Coupé audio setup

[mjb]

I've replaced the standard Clarion head unit with my nice JVC mp3 head and a re-wired PC2-36-AMP from nexxia.co.uk and all is not good. I've got a buzzing through the drivers front tweeter and a whistling which changes pitch with the engine revs

The PC2-36-AMP is a 2-socket ISO connector, with the 4 speaker lines (8 wire ISO connector) leading to 4 line-level RCA jacks via smoothing capacitors and the 7-pin power ISO block going straight through to the HU ISO connector. The power block needed re-wiring so the aerial (amp remote switching), ground, +12v switched and +12v non-switched were connected right, and the 3 other wires (VAN bus power/data1/data2 - so much for standards eh Frenchies? ) were left disconnected

According to the Haynes BoL, one chunk of the wires on the mini-ISO block I've left disconnected go to the changer, and another chunk go to a "suppressor".

Does anyone have any idea how this "suppressor" works or even where it is? With the amp powered up and the speaker lines completely disconnected, I still get the buzz and whistling, although not with the OEM head connected up properly, so I think I may need to activate this suppressor thing somehow... ideas?


Otherwise I'm going to rip the JBL amp out (not overly impressed with the sound quality anyhow, it appears to do some iffy filtering) and find some way of amping it myself. Eventually. How would I go about this, as there's 8 individually wired speakers in the car (4 tweeters, 4 woofers), and all the amps I can see on ebay seem to be 2/4/6 channel I'm trying to do everything I can within the constraints of the original wiring, as everything's conveniently in the wing, but I'm concerned about amp power usage as I don't know what sort of gauge the power wire to the JBL amp is.

Who's got some suggestions on crossovers and amps?

I want the speakers running as flat a frequency response as possible while spending as little money as possible... That means anything that emphasises "bass boost" is likely to sound repulsive to me. Massive amounts of volume aren't required, and while I know I could just slap some crossovers in the back and run them from the stereo's speaker outputs, I'd rather amp it as the head unit can overheat in summer

[steve_earwig]

I've replaced the standard Clarion head unit with my nice JVC mp3 head and a re-wired PC2-36-AMP from nexxia.co.uk and all is not good. I've got a buzzing through the drivers front tweeter and a whistling which changes pitch with the engine revs

The PC2-36-AMP is a 2-socket ISO connector, with the 4 speaker lines (8 wire ISO connector) leading to 4 line-level wibble-wobble thingummy-jig to I've no idea what he's going on about oh look it's a lovely day outside blue sky with whispy bits of cloud and maybe I should be outside doing something more useful, hold on, what was I looking at again?

Sounds like the amp is missing an earth there. I know the stereo in my D9 has BSI-type delay issues, maybe the supressor is really a filter Are there band-pass filters inside the amp or are they caps on the tweeters? Maybe it'd be ok to use a 4-channel but you'd then need to sort out cross-overs by the amp and perhaps sabotage the caps on the tweeters

[mjb]

Sounds like the amp is missing an earth there.

Could be. Both door speakers are non-operational too (unlikely they've both blown), so it could be a wiring muck-up around the amp...

I know the stereo in my D9 has BSI-type delay issues, maybe the supressor is really a filter Are there band-pass filters inside the amp or are they caps on the tweeters?

I know the speakers are individually wired back to the amp and there's band-pass filtering on each speaker, but I've seen pictures of a replacement JBL 6x9 and it's just a speaker, so it stands to reason the amp handles the crossover stuff internally. Servicebox also calls the amp "EQUALISER AMPLIFIER"...

I really want to know about this suppressor box... I can't find any mention of it on servicebox (no surprise there )

[highlander]

Can't you just take it to Halfords and get them to fit it?








(runs away, apologising and ducking to avoid being hit with the rocks you're throwing)

[Captain Jack]

I have decided to keep the whole system (for now) but will be replacing the crappy front mids with Focals and rears with Kenwood 6x9 subs. That should be OK for me and I'll basically have a component system. We'll see how it goes. When I have some time and money (moving to London next month - erk! ) I will replace the HU with an Alpine one and employ a Kenwood amp to feed the front speakers - although I may just use the Alpine's internal amp - not sure yet.

No idea what/where a "suppressor" is, but I'll be fitting an iPod adapter tomorrow (probably) so I'll see what it's like in there. I did notice some weird gizmo connected to a radio aerial - sort of a splitter of some kind - so I got rid of it, but now I am getting some odd "clicks" sometimes, a bit like listening to a record with occasional pops. I think it's to do with some earthing issue that others mentioned here (although, I don't get a big BANG).

Just so that I understand correctly, you feed your amp via JVC's pre-out signal, right? Not speaker level output as that would royally screw up everything. Not familiar with the connector you're using so have to ask!

I saw on Coupe forums that you shouldn't fit any amp requiring more than 300w as it will put a big strain on factory wiring. So run a separate cable from the battery if you do decide to replace the amp.

Probably useless to you, but in my Honda I used the factory HU's pre-amp outs to feed a Kenwood 4ch amp, which ran 6 speakers - front door mids and tweeters via a x-over and rear door mids via another x-over. For the bass, I had the above Kenwood amplified subs. I must say, it sounded very very nice. Not as nice as, say an Alpine HU fed amp but it was lovely.

[mjb]

Just so that I understand correctly, you feed your amp via JVC's pre-out signal, right? Not speaker level output as that would royally screw up everything. Not familiar with the connector you're using so have to ask!

Correct. I can apply a certain level of correction to the JVC's output levels, but even with it lowered as much as possible there's too much hiss and the volume control's too sensitive, so I'm using the line outputs

I saw on Coupe forums that you shouldn't fit any amp requiring more than 300w as it will put a big strain on factory wiring. So run a separate cable from the battery if you do decide to replace the amp.

I'm not overly concerned with that as 300W is more than enough volume with a reasonably efficient amp (a 1kW amp will only suck up 1kW if you run it at full power). If I decide to replace the 6x9s with subs, I'll consider upgrading the power wiring, but that's a long way away. As I said, I just want decent sound quality not stupid volumes

[Captain Jack]

Well, I took apart my dash today to install a Dension iPod adapter and daaaammmmnnnnn.... there was so much crap in there, I am surprised it didn't all blow up. Wires spliced/crimped/bare ends dangling about etc. Found some crappy FM modulator attached to one of the wires, which I removed and also some connector which looked like a Pentium 4 PSU connector. Gone!

Either way, I haven't found any "suppressors" back there so not sure what BoL is talking about. All I think there is, is: CD changer <> head unit > amp > speakers. For wiring information, have a look here - fairly comprehensive (I am sure you've seen it though)

[exec406]

Hi

Just a note on the JBL rear deck speakers that I replaced on my D9 JBL amp car.

When these speakers were disconnected to replace with better units, I noticed a small power type connector hooked up almost to the centre of the woofer cone. The back connector on the speaker was a plug that had the two standard + and - wires.

This JBL looks like some kind of a custom built speaker by JBL for the Peugeot JBL system. Does anyone know what the little power type connector in the centre of these speakers is? How would this be hooked up to replacement speakers?

I just fitted a pair of £90.00 6x9s and they are quieter than my front speakers (Polk Audio DB650 which I replaced JBL front door units with) Could this be something to do with this little connector I mention?

Thanks for any help.

[Captain Jack]

Just a note on the JBL rear deck speakers that I replaced on my D9 JBL amp car.

Sorry to hijack, but how did you manage to fit aftermarket speakers? I am still planning to make some sort of spacer/adapter type thing but no idea how

When these speakers were disconnected to replace with better units, I noticed a small power type connector hooked up almost to the centre of the woofer cone. The back connector on the speaker was a plug that had the two standard + and - wires. This JBL looks like some kind of a custom built speaker by JBL for the Peugeot JBL system. Does anyone know what the little power type connector in the centre of these speakers is? How would this be hooked up to replacement speakers?

It's basically a component system. On those JBL speakers, there are 2 set of connectors as you've noticed. One is for the subwoofer (low pass) and the other is for the tweater in the centre of the main speaker (high pass). The filtering is done inside the JBL amp and is not adjustable as far as I am aware.

I just fitted a pair of £90.00 6x9s and they are quieter than my front speakers (Polk Audio DB650 which I replaced JBL front door units with) Could this be something to do with this little connector I mention?

They could be a slightly different spec from the originals but it's nothing to do with the little connector (see above) I would adjust the fader setting on the head unit - will help to an extent.

[exec406]

Hi

Thanks for that. The standard Clarion H.U. and JBL amp seems to have more power going to the front speakers, try fading to the rears on the factory set up and it does not sound as good as the fronts in isolation. In fact the dealer I bought the new 6x9s from commented that factory fit amps are usually low power and may not drive good 6x9s well (e.g. around £80 plus speakers) Better off with a new head unit and amp combination. The factory JBL amp is not pushing out much power per channel and looks the size of a two channel amp (altough it drives six speakers)

As for fitting the 6x9's, I got my local car audio dealer to fit these. They had quite large wooden spacers that fitted underneath the 6x9's. Also to mention they had to take the rear parcel shelf out to fit the spacers which was then replaced after fitting.

Thanks