OK, I got a new Alpine and all the adapters and I don't hear ANYTHING from the speakers. I got the VW wiring harness, antenna adapter and iPod control cable from Crutchfield. As per the wiring instruction sheet, I matched color for color, but wiring red to yellow, yellow to red. I did not use the white/red wire or the pink wire from the wiring harness. I'm very frustrated, after spending at least 5 hours trying to figure this out. The unit has power and I can switch between radio and the iPod. It even acts like it's playing the iPod, but as with the radio, I get absolutely no sound, not even static. Any ideas? Am I supposed to use one or both of the wires it said not to use? Do all of the speaker wires have to have a good connection for all of them to work (kind of like christmas tree lights, if one goes out, they all go out)? If I can't get it to work, I'll have to make an appointment with Best Buy (where I got the head unit as a gift) to get it installed by them, which will be the icing on a really crappy cake.

 

sounds like you aren't turning the amp on. does the new Alpine have a blue or blue/white "remote" wire for an external amplifier? you need to use that to turn on the amplifier. it sends out 12V when the radio is on and basically activates a relay to power.

 

more info: the speakers are not like 'christmas lights' -- the back of the head unit should have a set (two wires each color) of purple, green, gray, and white (one solid, and one with either a black or white stripe i would guess) thats each one of the speaker outputs the head unit will put out (LF, RF, LR, RR).

HOWEVER, the XF only has "front" speakers (the infinity amp separates the signal to your door speakers and the subs) so you should only be using the front set.

the last thing to note is that you might want to use the RCA front "pre-outs" instead of the speaker outs. The stock infinity amp will probably give you better sound with a "line level" signal (not amplified, low level signal, 1-5 volts, comes from the pre-outs) than a "speaker level" signal (amplified, 12V, more power, but also more noise). I know this is the case with my JVC, but different guys on the forum have hooked it up differently; it depends on the head unit. ALPINE-installed members should be able to help you out with those specifics.

good luck --

 

Thanks for the help, this has been really aggravating. So, which wire should the Remote wire go to on the VW wiring harness?

 

I figured it out, thanks Rob. I connected the blue/white wire to the pink wire of the harness. The harness diagram said the pink wire was only for some old model VW, but then said something about it being for power to the amp. So, I guessed that was the one I needed to hook the blue/white wire to. You've been a huge help, thanks again!