Car Stereos: 04 tahoe factory dvd, wire colors, rca plugs

Question
I need to know which wires coming out of the factory dvd are sound output. so that I can install a line converter, to run them to my aftermarket head unit. I have seen it done in othe suv's like mine. please help

Answer
Hi Jesse,

Sorry about the wait in answering this question.

I don't have exact information on the wire colors for the DVD audio, but you should be able to find them in the factory radio plug (the smaller plug of the two at the back of the radio).  Generally, there will be three wires: a left channel positive, a right channel positive, and a common ground wire.  In the vehicles I've seen, the wire colors are green/white, brown/white, and black/white.  You don't need to use a line output converter; these wires carry a low-level signal.  You can just adapt them to RCA plugs or a mini plug, and connect them directly to a head unit's auxiliary input jacks.

The trouble is, you may need to do more to get the audio from the DVD player.  The external components, like the DVD player, external CD changer or XM tuner, are  controlled through the vehicle's data bus system.  That means you might not get an audio signal unless you "enable" the DVD player, by selecting it as a source using the factory radio.  If this is the case, then you'd have to relocate the factory radio to another spot in the vehicle, and keep it wired into the system (just with the power and data bus connections).  Then you could select the DVD source on the factory radio to enable the DVD audio output, and link it into  your new head unit's auxiliary input.

Hope this helps!

Brian