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rk772

Factory head unit without RCA's

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I haven't built a system since 2009. I had 2 Fi BTL 15's in a pound that sound box, powered by a SAZ 3000D. Well, my kid is becoming a bass head and is wanting to build a system in his car. I suggested him helping me build one in my car first so that he can learn more about it and see what he really wants before spending his money. I'm planning on putting an SSA ICON 10 with an SAE 1000D or maybe a 1500D , all in the trunk of my 2017 Mustang GT. Im going more for sound quality than SPL this time around. My car came with the sync and navigation package. I want to keep my dashboard stock  but obviously don't have any RCA outs on the stock navigation/radio unit. It was suggested that I wire one of these from the rear factory speaker wires in my trunk. 

https://www.crutchfield.com/p_161LC2IB/AudioControl-LC2iB-Black.html

 

evidently you can run your amps switched power blue wire to this box as well. My question is, am I giving up SQ by wiring a system like this, vs having a head unit with dedicated RCA outs? What other negatives are there when using this converter off the rear speaker signals?

thanks

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My vote for quick fire answer is no you wouldn't lose much "audible" sq to the point where i would worry. Its obviously not the best of signals to send but it is the best in your situation. You could always add an additional source to clean the signal aswell and being that your son is getting into it sounds like you have a potential buyer of your equipment if you wanted to go back to stock which actually sounds pretty decent in the new Ford vehicles(thats best compliment i can give to Ford and my brother works for them ugh Go Chevy) back to subject. I would say do it.

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I was in a similar situation to you too. My hyundai had the navigation package and I didn't feel like replacing it because it looks pretty nice. At first I tried using the audio control lc2i you linked but the truth is they don't really restore the bass like it says it does. As we know stock radios have some sort of eq's that lower the low end of the bass to protect speakers. With the lc2i I could definitely tell this was the case because the bass would be very peaky, especially around 50-60hz it was like I had bass boost on or something. I decided I didn't like the lc2i so I bought a Fiio e17k headphone amp & dac. I used some velcro to mount it near my seat and then used a 3.5mm to rca splitter from the "line out" on the fiio to send rca's to the back of the car. I then connect my phone to the Fiio e17k via usb so that the fiio does all the dac wizardy (also use a hi-fi music player on your phone like Hi-by music or USB Audio Pro). Later on I added an audio control three.2 line driver/eq/crossover because I added a 4 channel amp and wanted on the fly eq settings. 

My current setup is Phone via usb otg >> Fiio e17k alpen via rca's >> audio control three.2 >> mono and 4 ch amp.

You don't really need the AC three.2 i bought at all really and the fiio e17k alpen 2 is about the same price as the lc2i and sounds a TON better because it uses far better DAC chips than the stock stereo does most likely and does not have some dumb eq settings to protect the speakers like a stock radio does. For a remote turn for the amps I just tapped into a 12 volt fuse that turns on/off with the car and ran the wire through the car along with my 0gauge power wire. Hope this helps!

Edited by Anzu

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I was in the same boat a few years ago with my Challenger.  I used the LC2i and was happy enough with the results. 

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15 hours ago, CrazyKenKid said:

Morning RK,


If you would like to try/have an JL Audio Clean sweep I have one of those you can have.

https://www.crutchfield.com/S-qvIxLKXiJNc/p_136441DSP/JL-Audio-CL441dsp-CleanSweep.html

I was going to use it to integrate with my Ford escape so I could retain my steeringwheel controls and sync functions also. Long story short I ended up just installing a double din head unit. 

 

I don't mind giving it away as when I was younger car audio peaked my interest and from it I learned all about electrical, like power, AC/DC watts, ohm (resistance), capacity (batteries and caps) and now Im a system integrator all because of car audio! so I wouldn't mind helping out!  

 

if you would like it drop me a PM w/ your address and I will send it out soon

Thank you. I sent you a PM

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