I almost done wiring up my amp n sub w/LOC. I'm looking online for a good place to tap into for the remote wire and came across this...

http://www.ehow.com/m/how_7879574_ad...500-radio.html

Is this true?? Did I just waste time wiring a LOC? It also says there's a spot to hook up a remote wire in that write up. I'm not about to take apart my dash n console now to find out.

 

There are no RCA plugs on a Factory Shaker. Whoever wrote that article did the install with an aftermarket HU.

 

Since Ford usually keeps the same wire color codes over several years and models of vehicles I will be checking this thread out when I get back home next wednesday. This may be the answer to the "summing" problem with the Shaker 500 audio system reducing the bass as you turn the volume up. If i can tap into the speaker level inputs for the factory amplifiers for the door subs I should be able to get a clean bass signal for the rear subs as well. I have been trying to find information on the AOEM-FRD24 unit I bought and some websites say that it sends a full range signal to the amps and others say that no summing is performed by the device. My RCA's will be in next week so I will be finding out then. But I will find a way to get this done for sure!

http://savkomedia.com/kevin/Index.asp

 

Keep me posted on what you find out. My set up is more annoying than useful due to the bass drop out at louder volume. I thought it was my amp but I'm starting to believe it's the signal output from the LOC.

 

I found an older wiring harness that looks like it has the same plug that the diagrams say are the positive and negative outputs for the subs on the radio, and the harness already has RCA's on it. So I believe we just need to reverse the process since those RCA's plug into the RCA outputs on an aftermarket unit. When I get home I will make me a short Female RCA cable and tap into those 2 wires and see what I get out of it. I dont mind if the radio lowers the bass frequencies on the inside speakers. It would make more sense to do that on just the front channels since those are closest to the driver, then leave the rears alone. But noooooooo, that would make too much sense!

Im still going to install the AOEM-FRD24 since thats a much cleaner install than the LOC anyway. Then if I have to I will just run the sub amplifier without going through the Kicker KX3, not really a preferred setup but we do what we have to do. Just to make sure Im committed to this I looked at the Metra kit again and the added up the price of buying the kit+Sync Harness+Aftermarket Deck. The price plus the look of that nasty Metra kit made me have a frowny face! Needless to say I re-motivated myself to sorting this out!

 

Just in case anyone hasn't read this. This thread gives alot of information on why and how the radios in our cars reduces the bass signal. It also offers some solutions, mostly expensive except for the LC2i Sound Processor. Some as high as $800. For that amount of money Ill just change the radio. But for now I'm still going to try this my way and see how it goes. Its bound to help someone.

https://themustangsource.com/f803/el...utputs-490750/

 

I'm going to try a different amp this weekend. Hopefully it will solve part of my bass drop out at higher volume. As Tim the Toolman would say....More Power!

 

Audio Control LC6i. 6 channel out. $150 give or take. it will also sum all signals coming from the factory amp or HU so you get a clean signal going to the aftermarket amp you use.

 

I used the the remote wire from the passenger side kick panel fuse box (07 mustang), pull the small cover off, then the radio wire harness with the grey locking tab, unlock this I found that the black with the pink stripe on it is the remote wire for the HU. 2 hours wire a voltage meter later tho. And with the loc, I wired this to the speaker out puts on the factory amp input side, This worked great, as tapping into the rear speakers sounded bad, no real low tones, but after hooking up a few wire splices to the low side of the amps it works great and never had to pull anything out of the car. except the frt lft tire to run the lead bat. cable. hope this helps.

 

Ok so I stopped at Best Buy on my way home from work and they had a Kicker ZX400.1 marked down to $75. Guess it was a display or something. I was needing a new amp so I can drop my big one off for repair.

My Stinger 4 channel RCA's came in so I installed the AOEM-FRD24 as well and ran the RCA's. First I will review the PAC AOEM-FRD24. This thing is a must have for your interior speakers! Though to install it was a PITA due to the radio plug have very little slack in them and if you have big hands it will be hard to get to them to unplug them. Also the area behind the radio isnt very accomodating to the extended wires and box for the FRD24. But it went in and works awesome. I had everything running through my Kicker KX3 and the rear 6x9's sounded horrible at the highest volume I listen to my music at! So I removed the KX3 from the equation and voila! Sounded awesome again! I dont know if the crossover is defective or its a conflict with the amp or what. So I turned the high pass crossover on the amp on and tuned it to my liking. Oh and if you bought the FRD24 dont turn the gain controls on it all the way up, each channel has one. I have the gain all the way down on my amplifier and its still louder than the front speakers, way louder! Gonna do some balancing tomorrow. I also removed the ZX400.1 from the KX3 and Im relying on the crossover in the amp to give a clean bass signal. After alot of tuning I have it sounding very nice just running off the LOC tied into my rear speaker wires. But the "roll off" is still there but not as pronounced as it was on the KX3 crossover. Tomorrow I will dig around and find the front door speaker amps and tie my LOC into it and run an RCA for the subwoofer and get a good bass signal that way and maybe the "roll off" problem will be fixed.

So the short review is this. The AOEM-FRD24 is a must have. Much cleaner than tapping into the rear speaker wires. Its plug and play. The Kicker KX3 was a waste of money for me. Still not sure if its broken or Im not tuning it right. Ill do a little more research on that. I was going to buy a stronger 12 inch sub and run my 800 watt Kicker amp but with the 400 watt monoblock it is jamming my CVR pretty well. If i get a better bass signal from the factory amplifier I think the system will be perfect.

 

RobDis, I see you are using the AOEM-FRD24 with a 2011. Which system do you have in your car? The specs on the FRD24 say 2010, but 2011/12 is not listed. Just want to make sure it works with my 2012 Nav system before i buy it. Also, you are talking about tapping into your other wires even though you have the AOEM-FRD24. Why is that. Can't you just run everything from it cleanly? I am looking for a clean plug-n-play way to get a line-out to a sub/amp in the trunk without the roll-off.

 

The adapter only has 2 sets of outs, front and rear. You or he could use a "Y" RCA adapter from the rear outs to get an extra set of RCA's for the subwoofer amp. Subwoofer frequencies are not in stereo so it really don't matter.

This is why I elected to spend the $150 on the AUDIO CONTROL LC6i. It has front, rear and subwoofer RCA outs. Perfect if you plan to expand your system in the future.

 

So, if I was planning on leaving the front, rear speakers and the door subs alone, I could use one of the outputs to run to the trunk amp/sub and be done. I already have the Pioneers for the front doors/rear panels and the Kickers for the door subs to upgrade them. Most say they do fine w/factory amps.

 

That's it basically. Sub amps/woofers do not need to be stereo, all you need is a clean signal, the amp should have a low pass x-over built it.

 

I'm going to try my LOC on the speaker outputs of the factory amps so I can get a clean low pass frequency and signal for the sub amp. The rear rca's from the frd24 is good, but the roll off is still present. Plus I was using a kicker kx3 which has 2 pairs of RCA inputs and front, rear, and sub out puts. But the sound wasn't right so I disconnected it. Now I'm using the crossovers built into the amps and it sounds excellent.

 

RobDis, do you get the bass roll off using the "front" outputs of the frd24 for the sub amp?

 

I haven't tried it on the front rca's. That's an idea. I have a house full right now but I plan on working on it some more and I'll try that and see what happens.

 

Hey Rob would adjusting the LOC levels lower improve the sound? I can't seem to find a happy-medium right now.

 

Possibly. The LOC's levels aren't quite like volume. Usually the higher the signal coming from the LOC the lower you can put the gain on the amp. Do you have the internal speakers amplifies or just the sub?

 

Just the sub with the kicker bass ****. It's either too much or not enough.