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Unfortunately, "AC V" and "DC A" settings on my unpowered analog voltmeter didn't show me anything coming out of the stock radio. With volume high or low, balance and fader centered or to one side, I saw nothing. What type of signal is line level output?



Sound shaped (i.e. AC), voltage (RMS or peak I don't recall) of between 1 and 8V depending on the radio (later/high end models often have the higher voltages as it allows one to run the amps on lower gain, reducing the influence of any noise picked up in the RCA wires (higher Signal/Moise ratio).

Of course, for a factory system most bets are off

Input resistance of amps are normally somewhere in the kOhm range so currents aren't very high.

You should get something on a low AC voltage setting (what's the lowest on your meter?), preferably having the volume on the radio turned up high and playing a steady test note.

What's the input resistance of the meter for voltage? If too low (unlikely, but with factory systems, who knows) it might overwhelm the current capacity of the output. Might want to try another meter, see if someone has one has one you could borrow - otherwise, new ones (digital) of OK quality (for general poking about activities) can be found quite cheap.

Unless of course the system does wacky stuff like only put outs the signal if it senses current draw on the remote or something like that. Never seen it, but factory systems...
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/Michael