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Stock radio- w Ford amp- Bypass possible?

M

mykdee

CEG'er
Joined
Jun 9, 2012
Messages
38
I've seen the post in the audio section re: bypassing the amp. My question is can you bypass the amp using the aftermarket connectors to go straight to the stock stereo? If so, does anyone know how?

Right now the radio is basically playing on the driver door, but if you raise the volume, go 36.6 mph and sacrifice a chicken then most (all?) the speakers work.-OK maybe not the last 2.

I just want to see if bypassing the amp gets all the speakers and the radio to work normally- BUT I don't know if the stock Ford amp is required to get the radio to work at all.
 
Yes You can plug into the output of the factory amp with an extended harness and I believe it is the standard ford plug on the output. So you get your ford adaptor and splice in enough wire to go from a AFTERMARKET radio with a high power amp built in. The stock radio on premium sound cars doesn't have enough power to drive the speakers well. But the output on the Premium sound in my 95 car Isn't low level ( RCA plug voltage of 1 volt peak ) It was speaker level output so I wired in a cheap aftermarket radio into my stock amp. If you replace the stock radio many people say their internal amplifiers on replacement radios sound better than the stock premium sound.
 
dennyb said:
The stock radio on premium sound cars doesn't have enough power to drive the speakers well.
Click to expand...

So it sounds as if I get the adapter/bypass harness and try to just run off the stock Ford radio, it won't work. Is that right?

I didn't see anything on the car that says "premium sound". By virtue of having the amp, is that what I now have?

How many speakers should a Ford Premium sounds system have? I think I have 2 on the door and 2 in the back.

I may as well get an aftermarket radio AND bypass the amp, but right now I have other issues to worry about. As long as my kid has a radio that puts anything out, she will just have to be happy with that for now.
 
If your car doesn't say premium sound then It might not be. The premium sound radios have different connectors on the rear. They have a small square plug on the back that connects to a grey shielded cable that goes to the amplifier. The amplifier is behind the glove box near the cars computer. This link in the audio secton has a part explaning the difference in standard and premium sound. Even my local Meijer store carries adaptors for the standard radio. http://www.installdr.com/InstallDocs/FLM/PDF/356041.PDF
 
Thanks for the PDF. I posted that installdr. guide so I'm familiar with the black plug and gray connector. I have the amp and the black square plug from the radio to the amp, so I have premium sound.
So it sounds as if I get the adapter/bypass harness and try to just run off the stock Ford radio, it won't work. Is that right?
 
If you want to try I'd say give it a try. But if you suspect the problem is the amp only I have one in my old 95 I can send to you. I also have a casette premium sound deck. I looked into converting its cd changer connection in the back for an I pod style input.
 
Ok so for any other folks out there here is what I learned-

The "STEREO" badge is on the speaker grill covers. WhichI beleiev I saw on Crutchfield means premium sound=amp

My issue turned out to be the speakers, not the amp at all. I guess most of them went bad at just about the same time. Weird but true. I wound up getting a new radio and set of 4 speakers installed. Turns out the speakers are a special size (5x7 I think). so it wasn't as easy as finding them ion stock somewhere.
 
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