Hey Y'all-

I just got my Mk2 (RioCar?) and had it professionaly installed. The only issue is that I have to crank it up to 0.0 db to get any serious volume out of it. On the highway it isn't very loud at all. I have a Jeep Grand Cherokee with a stock Infinity amp under the rear seat. I figured the Amp would be plenty powerful to drive the speakers, but I'm a little befuddled. Does anyone know anything about the stock Chrysler sound systems? Do I need to put in a preamp of some sort?

Thoughts?

(To the managers of this site: Kudos! This is great!)

Thanks in advance folks!

Mark.

That amp should be enough to drive you out of the car unless there is something very non-standard about it.

The RioCar player has (nominal) 4 volt outputs, which should be enough to drive any normal amplifier.

If that Infinity ampliifier has even 25 watts per channel, that should be enough output to drive the stock speakers unless it some really weird amp requiring higher input voltages, but I've never heard of such a thing.

Dumb question, but I'll ask anyway: Is there a gain control on the amp itself (there should be) and if so, is it cranked up high enough? You want to set it so that the player is as loud as you ever want to hear it with the player set to 0 dB.

The RioCar player's pre-amp output (line-out) is three to four times as "hot" as a typical CD player. If you are not getting adequate volume, then the problem almost certainly lies elsewhere (assuming the player is not somehow defective).

tantaafl.

Well, see, that's the thing...

There's no gain on the amp. My thought is that it takes speaker level imputs, and the HU is only sending line levels. I mean it's "loud" but certainly not as loud as the original head unit was.

I took the amp out, but haven't taken it apart. There may be a pot on the inside to control gain, but my bet is it's a standard Chrysler part. I was thinking I might need some sort of line --> speaker level converter of some sort.

Thanks for the Reply! I really appreciate it...

I took the amp out, but haven't taken it apart.

Well, at this stage you are in a pretty good position to beg/borrow/steal temporarily a different amp, plug in the wires and try it. Then you'll be able to eliminate at least one link in the chain as the possible problem.

tanstaafl.

Well... It doesn't quite work that way.

The amp has proprietary connectors on it, and no documentation. Without doing a stack of work I can't really try another amp. I may try a preamp and see if that gets me anywhere, or PIE has a device that will boost line level imput to speaker level imput.

My friend Tod and I are intending to hook up is Rio Car to a similar Dodge Durango factory Infinity amplifier.

As I understand it, it needs a slight boost before going into the amp, and there is a product by Pacific Accessory Corporation called the "OEM-1" that supposedly will handle this exact situation for us. We have not received it yet so we can't report on its success yet. But I intend to get photos and do a full write-up once we get it in there.

The OEM-1 is mentioned and linked in the FAQ. It is sold mail-order by www.tune-town.com . Perhaps this is what you need, as well?

Ok, I've sussed this out and gotten things working. Believe it or not, Best Buy has the solution. If you go to their install bay, and tell them you have line outs and want to go to speaker outs on a factory amp, they'll quite happily charge you for an InstallEdge.com box that wires into the system.

I went to Trashy Shack and got about 40 sets of quick releases, wired up both sides of the wiring harness, and the black box. Plugged it all together, turned the car on and HEY PRESTO works like a champ. The signal gets boosted just enough to make it uncomfortable in the car. Sound is so-so, but it's obvious that nothing is going to help that besides aftermarket amps and speakers. Since I'm loosing my job (My company is going out of business- anyone need a deep IP geek with several years experience at a tier 1 ISP?) I'm going to wait, and enjoy the slightly boosted, and very tolerable, sound I've currently got. Thanks to all those who responded!

Mark.

Wow, it's amazing how much that installedge.com box looks like the PAC OEM-1. Hmmm!