcIII · Post by **epcIII** » Fri Dec 24, 2010 1:12 am

I'm pretty pissed right now! I bought a HU from Crutchfield and they didn't say that I needed this (Scosche thing) or I would have all this crappy white noise. Now I have my car in pieces, it's Christmas Eve and no place local carries this thing. I had all this time to put this in today and won't have too much time next week 'cause of work. Man, I'm just frustrated.... I tried to do my homework but didn't catch this...

BlueCrush's Head Unit install

BlueCrush's Head Unit install

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