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**1990LTD** · 02-20-2010, 04:37 PM

Is there a stock amp in there?

**DarkKnight** · 02-20-2010, 04:41 PM

no amp in the car that im aware of. and im pretty confidant that i have taken evrey nook and cranny apart.

But just to be sure where would they be located? And what do the stock ones look like?

**91grandmarquis** · 02-20-2010, 06:32 PM

Ok to my best of my ability I will explain what is happening. First check out the box for that stereo, check the RMS power, this will tell you the actual constant rating and not just the peak. My radio says 50 watts by 4 channels however the RMS is much lower more like 10 watts if Im lucky. The RMS is better because it is showing you what your amp, head, speakers can handle constantly. If you got that head to run at 50 watts by running it at 2 ohms as apposed to 4? I think those are right, then it would overheat and stop working pretty quick, its mainly an advertising scheme. As for the radio "skipping" thats your speakers distorting. Whats happening is if they are not component speakers then all frequencies will get through, thus when a large amount of bass hits a small cone speaker it will not have enough time to reverberate and create the other sounds as well. I run bass cutters on component speakers in my front, that means that not much bass gets through, and that the mids are played through the large cone, and the highs through the tweeter in the middle. In the rear I have the same setup except with 6x9 with a woofer cone for bass, mid range cone for mids, and tweeter for highs. Distortion is a pain in the nuts, and can ruin a system. I hope this information explains your delima, any more q's just ask.

**DarkKnight** · 02-20-2010, 10:25 PM

Eh, thats still a bit confusing. So if i made the base and treble go down -5 might that fix the problem? Also i dont see rms on the box anywhere ill look at the manual tomorrow. Dnt fill like getting dressed to go look in the car for it atm.
Also if that woldent fix it would a cheap amp fix it? If not. Some bass cutters as u said you use? Where might i get those? I really didnt want to spend to much money on this just wanted something where i could get all stations. And play a cd. Not wanting to do a show or anything. Thus the cheap head.

But why did my speakers play so well on the stock radio then this aftermarket?

**91grandmarquis** · 02-20-2010, 10:43 PM

Ok, basically the problem may go away a little if you turn down the bass. the bass cutters are capacitors that cut out a low frequency and you have to solder them on, most aftermarket speakers come with them, Im not sure if you can buy them separately, but you should be able to. My suggestion would be some new speakers, an amp would probably make it worse as your pushing the speakers even harder. Basically it will distort if its not a responsive speaker, are they stock? This should sound kinda like skipping and or popping and should only occur at higher volumes. It should get worse when you crank it higher. If it is not this then you have a problem with the head unit itself, but my 80 dollar Panasonic doesn't do this so it should be distortion. Basically replacing any one specific component will not help your stereo, however replacing all the components will, as long as they are all around the same power rating.If you cannot find the RMS its no big deal, but I can guarantee you that a 30 dollar head is not pushing anywhere near 60 watts constantly, my moms car (wich has a $400 pioneer I bought her for christmas) may hit about 15 watts to each speaker. This has to do with resistance and other things. Keep in mind that even 50 watts is very loud, even the 600 dollar alpine type x speakers are only rated for 80 watts constant power.

here is an article on how to install the capacitors -
http://www.matey-matey.com/capacitor_crossovers.shtml
External crossovers are much better but they are expensive as hell, they will be in my next sound system I put in that will have all speakers amped and cross overs to each, with a sub. Its going to be a real pain to wire up though. These capacitors seem to work fine for me atm.

Sorry I cant seem to find any capacitors for sale, Ill have to do some more digging. That article also shows what value cap youll need. Hope this helps.

**DarkKnight** · 02-20-2010, 10:54 PM

Thanks. Well 1 speaker is aftermarket i have it in the middel front. the two in the rear which i have diconected are out of a 08 - 07 explorer. The other two up front look stock.

I found my head unit on a wecite heres link http://outlet.crutchfield.com/S-al3r...684&tab=review
I dont see hms on it either.

O but to clerifi your saying my best bet would be four new speakers? That sholdent be a problem if thats the case. As they have them on sell right now.

**91grandmarquis** · 02-20-2010, 10:58 PM

Yeah and if they are aftermarket they should come with some black capacitors to solder on that will help cut bass, and stop distortion, or at least fend it off till higher volumes. With a cd my head cant crank it enough to distort my speakers, it can however make the mirrors shake pretty good.

**DarkKnight** · 02-20-2010, 11:10 PM

I think ure dead on on this man.! As i did get dressed went outside turned the bass all the way down and got the volume up to 30 which was loude enuff. Odd though how i had to turn it back down once i cranked the car on. bye only 3 but still. I can solder fairly well. These will solder on same as wiring i take it? I clicked link just havent read yet as i wanted to test.

Tanks again Hoss

**91grandmarquis** · 02-20-2010, 11:15 PM

Yeah, I actually didn't do mine as the car came with this stereo, they go between the positive and the speaker I believe, basically just two solder pts.

**DarkKnight** · 02-20-2010, 11:22 PM

Yea thats what i just read as well. cut the postive line and solder into place.

**91grandmarquis** · 02-20-2010, 11:23 PM

I believe you can actually do it from the positive tab to the speaker cone as well, it should specify in the directions as well.

**gadget73** · 02-22-2010, 12:31 AM

the amp would be in the trunk, on the driver's side up against the rear seat. Usually its a football shaped silver thing.

What are you using for speaker wires? If its the original factory stuff, some of that is common ground, which may not be compatible with modern radios. What I'm guessing that radio is set up for is a + and - for each speaker. Usually what the factory stuff had was a + for each speaker, and either one - for both fronts, or it would just go to a body ground for -. If you're using the old factory wiring, it may be worth your while to run new wires to each speaker, so you have the + and - that the radio expects. Also, if those dash speakers are original, usually they're baked to shit by now. The sun just destroys them and they sound horrible. If the paper is all crumbly, they're done for.

**DarkKnight** · 02-22-2010, 10:44 PM

Gadget man. You reallllly got me thinking!. Whille im not useing the factory wires i did however use speaker wire.And not membering which side of the speakers where the postivie i just placed them on there and see if i got a note. If i did i said hey it works! And went on to the next one. Could it be that my wires would be crossed and that be the actual problem?

**91grandmarquis** · 02-22-2010, 10:52 PM

I know if they are crossed on the speaker end it will reverse the oscillation, however this can be done to sub woofers to make them sound more "tight" Im not sure what it would do to normal speakers. I wired my head into an extra ford radio plug I got, so it just plugs right on in, with factory speaker wires.

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