Aftermarket head unit installed bypass factory amplifier

Technical info on the Pontiac Vibe and Toyota Matrix including do-it-yourself info
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dannyy72
Posts: 41
Joined: Fri Apr 27, 2012 9:33 am
Location: Vancouver bc ca

Aftermarket head unit installed bypass factory amplifier

Post by dannyy72 »

Finally had a day to myself to install my Pioneer AVH-P3300BT into my newly bought 2003 Pontiac Vibe GT with the moons & tunes package. The factory moons & tunes package comes with a 200W integrated amplifier, and the deck I'm putting in is also rated at 50W X 4, totalling 200W. So if I leave the integrated amplifier in, I will be amplifying the 200W from my Pioneer with a 200W integrated amplifier, and I thought to myself: 200W + 200W=400W to the speakers, am I gonna run into problems? Now I've talked to a few people (I work in the car industry so I do have connections with mechanics and auto electricians) and have gotten mixed answers. Some people say it should be ok, while other people say I'll get white noises. I've had my fair share of installing sound systems in cars but have only dealt with integrated amplifier once, and that was a long time ago installing a deck into a Ford Taurus. I can tell you that it was certainly NOT a pleasant experience, I had to re-wire every single speaker wire directly from the head unit. Now this is NOT a tutorial by any means. I am just sharing my experience with all the fellow Vibe owners so if someone should ever run into the same dilemma as I was facing, this would offer an alternative solution. So let's get started.

First I should say that this is picture heavy and since I can only post 3 pictures at a time (to my understanding), there will be a lot of sections, and remember to click on the picture to see full picture.

1. Disconnect the negetive battery terminal!!! Locating the factory amplifier. This is the easy part, it's underneath the passenger front seat. Remove the 2 front bolts that holds the seat down and then put the seat all the way to forward position to reveal the 2 rear bolts at the back that are covered by the plastic trims. Once all the bolts are removed, disconnect 2 electrical connectors under the seat and unclip the clip from the seat frame. You will be left with this:
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Now remove the integrated amplifier by removing the 2 bolts towards the front and 1 towards the rear, and you'll be able to detach the integrated amplifier from the car.
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Last edited by dannyy72 on Wed May 23, 2012 2:33 am, edited 1 time in total.
dannyy72
Posts: 41
Joined: Fri Apr 27, 2012 9:33 am
Location: Vancouver bc ca

Re: Aftermarket head unit installed bypass factory amplifier

Post by dannyy72 »

2 sockets are plugged in to the integrated amplifier, 1 with 8 pins and the other with 24 pins:
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I also found a wiring diagram (posted by playzkeyz on another thread). From the wiring diagram, I was able to guesstimate which wires are for what. Look at the diagram closely and you'll see the top 'box' labelled 'PPL' (purple) as left front output negetive (LF-) and 'PNK' (pink) as left front output positive (LF+) and the rest of them are 'BLU' (blue) as RF-, 'LT GRN' (light green) as RF+, 'YEL' (yellow) as LR-, 'BLK' (black) as LR+, "WHT' (white) as RR-, 'RED' (red) as RR+. These wires takes care of the speakers output from the factory head unit to the input to the integrated amplifer, and the output from the integrated amplifier to the individual speakers are also the same color.
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dannyy72
Posts: 41
Joined: Fri Apr 27, 2012 9:33 am
Location: Vancouver bc ca

Re: Aftermarket head unit installed bypass factory amplifier

Post by dannyy72 »

So naturally I thought if I snipped off the same colored wires from the plugs and connected them, that should bypass the integrated amplifier all together and I should get signal directly from my Pioneer deck to the speakers. To test this theory and the correct wires:
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I know it's a hack job but this is only for testing, lol.

I only connected the rear speakers at first because they were the simple ones.
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The front speakers, however, is separated into the main speakers and a set of tweeters at the front. Wiring for the front tweeters are 'BLU/WHT' (blue with white stripe) as LF-, 'RED/WHT' (red with white stripe) as LF+, 'BRN' (brown) as RF- and 'GRN/WHT' (green with white stripe) as RF+. Since I'm installing Infiniti Reference speakers all around, I have these crossovers for the front main speakers and the tweeters.
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Now the tricky part to this is you have two same colored wire, one is the input from the head unit to the integrated amplifier and the other one is from the integrated amplifier to the speaker. For the rear speakers you don't have to worry about which one's which because you are snipping the wires and connecting the 2 same colored wires that's coming from the main harness. But for the fronts you have to figure out which one is the input and which one is the output. I didn't even think of that until then and was just going to figure it out by trial and error but I lucked out. If you look closely at the wires, even the same colored wires are different in gauge (thickness). It seems like the input side uses a 18 gauge wire (thinner) and the output side uses a 16 gauge (thicker) wire
dannyy72
Posts: 41
Joined: Fri Apr 27, 2012 9:33 am
Location: Vancouver bc ca

Re: Aftermarket head unit installed bypass factory amplifier

Post by dannyy72 »

Make sure you test all the speakers with your new head unit before moving on. At this point my new deck is still not hardwired into the car yet.
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Once all the 6 cabin speakers are done, it's time to install amplifier and subwoofer into the trunk. I chose to run the wires down the passenger side, the kick plates lifts up from the inside:
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and then pass the wires underneath the rear seat:
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dannyy72
Posts: 41
Joined: Fri Apr 27, 2012 9:33 am
Location: Vancouver bc ca

Re: Aftermarket head unit installed bypass factory amplifier

Post by dannyy72 »

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dannyy72
Posts: 41
Joined: Fri Apr 27, 2012 9:33 am
Location: Vancouver bc ca

Re: Aftermarket head unit installed bypass factory amplifier

Post by dannyy72 »

Now to hardwire the deck into the car, I choose to buy these for the install. Comes as a package on ebay with the wiring harness and the antenna adaptor for CAD$12 shipped.
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dannyy72
Posts: 41
Joined: Fri Apr 27, 2012 9:33 am
Location: Vancouver bc ca

Re: Aftermarket head unit installed bypass factory amplifier

Post by dannyy72 »

Now the finished product!!!
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dannyy72
Posts: 41
Joined: Fri Apr 27, 2012 9:33 am
Location: Vancouver bc ca

Re: Aftermarket head unit installed bypass factory amplifier

Post by dannyy72 »

And I even had time to tint the rear windows too!!!
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BaseWhiteVibe
Posts: 179
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Location: Macomb, Michigan

Re: Aftermarket head unit installed bypass factory amplifier

Post by BaseWhiteVibe »

Quick question, is the 2009 Vibe (1.8L Base) prewired for the amplifier? Currently I don't have one but wouldn't mind adding one. I appreciate your help! Thank you!
BaseWhiteVibe - As Basic As It Gets!
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BaseWhiteVibe
Posts: 179
Joined: Sun Aug 11, 2013 7:16 pm
Location: Macomb, Michigan

Re: Aftermarket head unit installed bypass factory amplifier

Post by BaseWhiteVibe »

Also will adding the amplifier help the stock speakers that I have currently? Or would it only work if I had the subwoofer? I am having a hard time trying to make out the wiring diagram. Thanks again!
BaseWhiteVibe - As Basic As It Gets!
dannyy72
Posts: 41
Joined: Fri Apr 27, 2012 9:33 am
Location: Vancouver bc ca

Re: Aftermarket head unit installed bypass factory amplifier

Post by dannyy72 »

Sorry I do not know anything about the 2nd gen Vibes.
brandontw
Posts: 21
Joined: Sun Jan 12, 2014 2:26 am

Re: Aftermarket head unit installed bypass factory amplifier

Post by brandontw »

Nice install! What head unit is that?

Its good to know a bit more about that amp wiring under there. I was wondering if the front speakers had two wire pairs per door, or if they were wired together. Good to know that i can re-use that wiring and put the crossovers under the seat for a component set.

Are you using the stock tweeter location? How did it turn out? Pictures!
knmens
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Joined: Mon Dec 23, 2019 1:55 pm

Re: Aftermarket head unit installed bypass factory amplifier

Post by knmens »

The back speakers work the front do not. I have directly wired them just to see if the door speakers would work and they did not. When I wired them the back speaker stopped working
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