MY08 Double DIN conversion

[Whiterx]

Hi guys,

Thought that I'd post a quick pic of the Double DIN convercion I did on my wagon this afternoon.

I'm stoked with the results and was surprised at how easy the change over was.

[teK--]

Nice head unit, goes well with the charcoal fascia

[jp928]

What type was original head unit ? Not McIntosh ? Mine is a Mcintosh, and I want to replace it, but not game to experiment . I did the same type as you on my 05 Outback, and it worked very well.
jp 08 gtb 6mt wagon

[Whiterx]

The OEM unit is a Kenwood system.

You can do this even if you have the McIntosh system, it just involved more work in rewiring the speakers e.t.c. from the McIntosh Amp to work with the new head unit.

Not too dificult, just time consuming.

[mihai]

hmm

how much did this set up cost u if you dont mind me asking?

im thinking of doing something similar with an Alpine Double Din screen. Mostly interested in the price of the fascia kit and where you got it from.

[Whiterx]

hmm

how much did this set up cost u if you dont mind me asking?

im thinking of doing something similar with an Alpine Double Din screen. Mostly interested in the price of the fascia kit and where you got it from.

The fascia kit came from japanparts.com and costs approx $400 delivered. (depending on exchange rates) It includes the conversion fascia, new double din brackets, screws, instructions, (albeit in Japanese) an antenna adapter and a new climate control unit. I recon it's not too bad a price considering all the bits and pieces you receive.

I can't really recall the price of the HU, I've had it for a while now, but I think it was around 1500, which included ipod adapter, gps, dvd, sd card, usb, mp3 wma, bluetooth, reverse camera ready....

[jp928]

Whiterx,
Are there any specifics available on interfacing a normal HU to the Mcintosh amp please? I have on hand a JVC DV6105 (dvd player etc) which I had in my 05 Outback (where it worked VERY well, fitted with fascia from AVOJDM), but that was a normal factory HU, and single zone ac. AVOJDM seem to show fascia for dual zone AC now, so that part is available...
And whats involved in removing the old fascia - looks slightly different from the 05 models....?

thanks
jp

[Whiterx]

JP,

I don't know too much about the wiring setup of the McIntosh amp to a headuint that isn't OEM. You'd probably be best off to remove the whole lot and power your speakers through the HU and then get a little mono amp for a sub or something like that.

I'm guessing that you've got an MY08 or there abouts if you're questioning the diffetence betwen the climate control systems and the install.

Install was easy, pull of the silver surround panels, and there are 4 screws that become exposed. Undo these and the whole unit will slide out. I can't recall which screws they were exactly, but you'll figure it out.

I don't know what parts AVO have, but japanparts have several differnet types available for all of the different MY models. They have a dual zone setup and a single zone setup. BE sure not to get the dual zone if your car doesn't have dual zone currently, your AC won't work!

Hope that answers your questions.

[SVXdc]

Some information about the connections on the Mc HU and amp is here (post #12 in my thread on NASIOC).

I think that the Mc uses balanced signals between the HU and amp. However, people have successfully connected normal (non-balanced) RCA line-level outputs from an aftermarket HU into the Mc amp. Does yours have the round or square 13-pin DIN connectors?

As Whiterx suggested, you can instead bypass the Mc amp and connect your new HU's speaker outputs directly to the four main speakers (into the harness that was plugged into the Mc amp). I can build the matching harness for that (either 14-pin or 18-pin).

If your car has the factory subwoofer in the rear cargo area, you would need to add a small mono amp to retain that. The power pins on the Mc amp harness should be adequate for an amp that's not too large (in other words, you could get away with not running a new power wire directly to the battery).

[jp928]

Thanks Svx...
First problem - I pulled enough dash off to get access to the Mc HU, but I couldnt get it far enough out to readily unplug the big amp cable, or anything much at all. Have I missed something here? I did have the hazard switch disconnected .
What you are suggesting if I understand right is if I fit a generic HU, and bypass the Mc amp, all I need is a harness from HU RCA (male) connectors to match the output connector at the Mc amp? Replacement JDM double din facia kit comes with aerial adapter IIRC?
I still have the old-ish JVC DVD playing HU from the Outback last time I did this, so all I need is the JDM facia for 2 zone climate control...

I could then sell the whole Mc unit with amp and cable ?

might be viable again. I just dont like the Mc unit much,so many things about it are poorly thought out, no real equalization, needs 6cds vs 1 dvd etc.

thanks
jp 08 gtb 6mt wagon.

[SVXdc]

Two options --

1) Remove both the McIntosh HU and amp. Then you'll connect your new HU's speaker outputs directly to your car's speaker wires (via the larger power/speaker plug that was plugged into the Mc amp). No RCA cables needed.

Optionally, you can install an aftermarket 4- or 5-channel speaker amp where the Mc amp was (and then use RCA cables between your HU and the new amp).

2) Remove the Mc HU but keep the Mc amp. This is where you would have to connect from your aftermarket HU's RCA line outs into the 13-pin DIN connector going into the Mc amp.

I've heard that the antenna cable is sometimes very short and that could be what's holding the HU close to the dash. You would need to unplug that by "feel" (might take an extra pair of hands to hold the HU while you do that). The problem could be any of the harnesses, really, but same solution.

Yes, the JDM kit includes a Subaru-to-Motorola antenna adapter cable.

You should be able to unplug both the DIN cable and power/speaker harness from the amp, to see what those look like at least. If/when you decide to sell both halves of the Mc system, you might need to unbolt the seat to completely extract the DIN cable.

[jp928]

Svx,
I realised later that I had the rca stuff wrong - the HU has rca outs for sub woofer, and video etc. The JVC HU I have has a plug that fitted the old Suby 14 pin harness - all the power and speaker stuff in one. If that socket/plug is not present in an Mc installation , I would need a harness that fed power , dimmer signal etc into the JVC harness, and separate outputs from JVC to the speaker connections under the pax seat - correct ? Is this the harness you spoke of being able to produce? DO you need pics/descriptions of the connectors to do this? I dont have a sub woofer, and dont plan on one.

If I wanted to keep the Mc amp,wouldnt I need devices to convert the speaker outputs from std to Mc type (balanced ->unbalanced or vice-versa) ?
With all the Mc speakers (13 , 14?) whats needed to feed them all properly ?

thanks heaps for this....

PS, whats the plane in the background - Lockheed ?

jp

[SVXdc]

See the link on the Subaru McIntosh info that I posted earlier for descriptions of the harnesses.

You can re-use your 14-pin harness for power and illumination into the HU, but you'll need to disconnect the speaker wires and extend those down to the other harness under the seat. And yes, that is the one I can provide. It's either another 14-pin similar to the one for the HU, or an 18-pin (from the same connector family). No pictures needed, unless you find yours is something different.

Your JVC doesn't have RCA line outs for the 4 main speakers? If that's the case, then to keep the Mc amp you would need to use a Line Output Converter (LOC) to convert those speaker outputs to line level, and then feed those into the Mc amp's DIN cable. Ideally the Mc amp wants balanced signals, but people have connected unbalanced line level and it still worked. Basically, you just earth the negative inputs. But it would be easier to lose the Mc amp.

The Mc amp takes 4 inputs -- 4 main speakers -- and generates 5 outputs (4 speaker channels plus sub). The car connects each of the main outputs to several speakers and tweeters.

The plane is a Beechcraft Model 18 (AKA "Beech 18" or "Twin Beech"). That type happens to be one of the first planes I jumped out of. The photo is from the US 1996 SVX brochure.

[jp928]

Dave,
Let me check the back of the JVC HU for output options...and try to get the MC hu right out so I can see all the connections, and what will need changing to go this way.
If I can re-use the current 14 pin connector, does that mean I will have a power and lighting connector now that will fit that ?

We have a Beech 18 here that is still flown at air shows - originally bought out here by a big newspaper chain, then run by BHP mining for years. I think I was thinking of a Lockheed Vega from that period.

tks
jp

[jp928]

Dave,
My HU has 4 RCA line-out female connectors - as well as the normal speaker wiring at its proprietary connector - which is currently soldered to a Suby 14 pin connector as used when it was in my 05 Outback Single CD HU set up. Are these usable as speaker feeds, or would I need to use the proper speaker wires separated from the 14 pin connector?

Below is a pic of the rear of of my Mc. pic 2 is of the connector that i removed to enable better access. This has a fly lead with a white connector on it that hangs loose, unused. The loose white connector on the left is the hazard feed.

The amp feed looks like the black cable at the bottom (top of pic, towards the left). It looks like it has round connector about 12" down the line. The vacant white socket is where i removed the above mentioned connector. On the far right is a black connection with a right angle entry, and some sort of locking hood.
The square black multi pin socket on the left had no connector, nor did the rectangular socket near the centre. There is a separate lead at the bottom feeding the climate control panel.
The amp under pax seat has a black right angle connector at the rear side, and a multi pin white plug with wires visible on the same side forward of the black plug.
Is this all as expected?
jp