Car Stereos: wiring, jetta diesel, jetta tdi

Question
I'm putting a system in my friends 2006 Jetta diesel and he is just using the stock deck and we don't know which wire to use for the Amplifier remote control turn on. Since it is a stock deck I can't find which wire is for and external amplifier, if you could help that would be great!

Dan

Answer
Hi Dan,

Factory decks don't have remote amp turn on wires, so there's a few options.

Because the '06 Jetta TDI doesn't have a power antenna, you'll have to either just run 12V switched power into the 'remote' lead of the amplifier.  This would mean the amp is on whenever the car is on (or in accessory).  Many people think this is a nuisance.

If you'd rather the amp only be on when the stereo is on, you might want to buy a high to low-level converter (which would be a wise investment anyway, since you don't want to be running high level inputs to the amp.)  If you get a better quality converter, you can get one that has a 12V input, that does 12V remote output using a relay that only gets switched on when it detects signal passing through the high level outputs.

Justin