Guess he's stuck in the car jamming out to 4v output..

 

Sorry for the late update but since it was Valentine's Day yesterday well you know.

I did re-verify the connection and they are correct. Kenwood wants me to update the firmware on the unit (there are two firmware packages for this HU and I'm two versions behind).

If that does not work then I'll try the other harness.

I'm also thinking I should try to hook up a portable speaker and see if I get sound out of it.

 

Okay so I wanted to give a quick update. I still cannot get sound out of the receiver even after purchasing another wiring harness (without the RCA preouts).

I have a old KDC-MP235 HU that using the same wiring harness and I get sound out of the speakers so I'm wondering if it's a setting on the BT952HD or there is something wrong with it.

I rechecked the connections using the diagram from crutchfield and they are rock solid.

2004-2007 Chrysler Crossfire with Infinity Wiring Information

Tomorrow I think I'll head over by my local Best Buy and "borrow" a KDC-BT952HD and see if it works correctly.

Question for all you experts. Would the old unit that is working output sound if the AMP was not turning on?

 

My experience with amps.. no power.. no sound. I had purchased a stereo off Ebay for my Miata a couple years back.. lit up looked good.. no sound.. sent it back for full refund.. Just saying it does happen.

 

Check the HU owners booklet, some head units will not provide sound until you set up the main speaker/source parameters. Kenwood has done that in the past, did with my unit.

 

And since you have both harnesses now.. you can give us your review of the "RCA VRS SPEAKER OUT" debate.. free advice here isn't alway free.. LOL..

 

Don't drive him crazy :-) I think he has a hard enough time so far.

Seriously, I had an inside track into the development into the system for our car that most do not. Trust me when I say there is more in that silver box than an amplifier. While not as high tech as some of the newest Harman Infotainment systems of today, or the Range Rover systems of the time branded under the Harman Kardon brand, the Infinity system for the Crossfire and the Pacifica were the first to leverage the engineering teams work on the home side on drivers for the Prelide MTS, Intermezzo, Kappa, Alpha, Beta, and TSS speaker lines of the time. It was a huge leap in material engineering in the speaker biz. Meanwhile on the consumer aftermarket side we were tinkering with the 8 channel version of our amp that was used in the Range Rover as the basis for what is now part of the JBL MS8 processor. For nearly three years we used them (along with a custom interface for tuning) in some of our competitive vehicles (all 1st place winners in SQ nationally) in the U.S. as a "black box" between head units (oem, aftermarket, and even an mac mini) and aftermarket amplifiers all run high level before we announced the MS8.

Simply put, a large preamp voltage may drive the factory amp, but may not fully drive the input stage of the amp and in turn not allow the amp to deliver its full power capability. In doing so many of the limiters used to maintain sonics may not activate at higher volume settings which in turn will result in "better or cleaner" sound perception, but at reduced output from the amp ( audiophiles may see that as increased headroom/better dynamics). Those that change out the speakers to aftermarket brands are likely to use 4 ohm drivers which will cut the output of the amp in half as the 40 watt per channel output is based on a 2 ohm platform. The onboard EQ is used to tune the car which in our case was locked in by Chrysler (pretty typical for the OEMs to make slight acoustic changes to appeal to their target market).

The crossfire system by today's standard is very much an entry level system. The most advanced audio expereince for the car right now is being delivered in the Ferrari FF with Harman's Quantum Logic which can dig into the music and track the recording, then it slices up the data and essentially provides individual streams of the music to specific drivers in the car to locate the sound as it were live and you had a front row seat. Taking the technology to the extreme it is literally able to seperate out specific instruments out of a song and only play them and nothing else...it's over the top cool.

 

Inside track.. and you didn't throw in a "WTF" on the no rear sub seperation and contol?

 

Nope did not read that one and not going to get into reasons why aftermarket feature sets don't get used all the time in OEM systems. Lets just say car companies are almost always 2-3 years behind the aftermarket which can move faster to changing technologies. That said things like sub control and alike are often seen as potential issues for oems as it induces a potential consumer produced quality control problem due to abuse. Bass and treble controls can be limited in eq and limiters to reduce the potential failure, but level controls are not frequency variables.

Feeding the 4 channel input using front and rear is really not an issue as long as the front end is feeding stereo into both. If the head unit uses any type of surround processing or virtual surround then there is a significant issue as the rear channels are typically limited bandwidth, only have a portion of the full signal ( what is uncommon between l/r channels) and phase shifted to create a sense of space. Essentially when you fade you reduce the input level to one pair or another. If I remember correctly the rear input pair is feeding channels 3-6 which are configured to run the subs behind the seat. Doing so does not produce a sub gain level control it as it can only work to the negative by under driving the input relative to the front as one fades. It does not increase gain above the standard settings

 

I picked up another KDC-BT952HD at Buy today and to my luck it was on clearance for $195.

I swapped it out in the parking lot and and as soon as I switched to source I got audio... Finally.

I decided to switch out the harness the one with RCA preouts and really I can't tell a different in sound. Read subwoofers are still hitting hard so I think I'll stay with this setup.

Thanks for all the help and suggestions.

 

Cool deal! Glad you got fixed up.
My Miata "bad stereo" experience was at least cut and dry.. no secondary amp..switch pins a-b and cross to c to deal with so it was an easy determination.
If your HU has hi power output.. (my clarion is 200 watts).. you would have found about halfway up the HU volume scale was all you get anyways. Beyond 24 (max of 40) the only thing getting louder is the thump in the trunk from the bass cannon (rca sub out to built in subwoofer amp).

Oh.. and if you haven't broke out the OEM subs to their own channel.. put it on your list of things to do.. trust me here.. LOL

 

What do you mean, sir?

 

OEM is only a two channel stereo.. left and right.. Aftermarkets are front - rear.. left-right. The left - right channels from the HU "supposedly" splice to "four channel" "simulated" input to the amp about 12"-18" inches up the wires going into the amp. The amp cuts high frequencies to the subs and outputs to left and right. Clipping the sub inputs from the harness and wiring ( "run new wires" )your "rear channels" from the HU to these inputs will then give you "front - rear" balance control.

A search on the subject will bring up diagrams etc. for doing this.

Disclaimer: this is in laymans terms.. no desire to research frequency harmonics.. vibration interceptors..passifier rectifiers or otherwise..

Kinda like RCA or Speaker level.. ain't nobody heading to the Stereo Sound-off Competition and BBQ here..

 

I think the RCA level is the way to go, too...I will see what I can find. Thanks for the pointers, sir!