I installed my sub (JL Stealthbox) and amp so that they can be removed (for track days, for instance).

My question is: once I disconnect all the wires from the amp, isn't there some way to patch the HU and the front speakers together so that I can at least have front speaker use without the amp? My installer said no when I asked him at first, and I haven't pulled it apart to look at it, but it seems like it should be do-able.

Anyone know?

 

Most HUs are connected to an amp using the pre-amp outputs. This means the wires (RCAs) coming from the HU to the amp carry un-amplified signal which is not enough to power the speakers. So, you cannot just patch those wire to speakers wires.

You can, however, find a way to connect the speaker wires (not RCAs) from the HU directly to the speakers via a manual switch or construct something facy that switches automatically.

Another solution would be to either leave the amp in the car or install a seperate amp for the fronts. This is what I'd do.

 

I think the MY'02 stock HU doesn't have pre-amp outputs ... but I like your idea of just leaving the amp in - take out the sub but leave the amp. That might work. I'm kind of worried that it might melt whatever is laying on top of it, the damn thing gets so hot.

 

What Hu do you have? It depends on how the hookup was made. My aftermarket Alpine has a separate output for the sub and soft switching controlled from the front panel that will reroute the signals to the side speakers. If the stock Hu is in use there will be either a bass blocker (a capacitor) or a crossover network to route the low frequencys to the sub. That can be removed and the side speakers will work like new. Not knowing the arrangement makes it guesswork. I am new to car audio but not to home audio.
Andy

 

first, when you pull the power from the amp, i hope you're also pulling the fuse for the amp by the battery (or have some sort of other method of preventing the positive lead from touching off) so you don't have a lose hot connection in your trunk...

there really are no easy ways to patch the headunit to speakers and have an amp powering them at the same time. you could do something odd like wiring a switch inline to toggle between the two, but that would require some investigation regarding a proper switch, plus doing some rather creative wiring... nothing particularly practical...

 

Stock HU ... Kenwood Excelon front components with cross overs ... JL Audio stealthbox sub. Rockford Fosgate 4-channel amp, with 2 channels bridged for the sub.

 

Since you have the stock HU, you should be able to patch the wires but you won't like the sound without the amp. You're better off just leaving the amp there, just disconnect the sub and take it out. Where is the amp installed? Is should not heat up that much.

 

The amp is right on top of the Stealthbox. I think it gets hot for a couple of reasons - I tend to drive top down, windows down a lot, which means I crank the stereo to pretty much the max it can handle without cutting out or distorting. The amp is a 500W amp. Seems like music with heavy bass make it hotter (could this be true?). Then, of course, I have a black car - so I think the trunk gets hot anyway.

I am going to go by the installer's place and see what his take is, but I just haven't had the time.

 

Two things...

1) If you can describe how the system is currently hooked up, I could probably give you an easy circuit the stereo guys could slap together.

2) If your amp is getting so hot that you can't touch it, you're either pushing it too hard or something is wired incorrectly (more than likely the former from what you say).