QuestionYes, I did hear the previous system work correctly. The speakers aren't blown, nor are they connected out of phase. Dodge offered 3 audio systems in '96 -- a basic 4-spkr unamplified version, a "midline" with 6 speakers and an amplifier mounted near the glovebox, and the top-end Infinity system, which incorporated 7 spkrs and an amp in a different location. The version I'm dealing with is the "midline", and I verified this by eyeballing the amp and checking that there were 4 wires going into each rear deck speaker.
There is no means of using the grounding strap from the stock radio -- the aftermarket head unit has its own ground wire, which I connected to the frame. I have checked all connections to the wiring harness multiple times and have contacted the manufacturer to make certain I used the correct harness (I did).
Is it possible that what was coming out of the stock radio was actually line level (meaning no real amp in the stock radio)? And if so, why would the wiring harness ask me to connect the speaker outputs of my aftermarket head unit instead of the RCA outs?....If that harness isn't stepping down that amplified signal (and it isn't), I would expect to be getting loud, overly distorted output with the new unit installed, since amplified output would be hitting the existing stock amp. Instead, what I hear is fairly clear but very quiet, with no dynamics - like what you'd get if all that was making it to the speakers was the preamp output.
This head unit has 4 separate 22W/ch amps built in, so why aren't I hearing distorted output? It's obvious that amp isn't getting kicked in, but why?
P.S. -- Have checked all fuses, too. Everything's good. I also plugged the orig radio back in to make sure everything still worked, and all was fine. I'm stumped.
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The text above is a follow-up to ...
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I have a '96 Dodge Intrepid. I just pulled the stock am/fm/tape deck out and replaced with a Kenwood am/fm/cd/mp3 unit. Bought the proper factory wiring harness and verified it was the right model; once I powered up, it's obvious the stock amp in the car isn't doing anything with the signal. I get that fabulous tinny preamp-only kind of output from all 4 speakers. Even though this wasn't a "premium" audio system originally, I did try connecting the head unit's remote power lead to the blue wire that generally powers up the amplifier. Repeated that process with the power antenna lead from the head unit, too. Neither helped. I've done a few installations in my time -- what am I missing here? Possible grounding problem, maybe? Thanks.
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Did you ever hear the system work correctly? Could the speakers be blown? If it's not a premium system there may not be an amp(s). The Infinity system had amps located on the back of each front speaker, that then drove the tweeter on that side. If it does not say infinity on the door panels, it's probably not. As for ground, if you hook up the large braid strap to the back of the radio it is grounded as it should be.
AnswerYou can use the stock ground braid to ground your radio, just attach it to the backstrap point on the Kenwood. I have lost count how many problems are traced back to ignoring the grounding issue. You can have as many ground connections as you want, so adding this strap will certainly not hurt the situation.
We run a wrecking yard now, and I have swapped Dodge stereos from every imaginable car and truck. Every Dodge stereo runs speaker level outputs, except until the latest CAN bus equipped units (pacifica, nitro, etc).
If you still have no resolution, your speakers do have the amps on-board. The four wires to each rear speaker proves this. One is ground, one is +12VDC, (switched with the power antenna wire at the radio), and the remaining two are speaker level signal. Start checking tose connections and get back to me.
