JustJeff

iTrader: (13)

This is what I have

Eclipse CD5425
Jl Audio 300/2 Slash amp
Alpine V12 4 channel amp that came with the car (don't remember the model)
Zapco Studio 150 amp
Boston Acoustics Pro 6 mids
Boston Acoustics Pro 4 mids
Boston Acoustics Pro 5 1/4 mids
Boston Acoustics Pro tweets
Boston Acoustics Pro 8 sub
1 farad cap, don't remember the brand

The 6's are in the door, the tweets are mounted on the door panel beside the rear view mirror triangles, the 4's are under the dash. The JL amp powers the 6 and tweets. The Alpine powers the 4's with the gain turned down so they are more fill than the door speakers.

The 8" Boston will be mounted in a custom enclosure under the rear deck, hopefully mounted so that it's firing directly into the cockpit of the car between the 2 seats. The Zapco will be bridged and power the sub.

I'd like to either mount the 5's under the dash and then move the 4's to enclosures under the rear deck. Or simply put the 5's under the rear deck.

I've got the wiring in place to plug the headrest speakers into the Eclipse and use the fader to control volume. I removed the seats to do some work and simply haven't wired it back together.

I simply wanted to get a confirmation that it's not possible to wire in the OEM headrest speaker controls into an aftermarket amp? But it is possible to use the OEM headrest speaker amp and then still use the OEM headrest speaker controls? Could any of the RX and electronic veterans chime in on this?

If I'm sure that I can't use the factory headrest controls I may remove those from the center console and try to fab up something in that space that would hold a digital gauge for a wideband A/F system.

Lizo7

iTrader: (11)

I recall this being tried but i thought it never sounded right without the factory preamp connected to the conrols for the headrest speakers, If you can figure this out (maybe it already has, havent searched) That would be great, I'm getting so sick of the oem vert headunit but I love having headrest speakers.
Matt

JustJeff

iTrader: (13)

I did some searching, reading and real life legwork. 3 years ago an electronics tech said it can't be done and explained why...3 yrs later I only remember him saying it can't be done and don't remember the why.

I did some reading on the forum and found what I think to be the definitive answer of not with an aftermarket amp, but possibly with the OEM amp. I started a thread to get a confirmation and hopefully an explanation on why it can't be done.

I read that S4 you can't do it even with the OEM amp, but you might be able to if you swapped to an S5. I believe what I read was that the S5 using line level.

Icemark

not seeing the problem doing this...

does the 5425 have both line and pre amp levels?

In absolute worse case you just put the headrest speakers on their own little amp on the rear output of the radio and bypass the stock controls.

Groshuk

I had an 88 vert with the factory headrest speaker controls working with an aftermarket deck and stock amp. Honestly I forget how I did it exactly but I hooked the speaker level output from the deck into the factory harness where it went into the stock deck.

Only problem was sometimes the volume on the headrests would drop to nothing when you turned the car off so you'd have to crank the factory control back up occasionally.

Phearthe-Rx7

iTrader: (18)

I mean....my 91 vert has a aftermarket deck and the headrest speakers work perfect.......I guess that is probably different than having an aftermarket amp as well....but still they are speakers.....I can't imagine not being about to wire them into the system somehow and then have separate volume control on them whether it be the stock control or not

toplessFC3Sman

iTrader: (1)

I wired my stock under-dash speakers (where the headrest controls get their signal input from anyway) up to an aftermarket sony headunit, and just had to connect one wire to switched +12v (stock:high when radio on; rewired: high when ignition on) to get the headrest speakers to work, and they seem to sound just fine. At least as good as they had when the stock headunit was in there.

BTW, how good is the stock door speaker amp? I was considering wiring that up as the sub output instead of bypassing it and directly driving the speakers (same way the under-dash speakers are hooked up).

JustJeff

iTrader: (13)

Yes it has both line and pre amps. I need to check my wiring again, it's been a while since I've had the headrests up and running. I believe I'm using the rear pre amp thru 2 channels of the Alpine amp for driver's side and the line level rear output from the headunit for the passenger side.

If I had a low watt 4 channel amp I could use line level to wire thru the OEM controls for the headrests? I don't think I have the OEM headrest amp anymore.

It's wired up so that I can simply use the fader on the headunit, but I like the idea of using the OEM control so that I can independently control volume on each seat. It may not be worth all the effort, but it'd be nice to know if I can do it.

JustJeff

iTrader: (13)

The factory stuff is adequate for most people. My father's vert is all factory and sounded pretty alright when it was working. I did like the Pioneer...um...surround sound I think it was? His even has the rear speakers behind the seats. However his cd player has not worked for many years. I keep offering to find him a factory replacement and he's only mildly interested, so I never really look into it.

frank the tank

I just recently installed my new head unit into my vert. I didnt think it was possible to use the oem fade controls, so i just re-wired them to my head unit. They connect underneath the seat, so i just ran some speaker wire back to the cd player. I was thinking about cutting where the oem controls r, while leaving the mirror controls, and making a custom cup holder that looked oem. Just a thought

JustJeff

iTrader: (13)

If you do the cup holder toss out some pics. I've got a cup holder from Royalesomethingoranother that mounts on the passenger side of the shifter.