Truck stereo help.

[Honda4life05]

Hey huys i need a little help installing an aftermarket radio into a 2000 dodge ram. I'm switching everything over from my old truck so i know everything works. The only part I need help with (supposed to be the easy part) is actually hooking up the deck and making the speakers work. What is the trick??? I have an adaptor and all of the wires hooked up that are neccesary! The deck turns on but none of the speakers work. Is the something special I need to make it work on this dodge??

[kbnorth99]

I don't know much about the Dodge specifically but I did run into a similar situation about 20 years ago. In my case it turned out that the vehicle I was installing the stereo into had built in amps. So I had to get a second adapter to wire in between the new stereo and the vehicle. This dropped the signal from the stereo to a "pre-amp" low voltage that the amps could then handle. I know a lot of the Dodges had Infinity sound systems in them and I there's a good chance they have built in amps.

Good luck.

[bbender85]

Originally posted by kbnorth99
I don't know much about the Dodge specifically but I did run into a similar situation about 20 years ago. In my case it turned out that the vehicle I was installing the stereo into had built in amps. So I had to get a second adapter to wire in between the new stereo and the vehicle. This dropped the signal from the stereo to a "pre-amp" low voltage that the amps could then handle. I know a lot of the Dodges had Infinity sound systems in them and I there's a good chance they have built in amps.

Good luck.


yep, the infinity units use external amps... likely related to your problem.

[Honda4life05]

Okay thanks guys, sounds out of my car audio knowlage! I may end up taking it to a shop

[kbnorth99]

Originally posted by Honda4life05
Okay thanks guys, sounds out of my car audio knowlage! I may end up taking it to a shop

Call a local shop and ask them about it. They can probably tell you based on the description of the original sound system, if it is using amps or not. If that is your problem, then adding the new adapter is no different than the what you have done so far. So check it out before you spend the extra cash. The real problem with the extra adapter is that it does affect your sound quality. If that is the case then you may want to just run new wires from your stereo to your speakers. It's easy to do you just have to take the time to do it. That may be a good option for you.

[Honda4life05]

The guy i called wasnt very helpful, but he did say that an adaptor was needed. If i posted a picture of the original stereo would that help?? I'm going to try to dig up more info because i really want to do this myself, if anyone could help me find what I need i would really appriciate it!!

[kbnorth99]

I asked the local Dodge dealership parts guy and he said that if you call a dealership with your VIN they should be able to tell you exactly what the truck had when it left the factory. That way you will know for sure if you have the amps or not and you can go from there.

I've used the adapter and I've run new speaker wires and if I had to do it again, I would run new wires. It's more work but the sound is better and LOUDER.

[CJM]

Run new lines, much more worth it. Not only sounds better but then you know the wiring can handle the power.

Most dodges use the infinity setup anyways, can almost guarantee you that so your gonna need the adapter more than likely.

[Honda4life05]

If I run new lines then will i bypass the factory amp? will it sound the same? Also do you know who sells the adaptor just incase i want to go that route? My plan is to just have the sub powered by my amp and leave the factory speakers alone, nothing special.

[kbnorth99]

Running new lines will sound way better than using the adapter. Yes it will bypass the factory amp altogether.

Your new stereo has amplifiers built into it. The adapter processes your new stereo's high power output into a low power "pre-amp" signal that the amp can work with. Then the amp boosts it back up and sends it to the speakers. So the signal gets amp'd up, then dropped, and them amp'd up again. There is a substantial quality loss.

Will your stereo running your speakers directly sound better than the original stereo did with the external amp in use? Maybe or maybe not. But that stereo is gone now and you need to work with the new one. If your new stereo has "pre-amp" outputs then you could fabricate an adapter to use that signal and then run it through the factory amp in your truck but I doubt the sound quality would be worth it. Your plan to power the speakers from your head unit and the sub from an external amp should work just fine.

You can find the adapter at most any car stereo dealer I suspect. Or maybe on line but I wouldn't bother.
I agree with CJM. Run the new wires. It has several benefits and the only drawback is the time it takes.

[Honda4life05]

Alright, i'm going to run new wires, shouldn't take too long. any special wire i need? also what about the little tweeters up by the handles? are they needed? it seems like they would be hard to get to. thanks for the help!

[CJM]

You def have the infinity system if it has the tweeters.

Your gonna need to wire them if you run all your wiring thru the external amp.

Pick up some good wiring from car stereo supply, dont use cheap pepboys junk.

[kbnorth99]

Originally posted by Honda4life05
Alright, i'm going to run new wires, shouldn't take too long. any special wire i need? also what about the little tweeters up by the handles? are they needed? it seems like they would be hard to get to. thanks for the help!

CJM is right. Get some decent wire. Don't grab a roll of the stuff at the grocery store.

The tweeters are definitely needed. You probably won't have to get to them. Take the door panel off and look at the speaker. Chances are there is a set of wires running from the main speaker up to the tweeter. There will be some simple circuitry that will allow the high frequencies to "bypass" the main speaker and go to the tweeter. Sometimes there is a small crossover unit that splits the signals and sends them to the two components. Either way you should just need to wire to that point where the signal splits.