Audio woes

[midlandtech]

Hey guys and gals I am having trouble getting my audio signal to the new amp. I tapped speaker levels at the factory amp yellow and black twisted with brown orange and blue and black twisted with brown and orange then am using the high level inputs on the amp and am getting no signal what am I Doug wrong? I am thinking about getting a LOC and trying that next but I'm getting to the end of my rope


~Steve
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[static667]

Is that on the outgoing side of the incoming side of the factory amp? I think you want to be on the incoming, non-boosted side of the signal.

[midlandtech]

Which plug is in vs out? There is grey and black


~Steve
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[Go Horns!]

Are you using these?

Pin # 9 / Head unit output Front Right + Blue / red Pin #17 / Head unit output Front Right - Brown / orange

Pin # 8 / Head unit output Rear Right + Blue / black Pin #16 / Head unit output Rear Right - Brown / orange

Pin # 30 / Head output Front left - Brown / orange Pin #38 / Head output Front Left + Yellow / red

Pin # 29 / Head output Rear Left - Brown / orange Pin #37 / Head output Rear Left + Yellow / black

I got these from here: http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showpost.php?p=2570346&postcount=12

[midlandtech]

Are you using these?

Pin # 9 / Head unit output Front Right + Blue / red Pin #17 / Head unit output Front Right - Brown / orange

Pin # 8 / Head unit output Rear Right + Blue / black Pin #16 / Head unit output Rear Right - Brown / orange

Pin # 30 / Head output Front left - Brown / orange Pin #38 / Head output Front Left + Yellow / red

Pin # 29 / Head output Rear Left - Brown / orange Pin #37 / Head output Rear Left + Yellow / black

I got these from here: http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showpost.php?p=2570346&postcount=12

Yup those exact wires

[Oli77]

So as Static said, you are taking the signal before the stock amp.

Could the amp you purchased have a beef with line input signal from our head units?

[midlandtech]

It might I am doing high level inputs an am thinking of going and buying a heavy duty loc to see if that works... It's a European brand amp was hoping that if I went that route I would negate any conflicts


~Steve
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[Oli77]

Whats a LOC?

[midlandtech]

Line out converter... takes speaker level and converts to a RCA level its also called a line level converter

[Go Horns!]

I think you will need a line out converter. The BMW head unit is not putting out a true speaker level out put. I saw a post on e46fanatics where a guy claimed you did not need one, but all the other installs I have seen use them.

[midlandtech]

Just installed the new LOC using the wires that I tapped at the HK amp in the trunk and still no sound... I joined a car audio forum today in the hopes that I might be able to find some help but they said to tap wires at the HU... this doesn't make since to me since there are people here who have tapped the same wires I did and had success...

[Go Horns!]

Do you have a voltmeter? Check to see if there is any signal coming across. Have you used the amp before? Is there a way to make sure it is getting power?

I'm just trying to think of other things beside the signal from the HU.

[midlandtech]

Power ground and remote are all working good... I hooked a home speaker to the leads I ran from the HK amp to see if they were sending signal and I got sound out of the small home speaker so my splices are hooked up right I am gonna check out the subs tomorrow and I bought another LOC 3rd one and most expensive yet... This one Is powered and will raise the voltage just incase it's an issue of the amp not getting enough voltage if none of this works I have no idea where to go from there


~Steve
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[Go Horns!]

Have you tried the amp in an alternate system?

[midlandtech]

Nope but I have used 2 separate amps one of which I know works


~Steve
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[Oli77]

So is it input sensitivity that is killing you here? Why would the LOC not work?

For giggles could you try taking the sourced from the amplified side of the OEM amp...

[midlandtech]

Thought about doing that but didn't know if the speakers were crossed over at the amp... Would hate to send a signal that doesn't contain low frequencies to the sub amp... The new LOC I ordered is powered and should increase the output voltage sent to the amp... I hope that the cause of this mess isn't that I used bolts as terminals so I could quickly remove the sub and amp that's the next spot I am checking if the new LOC doesn't work


~Steve
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[Go Horns!]

The HK amp has internal crossovers.

[midlandtech]

Figured it did so best bet for a solid signal is to tap incoming audio signal and boost it to get adequate voltage new powered LOC will be here Tuesday crossing my fingers that it's the solution I am seeking


~Steve
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[midlandtech]

New loc installed and problem persists I literally have no idea why it's not working


~Steve
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[wsmeyer]

Figured it did so best bet for a solid signal is to tap incoming audio signal and boost it to get adequate voltage new powered LOC will be here Tuesday crossing my fingers that it's the solution I am seeking
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I'm confused on this part. The signal going from the head unit to the amp is line level. If you tap into it there it would go into the line level (RCA) inputs on the new amp.

A line out converter takes a speaker output (high level) and converts it to line level (low level) so you can input it into the RCA jack inputs on an amp. It doesn't amplify the signal, it attenuates it.


William.

[midlandtech]

That's right how ever even when I tried wiring the pre hk amp wire from the hu to the amp directly I got no sound... I have in installed and re installed 2 different amps about 4 times now, and now getting ready to attempt round 5

~Steve
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[wsmeyer]

I'm still confused. In post #5 you indicate you are tapping into the output of the head unit, but in post #7 you say you are using the high-level inputs of the new amp.

Doesn't the amp have line level inputs?

William.

[midlandtech]

It has both high and low level inputs I have tried both. The high level on the speaker leads going to the hk subs and a loc (low) on those as well and both high and low with 3 different loc's on the hu outputs


~Steve
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[wsmeyer]

I get you now. What I would do is just hook up the new amp in the car with the power connections and the speakers and for the input I would hook up a 1/8" to RCA cable to my iPod / phone and use that as a source temporarily to double check that amp is working properly in the car with the speakers.

William.

[midlandtech]

Does that work? Does the jack put out enough volts to give a good signal to the amp? If it does I will have to try that tomorrow as mu last ditch effort... I broke down and made an appointment with an audio shop for Friday... I made sure to visit the shop and talk to their head audio guy who as it turns out is a BMW guy and at the time he was working on a ferrari... Just Sucks that I have to have a shop do what I can do blindfolded in any other car


~Steve
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[Johnmadd]

I get you now. What I would do is just hook up the new amp in the car with the power connections and the speakers and for the input I would hook up a 1/8" to RCA cable to my iPod / phone and use that as a source temporarily to double check that amp is working properly in the car with the speakers.

William.

+1, I've done that before to test equipment/get by for couple days.

[midlandtech]

hey guys can anyone shine some light on what the "RCAs" on page 10 are?
http://www.bavariansoundwerks.com/product-extras/ib110_Install_Guide.pdf

[wsmeyer]

hey guys can anyone shine some light on what the "RCAs" on page 10 are?
http://www.bavariansoundwerks.com/product-extras/ib110_Install_Guide.pdf

It sounds like plain old RCA cables with one end cut off. The instructions are to splice them onto the signal going from the hu to the stock amp, thus creating your new input lines.

William.

[midlandtech]

thats how I take it perhaps I will give that a go today

[wsmeyer]

I thought those were the same color coded wires you were already tapping into?

William.

[midlandtech]

they are but I have some RCA's that I have disassembled so I think I will make some heavier gauge RCA's out of the mountain of wires and connectors I have laying around and attempt the install one more time before throwing in the towel and letting the local shop take a swing at it

[Johnmadd]

Maybe try a ground that is separate from the supplied one, just a guess that could be worth a shot.

[wsmeyer]

I wouldn't give up yet. I don't think this problem will be difficult to solve once we figure out what it is.

There's three parts to this "system"

- Input signal from head unit

- The new amp itself

- Output wiring and speaker

The fact that you're going trough the stock wiring harness greatly increases the chances of tapping into the wrong wires as you can't visually confirm where anything is going.

To test the input you could splice the RCA's back in and use an adapter to convert to 1/8" plug and plug in some headphones. If you hear music then we know for sure the amp is getting signal.

I assume the speaker outs from the new amp are going back into the wiring harness to the speaker. I would hook a different speaker up directly to the speaker terminals that I can visually confirm the wires are hooked up correctly and check that. If you haven't or can't test the input signal hook up one you know works. Anything with a variable output (through a volume control) will work, you could use one with a fixed out like a CD player just make sure you turn the gain on the new amp all the way down and once the source is playing slowly turn it up.

Basically it comes down to just being creative and testing each of the three parts of the system with other known parts that you can visually confirm are hooked up correctly.

William.

William.

[midlandtech]

IT LIVES!!!!!!


~Steve
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[wsmeyer]

:party :ineedabeer

William.

[johnrando]

Woo hoo!!!!!!

[Johnmadd]

Persistence pays off. :)
So what was the problem?

[danewilson77]

Audio thread turned teaser thread, in the blink of an eye.

HTC Thunderbolt+TT

[midlandtech]

I went to radio shack and bought somw RCA plugs and some 14 gauge wire. I then soldered my wire to the plugs which allowed me to connect the wires to the ones which I tapped in the beginning (same ones listed in the bsw link I posted earlier) making sure that the positive from the tapped wires was connected to the middle part of the RCA plug I took out my DMM and turned the radio on, the voltage read 6.8 volts on the home made RCA thinking I had solved the problem I hooked the amp and sub up.... Nothing... This pissed me off so I ran all new power and ground wires, power wire read 12v with car off and 14 with it on ground read 0 and remote wire showed 12v I then reinstalled the amp and subs.... Nothing... I then went it the back closet and grabbed old faithful my JBL amp that I've had for 7+ years and has been beaten to hell and back... I stuck that amp in wired up the subs and turned the stereo on the house was now vibrating and my tools were falling off the wall. It was alive! I trimmed, soldered, and concealed all wires installed the amp in the spare tire well ran the speaker wire under everything and back by the pass through. I installed the subs, set the gains and cleaned up. Finally it's done


~Steve
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[danewilson77]

So the amp was bad?

HTC Thunderbolt+TT

[midlandtech]

Either the amps (tried 2 before the jbl) I tried before were bad, couldn't process the signal, or the wiring I ran had shorts.... Or a combination of those


~Steve
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[Go Horns!]

Glad to see you got it working

[Oli77]

Wiiin!