headkiss

hey guys, i have a 2000 gs 300 platinum edition with Nakamichi. just got a 12 inch alpine type R sub and an alpin amp, together with a pionner avh-4300dvd ddin unit.

Took it to my local audio guy to install and he said that what he would do was intergrate the factory amp to power the front speakers, then use my alpine amp to power the sub, this way i wouldnt have to buy new front speakers. is this possible?

for those with Nakamichi that installed a new head unit, sub and amp, how did you guys go about doing it and what would you advice me to do? i did a search but it seems most people are either looking for a way to use their OEM headunit with aftermarket amp and sub, or use aftermarket headunit with stock amp and and sub. I am changing headunit, sub, and amp. thx guys!

OT0814

iTrader: (4)

i thought you have to bypass the factory amp to get it to work... you can install it yourself... i followed this DIY in the DIY links and mine works just fine

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/gs-...iy-add-on.html

samster

you can use the orignal amp with a new head unit or you can by-pass the factory amp and use the headunits amp to power the speakers either or would work depending on preffernce
both way would work just the quality of the sound processing would be different.

headkiss

so by bypassing the amp the headunit would power the stock speakers and my alpine amp can power the sub? i wont need to get new car speakers? and will it sound good? thx for replying.

samster

well good depends on the eye of the beholder or ear of listener, but for most applications and not audiophiles i guess you can say, yes a new headunit with a really good built in sound processor/amp would make your stocks speaker have more ump and juice, the sound quailty will still be stock speakers still, but what i've notice is a lot of people can't distingush the sound quality difference when a the systems shooting out some decent low notes. so i say you should be pretty pleased with the outcome of your nice AFM headunit and factory speakers for now and if you ever feel like it you can always throw in a decent pair of MB quarts or diamonds in the 4 doors down the line.

Mr Jokster

iTrader: (8)

The only way to 'by-pass' the factory amp is to rewire the whole car and not use it at all. Unless something new came along, there's no way to use the factory amp with a new head unit. The factory deck controls the powering on and off of the amp and there's no way to fabricate that.

If he's saying you have to change the speakers, then its possible that the impedance of the Nakamichi is too low for the deck, but if they're 4 ohm, then they'll work just fine. Our stock setups have a surprisingly good sound due to the enclosures they're in. Yes there is always better, but for the common ear out there, it will suffice.

samster

yes there is just find out which wire is the remote 12v........... it's not hard to rewire a factory amp bro. Im pretty sure if he's bringing it to a audio guy he could get it done give me a test light and a multimeter and i'll give u the pin out of the harness it's not plug and play but its completely doable and where do u think the speakers connect to? the amp under the passanger seat so you don't have to rewire to the doors you can do it to the amp to get it to work, it just depends on how you want it to be hooked up, a jokster you are...... if you take the remote wire off any headunit it's a 12v turn on wire mostly blue from most afm head units thats how the head unit turns on the amp same was as factory sir.\


and runnin 4 speaker wires to either the doors or to the amp isn't that hard at all it could be done either way, you can also locate the remote on and signal wires from the factory amp and use it.

neojungle1

iTrader: (8)

i know after replacing my head unit the factory speaker do sound at lot better than the factory amp can ever provide giving that are amp design are over 6 to 11 yr old im pretty sure that even a base head unit would and does give a better sound to noise ratio than lexus designer had in mind at time of design. in other word rip it out or stick to the factory system ( which sound good in my opinion)

Mr Jokster

iTrader: (8)

I dont appreciate the sarcasm, especially when I can probably talk you under the table about car audio. One doesnt own a mobile audio shop because he doesn't know what hes talking about...

Theoretically you're correct, but if it were that easy, then it would have been done already. I've built amps from the inside out. It has nothing to do with a single wire when it comes to our amp. Its not a remote turn on, iirc it senses the signal from the audio. Read up on the car you own before trying to sound like you know what you're talking about. But again, unless someone decided to run the schematics on the amp to find exactly where the power supply is being triggered, it hasnt been done. Not worth the trouble when a deck can probably give better output. and as you said, its how you want to be hooked up, if you want to ghetto rig and splice into existing wire, go for it. I'd rather run new wire and keep it clean.

samster

Im not here to troll or bash, first off i use to be a 12v installer, so i do know what im talking about, have i spent the time to mess with my amp like that? no, but i have done previous ES's, Maximas, Infinitys, etc back in my time that way, as how the customers wanted it. Is it worth it? not really because any decent headunit nowaday have amps that would handle the speakers as much as the factory amp would. I'm pretty sure the guy he's bringing the car to would know what's he doing when he's telling him to by-pass. Im pretty sure he's meaning to just hook up the factory speakers directly to the head unit and hook up the amp to just run the subs. Before you go on about about your amp building, i've build tube amps at home myself so as for how they work and what they do im pretty sure i know too. It was just funny how you made it seem like it was impossible, now that you say its possible, just not worth the time and effort i agree with you. My apologies if you thought i was being sarcastic. We're all on here for the same reasons, to help or be helped as GS owners ain't here trying to fight you.