2003 Protege ES Head Unit Question
 

Hello,

I'm a proud owner of a 2003 Protege. The question I have for you guys is: Does the stock HU have pre-outs for an amp ? I want to put my SUB in the trunk and I'm wondering what is the best way ?

Thanks,

cwwilly

No it does not.
You have the option of using a line out put converter which converts taps off the speaker wires to RCAs. Check out this site for some of them: www.davidnavone.com
Or you can get an amp like hte Alpine MRP-M350 that has speaker level inputs so you just tap the speaker wires behind the radio and go into the amp that way.

What is the amount of sound quality loss using such a converter ? It can't be as good as Pre-Outs.

Thanks for your help !

cwwilly

THe amount of quality losed depends on the converter but typicaly there is very little lost or even none. Use one of davids converters and you will not know the difference.

I use line output converters and am very happy (not the Navone ones though - they seem to be very highly rated by those who use them). One thing to consider is that the voltage output from the factory deck with decent LOCs is going to be quite good. I'd state it, but i'm too tired to do the math now.

A couple more questions for you guys.

1. Which speaker did you splice the converter onto ? I'm assuming one of the rear 6x9s.

2. How do you hookup the low voltage, power-on cable to the amp ? Does the deck come with such a cable to splice into ?

Thanks,

cwwilly

1. The rears will be the easiest to gain access to for sure.
2. The "low voltage, power-on cable ", is called a remote wire.
The only way to do the remote wire in acar with a factory deck is to power it from an accessory wire. The easiest to get to is at the steering column. you can also get another behind the cigarette lighter or the radio itself.