RCA Cables

[platinum_]

hey guys, i tried searching for "rca" and "rca cables" and "rca amp" , but no search results so i'm sorry if this has been covered ... somewhere. But the dvd player i am looking at for the dash has only an RCA out. Can i do anything with this and the M&T amp ? -- there is no specification saying how many watts to how many speakers, so i assume it is an average RCA output with no amplified signal. -- Thx in advance.

[ragingfish]

no one has ever successfully mated RCA outputs wiht the M&T amp...it creates horrid feedback and "popping" problems.

[platinum_]

could i replace the amp for one that would work well with RCA cables ? will it be easy to hook up the speakers to a new amp ?

[ragingfish]

there isn't an amp that willl just plug into the factory hranesses...it can be done...it has been done...but my understanding is, if you replace the amp, the speakers gotta go too...supposedly you can't use the factory speakres iwth an A/M amp...

[platinum_]

i think that you can, but have to be careful, i think that they are 2ohm, and one should get an amp that will handle it, and not blow the speakers. all i worry about is that the wire heading from the M&T amp to the speakers are direct and simple, 2 wires a piece, no b.s GM custom wiring.

[Jahntassa]

Aftermarket amplifiers are pretty friendly with 2 Ohm speakers, but platinum is pretty much right, you won't find one that won't blow the factory speakers.You'd be best off getting a small 4 channel amp for around $100-$150, and getting new speakers, like Infinity Reference or Polk series. That way you'll have the speakers to give you great sound off your DVDs!

[joatmon]

Quote, originally posted by platinum_ »hey guys, i tried searching for "rca" and "rca cables" and "rca amp" , but no search results I can't help with the rca cable question, but don't feel bad about not finding it in a search because there's a bug in the forum software that will always return zero results for any three letter word, which means that you can't search for rca, amp, aux, CEL, gas, mpg, AWD, 4WD, ECU, PCM, etc.would this HU mod work? http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=11735

[platinum_]

oh, i didnt realize that, usually forums give errors saying please type 3 letters at least. -- thx joatmon-->> but about the amp, are the speaker wires going out of the M&T amp direct ? no relays or weird GM wiring ?

[pwarren4]

Remember the factory amp has the crossovers for the front component speakers (seperate tweeter, mid/woofers) built in. Loose the amp and you'll have to make other arrangements there also.And yes, I have experienced the horrible "POP" when running RCA signals into the M&T amp. I do not recommend this setup.A new set of speakers as mentioned above is the only real solution. So waiting for the budget to allow would be time well spent.As always, this is only my humble opinion.TTFN

[platinum_]

i could make a cross over out of the amp, but couldnt i just get a 2ohm amp liket he M&T one so i wouldnt have to get new speakers ? -- And dont worry i trust your humble opinoins, i was just checking out your system at cardomain.

[cdFxer]

Quote, originally posted by pwarren4 »Remember the factory amp has the crossovers for the front component speakers (seperate tweeter, mid/woofers) built in. Loose the amp and you'll have to make other arrangements there also.My 04' did not appear to have the crossover in the amp. It had caps on the tweets. And the same wires fed the tweets and the door speaker. Maybe different model?Has anyone tried running an input to the stock M&T amp through a line level adjuster or 1:1 audio isolation transformers? If it is some sort of ground loop interference thing, then the 1:1 audio transformers would probably cure it. If it is popping etc from over driving the amp, then wouldnt a line level adjuster help?

[Jahntassa]

Quote, originally posted by platinum_ »i could make a cross over out of the amp, but couldnt i just get a 2ohm amp liket he M&T one so i wouldnt have to get new speakers ? -- And dont worry i trust your humble opinoins, i was just checking out your system at cardomain.You could, but as said, you would simply destroy the factory speakers quickly. 2 Ohm amplifiers (aftermarket) are designed for SERIOUS speakers. You'd be putting something like 70 watts to each speaker, which is designed for like.. 20, 25 at most.

[platinum_]

i think that i am not understanding the comcept of the 2ohm and 4ohm speakers, if they are 20-25 watt, then how does the system claim to produce 200 ? --i'm sorry for my igorance, but it seems like you know exactly what is going on here

[Jahntassa]

Okay..let's see if I can do this. I'm not always great at explaining, so bear with.Speakers are built with a built-in 'resistance'. That resistance, generally, is 4 Ohms for car speakers. Depending on the resistance of the speaker is the amount of 'current' that can pass through. Less Ohm, more current.Like this: You have an office chair with the little wheelies. That office chair is the power going to your speakers. A 4 Ohm speaker is the equivalent of thin house-grade carpeting. You can move the chair across it, but it takes some amount of strength to move it.A 2 Ohm speaker is the equivalent of office carpeting. It still takes effort to move it, but much less than the other carpeting.Less resistance (ohms) in a speaker, the less work the amplifier has to do.So, in your M&T system, they made the speakers 2 Ohm, with a special amplifier that has to do less work in order to push more power. In terms of headunits, if you connect 2 Ohm speakers, when it wants to have 4, is the equivalent of making your office carpeting super slick, and then trying to keep your chair in one place. The chair will stay for a little while, then slide around and be useless. In speakers, they'll run for a little while, then the amplifier in the headunit will simply die.Now, the reason your amplifier is "200 watts", is because they measure what's called 'Peak value'. Peak value is the ideal 'highest amount' of wattage that amplifier can put out to all channels at once.What we really want to know is the amplifier's "RMS value" (Root Mean Square), this is the value that the amplifier can constantly put out to the speakers. On the M&T amp, peak is 50 w per channel, with RMS being probably 20-25 watts per channel. Same concept goes for the headunit, except when they say 200w, it generally only translates to 18 w of RMS. That's simply because the amplifier built-in the radio isn't as efficient as the one that's under the seat. Mostly due to lack of heat dissapation.The M&T amp goes to 2 Ohm speakers, so it doesn't have to do as much work to get to the 25 w RMS value. If you plug 4 Ohm speakers into it, the amplifier suddenly has to do more work, and is probably only putting out about 13 w per channel. When you go from 2 Ohm to 4 Ohm, you basically half your output amount. When you go from 4 to 2, you double it. Part of 'Ohm's law'. Most aftermarket speakers are 4 Ohms, kinda the standard. And what aftermarket radios and amplifiers are designed to handle. When you connect 2 Ohm speakers to those radios, the amplifier does less work, yes, but it's not designed to have that kind of easily flowing current. (Just to let you know, 0 Ohms is free-flowing, direct open circuit. Like connecting the wires directly together. 2 Ohm is electrically very close to being a direct circuit) So, the radio can't put out that kind of power.Now, after that lengthy explanation, see if it makes more sense. If not, see if someone else can do it better than me. My analogies can be odd!

[platinum_]

Thank you very much Jahntassa , that makes alot of sense, now if i can give a shot at it "i could purchase an aftermarket amp rated for 200-250Watt and designed for 2ohm speakers, and NOT have to change my original speakers. Also i should look for the amp to be designed to handle about 40-60Watt per speaker at 2 ohms, and it SHOULD be fine if i dont turn it up too high" Please clarify anything i could have said wrong, but i think alot of people may be wondering the same thing as me and can risk screwing up their entire system without understanding what you explained very well. Thx again.

[Jahntassa]

Well, as said, a 4 channel 2 ohm stable amplifier is few and far between. That's mostly reserved for people who are running 6000 watt systems. And again, the power output from an aftermarket amplifier will be WAY too much for the little factory speakers to handle. Granted, you can find amplifiers that'll support 4 channels at 2 Ohms. Probably fairly cheap. But..the main problem is that the factory speakers won't hold up long. So yes, for now, you could find such an amp. But you need to make sure you don't get one that's too small to not handle good aftermarket speakers later.

[Waxler6942]

How about going the second method to getting your DVD player working, if you just replace the head unit you will be able to plug your DVD player directly into you radio. Then there is no pain in the (removed) wiring and it is a lot less confusing to figure out.ie. If you get a pioneer radio just about any will work you can buy an adapter that is called and IP-Bus Cable that plugs into the back of your radio and then you have the capability to plug RCA cables directly into your radio. You also can get a pioneer radio that plays MP3s also; the other added bonus is it makes that interior audio of the car so better because there are more setting.

[Jahntassa]

One of the bits of information he didn't give us was, is the DVD player he has a radio replacement? Is it a flip-out screen? Does it have the FM/AM features? Or is it just a DVD player and nothing else?

[platinum_]

the dvd player is an am/fm cd/mp3/dvd/svcd, and the screen just flips out.

[platinum_]

if i found a head unit thats not RCA, would this be the easiest solition ? it converts the out of a aftermarket hu to a line level. FAI-3A