Stock Stereo Modification
 

The modular stereo that comes in the proteges has a spot for a tape deck/md player. Currently that space is empty on mine. I'd like to tap into the unused input in the back of the head unit that should be reserved for this spot and wire up a minijack plug so that I could run an MP3player as an auxiliary input to my car steroe. Does anyone know what the back of the stock system looks like? Is the open input part of the wiring harness? Is it simply unused RCA jacks? What is the best way to get to the back of the head unit without damaging the dash of the car? Are there special tools i would need and what do they look like? Pictures would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for the help.

I'm guessing that the connection for the modular pieces is proprietary (and more like a multi-pin terminal) and not just dangling RCA jacks. This is because there are certain features that the head unit needs to control, like track skip, forward/reverse, etc. and also the relay that tells the unit when you insert a tape or minidisc. If you press Tape/MD on the head unit without the piece installed, nothing happens. I have heard of some people attempting to wire into this, but honestly I am not sure how successful they have been. (If they have been, I'd like to know how to do it myself!) But until then, why not just get an FM modulator... the sound will be nearly as good, they're pretty cheap, and you won't have to break through any factory pieces.

There is plenty of info on this board (and the others) on removing the deck, so please use the serach function to find it. There is a bunch of good info in the sticky posts at the top of the exterior/interior/audio section which would be a great place to start.

The connector for the add on MD player or cassette player is a multi-pin connector that nobody to my knowledge has been able to decipher, and as far as I know nobody has managed to get documentation on it. Sylvanlights was working on this at one point. If the pinout was available, fabbing up a cable to have a direct aux input would defnitely be worthwhile.

There are no RCAs on the factory deck either for audio output to an amp, or for auxiliary input. If you add an amp (as I did) you will need to either use line output converters to match the stereo and amp input impedances, or use an amp that has speaker level inputs built in.

Dale.

I just yanked out that "strero" on my P5...I put a mint Kenwood flip-down...there is a kit I had to get to fill in the gap, but it looks 100000000 times better, not to mention the sound! The non-rca way jsut plain sux...I got tones of engine noise...

Glad your aftermarket deck worked out. I have no engine noise whatsoever with my factory deck, outboard amp and powered sub setup. The sound quality is more than adequate - think of this - everyone goes on and on about having high line output voltages. The stock deck has clean output up to probably around 6-8V using the internal amplifier (About 20W is available in a 12V system without a switching power supply to boost the voltage), which you are impedance matching using a line output converter then running into an amplifier.

Others seem to be plagued with noise, whether with the stock deck or an aftermarket deck. I am not sure what the differences are with installs because I didn't do anything particularly special or fancy other than buy good quality line output converters and made sure I had solid grounding points.

FWIW ;)

I think that it all depends on how it is installed...grounds can be a world of difference sometimes...all I know is, the new deck looks awesome in the red lights of the interior, and with my 12" sub, the whole car shakes...chix love it :-)

Go Flames! HA just kidding!!!! Bruins rule!

:)

the noise is mostly interference with the cars computer..... i had the same problem in my old car so i even bought the filters to filter out the sounds but there was still a little engine noise. check into some RCA filters to put in behind the deck, if that doesnt work the put them back near the amp..