Factory amp help.

Jashiro

Well-Known Member
I installed the new pioneer avh-5500dvd on my civic si a while back and of course the factory subwoofer stopped working, so i asked for a harness that is supposed to let me used the stock sub with my after market unit. Does anyone know how to do this? it is the same as the normal harness with the exception that it had like RCA jacks instead of speaker cable, that confuses me because i have no idea where those go.
 

Bulkybear

Well-Known Member
1,665
749
Those are to be connected to the rca pre outs coming from the new radio. That's how you feed the factory amp
 

Bulkybear

Well-Known Member
1,665
749
Yep. In the harnesses that have the rca's they feed the stock amp either from your pre amp outputs on your deck or from wiring up LOC's to your deck to get rca pre outs. I've seen some I think use straight speaker wire then have a second connector to jump the connectors at the amp, bypassing the amp and feeding the speakers off of the head, but do to power and ohm restrictions I don't recommend a bypass unless also changing out all.speakers.
 

Bulkybear

Well-Known Member
1,665
749
the stock amp doesn't run off of rca's connections does it?
I think I misunderstood your question but my previous post is still relevant so ill make a follow up. No the stock amp doesn't run on rca's. Rca is just a connector type. The stock amp is fed by a balanced differential output from the head. I believe these types of connections use shield wires instead of traditional negatives. Hence why if you wire a LOC to the head directly trying to bypass the stock amp with the eq to feed an aftermarket amp, you won't get a signal. A lot of harnesses follow the mercman harness to allow rca pre outs to feed the stock amp.
 

webby

Administrator
Admin
Toys For Tots
52,105
22,314
but the connection at the stock honda deck - that's rca? Like a rca cable runs from the factory radio to the amp? I understand that most aftermarket setups are like this, but I didn't think the factory deck was like that.
 

Bulkybear

Well-Known Member
1,665
749
Can't see the attachment mikey. Could be because I'm on tapatalk. Webby, the wiring harness adapter for our cars to wire up an aftermarket head unit has rca's integrated. One side connects to the pre amps on the head, the other side connects to the stock wiring harness which then goes to the amp.
 

hey_mikey

Well-Known Member
1,054
894
Concord, NC
Vehicle Model
Accord Sport
Body Style
Sedan
Yea this is the one i have. So is this one supposed to let the factory amp work?
It works with the factory amp but I'm not sure if the factory sub obtains its signal from the front L-R and/or rear L-R inputs. If the stock head unit was feeding the sub a separate signal, no plug n play adapter currently available will allow you to keep the stock sub. If that's the case, you'd have to figure out which wires feed the sub signal to the stock amp and figure out a way to connect that to your head unit's sub output.

If the sub is fed by the front and/or rear inputs, the sub should still work. You just won't have separate control over it like you did with the stock head unit.
 

Bulkybear

Well-Known Member
1,665
749
I believe you will keep the stock sub with that harness. Try it and let us know so we can confirm.
 

hey_mikey

Well-Known Member
1,054
894
Concord, NC
Vehicle Model
Accord Sport
Body Style
Sedan
looks like the factory sub has separate input. you need to wire up your sub outputs on your head unit to the sub inputs on the 8pin connector to get it to work again.



from here:
2012 Civic Audio Wiring Guide & Pinouts For Factory Radio
 

hey_mikey

Well-Known Member
1,054
894
Concord, NC
Vehicle Model
Accord Sport
Body Style
Sedan
Said.. "he didn't know where those go"
ah i c. heh. i guess i gotta read more carefully. in any case, that adapter doesn't connect to the 8-pin connector that feeds the signal to the stock sub, so it most likely won't work.
 

Bulkybear

Well-Known Member
1,665
749
I believe the connector for the sub plugs into the harness as well. Haven't heard of anyone else having issues with this harness (though I haven't specifically looked)
 

hey_mikey

Well-Known Member
1,054
894
Concord, NC
Vehicle Model
Accord Sport
Body Style
Sedan
yeah you're right. the picture from that other thread didn't show one part of the harness.

 

Bulkybear

Well-Known Member
1,665
749
Yeah. That's the harness I've seen. The aftermarket head should feed the amp through the rca connections in that harness. OP just needs to make sure he has that harness and wire the rca's up and he should be good.
 
Top