[Jappleseed]

Hello. I'm very new to this forum and wanted to thank everyone for the help I've received through browsing around. I have a couple questions that I couldn't find info on around the forum.

I'm looking to install a 4 channel aftermarket amp into my '08 civic Si (premium sound w/ navigation). I'm really happy with my Focal component speakers, but not very satisfied with the sound quality from the OEM amp. I was planning on using the bypass harness from Crutchfield to feed the signal to my aftermarket amp. I do, however, want to continue using stock 350w external amp to power my subwoofer. Additionally, I couldn't find any info around the forum on the sub's specifications... It would be nice if I could bridge two channels to give the 8" some more juice. This leads me to two questions.

Q1: Does the bypass harness allow me to choose which channels I want to bypass, or am i forced to bypass all of them?
Q2: Is the 350w external amplifier capable of bridging two channels?

As you can probably tell I'm new to this whole car audio biz. Thanks for any/all input.

 

[toxin]

noooo

 

[Jappleseed]

Thanks for your reply... Unfortunately I don't understand which question you answered; maybe you could help me by being more specific? I will rephrase my questions so it is easier to see what I am asking. Does anyone else have any info on this? Thanks.

 

[dotkristian]

The amp bypass harness makes you bypass the amp completely. It has a plug on one end where you unplug from the amp and plug it into the harness. The harness then routes to the back of your headunit, and you match up the speaker +/- wires.

I find the bypass very useful if you have a set of components and do not want to use an amp with your speakers. My friend works at Honda, and he looked up the color codes for the stock wiring and basically used the bypass harness and the stock wiring to run my components.

If you just use the four +/- channels on your head unit to the amp bypass harness, they will not play your tweeters. I wish I would have seen what my friend connected and how, but I was busy taking apart my stock speakers to mount my JLs.

As posted in my thread, I'm going to take pictures of everything involved with my audio install... Though I am not sure when that will happen. Fried motherboard = no computer = booooo. lol

 

[toxin]

Thanks for your reply... Unfortunately I don't understand which question you answered; maybe you could help me by being more specific? I will rephrase my questions so it is easier to see what I am asking. Does anyone else have any info on this? Thanks.

In answer to the subject: don't bridge your factory amp.

In regards to your other question, though, I'm pretty sure the Crutchfield "bypass" harness is for bypassing the factory amp when you connect an aftermarket HU to the factory speaker wiring--not for integrating aftermarket amps with the factory HU.

It is possible to get great results integrating the factory source with aftermarket amps, though. mercman used to sell harnesses for this purpose (that's what I use), but I don't know if he still does that.

 

[Jappleseed]

Thanks for the feedback everyone... I think I'm going to "pass" on the bypass harness for now and run a separate, 4ch amp. I plan to use the OEM amp for powering only the rears and the sub for now. Then I'll temporarily bridge the channels on the aftermarket amp to the crossovers for my front stage.

This way, I can still use my stock sub, which I will replace when I have the funds for an aftermarket sub and monoblock amp. That's when the bypass harness will come in handy. Any thoughts? Thanks

 

[hoserama]

Not sure what the factory sub is rated at. My guess would be no more than 50 watts continuous and that's probably a guess on the high side. It's a dangerous game putting power to factory speakers with such a powerful amp. If it were my car I wouldn't do it in fear of blowing speakers and then being left with more crappier sound than what I started out with. I would wait until the funds are available to do it right.

 

[VTEC_4_LIFE]

stock sub is rated to 30W, I fed it 300, no issues

 

[arrivalanche]

stock speakers can be amplified no problem. wattage is not what blows speakers, its distortion. you could blow your speakers with stock wattage if you turn up the bass too high and distort it too much.

 

[VTEC_4_LIFE]

^^^that

 

[Jappleseed]

Not worried about blowing speakers.. but what about the amp?

stock speakers can be amplified no problem. wattage is not what blows speakers, its distortion. you could blow your speakers with stock wattage if you turn up the bass too high and distort it too much.

Understood, thanks. Come to think of it I think my amp is going bad. I've owned my car for two years and it now requires much more volume gain to reach the same amount of loudness it once could. When I got the car, CD and Aux inputs were very loud at a volume level of 10 (XM always required more gain). Now I listen comfortably at 13-15, but if I want to jam out it requires 20. I realize this has nothing to do with the OP, but arrivalanche got me thinking... has anyone else run across this issue? Maybe I'm just going deaf mg: Or perhaps OEM=POS. :facepalm:

 

[mercman]

The OEM amp is only 350 watts until the alarm clock goes off. The amp is actually 18 watts/ch. The amp can’t be bridged because it already is. If you want to improve your sound, start by replacing the speakers then bypass/replace the amp.

I’m working on a converter that will plug in where the factory amp is and provide high voltage line outs (RCAs) from the balanced HU outputs. It should be ready in a few weeks. I am working with someone to try to get harnesses mass produced as well.

It is always a good idea to have your hearing checked as you get older or are exposed to load environments.

Jeff

 

[arrivalanche]

Understood, thanks. Come to think of it I think my amp is going bad. I've owned my car for two years and it now requires much more volume gain to reach the same amount of loudness it once could. When I got the car, CD and Aux inputs were very loud at a volume level of 10 (XM always required more gain). Now I listen comfortably at 13-15, but if I want to jam out it requires 20. I realize this has nothing to do with the OP, but arrivalanche got me thinking... has anyone else run across this issue? Maybe I'm just going deaf mg: Or perhaps OEM=POS. :facepalm:

You are just getting used to the stereo. Ive seen it a million times with customers. Nothing changes but the user.

 

[VTEC_4_LIFE]

^^ yeah usually I see that too, but my reasoning was always "you're going deaf"

 

[Xinserz]

The OEM amp is only 350 watts until the alarm clock goes off. The amp is actually 18 watts/ch. The amp can’t be bridged because it already is. If you want to improve your sound, start by replacing the speakers then bypass/replace the amp.

I’m working on a converter that will plug in where the factory amp is and provide high voltage line outs (RCAs) from the balanced HU outputs. It should be ready in a few weeks. I am working with someone to try to get harnesses mass produced as well.

It is always a good idea to have your hearing checked as you get older or are exposed to load environments.

Jeff

Oh wow, you must make a thread when this comes available, it sounds amazing. Thanks for your hardwork!