How to know if i have factory amplifier. Radio questions

[masteryota1]

Finally tired of listening to only radio, and looking to put in a cheap head unit/ stereo i saw at walmart by DUAL it has no cd player but allows use of usb, and sd memory cards. on the box it says it is 60 watts, 15 watts per channel PEAK.

I was reading on this board that some car toyotas have a built in Amplifier. Would that amplifier automatically help boost the 60 watts or is there some extra wiring that has to be done?

how do i know if i have a factory amplifier? My car is a 95 xle. it has a factory am/fm cassette radio in one din slot, and a factory cd player ( that works but sound is so low , and hisses that you might as well say doesnt work) I have read the amplifier is under passenger seat. What does it look like? is it on the floor or attached to seat? is it something i can feel around for because I dont know if i will be able to get my head down there to get a clear view.



OH and another question is it possible to install the new radio, without getting the dash kit pocket thing? I would like to just take out the cd player and pop in that slot. ( THE cassette slot does a good job of holding the mount platform of gps unit lol

[haux]

Not sure if this helps, but the factory amp in a 2000 v6 XLE is behind the glove box mounted right next to the ECU.

[haux]

Do you have a coupe, sedan, or wagon?

Not sure if this would vary given the three different types, but this is one diagram I came up with:




The amp would be the thing right in the center of the picture. I can't quite picture where it's showing that it's located.

[eddie926]

Here's a link for install instructions...

http://www.installdr.com/InstallDocs...PDF/869013.pdf

You should have the outboard amp since you're a 95XLE. It's on the floor under the passenger seat.

No, the amp under the seat won't boost the signal from your new deck. You'll bypass the amp under the seat per the instructions in the pdf instructions.

[masteryota1]

thanks,. i will try to check, (still dont know what it would look like) after it stops raining.

So does anybody know how to use the factory amp with a new radio that isnt already amplified ( 60 watts)

[uibalnme]

If your car has a factory amp, it would be mounted to the floor under the front passenger seat. Feel around under the front pass. seat. If you feel a metal box, that's the amp. However, when installing an aftermarket stereo, the wiring adapter used bypasses the factory amp.

As for power out, if you're still running the stock speakers, the new stereo will match the speakers just fine. The stock speakers are about 15watts max anyway if remember correctly.

[touringcamry]

Originally Posted by masteryota1

OH and another question is it possible to install the new radio, without getting the dash kit pocket thing? I would like to just take out the cd player and pop in that slot. ( THE cassette slot does a good job of holding the mount platform of gps unit lol

If the CD and tape units are separate, then you can just take out the CD player. It should not be a problem. If you have a 3 in 1 unit (CD, radio, and tape) then you cannot just remove the CD portion short of using an angle grinder.

[Chris Crash]

First of all, don't buy that piece of crap.

Get something with a CD player because trust me, you'll kick yourself without it.

Card readers don't usually give out the best sound, either. Especially not walmart brand.

And at 60 watts, it won't be very loud.

I tried buying used radio's from friends for a while and none of them worked right. Finally went to Best Buy and bought a pioneer cd/mp3 player with an aux input for $75. It was well worth it.

As for the amp, just go to a car audio store, or even at walmart in their audio section, and get the wiring adapter. Plug it in, then match wires color to color and you're good to go.

[uibalnme]

Originally Posted by Chris Crash

First of all, don't buy that piece of crap.

Get something with a CD player because trust me, you'll kick yourself without it.

Card readers don't usually give out the best sound, either. Especially not walmart brand.

And at 60 watts, it won't be very loud.

I tried buying used radio's from friends for a while and none of them worked right. Finally went to Best Buy and bought a pioneer cd/mp3 player with an aux input for $75. It was well worth it.

As for the amp, just go to a car audio store, or even at walmart in their audio section, and get the wiring adapter. Plug it in, then match wires color to color and you're good to go.

Well, Crutchfield advertises DUAL, so it can't be all that bad. Flash drives/cards can give sound as good, if not better than a CD. Think about it.

CD: digital info on the disc, converted to analog audio signal.

Flash media: digital info in memory, converted to analog audio signal.

However, the flash media has the advantange of being scratch proof, it can be updated with new music at any time, and isn't limited to 700mb. With a CD you'd have to burn a new disc everytime you get new music, it's easily scratched, and limited to 700mb.

Now power output, the OP is (i'm guessing) still running the stock speakers. The stock speakers are 15watts max, so that 60watt x 4ch stereo will be a perfect match to the speakers. It'll be loud enough. Any more power than that will blow the stock speakers anyway.

I've got a Pioneer mp3 cd/usb player too. I've had it for about 4 months and I've use the cd player maybe once. I've just been using my 2gb usb flash drive, and can't detect any difference in audio quality. Oh, and I've got Pioneer TS-D601P 260w 6.5" speakers up front, and TS-D901P 350w 6x9" speakers in back. This is my 2nd aftermarket stereo with cd player in this car, and the 1st with usb. IMHO, the flash media is far superior to the cd. Hell, most aftermarket stereos have ipod support. Guess what ipods are flash media. Have you even seen anyone walking around with a cd player lately? Nope, just ipods or some other mp3 player.

Bottom line is the sound quality depends on the encoding. 128kbps vs. 192kbps vs 320kbps. The higher the kbps the better the sound. I have my audio files at 192kbps or 320kbps.

[masteryota1]

ok . well its still cold and raining but i made it out to car and pulled the whole bracket out, according to that pdf from installers i only had one blue plug so i guess i have an amplifier lol. i think there are some sort of cables that can plug into the amp, but for todays sake i will just use the ta021 scosche that i got from walmart.

THING SEEMS TO HAVE 50 DIFFERENT CONNECTORS. HOPE i got the right thing. it says 81 and up toyotas

the dual headunit says it has a rear preamp output "connect to amplifier preamp input"

really hope i am able to find way in future to use the factory amp

[#2!]

Originally Posted by masteryota1

OH and another question is it possible to install the new radio, without getting the dash kit pocket thing? I would like to just take out the cd player and pop in that slot. ( THE cassette slot does a good job of holding the mount platform of gps unit lol

I bought a double DIN Panasonic and the origional mounting brackets fit and screwed right in. I imagine a Panasonic single DIN would fit in just like the original radio and keep the cassette slot.

[360glitch]

I'd have to recommend against the Dual. You get what you pay for.

[masteryota1]

UPDATE: thanks for everybody's help. Wasnt that tough of a job. only thing that made it take longer that it should have was me checking the chart every time i connected a wire because i didnt trust it would be so easy that the like colors would always match up correctly lol. with the harness i bought i wasnt able to connect the factory amp, but i think if i get that metra harness later on I might try it

After about 2 days. SO far the DUAL headunit is fine with me. only one complaint I have so far is, it seems that if you turn car off while playing a track off of SD card, then turn the car back on, it starts song from the beginning. NO BIG DEAL especially seeing I only paid $40 for it (after tax and friends employee discount) I figure with no real moving parts i should not have anything breaking, and if i have any problems I will rip it out take back to walmart and probably exchange for a new one lol

[pakilarka2003]

i have 02 camry xle trim

jbl factory system

couple of people have told me that its factory amplified as jbl factory unit is toyota premium sound

i wanted to replace it with after market deck, however after all the installation i am confused if the factory amplifier is still being used or its bypassed

if u want to use factory amplifier, how wuld u go about it???