Another audio question

[Stockli]

in a 2003 is it best to bypass the factory amp for the roll bar speaker pods if you have an upgraded deck?

I will be adding new corner speakers next week, I already have Polk MMs in the pods but the sound is lacking. I fell this is due to the factory amp. I have heard it limits power etc the the rear pods. The MMs sounded great in my Cherokee when I ran them straight off the pioneer mechless deck.

The factory sub is blown and fuse pulled so that is not a concern at the moment. I will upgrade the amp later as soon as my broke ass has some extra coin.

Thoughts?

 

[Kevin Johnston]

in a 2003 is it best to bypass the factory amp for the roll bar speaker pods if you have an upgraded deck?

I will be adding new corner speakers next week, I already have Polk MMs in the pods but the sound is lacking. I fell this is due to the factory amp. I have heard it limits power etc the the rear pods. The MMs sounded great in my Cherokee when I ran them straight off the pioneer mechless deck.

The factory sub is blown and fuse pulled so that is not a concern at the moment. I will upgrade the amp later as soon as my broke ass has some extra coin.

Thoughts?

My 03 didn't have the factory sub, but looking at the wiring schematic it seems like a good idea to bypass the factory amp if you aren't using it. Can't be sure what it's doing to the speaker signals if it's powered off.

I put a Soundstream PN5.640D Picasso Nano in mine because my pioneer HU wasn't cutting it at higher volumes. So far it's been great. It goes all the way to 11 and still sounds clean! Mounted it to the bottom of the driver seat bracket to keep it from growing legs.

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[Stockli]

Kevin, great point. Maybe I should disconnect the sub and see what it sounds like with the amp on then make a decision?

Is that amp small enough to fit in the stock location? I want it up real high I wheel in water sometimes and have been known to get caught in the rain lol

 

[Kevin Johnston]

It's 4.75″w x 1.5″h x 10.3L. Not sure about the factory amp size, but it could fit in the console. I don't think heat should be a big issue, it seems to run pretty cool. I try to stay out of door sill high water so on the bottom of the seat seemed a good spot for me. Plus rain doesn't have a chance of hurting it.

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[Stockli]

So I removed the center console amp and everything and I still get power to both corners and roll bar pod speakers. I would assume this means that these speakers do not pass through the amp?

This is a completely factory original setup. All I did was pop in a new head unit with a matching wire harness adapter and spliced the new speaker pod speakers into the connectors in the roll bar.

I bought I had read the speaker pod speakers were wired through the amp.

It also is odd the giant number of wires plugged into the amp harness if only the sub runs through the amp.

Keep in mind I know aero about wiring car audio, I am lost here.

 

[Kevin Johnston]

For some reason, all the speakers are wired in parallel with the amp. I know next to nothing about the factory amp. If it was mine, I'd bypass the amp altogether or you could replace it with a plug and play version or an OE amp if you can find one at a reasonable price.

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