IS200 Stereo

[Tazman]

I'm picking up my new IS200 in a month, and am trying to figure out how much of my current gear I can get in the new car.

My current Golf Turbo was fine, 'cause it had DIN slots and a parcel shelf. I think the new car's going to be a bit of a 'mare in comparison!

I'm resigned to losing the Alpine head unit and changer: The cars on contract, so I don't want to do too much re-modelling! The boggo OEM one should suffice, providing I can get phonos on it. Presumably we'll have to either intercept the signal before the OEM amp, or shove a speaker level to phono converter on afterwards? Turning the amp on might also prove problematic.

The other kit is a 5 channel ALpine V12 amp, a pair of 6.5" Image Dynamic mids, DLS tweetwrs, a pair of luuurvely DLS 7x10s and a 10" Alpine R-Type in a box.

Bass might be a problem with the box, seeing as the car's a saloon, so I might trade that in for a free-air one in the shelf. Apparently there's a cutout for an 8"?

The 7x10s might also be a no-no, but we might have to look at the car to make a final judgment.

The installer I've always used hasn't done an IS200 before, but they're pretty clever. I'm trying to give them as much info as possible before they get the car, so any advice/pointers would be greatly appreciated.

[Chris.S]

Speak to Andyhart21 (Andy) he's just had a install done.He's probably the best one for advice

[andyhart21]

I've tried the speaker level to RCA convertor and it sounds pretty awful to be honest, although it might have been the cheap autoleads adaptor I was using. It picked up interference from the alternator as well!

For the amp remote, we just wired a switched live from the ignition switch .

I am in the process of having my system finished at the moment and I have been speaking to a guy from Source Sounds and Security in Sheffeld, who seems pretty confident he can get a good sound out of the OEM head unit. We are going to use a 3 way 40 band digital EQ/signal booster (AudioControl EQS), a Phoenix Gold amp and Focal Utopia Components for the front. He is not 100% sure which is going to be the best way to connect the EQ, with the OEM amp having 8 outputs, but it should not be a problem to sort out. He might even hack into the head unit and tap into the pre-amp signal. Whichever way he does it I will keep you posted.

The best way of getting decent bass into the car as with all saloons is to remove the ski hatch and have a ported box firing through the hatch. This is a pretty easy thing to do on the IS, Mat and I(!) did it on my car in about 15 minutes. You take the back seat out, and just unbolt it from behind.

I didn't see a 8" cutout in the metal section under the shelf when I was dynamatting, so an 8" free-air sub wouldn't fit without cutting the metalwork. The speaker cutouts in the rear shelf are for 6x9's but you can get adaptors that space 7x10's out a bit so they fit in 6x9 holes. Problem with this is that you may have to lose the standard speaker grilles.

If you need anymore help, U2U Mat (supercharged_IS200) or myself.

Hope this helps a bit!:smilegrin:

[Tazman]

Thanks for the info. I'm going down to the local dealer tomorrow, so will try and get pinouts for the head unit and amp. If I can get them, it'll give us a chance to hack into the signal before it reaches the amp.

[Tazman]

Right. Got photocopies of the tech sheet for the pinouts on the stereo. Will post them on ere when I've blown the dust off the scanner!

Looks like it'll be a doddle: weld some phonos onto the preouts and Bob's you mother's brother.

:o

[TonyGoose]

Originally posted by Tazman

Looks like it'll be a doddle: weld some phonos onto the preouts and Bob's you mother's brother.

:o

And then you find you've only got 100mv to play with when you were expecting at least 10 times this :D

Also be careful if you have satnav. In standard form, output from amp passes through satnav ecu ....

Careful not to melt it with the increased power.

[adeyb]

and It rocks, I posted the wiring colours the other day, have a look for them

Cheers

Adeyb

[Tazman]

Saw your previous post Adeyb, and have C&P'd into a doc I'm taking down to the installers with me. Along with any other info I can get in the meantime.

My slight concern with your colours was that your car is a '99, and mine is an '02. As I said, I've got the pinouts for the connectors on the back of the stereo, so we shouldn't have a problem there (cue terrible problems finding the right wires).

Thanks for the hints TG. No SatNav, so there's one potential complication out the way. I'm not doing any of the work myself, just info gathering, so I've no idea of the different voltages required.

[Tom_ES300]

Originally posted by adeyb

and It rocks, I posted the wiring colours the other day, have a look for them

Cheers

Adeyb

Adeyb - I can't find that post. Can you put in the url here?

Thanks

Tom

[adeyb]

I cant find it either!, somebody must know, I've binned the fag packet that it was written on!

sorry!

[JOHNNY-BOY]

Originally posted by adeyb

I cant find it either!, somebody must know, I've binned the fag packet that it was written on!

sorry!

Found it

link to adeyb's wiring diagram:D

[Tazman]

OK. Sorry for delay: been a bit busy in work.

Pic1 attached. Pic2 in next post.

Pinouts as follows:

Radio Receiver Assembly

Pins1.jpg:

Connector "A"

1 = FR+

2 = FL+

3 = Ignition Switch ACC (Battery voltage)

4 = Constant (Battery voltage)

5 = FR-

6 = FL-

7 = Constant (Continuity)

8 = Radio Power Switch ON (Battery Voltage)

10 = Headlight Dimer Switch ON (Battery voltage)

Connector "B"

1 = RR+

2 = RL+

3 = RR-

4 = RL-

Power Amp Circuit

Pins2.jpg

Connector "A"

1 = FL+

2 = FR+

3 = RL+

4 = WL+

5 = RR+

6 = WR+

7 = BU+ (Battery Voltage)

8 = FL-

9 = FR-

10 = RL-

11 = WL-

12 = Gnd (Continuity)

13 = Mute (Battery Voltage)

14 = RR-

15 = WR-

16 = Ignition Switch (Battery Voltage)

Connector "B"

1 = +B (Battery voltage)

3 = Amp+ Radio Power Switch ON (Battery voltage)

5 = Gnd (Continuity)

7 = Mute (1V or below)

8 = FL (1V or below)

9 = FR (1V or below)

10 = Ignition Switch ACC (Battery voltage)

14 = Gnd (Continuity)

16 = Beep (-) :?:

17 = RL (1V or below)

18 = RR (1v or below)

Phew....RSI here we come!

Hope this lot might actually help someone.

[Tazman]

Pins2

[Tazman]

OK, just a quick update:

6.5 speakers in front fitted perfectly (mdf mounts needed).

Tweeters replaced oem ones (needed to get rid of some plastic under the cover though).

The rear speaker covers have lots of height, so there was plenty of room for the 7x10s (mdf mounts made again). The only problem was the springy metal things for the boot rub against the magnets of the speakers (they are like dinner plates though).

Now to the interesting bit:

Took the dash to bits and found the oem amp.

The 6 disk changer, which I was LED to believe was meant to be Pioneer was in fact a Fujitsu. The slot's in the top and it's a 2003 model car.

Never mind. We broke into the signals from the back of the head unit as per my previous post. Amp remote on wasn't a problem, and we got sound :D

However, we had no control over the volume

Jasper speculated that the head unit sends out a constant signal, and that the volume control affects the gain on the amp. Conclusion: you can't break into the head unit signal and use your own amp.

To get it working, he slapped on a high-to-low converter and did it that way (It was 6.30 by this time, and they were supposed to close at 5.30), but it's hissy and sounds crap quite frankly (not surprised the route the signal takes: low-high-low-high).

Now we've ditched the idea of using the oem head unit and Jasper's made me a facia out of MDF. Going in Weds to get it fitted, along with an Alpine 6893. No idea what it's going to look like, but Jasper seems quite pleased with the results. Will try and get some pictures if anyone's interested.

The moral of this story, is that if you are thinking of running your own amp off the oem head unit in a new IS200, don't.

Taz.

[simonskippy]

An MDF Fascia plate!!! Piccys would be good, not so sure about that though, you can get JDM and other fascia plates from the states!!

Si

[Grangey]

Anyone got a photo of the back of an IS200 stereo or connectors, by any chance? I'm hoping for intergration with my Dension and Lee needs to know what the back's like. Don't fancy pulling it out my self (the stereo, that is )

Ta!

[Matthew_McNally]

Jasper's made me a facia out of MDF.

hehehehehe

somebodies been watching Changing Rooms

have you done the interior in neutral colours, maybe with just the headrests in bright pink as an accent colour?

:D :D :D

[Monster-Mat]

NO NO.....terrecota and stainless steel,with high-lighted use of modern woods,green fuji plant and alpine balsa

[Matthew_McNally]

NO NO.....terrecota and stainless steel,with high-lighted use of modern woods,green fuji plant and alpine balsa

hehehehe - your missus addicted to UK Style as well Mat? :D

need to get some seagrass mats for the car now.