Saab 9-5 audio problem

[CP2E]

I decided to upgrade a few things in my 2001 9-5 wagon (8 speaker system) I installed 2 amps, component speakers in the front, full range in the rear doors and a sub in the back. After careful consideration and with the limited amount of Signal Processor & OEM Interfaces around I went with the Rockford Fosgate 3sixty.2 (seemed to have the most custom ability) -so far so good. Because of the high input level on the 3sixty I tapped into the factory radio at the hottest point - after the amp. I ran (what seemed like) front left/right - rear left/right back to the 3sixty and started the oem setup. Needless to say things were better in my world prior to this debacle, everything now sounds awful. When I use the fade on the fatory head unit - one direction gives sound to the tweeters and subwoofer, nothing else - in the other direction I get midrange sound to the front and rear speakers and no front tweeters. So I think its safe to assume that there is a wiring problem and I have no clue and cant find any information about the factory amp/head unit. If you could help out I would be forever grateful. (btw- everyone seems to reference http://www.mitt-eget.com but that site is down)

[Bfowler]

welcome to the fourm!

can you explain a little more about your signal path from the back of the oem factory unit?

it sounds like whatever line-outs you used were not full range one channel is highs, and one is mids.

[stipud]

I don't understand why you are using the 3sixty to convert a high level input to a low level signal when there is already a low level signal at the amp that could be tapping into. Converting a high level signal which has already been amplified back to a low level signal will just add needless noise to the system. The stock amp also has built in crossovers, which cut off certain frequency ranges for the different speakers. For example, the front speakers will only play treble, the door speakers only midrange, and the subwoofers only bass. Tapping in at the low level inputs will give you the full-range signal that you need.

All you need to do to connect your amplifiers to the stock setup is tap into the low level signal, rather than doing the whole mess of conversion. To do this, you don't need something as elaborate as a 3sixty. Instead, just go to Radio Shack and pick up a set of simple RCA female ends, and some 16 gauge speaker wire (will be used to tap in).

Each RCA will have a center pole connection, and a shield. Connect the center poles to these pins as follows:

Front RED: 3
Front BLACK: 4
Rear RED: 5
Rear BLACK: 6

Now connect all shields to pin 21 or 22. Voila, you have RCA outputs. Now try to reverse all the damage done to the high level outputs. To get it to work, just plug your RCA cables in there, and run them back to your amps. All done, and it only cost a few bucks.

If you want to keep the 3sixty, use the RCA level inputs for it instead of the high level inputs. There should be no need for it however... if you can return it, I highly recommend doing so. The 3sixty has very powerful equalization, which reverses the equalization inherent in some factory decks. Fortunately there is no EQ in the factory Saab headunit, so this feature won't be used. The EQ, time alignment and line driver are all very powerful features if you know how to use them, so if you plan on competing or doing lots of tinkering, then it could still be useful, if you know how to use it.

Let me know if you have trouble loading the 9-5 FAQ page and I will mirror it here.

[CP2E]

bfowler: thx for the welcome.

"The stock amp also has built in crossovers, which cut off certain frequency ranges for the different speakers. For example, the front speakers will only play treble, the door speakers only midrange, and the subwoofers only bass"

And there lies my problem.

Thanks for the help. Im leaving work in now so I can fix this. As far as the 3sixty goes, I don't have the heart to return it - after you've sat in the drivers seat with your windows mobile device and wirelessly configured the 10 band eq for your sub there is no going back!

Stupid you're the man! ( I never thought id put that sentence together)
Ill post pics of the system tonight.

[stipud]

I did a bit more research into the 3sixty, and it looks like it can take a balanced input signal. This will yield better sound quality than if you were to simply ground the RCA shields, so if you decide to keep the 3sixty, then I recommend you do the following:

Rather than connecting all the shields to ground (pin 21/22), connect them like so:
Front RED: 23
Front BLACK: 24
Rear RED: 25
Rear BLACK: 26

This will make the RCAs balanced. You should not have to change anything else to get this to work... just run RCAs from these female ends to the 3sixty, which will convert the balanced signal back to a higher voltage single-ended signal that your aftermarket amps can use.

[CP2E]

Hey Stipud thanks for all your help. I've posted a few pics I took tonight - still need to clean things up and tweak but everything sounds great! I seem to be getting engine noise thats noticeable when the Vol is turned down a bit - i added 2 radio shack ground loop isolators (270-0054) but I am still getting noise from the 3sixty to the amps. any suggestions?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/82322211@N00/359245701/



Pioneer TS-C720PRS in the front
Stock in the rear for now
Kicker L7 10" 2ohm dual vc in a small 12x12 sealed box
1 kenwood excelon kac-x542 4ch
1 kenwood excelon kac x-812d setup @ 1ohm - 915watt rms (so they say)
Rockford Fosgate 3sixty.2

I was never crazy about kenwood amps but they cost me $100 so, well, u get it.

[stipud]

Did you try the balanced signal I suggested? With your 3sixty mounted in the boot like that, the balanced signal will help a LOT with avoiding noise.

Ground loop isolators will do nothing for you in this setup. If you use them with the balanced signal they will just make it unbalanced (same as if you were to ground the RCA shields up front).

The best option however, is to (in addition to using the balanced signal) install the 3sixty up front. Preferably as close to the source (where you tap in) as possible. The noise you are experiencing is being radiated to the weak, unshielded stock wiring. Having your 3sixty up as far forward as possible will minimize this, because it should convert the balanced signal to a high voltage single-ended RCA signal.

If you don't want to move it, but are using the balanced signal and still getting noise, try upgrading your RCAs. Also, check this wonderful how-to.

[CP2E]

Do you know how many volts if any are coming off of the head unit?

[stipud]

Hmm... IIRC it was only around 1-2 volts. The 3sixty should be capable of boosting that. Check the maximum input voltage on your amps, and set the 3sixty to output that voltage, then turn your amp gains to minimum.