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McIntosh EF-1080I Information

17 JUNE 2010 105 COMMENTS(HTTP://NZLAMB.WORDPRESS.COM/2010/06/17/MCINTOSH-EF-1080I-INFORMATION/#COMMENTS)

Ive had quite a few requests for more information about the McIntosh EF-1080I amplifier (often but

incorrectly referred to as the EF-10801). This unit is actually made by Clarion and is supplied as stock

equipment (http://www.drive.subaru.com/01_04_Winter/SoundVision.htm) with many Subaru Legacyand Outback cars manufactured between 1998-2003.

Block Diagram and Description



The amplifier receives four balanced inputs from the head unit; front left and right, and rear left andright.

It features a built-in low pass filter (also called a crossover) for the subwoofer. This low pass filter is set to

a fixed roll-off frequency and gain, although I havent yet worked out exactly what the frequency is.

The main channels then pass through a fixed 6-band equaliser that has been tuned to match thespeakers and car interior. The front and rear equalisers are feature different configurations.

All fives stages then each go to a TDA7295 power amplifier. The main speakers are all 8 Ohms and thesubwoofer is 4 Ohms.

The power supply produces +/- 26V for the power amplifier stage and +/- 15V for all of the preampstages.

Based on the datasheet for the TDA7295 the amplifier is probably rated close to the following:

38W RMS per main channel

72W RMS into subwoofer



Wagon and Sedan

The amplifier is configured slightly different for sedans and wagons. Although they feature the samemodel number, they can be identified by the power connector. Amplifiers intended for a sedan have agreen power connector; amplifiers for wagons have a white connector (see photos below).

Inside Ive noticed that the subwoofer gain is reduced in the sedan model but have yet to locate anyother changes.

Connections

If you have one of these amplifiers and wish to connect to it, heres the details.

Input Connector

Pinouts for the input connector. The colours simply refer to the original Subaru wiring.

Original Wiring

Pin Function Colour

1 Front Left + Pink

2 Front Left - Violet

3 Front Right + Orange



4 Front Right - Blue

5 Amp Remote Power Red

6 Ground Shield

7 Rear Left + Green

8 Rear Left - Grey

9 N/C -

10 N/C -

11 Rear Right + Light Green

12 Ground Shield

13 Rear Right - Brown

The input connector is a 13-pin DIN style and is readily available from electronics suppliers such as

TradeTech

(http://www.tradetech.co.nz/shop/Plugs+Sockets+Leads++Cables/DIN+Plugs+%26+Sockets/PLG58.html)and Digikey (http://search.digikey.com/scripts/DkSearch/dksus.dll?Detail&name=CP-1013-ND).

You can connect the amplifier to any brand of stereo; simply use the + inputs only and connect these

to the line (not speaker!) outputs of your stereo.

If you are installing your amp with a matching McIntosh head unit and do not have the official cable toconnect them, you can fit the plugs to length of shielded Cat 5 cable instead. As Cat 5 cable is twisted

pair it suits the job of carrying balanced audio perfectly! Wire it as shown in the table below. You will

also need to run a separate wire for the amplifier power control.

Cat 5 Wiring

Pin Function Colour

1 Front Left + Blue

2 Front Left - White/Blue

3 Front Right + Orange



4 Front Right - White/Orange

5 Amp Remote Power Separate

6 Ground Shield

7 Rear Left + Green

8 Rear Left - White/Green

9 N/C -

10 N/C -

11 Rear Right + Brown

12 Ground Shield

13 Rear Right - White/Brown

Output Connector

Pin Function Colour

1 12V Battery Red/Black

2 Front Right + Violet

3 Front Left + Pink

4 Rear Right + Light Green

5 Rear Left + Orange

6 Subwoofer + Violet

7 12V Battery Red/Black

8 Front Right - White

9 Front Left - White

10 Ground Black

11 Ground Black

12 Rear Right - White

13 Rear Left - White

14 Subwoofer - White

The power and speaker connector is a proprietary Subaru connector and is best obtained from an

automotive wrecking yard. Note that the official amplifier connectors are extremely hard to find;fortunately it is the same type as used by Subaru head units so if you can locate one of those it will also



work.

Make sure you use both ground and power pins due to the high current drawn by the amplifier.

Other Useful Info

Subwoofer Gain

It is very easy to change the subwoofer gain to get a bit more punch. See this post(http://nzlamb.wordpress.com/2010/04/19/subaru-legacy-mcintosh-subwoofer-hack/) for more

information.

Repairs

If your amplifier is dead it could quite likely be the 25A fuse. This is a standard automotive blade fuse

but is soldered onto the main PCB making it a little more work to replace.

One unit I came across appeared to be almost completely dead but was quite simple to fix. Read thispost (http://nzlamb.wordpress.com/2010/01/27/mcintosh-ef-1080i-silent-output-fix/) for details.

If you do decide to open your EF-1080I, make sure you take note of where every screw goes! Installingthem incorrectly risks shorting the amplifier chips to the chassis of the amplifier which willpermanently destroy them (the mute pin ends up internally shorted to ground).

Photos

Connectors

Note the green power connector shows this unit came from a sedan. Wagon amplifiers have a whiteconnector.



Top

(http://nzlamb.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/ef-1080i-top-view.jpg)

Inside



Some high resolution photos of the inside. Click for the full size version.

Component Side

(http://nzlamb.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/ef-1080i-component-side.jpg)

Solder Side



(http://nzlamb.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/ef-1080i-solder-side.jpg)

Subwoofer

The subwoofer is a simple 69 4 Ohm polypropylene driver, part number 09-0291-31. In wagons it isfitted in the right wall of the boot (trunk) and in sedans it is on the left side of the rear shelf.



(http://nzlamb.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/sub-with-grille.jpg)

(http://nzlamb.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/sub-grille-removed.jpg)

(http://nzlamb.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/subwoofer-

rear.jpg)



LP-2020A+ Lepai Tripath Class-T Hi-Fi $34.99$18.02

FILED UNDER CAR AUDIO TAGGED WITH CAR AUDIO, MCINTOSH, SUBARU

105 Responses to McIntosh EF-1080I Information

Perry says:18 June 2010 at 01:51Great jobs nzlamb..whats that 5 Bands Equalizer doing there? adjusted/control by head unit? idont have the head unit, which one the best to get for? worth buying? which clarion unitcompatible to? or i just leave the EF-1080i alone. I no more having cassette(give 100s away 10 yearsago), head unit with cassette/cd, not look good if i not using the cassette player, maybe go for minidisc/cd, i do needed FM to work great. CD player great audiophile sounding? where best place toget and cheap price?:)saw someone in NZ sold few items month ago..:) THANKS Melb,AU

ReplyPerry says:18 June 2010 at 01:566-band equaliser that has been tuned to match the speakers and car interior which usless fornormal sounding? then i might give up the EF-1080i..and head units!?

ReplyVince says:3 August 2010 at 00:16The head units PF-2142I Do you know on the power connector when they say illuminate if this isthe 12 volt input. They have 12 V dimmer 12 V Antenna 12 V Accessory and 12 V illuminate.The Antenna and Accessory are outputs but I am not certain of the Dimmer and Illuminate.Just want to be sure andy input will be greatly apprecaited. (my unit came from New Zealand andI am not sure if they use the term Illuminate for 12 Vot input as to turn on like a light bulb.

Replynzlamb says:6 August 2010 at 08:30

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If there is only the Illum+ input, then yes it is 12v. If the radio has two Illum inputs (+ and -),Illum+ needs to be supplied 12v to turn on the backlights and Illum- should be permanently

connected to ground if there is no connection for it in the vehicle.

ReplyJames says:6 August 2010 at 03:57Ive just acquired this power amp.Is it absolutely nexcessary that I use only the original 8 ohm

speaker?can I use 4ohm of other brands?8ohm car speakers are impossible to come by here in Malaysia.

thanks nzlamb.

james

Replynzlamb says:6 August 2010 at 08:28They probably will be fine but they might drown out the sub; you will need to increase the subgain to compensate. There is a risk you might stress the PSU or blow the fuse if you turn it uptoo loud due to the increased current requirement though.

ReplySheldon26 in AUS says:22 March 2012 at 00:53Hi NZlamb

Can you tell me do you know the pinout (location/output and colour) for the 14 pin auto

connector on the back of the PF-21421. Im assumming this is the ouput to the AMP. Is thatcorrect??.

I Managed to get hold of a PF-21421 recently but dont have the AMP

James says:7 August 2010 at 14:06nzlamb.

thanks for the prompt reply.I wont take a chance.Contacted the seller and hes still got the originalspeakers with him.Hes upped the price as he knows how much I want them.Will arrive by mail next week.

Was disappointed though that the drivers are made in China and the sub in Korea.Was it alwaysthat way?

The din cable will have to be modified though as Im using the RCA out from the Pioneer playerthat I now have.Shame to have it cut up though.

thanks again nzlamb,



thanks again nzlamb,james

Replynzlamb says:7 August 2010 at 14:22Those DIN cables are exceptionally hard to find (at least outside of Japan or NZ); you could

probably sell it on eBay for a good price and make up your own quite cheaply with RCAconnectors.

I agree with you on the speakers; they are not spectacular but are certainly better quality thanmost OEM car speakers I have seen (e.g. mica-filled polypropylene cones, etc). The speakerswere all originally made in Korea (MY98-MY00 models) before production appeared to shift toChina. Interestingly enough the Chinese built ones use a slightly different type of foam for the

surround which seems to last longer than the older style. There are some other nice touches inthe system too like a Burr-Brown DAC in the CD player and the EQ in the amp but I guess wehave to bear in mind the system was still made to a budget and its really manufactured byClarion.

The speakers are quite cheap here in NZ if you talk to the right parts shops; you can sometimespick them up for less than NZ$40 per pair. Just watch the condition of the surrounds; they are of

the age now that many have worn so be prepared to repair them if necessary. I replaced thesurrounds in mine with butyl rubber versions and they perform very well.

ReplyTom says:29 November 2013 at 10:27The surround on one of my front speakers has gone out, giving me the rattles. Do you know

the cutout and depth dimensions? I dont want to disassemble my door panels any moretimes than absolutely necessary, I have a tendency to break clips. Im planning on replacingthe fronts with a new pair of separates, leave the rear doors stock, and put a secondaryamplifier for an independent subwoofer (which should ease the current draw with the new 4-ohm load). If you have any tips tricks or ideas, let me know! Much appreciated!

nzlamb says:

10 January 2014 at 17:39Any 6 car speaker should do, provided its not too deep. Other than that I cant see anyissues except for the fact that the rear speakers will be a bit quieter than the front ones due tothe different impedance. That said your rear speakers probably wont last much longer if thefront ones have already gone. I actually replaced the surround on my factory speakers withbutyl rubber ones which last much longer.

James says:7 August 2010 at 21:04nzlamb,

thanks again for the prompt reply.



Ill just have to wait till the courier man arrives to see the real condition of those speakers.The seller threw in the DIN cable for free though.Next, Ill have to get the auto tech to correctlyidentify the pins on the cable(using the chart youve posted)and have them converted to RCA stylefor the Pioneer head unit.Are they any things we ought to watch out for during this process? I dont quite understand howpins 5,6 & 12 work.

Could you help explain? Bit of a novice when it comes to car electronics.

thanks again,james

Replynzlamb says:

7 August 2010 at 21:14The ground wires simply connect to the cable shield on each end.

The remote cable switches the amp on when 12v is applied to it. This should be connected to theamp remote wire (blue/white) on your Pioneer unit so that the amp powers up when you turnthe stereo on.

ReplyJames says:8 August 2010 at 04:26thanks again nzlamb,

will keep you posted of my progress.

regards,

james

ReplyJames says:9 September 2010 at 22:20hi nzlamb,

managed to get get an excellent condition Mcintosh head unit (CD & MD unit) for a really goodprice recently and had the entire thing installed at the loacal auto accessory shop.The system sounds really great compared to my previous setup and Im mighty pleased with thesound quality.Very analog sounding even.The subwoofer is a bit of a letdown as youve mentioned and I might just have the technician swapout the resistor as you suggested.Only problem now is the the head unit keeps showing the focus error or disc error message

whenever I change discs while driving.It doesntdo so when I change discs when the engine isswitched off.So I switch on the Cd player first before starting the car and then it continues playing.What seems to be the problem?Changed to a new battery,added a voltage stabilizer,added a new 5 point grounding cable system



and this problem persist.No such problem with the radio though.

The technician cant figure out the problem.Do you have any ideas as to how this can be problem can be solved.Would be realty glad for any suggestions from you.

Cheers,James

Reply

nzlamb says:9 September 2010 at 22:46I had the same problem once and cleaning the lens fixed it. Having said that it could also be analignment problem or worn laser.

Im sure you will be pleasantly surprised by the sub mod!

ReplyJames says:10 September 2010 at 02:09nzlamb,

thanks again for the prompt reply.Really appreciate it!Will try out the lens clean-out as you suggested.

Failing which Ill just have to have the unit taken out for the necessary alignment.Shame though if it turns out to be a worn laser.However, that may seem highly unlikely as it playsjust fine when the engine is switched off.Yeah, and Im looking forward to have the mod done for the sub.May try to tacle this part myself, if I can work up the courage.Will keep you posted on developments as they come along.

Cheers,Jamesc

ReplyJacob Taylor says:29 September 2010 at 23:46

Hi NZLamb

I was just connecting my second hand McIntosh Amp in my Subaru along with the McIntosh Headunit. I misread the diagram and connected the 12V to the sub pins. I believe i have stuffed the ampin doing this. Should i try to see if it is the fuse or is it now a nice paper weight? Thanks for yourinformative post.

Regards

Jake



Replynzlamb says:4 October 2010 at 17:02To be honest Id be surprised if this destroyed the entire amp. There are no output decoupling

capacitors so this means 12v would have done directly to the sub amp chip (IC405) but these areusually pretty robust.

Are all channels now dead?

ReplyJames says:

6 October 2010 at 03:05nzlamb,

sent the head unit to the local radio shop who had it serviced and it works beautiful now.Noskipping,no nothing whatsoeverAm enjoying every bit of my collection of CDs while driving.Next on the the list is the resistor swap in the amp to give that sub a little help.

Am just a little skittish about attempting it myself so Ive decided to let the amp tech to have a go atit.Will report back on the results later.

CheersJames

Reply

James says:30 November 2010 at 03:14Hi nzlamb,

did the resistor swap on the power amp today and wow!!!My system sounds real good now,with just the right amount of punchin the bass.

Thanks nzlamb a million.Do call me if youre around Kuala Lumpur.Be glad to show you around.You can email me @ [email protected] beforehand.

Cheers & ShalomJames

ReplyVinnie says:19 December 2010 at 12:24Hi nzlamb.

Im looking at replacing the factory HU in my RS30 very shortly. You mention that I can connectto the amp from the new HU using the + inputs only and connecting to the line of my new HU.



If I buy the DIN adapter and wire my own adapter, so I can go back to factory if I sell the car, howexactly would I wire the RCA ends to the + only inputs? Im assuming the center pin is wired to the+ input for each channel, but what do I do with the shielded part of the cable at the DIN end? Justnot connect it to anything and leave the - empty? eg. For front left, white RCA center pin to pin 1of the DIN and the shield just neatly trimmed and not connected to anything at the DIN end?

Also, when providing the 12V to pin 5 of the DIN, this should be the remote power from the HU,

correct? What do I wire pins 6 and 12 to? Can I just ground them on to the cage the radio screwsinto (which Ive been told to do in past cars, but Im not sure if I should with this one)?

Thanks for any help you can provide.

Replynzlamb says:

19 December 2010 at 21:10Youre onto it, simply connect the centre pin of the RCA jacks to each + input. Connect the RCAshields to the DIN shield and pin 6 or 12 (doesnt matter which). If you dont use one of theground pins just leave it disconnected. Make sure you leave the inputs disconnected. The headunit remote wire goes to pin 5.

Reply

Vinnie says:20 December 2010 at 09:02Just to make double sure, you say to connect the RCA shields to the DIN shield and pin 6 or12. So split the shield roughly into two for each lead, at the DIN end of the cable, and takeone part of the shield to the large metal outer circle for the DIN, and the other part to pin 6or 12?

Also, in order to make the adapter cable, am I after the 13 pin socket, or the plug? Its been awhile since Ive had the head unit out and I cant remember what the connector looks like.You seem to refer to the pinout diagram being for the plug that connects to the back of thehead unit, so Im guessing Im after the socket in order to make up the adapter cable?

Thanks for your help with this, Ive been searching for info on how I was to replace this unitwithout having to pull new cable or spend a heap of money, and this seems to fit the bill

perfectly!

nzlamb says:20 December 2010 at 19:28You need a socket to make an adapter, but if you cant find one buy a plug and connect itdirectly to the amp itself. Pins 6 and 12 are interchangeable; you can use either one or bothas you please as they are connected together internally.

I use both as the pins can be fiddly to solder to and I find that spreading things out makes iteasier to work on.

Vinnie says:



10 January 2011 at 11:05Hey there,

Tried this over the holidays whilst I was away, and it works quite well.

Little problem when the car is on Accessory, everything works fine, but if I turn it to On,there is a high frequency buzz across all the speakers.

The person I was with, suggested that this could be because Ive split and soldered the RCAshield onto the ground pins as well as the DIN shield.

He has suggested I solder the RCA shield to just the DIN shield and a separate cable to pin 6and 12 for the ground and ground this to the chassis.

Does this sound acceptable? If not, could you perhaps explain in a little more detail how youmade up your socket for the Amp, so that I can perhaps reverse the process for just using theexisting DIN plug.

Thanks.

nzlamb says:10 January 2011 at 17:40That would work, or try connecting the RCA shield to pins 6/12 and leave the DIN shielddisconnected. My car is completely stock but Ive used these amps on the bench with other

gear with no problems.

Marty says:10 January 2011 at 22:11Hi nzlambLots of good info provided here thanks!Im having trouble replacing the McIntosh door speaker as the foam has split. Can you tell me if thefoam repair kits available in the US are any good? Are they available in NZ?

Thanks

Replynzlamb says:10 January 2011 at 22:15The foam kits from the US dont work; Ive already tried that! The problem is that the roll in the

surround is too wide so you cant reattach the tweeter frame. I ended up getting some low cost($12.95/pr) 6.5 NVS brand speakers from The Warehouse that had quite decent butyl rubbersurrounds. I carefully removed the surrounds and used them to repair the McIntosh units andthey fitted perfectly. They sound like new and the butyl rubber will easily outlast the originalfoam.

Reply

Marty says:10 January 2011 at 23:03



Good idea, I might give it a go. What glue did you use? Ive got a bit of left over but butylrubber cement from roofing would that do?Thanks:)

nzlamb says:

10 January 2011 at 23:09I used Sellys Plastic Glue and a year later its still as good as new. Roofing glue doesnt stickto the polypropylene cone very well; tried that with a different speaker once and it barelylasted a month.

Marty says:1 February 2011 at 14:15

Couldnt find any suitably cheap speakers to butcher for their foam. But have re foamed allfour door speakers with kits from Speaker Exchange http://www.reconingspeakers.comRefoam kit 6 angle small RFK6 did the trick very nicely.System sounding great now, I might try your woofer mod next.

Marty says:10 January 2011 at 23:16

Youre right the roofing glue doesnt even want to stick to the roof for very long!!!Thanks for you help

ReplyMarty says:2 March 2011 at 20:28My system is now sounding fantastic. after replacing the 4 ohm Mcintosh subwoofer with a

Lanzar 140watts RMS 69 subwoofer I did the sub mod as you suggested but with a 100k ohm potI found lying around just great!! Thanks for all the info:)

ReplyGary says:11 March 2011 at 01:59Hello from the UK.I stumbled across youre blog a few weeks ago and have been reading with great interest.

I plan to make up a lead to connect the EF1080i to a new HU, as my Mcintosh CD/MD unit isbeyond repair.Can I ask why I wouldnt just connect the HU line output RCAs + to + and - to - to the amp?

Many thanks.

Reply

nzlamb says:11 March 2011 at 19:33Hi Gary, thanks for the feedback. The McIntosh amp uses balanced inputs; is the inverse of +and not ground. The RCA preamp outputs on most stereos are unbalanced and do not have a signal, just + and ground. To connect an unbalanced source to a balanced input you only use



the + pin and either leave the pin disconnected or tie it to ground. Connecting the RCA groundto the input instead of ground will mean the signal will end up grounded through the ampchassis or negative power feed and be very susceptible to noise.

See this article on Wikipedia for more information.

ReplyGary says:

29 March 2011 at 00:48Hello again,

OK, so I bought the 13 pin din socket and have soldered per you diagrams above.I do get some sound, but it is very thin if that makes sence.There is sound out of both speakers, but its almost as if the majority of volume is beingcancelled out.

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance,Gary.

Vinnie says:29 March 2011 at 09:19

Hey Gary,

Let me know if you manage to get this to work in your vehicle, as I have tried several timesto get this going in my car, and have massive problems with ground loop style noise whenusing the unbalanced to balanced process as described above. Mine could be caused by thefact that Im plugging onto the end of the cable at the headunit end and not re-manufacturing the plug down at the amp, so the remote power and the audio are running

side by side along the factory cable. Id be interested to hear which way you are doing this,and if you have success.

What I see is that it is fine when the ignition is at the ACC point, but as soon as I turn it toON, the noise comes through. Start the car and accelerate and you can hear the whinethrough the speakers go up and down with the revs. Change back to the factory unit andeverything is perfect again.

Im actually at a point where Ill probably just replace the amp under the seat with a 4channel one and stick a separate mono one in the boot to run a proper sub, or thesuperwoofer when I need the boot space.

david (Hamilton NZ) says:23 March 2011 at 16:27Hi z lamb

Any ideas what eror 6 means when I try to play a CD. I have a 2001 Legacy fitted with Mcintosh.Car just been recovered after being stolen. They also stole the box that was under the passenger



seat, the amp is still under the drivers seat. Could this be related? I dont even know what was underthe pasnger seat such is my ignorance. Also the sound is really poor when I turn up the vollume onthe radio. Any help much appreciated

ReplyMarrick Bernstein says:25 September 2011 at 15:38Hi Everyone,

i have a 2001 Subaru Legacy with McIntosh System. The system for long time was having a lot of

sound cracking and popping. Now there is completely no sound. I am wondering if it has to dowith the McIntosh Amp under the seat. Is there any real way to test or fix the amp?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. My email is [email protected]

Thanks,MB

Replynzlamb says:25 September 2011 at 17:14Try the fix suggested in the article.

ReplyMarrick Bernstein says:

8 October 2011 at 16:52Hi. I took out the amp from the car and found an enormous amount of rust on the bottom ofthe AMP. I took apart the amp and found some corrosion on two small sections of the circuitboard.

i am not too familiar with repairs on boards but wouldnt mind learning to see if I can fix thisamp. I cleaned up the corrosion but I am not sure on how to test this to look for anything

that may be shorted out.. The fuse in the AMP is not shorted out. I have to believe thecorrosion has to be the reason why there is no sound in the stereo system.

Any recommendations would be great.. I can supply pictures to try to help guide me.

Thanks.

nzlamb says:

8 October 2011 at 17:26Its highly likely that the corrosion is the cause. Somebody probably spilled a drink on thefloor at some stage in its life. Liquids often destroy solder joints (they will be dull andcrystalline) and PCB tracks. Its a good sign that the fuse hasnt blown. Try reworking all ofthe solder joints with some decent new solder and you will likely see it working again; thisworked for one amp I came across. If the PCB tracks are corroded you can fix them withshort lengths of wire.



Ben says:7 October 2011 at 10:41Just wanted to pass on my thanks for a great and informative article!

Ive just decided to add some real subs to my 02 Blitzen which was badly bastardised by a previousowner: Theres two headunits in it at the moment, neither of which are the original one and one of

which is disconnected and is just a placeholder! It still has the McIntosh amp under the seat and Iwas hoping I could use it to drive the front speakers while purchasing a new amp for my subs, andit sounds as though I can but itll be complicated!!

Thanks again for the info. Much appreciated.

Ben.

Replynzlamb says:8 October 2011 at 15:04You sure can and it would work quite well for that IMHO.

Reply

Rakiura says:23 October 2011 at 10:23This info is really great. I recently bought an imported 2000 Legacy Lancaster. It has theMcIntosh MD/CD unit but on the Jap FM band. I didnt want a band expander as Ive hadpoor results in past Jap imports so the dealer put in a Sony HU as a freebee. I had no idea ofthe amp under the seat and believe they just byassed it. However the message centre abovethe HU lost power and I took it back to the dealer who said they could not run the message

cente off the Sony HU as it ran through the McIntosh. They put the McIntosh back so I gotthe message centre going again, and a band expander which is OK in city signal strengthbut quickly deteriorates on the northern nmotorway in Auckland. Do you have any ideahow to fit a NZ band after market HU with the amplifier and still keep the message centregoing. Its useful as it displays the climate control graphics. Im thinking the McIntosh is wellobsolete so probably not able to be replaced with NZ (US) band variant, so a newer carstereo is better for FM receptionn and I can get a unit with Aux. In for mp3 player

connection. But how to marry it to the EF-108I amp as well as keep the message centregoing.? Any suggestions welcomed.

nzlamb says:23 October 2011 at 11:40Unfortunately the satnav unit will not work at all without a CeNet connection to aClarion/McIntosh head unit. I know because I had one in my car, and also have them sitting

on my work bench. Id recommend one of two options (or even both!):

Replace the satnav with a regular climate unit as described in my post on theClub Sub forums at http://www.clubsub.org.nz/forum/index.php?topic=4654.0 .Buy a good aftermarket head unit with both front and rear pre-outs and wirethem to the + inputs of the amp as described above. Make sure you connect the



pre-out shields to ground and also ground the inputs of the amp.

Convert your McIntosh tuner to local FM band and add an aux input (bothdescribed on this site). Note you will need a McIntosh HU with a tape deck, notthe MD version, in order to do that.

Rakiura says:23 October 2011 at 18:07The more I learn the more I dont understand -:). The SatNav is what I called the messagecentre? And my son showed me how to open the front of it and I note a CD slot. Exactly

what is this unit me thinking it was just a place to display workings of the car e.g. climatecontrol, engine alarms etc. I note that in the link you provided, the mention of CeNet. Whatis that? I had a car radio installer take a quick look at the car and he was of like mind to youabout removing the upper display unit and replacing with a standard unit as you suggested.

I must confess it seems a little daunting to tackle the climate control and the surround; andclearly some research needed before pulling it out. The McIntosh is an MD/CD variant so notthe cassette version your refer to for retuning. Anyway the next step before I decide toremove the unit and the McIntosh is for a better look at the type of band expander fitted andwhether there is a better one than what is fitted perhaps. I believe there are two antennas andthe thought was maybe only one was connected. More investigation needed. Thanks for theinfo so far.

Rakiura says:18 December 2011 at 10:01In the first sentence of your instructions on how to replace the climate control unit andremoving the SATNAV you mentioned you had a copy of the CD for the SATNAV. I amassuming that with that CD it is possoble to change the default display on the screen, say tothe climate control graphics(?). It displays a message in Jap characters. presumably an

error mesage of some kind. The reason I ask is that I have found a guy who will install anafter market tuner that he can keep the SATNAV function powered up without removing it.Leaving the standard climate control function intact. He can do it for about the same priceas buying the replacement climate control unit and surround parts. It seems wreckers are onto the value of the stand-alone climate controls and surround and the price was in the orderof $400. If I simply had the McIntosh replaced and could leave the SATNAV displaying theclimate control, that would save me the trouble of pulling the dash apart. My main aim isreplacing the McIntosh with a NZ band tuner/CD/MP3 player with Aux input, not with theSATNAV. Can you supply a copy of the CD?

nzlamb says:24 October 2011 at 00:39Yeah its a combined GPS navigation, information system and climate display. The CD orDVD in it contains the firmware; without it the unit will just display an error in Japanese.

CeNet is the interface used by Clarion/McIntosh head units to communicate with accessoriessuch as CD changers and is also used by the satnav. There is also likely to be a factory TVtuner under one of the seats; if that is still fitted it will also interface to the satnav via CeNet.To access it press the top left hand button (next to Off) on the satnav to change it to TV; thesame button that swaps between GPS and climate displays. When it goes to TV mode the



HU will say AUX on the screen. If it doesnt go to TV then yours has probably been rippedout. You can use the TV tuner to make a proper aux input if its there; see my climate controlthread on Club Sub for a picture on how to wire it up.

Japanese head units usually have two antennas for diversity reception. The main antennaconnector is a standard Motorola style; the sub antenna is similar but smaller and thegenders are swapped. The FM will also pass through the satnav unit for VICS reception. Aswe dont have VICS in NZ, you can safely bypass it and go direct to the radio. Wire the

band expander to the main antenna (it will only fit in the main antenna plugs) and leave thesub antenna directly connected.

The ultimate option for the McIntosh is to try and import a PF-2520I. This is an Americanonly version with a 6 CD changer instead of a tape or MD player. It tunes NZ frequenciesnatively (a minor tweak is recommended though) and is awesome; I have one in my car.Unfortunately they are very rare but worth it if you can get your hands on one.

Rakiura says:24 October 2011 at 10:02Geez youve obviously been there done that with this!! Ill have to have good fossick around always a little tentative when it comes to ripping into the dash but peering under seats Ican handle. But youve given me some good pointers and food for thought. Ill wait and seewhat this car audio guy has to tell me when he checks the band expander and antenna hook

up. Im amazed it runs the satnav with a CD in place for firmware. I see Jap characters onthe screen and the buttons do nothing so Im picking its an error message and no CD inplace means the unit doesnt do anything apart from the climate graphics which areprobably hard wired. Thanks once again for your input. Ill consider what you have saidabout the replacement aircon panel. I see Partsworld are listing a few so might call andmake inquiries about that and the surround. My Lancaster has the faux woodgrain plasticsurround.

Regards

Musashi says:14 January 2012 at 01:08A very interesting thread. I own a BH5 (wagon) GTB E-Tune 2001. I imported the car myself fromJapan to Australia about six years ago, after being the second owner in Japan. Factory spec was a

McIntosh 2-din CD/MD head deck (HD) setup. Unfortunately, about six months ago the car wasbroken into and someone stole the head deck. Its an insurance claim, with Subaru replacing theoriginal HD with an original McIntosh CD/cassette setup with Australian FM band. I wanted tokeep the car original. All good? Well not quite, I have no right channel at volume.

Subaru have tried to resolve it. Apparently the speakers are fine and Subaru believe it is the dinadapter cable between the HD and amplifier which is damaged. Theyve assessed that it wasstressed when the HD was literally ripped out of the vehicle. As noted in this thread, no chance toget a new din cable form Subaru. Subaru (not very impressive) have stated that the din cable iscomplicated and difficult to repair. So I started searching Then I found this thread



Also, Ive found someone in Australia who is pulling out their original HD and amp and yes, the dincable. Im pushing Subaru to fork out the money for the used package.

All good? Maybe, provided the problem with the right channel is resolved by the second hand dincable. Otherwise Ill push Subaru to get an auto electrician repair the din cable as outlined in thisthread.

Anyone got any thoughts?

Replynzlamb says:14 January 2012 at 09:19I dont like their attitude; insurance is supposed to male sure the car is restored to its previousworking order.

I agree that the cable would be a pain to repair; it would be.much easier to replace it.Replacinging it requires taking the drivers seat out so its a little bit of work but not too bad. Anygood Subaru dismantlers will have a good one available for a reasonable price. In NZ I often

deal with Rosco in Ashburton and they normally have them available for about NZ$35.

As stated above its pretty simple to make one from scratch too which also might be worth ashot.

If you get nowhere Id suggest doing it yourself. Nice that they gave you an Aus replacementthough, they are worth far more to buy than the MD unit as they are much harder to obtain.

ReplyMusashi says:14 January 2012 at 14:58Nzlamb, I dont like their attitude either. Its frustrating that I have to do all the work.

The replacement HD is brand new and according to Subaru (quote to the insurers) its AUD4500!!

Ive told Subaru I dont care if the required replacement DIN cable is second hand, hence it lookslike theyll pay for one from a guy in Queensland. Just need it to work.

Once we get the cable, over to Subaru to replace it, and all thats involved ie, removing the seat(which is electric).

Its a great car, but do to a couple of changes in my life I need to move it on. Hence the desire to getit back to what is (over here in Oz) a rare example of a BH5.

ReplyRakiura says:15 January 2012 at 10:41Nzlamb do you have a copy of the DVD for the McIntosh unit? I would like to change the defaultview to climate control if possible.

Reply



PJ says:11 February 2012 at 03:24I own two 2002 Subaru Outback SW VDC models, both of which have the McIntosh factory audiosystems. The green one has 240,000 miles and the McIntosh performs perfectly. The red one has90,000 miles and recently the audio system went completely dead. One second it was performingfine and the next completely dead. I checked all the fuses. Apparently there are three.a 30 ampunder the hood, a 20 amp under the dashboard, and a 25 amp on the amps PCB. They all look finevisably but I havent checked them with a multimeter for continuity yet. I downloaded the Clarionservice manual for the amp off the internet. The head unit seems to be functioning fine. I guess Icould narrow the problem down by taking the amp from the green Soob and hooking it up to thecables in the red car. If the system works good then I know the original amp is the problem and gofrom there.

Thanks for an informative blog.

Replynzlamb says:11 February 2012 at 10:04Correct on the fuses. Id recommend checking the power supply voltages in the amp too. Inaddition there is a transistor that switches the mute pins on the amp chips that sometimes dies;see http://nzlamb.wordpress.com/2010/01/27/mcintosh-ef-1080i-silent-output-fix/

Is it possible to get a copy of the amp service manual off you so I can post it here to help others?

Replyoldwiz says:15 February 2012 at 07:48

All the fuses are fine. Theres 12V getting to the amp but when I measured the 26V and 15Vpower supply rails there was zero volts! Backing up to the power supply transformer there is12V on the primaries but zero on the secondaries. Looks like the transformer (T-601 on theschematic) might be shot. Wonder if I can get another one from Clarion?

Ill have to check on whether I can put the manual on the internet. I may have agreed not towhen I bought it from the internet download source. There isnt much in the way oftroubleshooting tips in the manual I received. It has some specs, a block diagram, explodedview parts diagram, detailed parts lists, two large schematics, and a large PCB layoutdiagram. The schematics do have normal operation voltages for a lot of the circuits.

nzlamb says:15 February 2012 at 22:07To be honest Id be surprised if its the transformer thats failed; Id concentrate on checking

the driver transistors and rectifier diodes around the supply to begin with. The 15v rails arederived from the 26v rails so once you get the latter going it should all begin to work. TheEF-1080I PSU stage is a relatively standard design based around the common TL494 (or aclone) as found in many computer PSUs.

I have a scrapped amp lying about with a working PSU stage so if it is the transformer I



I have a scrapped amp lying about with a working PSU stage so if it is the transformer I

could send you a replacement if you need it.

No worries on the manual either, I didnt realise you had paid for it! The circuit diagrams arestill very useful for troubleshooting though.

PJ says:16 February 2012 at 03:43Yeah, I think youre right about the transformer. It looks to be in perfect shape. In any eventClarions part supplier in the US is checking availabilty. Since I have two cars with theMcIntosh audio systems I might go ahead and spring for a spare, new amp from Subaru.That way Ill always have a backup and it will give me more time to troubleshoot and repairthis one. Used EF-1080I amps for sale are pretty rare as the McIntosh audio system was onlyinstalled in Subarus top of the line Outback VDC model in North America for a few years. Idrive long distances and good music is a must.

Let me know your email and I will forward the manual. Its a zip file of about 2.5 MB. Ifound that it works good to print each of the schematics as a landscape poster on four sheetsof 8.5 x 11 paper, then tape them together.

Thanks for the tips and the very generous offer of the spare part!!

Rakiura says:12 February 2012 at 08:46Does anyone have the DVD/CD firmware disk for the McIntosh?

ReplyRakiura says:12 February 2012 at 08:47Correction to my previous submissiondoes anyone have the DVD/CD firmware for the

SATNAV!

ReplyPingback: Anonymous

matt rusbatch says:24 March 2012 at 11:34Hi,

my mcintosh suddenly has no sound coming out of the speakers in my subaru 1998 gt wagon, iremoved the head unit and installed a jvc head unit, once the jvc connected there is sound on bothradio and cd but only for a few seconds, and i only have sound in the two back door speakers onceall wires are rejoined, there is a buzzing in the front door speakers and the sub in the boot.

Is there a problem with the (mcintosh) amplifier under the drivers seat???

how can i fix this???



ReplyJames says:10 April 2012 at 14:32Hello,

First off, thank you for this site its extremely helpful!

But Im having the same problem that others are having with the alternator whine noise. Ive tried:

Ive tried the RCA (+) to the (+) inputs of the McIntosh DIN cable, and the RCA shields to the (-)inputs of the DIN cable. This configuration seemed to be the quietest, but it was still not usable.

since then, Ive tried connecting both the DIN and RCA shields, with the DIN (-)s disconnected, andthat was very noisy. Ive also tried connecting both shields directly to the headunit ground, and itwas also extremely noisy. And lastly Ive tried both the RCA shields to headunit ground, and it wasalso extremely noisy.

Other comments talk about connecting to the #6 and 12 pins as a ground but my DIN cabledoesnt have wires to it, as its internally wired to the DIN ground. At this point Im very confusedbecause connecting the RCA shield to DIN (-) shouldnt work, but that was the quietest so far.

What am I missing here?

Thanks again,James

Reply

James says:10 April 2012 at 14:34Oh, and this question is about a North American Market, 2003 Outback VDC Wagon.

Thanks!James

Replycj says:9 July 2012 at 23:56Hi guys,Ivi just finished installing an aftermarket head unit in front of one of these amps in my BE5 legacyand wanted to point out how I got around the ground loop (alternator whine) issues that a lot ofpeople seem to have.

The factory Mcintosh HU was pretty reasonable sounding but was jap frequency radio, no mp3playback, and no usb (not surprising given its form 1999), so I decided to swap it out for a newalpine CDA-117E.

BIG SCARY WARNING: do not just connect your flash new head unit up to the wiring harnessbehind the stereo. Unless you disconnect BOTH cables from the amp under the drivers seat (RHDmodel) it will short out your outputs and blow the high level outputs on your head unit after about



10 seconds of a loud buzzing noise coming through the speakers along with your music!The service manual says the HU > speaker wiring isnt connected to anything, but its wrong, at leastit was for me.

So with that very expensive mistake made, I was stuck using an amp of some sort. I looked at anaftermarket one but decided to give it a shot with the existing Mc amp first.

In the spirit of my changes being reversible, I ordered a 13pin bit plug off ebay for ~$13. This wasmarketed as a light wiring connector and had both male and female din sockets attached to abouthalf a meter of wire each. My plan was to use the female socket and wire it into 2x pairs of rca leadsthat I cut in half and could be connected straight to the HU. This would all sit in behind the HUand connect to the factory DIN cable.

I followed the steps various people have mentioned above, and sure enough, there was a faint

humm on acc, and some awful ground loop noise when the enigne was on. After much planningand a bit more dodgy temp wiring, I determined that the ground loop noise can be eliminated*completely*, if you change the wiring instructions a little bit, so:center pin of each of the 4x rcas goes to FL+, FR+, RL+, RR+, amp remote goes to the amp outputtrigger from the HU, and I joined all 4 RCA shields together, and connected this to both groundpins (6+12), as well as every channels negative output.ie nothing goes from the DIN socket directly to ground, everything negative or ground all joins toone cable that attaches to all 4 RCA shield wires.

The last remaining issue I had was that the plug I had ordered had only 12 wires connected to the13 pins, and pin 13 didnt go anywhere. This meant that the back right speaker still had groundnoise coming from it. To resolve this, I stripped the coating off about 12mm of very thin tweeterwiring, and with a couple small screwdrivers fed one end of it into the hole for pin 10, and a fewstrands of wire down the edges of the pin 13 hole where the male din plug in the car would press

against it. This essentially moved the pin13 RR- to pin 10, where I had a usable connecting wire. Ithen added the wire for pin 10 into my massive ground/neg wiring bundle and everything nowworks brilliantly.

Hope this helps someone else

thanks

ReplyRon says:20 October 2012 at 13:51This helped. I still get a faint whine when the engine is running, but not as bad as it was before.

I was thinking about running the (-) DIN connections to the RCA shields. I also thought aboutjust running each separate, as in not all bundled together, as youve done.

Mines a 2001 US model VDC with the McIntosh system. Its getting late here, so Ill have tofinish it up tomorrow when I get back into town.



ReplyPingback: replacing head unit in radio - Page 3 - Subaru Outback - Subaru Outback Forums

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Stephan says:4 November 2012 at 01:01Hi there,

I have the PF-21421 and under seat amp set up and I want to install a Sony HU that Ive justbought which doesnt have RCA outputs just a standard harness with the +- output for FR, FL,RR, RL, Power, acc power, gnd and a power antenna output.The McIntosh HU has the rectagular 14pin harness and the 13pin DIN plug which goes to the ampas well as the 2 male and female connectors for the antenna(?).I know I might be repeating questions asked already but if I connect the DIN lead up as suggested

above, what do I do with the 14pin harness?If anone has a wiring diagramme that would be super helpful.Ive been hunting all morning and cant figure this out probably a serious noob question but anyhelp would be appreciated!

Thanks a lot!Stephan

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Tim says:11 January 2013 at 09:42Hi,

Do you know where in Auckland or in the country I can get the components for the repair job thatyouve talked about? Or otherwise do you know where I could buy another one of these amps toreplcae mine. Ive searched everywhere and cant seem to find much. Any help you have is greatlyappreciated.

Cheers,Tim

Replynzlamb says:

12 January 2013 at 11:13

Element14 sells the parts and usually deliver overnight. Regarding the amp, just search Trade



Element14 sells the parts and usually deliver overnight. Regarding the amp, just search Trade

Me. They dont come up often but when they do they usually go cheap.

ReplyFrank says:19 January 2013 at 05:29Hi,I am having a very hard time understanding how I am going to be able to connect my Pioneer4800MP into my 2003 Subaru OBW VDC. I already took out the McIntosh HU, now imperplexed. I am about to buy the 14 pin wiring harness, but even with much reading I can notunderstand how the 8 pin subwoofer output and the round 13-pin pig-tail output will allconnect into the amp under the seat. Ive read that 8 of the speaker outputs from the 14-pin outputsare n/c, so does this mean instead they come from the 13- pin pig-tail one? I would really appreciateany help on this, I keep reading SVXdcs posts to get more understanding but all i can get is thatIm going to have to create a harness that splices into the RCA cables for the Pioneer HU (which

seems to give many people a alternator whine.

Thank you.

ReplyRed says:17 April 2013 at 03:542001 US-spec VDC wagon

So, Ive already made a custom harness to use my JVC stereo with the McIntosh amp. It works well,but I still get a little (not much at all) alternator whine. I ended up replacing all door speakers, sincethe front two were blown when I bought it. The amp seems to be holding up ok with the 4 ohmspeakers (cant find 8 ohm replacements, period).

I had a brainstorm that I tried to put into action the other day, but the end result was bad real

bad.

My idea was: get another Subaru wiring harness (Metra 70-8901) (it mates up to the harness thatplugs into the amp perfectly, minus one power wire thats absent), wire up the speakers from thehead unit to the harness using speaker wire according to the pinout for the McIntosh amp shownabove, effectively removing the amp altogether.

At first, it worked. The volume seemed a little weak, so I tried to push it. I ended up with a warningacross the screen of the JVC saying to check the wiring and reset the stereo. I did so several times. Icant find a problem.

In theory, shouldnt the wires just go to the speakers from the harness coming from the McIntoshamp? Would the harness need grounded? Id think the ground pins are for grounding the amp, notthe speakers. I didnt try that, since it was getting late and I was getting frustrated. I threw

everything back together, and called it a day. The only progress made over 4 hours was installingthe antenna extension cable I wont get into what else I did that took so long



I noticed the dash harness has wires in all pins, which isnt used with the McIntosh stereo (forspeaker output). Are these live wires? Do they go to the speakers? If so, do I have to do anythingwith harness that plugs into the amp under the seat?

Next up: where is a good place to run the power wire for an aftermarket amp? I cant see anywherethat theres a grommet passing through behind the pedals, thanks to that extra thick rubberizedsound deadening material there. I wont start drilling holes in the dark aint gonna happen.

My plan was to place the aftermarket amp under the passengers seat, then use my wiring harnesstheory to feed power back to the stock 69 (will be upgraded), but now Im not sure.

Replynzlamb says:22 April 2013 at 21:12You could use that harness to push sound directly to the speakers via the old amp connector,

just be aware that the pinout is very different so you would need to wire it as shown aboverather than using the colour codes on the harness itself. Also, dont use the power or ground pinson that connector for the speakers. That said, theres no reason why you couldnt use that entireconnector for an aftermarket amp, including the power supply. Be an easy way to fit in place ofthe factory amp with minimal wiring mods required.

ReplyTony says:27 April 2013 at 14:45NZLamb, Thanks for keeping this page up to date. I have successfully fixed a dead (silent output)EF-1080i in the past as a result of this thread, however now i am faced with another problem withmy new car (bugger!).

My Gen4 Spec B Liberty McIntosh Amp has failed.

It is a EF-1259I which looks remarkably similar, except that it has (FL,FR,RL,RR, Centre, Sub)Channels and uses TDA7296 amps. The power circuit looks near identical, and thats why im here:

The problem i think lies in the power circuit as the B+ and GND are shorted out with each other,which causes the fuse in the engine compartment to blow when the amp is plugged in.Opening up the amp, there doesnt seem to be anything out of the ordinary, and there is noleaked caps or obvious blow outs.

Do you have the service manual for your amp?, It would be a delight to be able to probe aroundknowing what should be shorted, and what shouldnt be.

Anyway, any help you could provide or what to look for would be awesome!

Amp Specs:http://img260.imageshack.us/img260/8255/mcintoshampschematicpg1rc9.jpg

Amp Pin Out:



Amp Pin Out:http://img260.imageshack.us/img260/3010/mcintoshampschematicpg2hk5.jpg (i wish i could getmy hands on the rest of that image, as it has the circuit schematic!)

ReplyTony says:27 April 2013 at 15:54

Ive just bought the Service Manual for my Amp, so will dig into that a little. It is near identicalto your amp, so if you want a copy, shoot me your email address so you can load it up on yourpage.

ReplyFerdinand says:1 August 2013 at 05:26Hi Tony

I have a Subaru Legacy SPortswagon B4 Spec B with a McIntosh EF-12081 amp system. 11speakers. 4 in each front door and 1 in each back door + subwoofer in the boot. All the doorspeakers are 8 ohm but can only get 4 ohm here in Barbados. Can I use these without aproblem? Also, i would also like the service manual for your amp if it is similar to theforementioned unit. Thank you in advance.

janus77 says:24 May 2013 at 15:28Ive purchased a cheap aftermarket head unit on ebay so that we can do bluetooth phone calls andalso music streaming on our MY02 Liberty B4 (macintosh head unit and under seat amp)..What im reading is, that while you can buy a 13 socket din connector and wire in the unbalancedRCA outputs from an aftermarket head unit to feed into the amp,and ground the lines, no matterwhich way you swing it, youre going to get some noise through the speakers?

The wiring option from CJ on the 9th July last year seems like the least noise creating solution,however there is still some noise from what hes saying.

I guess im now wondering if a head unit replacement is even possible while retaining decent

sound/signals. I want to be able to get my car back to stock again when i sell it, so a full systemrewire is not really what im looking for.

Replynzlamb says:24 May 2013 at 18:24To be honest, in your situation Id probably recommend one of the Anycar adapters. I put aClarion-compatible Bluetooth version on my factory McIntosh HU and it works really well.They are all over TradeMe but Im not sure where you can buy them in Australia.

Replyjanus77 says:



24 May 2013 at 18:39Thanks for the quick feedback, much appreciated. Yeah, guess ill just sell the Chinese one i got andtry to recoup whatever i can from it, then get an adapter for the music streaming, and use thehands-free option on my phone rather than have it run through the stereo.

How do i wire an anycar style adapter into the stock head unit? theres a square looking plug in the

back of the Macintosh unit thats not in use, is that it?

Replyjanus77 says:24 May 2013 at 18:49ah, theres a blog post on your site on it.. sry.

ReplyGloss says:24 June 2013 at 19:46Did the sub boost.sweet! used a slightly high value 46.2k resistor my systems sounds totallydifferent.thanx man!

Reply

Rich Steele says:3 July 2013 at 13:59i have a HU but no amp and want to refit 01LLbean wagon to McIntosh. emailed info would begreatly appreciated.

Replynzlamb says:8 July 2013 at 08:26The HU will be a drop-in replacement if the factory wiring is still intact, except for the speakers.You will need to supply an amp of some sort (even if its not a McIntosh one) and re-route thespeaker wiring to it. In JDM vehicles theres a suitable ground point under the RH front seat andyou can take power from the dedicated, fused high-current feed intended for the McIntosh amp.This normally exists even if you dont have the McIntosh as a factory option; look for a fusemarked Amplifier in the fusebox under the dash (you will need to remove the kick panel to get

to it). The connector is a large four pin connector under the dash facing down; look for a spareterminal and measure the pins while pulling the fuse to see which one to hook to.

ReplyRich Steele says:8 July 2013 at 10:23Thanks, this helps. Which is easier, Mc amp or replacement amp? Got sugestions for suitableor better fit amps? What about under seat sub & 6 disc under stock HU? What is VDCswitch under HU for? Lots of ?s, sorry, starting from scratch here, hardly any help or infoaround. Thanks again, Rich.

VinnieNZ says:10 July 2013 at 11:21



Hi NZLamb this is good info re: the amp wiring, I was just looking at doing something

like this to replace the McIntosh amp in my vehicle. A question regarding the wiring Imlooking at a fairly low powered amp, a 350W Alpine Mono (this one actually:http://www.crutchfield.com/S-wt4oCn8KGOg/p_500MRPM350/Alpine-MRP-M350.html). Isee it recommends that I should use 8 gauge wiring for the power and ground feeds, I dontsuppose you happen to know what gauge wiring is there for the amp power feed in thefactory install, or if it would be enough to successfully and safely drive this amp. The ideawill be to use it to power a sub the majority of the time, but when I require the boot space, Illprobably just hook it back up to the McIntosh superwoofer in the parcel tray.

Ill be looking to use as much factory wiring as possible, I want to be able to refit the factorysetup when I sell the car (so far Ive easily managed to achieve this).

nzlamb says:10 July 2013 at 17:41

That Alpine unit rated at 200WRMS into 4 Ohms at 1% THD so its realistic output power isslightly below that (unless you drive a 2 Ohm load). The factory McIntosh power feed has a20A fuse (i.e. it can supply 240W max at 12v). Accounting for inefficiencies in the amp itwould be pretty close. Id suggest at least trying it if you wanted a quick solution; providedyou dont run it at maximum volume for long periods it will likely be sufficient. If the fuseblows then its time to run a dedicated cable.

John says:1 August 2013 at 03:04Hi. I am replacing the HU of a 2002 Subaru Legacy with a newer unit with Bluetooth. After wiringthe harness to the 13 pin mini din connector to the preamp, the preamp has a noticeable whinewhen on. The audio channels seem to work OK, but was wondering what might cause this. Theonly thing different from standard would be non twisted pairs for the inputs and the din shrouddoes not connect to anything on the new harness. I removed it because it would not let the originalconnector seat properly. Any thoughts would help. Thanks.

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shawndmeslanted says:30 November 2013 at 08:40NZlamb

Thanks for all this info. Im not a really technical guy. I think youre saying one of these shouldwork

http://www.anycarlink.com/

https://www.isimplesolutions.com/unive



https://www.isimplesolutions.com/universal-solutions-TranzIt-IS77.aspx?mode=review

http://www.cushieaudio.com.au/subaru-ipd3.html

If you dont want to keep bumping this you can email me at shAwnsadjatumwadee@gmail

Reply

Tom says:19 December 2013 at 04:33Hi,

this is a fantastic blog with heaps of info, keep up the good work.

I have a question, if i was to connect a powered external subwoofer would i connect it to thesubwoofer output of the amplifier through a speaker to line level converter or to the rear speakersthrough a line level converter?

Replynzlamb says:19 December 2013 at 06:17Id do it to the rears so you can bypass the low pass filter and use the one in the new sub. It will

give you a little more control over the sound.

ReplyTom says:19 December 2013 at 09:10Great! Thanks for your advice. I had done that in my last car, but didnt even think about itin this one. Im probably going to install some of the subwoofer stuff either today ortomorrow. Any tips on running power and ground in this car?

Im trying to keep records of my work on its own blog for the North American owners,since the cars may differ just slightly. The URL is in the reply info.

Tom says:19 December 2013 at 23:53so do the rear speakers have no low pass filter in the amplifier then? sounds good i will hook

it up to them

cheers

Tom

nzlamb says:20 December 2013 at 06:17Correct, they are full range so your sub will need its own low pass filter.

Rich Steele says:



11 January 2014 at 09:25What amp should I use 2 replace the McIntosh amp 98 Subaru?

Craig says:29 December 2013 at 19:18Hi, I have this setup in my subaru outback. Has performed very well until recently.

It has started loud crackling and popping no matter what volume the head unit is set at. I thought itcould be loose connections and am having a look this afternoon. Found this site as a great resourceand would be glad for any pointers you may have and if you have heard of this problem before.

Thanks heaps and loved your diagrams and advice

Craig

Replynzlamb says:10 January 2014 at 17:10I assume this is in all speakers? Id first try hooking a different amp to the output of the headunit (see the pinout above ignore the negative (cold) outputs) and see if you still experience itto help isolate the cause to the amp itself. Check that none of the amp connections are loose too.

If its the amp its probably either the muting circuit or the power supply section.

Id also suggest replacing the muting transistor as it seems to be a weak point in these amps. Itcould even be on its way out and causing the problem in the first place. Ive got an article on thisfor more information.

ReplyTyron says:23 January 2014 at 12:43Hey there, just wanted to drop a thanks for supplying this information!Ive got a 2007 Legacy (based in Tauranga) where the headunit has failed, so am putting in a newheadunit and amp (wanted a new amp anyways) and the wiring info for this is really, really handy!

So just a big thanks for posting this, and continuing to answer questions!

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