SoS harness and Pioneer AVIC double DIN....need some help.

[SarcasticaLy]

Hey guys,

So I bought a Pioneer AVIC-X850BT and the SoS harness and mounting bracket. I was about to solder the wires but the only wires on the SoS harness to the Pioneer harness that I can solder are...sorry, I forget the colors but theres only 4 wires. The wires on the Pioneer harness look like a typical aftermarket deck's wires - roughly 10 wires or so all varying in color. Then theres RCA adapters all over the place. If I solder all 4 of those wires, is that all I need to do to get the basic functions of the deck??

I haven't researched the OEM amp bypass. Looks like I may just have a shop do it....I hate doing that when I don't have to. Thanks.

 

[NSX2398]

I just had a look at the specs for that unit and it says that it has integrated amplifiers so if you still have the OEM speakers in the dorrs, you are definitely going to need to open them up and bypass the internal BOSE amps .. or just replace them with new speakers. SOS makes a set of new speaker panels to assist with that. You're also going to need to do something about the OEM sub. It will either need to be replaced or have it's sub bypassed as well. That sub also drives the speaker in between the seats on the rear wall .. which is mix of the rear L/R audio signals. There was a recent thread on installing rear speakers: http://www.nsxprime.com/forum/showthread.php/180265-Rear-speaker-options
If you haven't already done so, you might also want to refer to: http://www.nsxprime.com/forum/showthread.php/179615-NSX-OEM-Stereo-System-101

 

[SarcasticaLy]

Chatted with a friend who works at a local stereo shop. He said they would bypass the amp. I don't plan on upgrading any other components. I've checked out the Stereo System 101 thread. Good stuff. I'm more looking for help with the wiring harnesses at this point then I'll move onto the bypassing of those other components if needed. Thanks for your input.

Ill try to post pics soon. That should help illustrate my issue.

 

[TURBO2GO]

If you bypass the amps, you need to also change the speakers. And their enclosures. The only wires you need to run to the pioneer are constant and switched 12V, power antenna, ground, and remote turn on. No speaker wires are used. You use the two front channel RCA's and you're done.

Leave the rest alone IMO.

 

[SarcasticaLy]

That's what I thought!!!! You're the man TURBO! The rest are outputs for optional stuff right?? I'm sure I can figure out the rear camera n stuff when I get to it.

Regardless, I have to bypass those components right?

 

[TURBO2GO]

Bypass what? I'm saying don't touch the speakers

 

[SarcasticaLy]

Oh ok. Solder the wires n don't touch ANYTHING ELSE? (Amp and speakers)

 

[TURBO2GO]

There's no point in soldering either IMO. Just use a quality connector. Yes don't touch anything else unless you're ready to spend a lot more time and money.

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And gain a lot more weight

 

[B2FiNiTY]

Only 5 wires? wow that's easy.

 

[BTL3.0]

Yes its that easy. . Red, black, yellow, blue. Rcas from avic to rca from sos harness. Done.

 

[SarcasticaLy]

That's awesome. Thanks for the help u guys!

 

[NSX2398]

If you bypass the amps, you need to also change the speakers. And their enclosures.

Wrong. I bypassed the amps and continued to use the same speakers and enclosures. But, once you have the doors opened up to bypass the amps, it might be a good time to optionally change the speakers and enclosures.

The only wires you need to run to the pioneer are constant and switched 12V, power antenna, ground, and remote turn on. No speaker wires are used. You use the two front channel RCA's and you're done.
Leave the rest alone IMO.

I'm not following this comment at all. How do you suggest he gets the amplified Pioneer outputs to the speakers without touching the speaker wires? You don't need to run new speaker wires to the doors .. but you do need to connect the Pioneer speaker output wiring to the OEM wiring via the SOS harness.

 

[BTL3.0]

Oh I forgot to mention that, u you might need 1 ground loop isolator to help rid of the 'popping' noise every time you turn the radio ON. you can get it from radioshack or ebay. Or walmart. I had to use one for my application.

 

[TURBO2GO]

Wrong. I bypassed the amps and continued to use the same speakers and enclosures. But, once you have the doors opened up to bypass the amps, it might be a good time to optionally change the speakers and enclosures.

I'm not following this comment at all. How do you suggest he gets the amplified Pioneer outputs to the speakers without touching the speaker wires? You don't need to run new speaker wires to the doors .. but you do need to connect the Pioneer speaker output wiring to the OEM wiring via the SOS harness.

You can continue to use the same speakers and enclosures, but you are running a 1 ohm load, which will kill just about any amp in time. Those Bose speakers are not proper speakers to use with an aftermarket amplifier.

The SOS harness he should have, takes the amplifier signals coming to the radio via ordinary wires, and makes them an RCA. The RCA outputs from the pioneer radio then feed the Bose amplifiers via that connection. The factory amplifiers and speakers remain in place. That's how it seemed to work last I checked, if memory serves me right. You are suggesting he use the speaker wires, therefore the internal pioneer amplifier, but that requires new speakers and a bypass of the OEM amps. There are 3 harnesses SOS sells. Which are just an available brand, nothing special made by SOS. He just has to make sure he has the correct one: aftermarket radio, factory speakers. And follow those instructions.

 

[Viper Driver]

I have the SOS aftermarket head unit-to-stock speaker adapter that I am currently wiring to my AVIC. I've got everything figured out minus one thing. I wired up the blue wire on the head unit to the blue wire on the adapter, but I'm confused because the wire from the head unit is labeled "remote on/off" or something like that. What does the blue wire do in the car?

To piggyback on what TURBO2GO says, there are several sets of RCA connectors that come out of the back of the head unit. The SOS connector makes use of the "front speaker" ones for the front speakers and (I hope) the "rear speaker" ones for the subwoofer and center channel.

 

[TURBO2GO]

No you only use the front RCA out. The subwoofer and center will still work as they derive their input signal from the fronts on the NSX.

 

[NSX2398]

The SOS harness he should have, takes the amplifier signals coming to the radio via ordinary wires, and makes them an RCA

Not following this sentence at all. There must be a better way of precisely communicating the options .. clearly my Stereo 101 thread isn't doing it. Maybe some pictures are needed.

You are suggesting he use the speaker wires, therefore the internal pioneer amplifier, but that requires new speakers and a bypass of the OEM amps.

As I said in my first post, my quick scan of the Pioneer site said that the unit has integrated internal amps and if the OP was planning to use them, then he needs to bypass the BOSE amps. After looking at the installation manual, I see it has what I presume are line outputs for an optional external amp connection and I think that what you are suggesting is he can use those to feed the BOSE amps, which I expect should work.

 

[huck-jai]

From what I understand, the Pioneer unit is amplified, but only amplifies the speaker wires on the wiring harness. So if you connect those speaker wires directly to the oem harness, you're like double amplifying it and that will cause issues. So in this scenario, you would need to bypass the oem Bose amps and install aftermarket speakers.

The RCA output wires on the Pioneer are not amplified, and basically just sends out the sound signal. So this would plug into the SOS harness that has the RCA in. From SOS RCA in, the signal gets fed into the oem Bose amps to amplify the sound to the oem speaker. So in this case, there is no need to bypass the oem amps. Just pretty much plug and play.

That's my understanding of how it should work. Correct me if I'm wrong. Thanks!

 

[TURBO2GO]

From what I understand, the Pioneer unit is amplified, but only amplifies the speaker wires on the wiring harness. So if you connect those speaker wires directly to the oem harness, you're like double amplifying it and that will cause issues. So in this scenario, you would need to bypass the oem Bose amps and install aftermarket speakers.

The RCA output wires on the Pioneer are not amplified, and basically just sends out the sound signal. So this would plug into the SOS harness that has the RCA in. From SOS RCA in, the signal gets fed into the oem Bose amps to amplify the sound to the oem speaker. So in this case, there is no need to bypass the oem amps. Just pretty much plug and play.

That's my understanding of how it should work. Correct me if I'm wrong. Thanks!

That's correct.

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Not following this sentence at all. There must be a better way of precisely communicating the options .. clearly my Stereo 101 thread isn't doing it. Maybe some pictures are needed.
.

Yeah sorry I didn't word that well.

Here is how it works: the oem head unit does not use RCA outs to feed the Bose amps. It just uses what looks like speaker wire, but is indeed signal wire like an RCA. All the adaptor does is take the RCA out (from aftermarket radio like the pioneer) into its female RCA jacks, and gives you a harness on the other end that you can now plug into the OEM harness feeding the Bose amps (so you don't have to cut wires). There's nothing special there, even without the harness you could cut off the RCA ends off the pioneer, and butt splice the signal and ground wires of each RCA to the correct wires that are in the OEM harness that feeds the Bose amps.

You do not want to feed the the Bose amps with amplified speaker wire outputs coming from an aftermarket radio. If you do that you are essentially hooking up the pioneer amp to the Bose amps. No need to worry about the center and sub. They are automatically fed off the two front left and right signals. In fact the subwoofer and center channel share the same Bose amplifier.

 

[SarcasticaLy]

Hey guys,

So, before I jump into this, here's what Im understanding...

1) Install the deck, solder (sorry TURBO2GO, my old Mercedes Technician habits die hard) the 4 wires and connect the RCA cables to the 'front right' and 'front left' RCA cables from the SoS stereo harness and do NOTHING else.

or

2) Do the above AND bypass the amp. Local friend who's done all my Compustar alarms and decks on all my previous cars, says that since the deck has its own amp, I should bypass the OEM amp as to not have snap/crackle/pop noises, etc. (I believe this was mentioned above also).

Sorry, all the back n forth mumbo jumbo lost me. Also, to reiterate, I want to keep stock components.

 

[NSX2398]

Hey guys,

So, before I jump into this, here's what Im understanding...

1) Install the deck, solder (sorry TURBO2GO, my old Mercedes Technician habits die hard) the 4 wires and connect the RCA cables to the 'front right' and 'front left' RCA cables from the SoS stereo harness and do NOTHING else.

TURBO2GO is suggesting you put your soldering iron away and just connect the male RCA connections to the female RCA connections .. making sure that you connect left to left and right to right. Refer to the installation manual for the deck here: http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/StaticFiles/Manuals/Car/AVIC-2013_Installation-Manual.pdf page 14 where it shows that the large connector coming out of the back of the deck has a number of female RCA plugs (a pair for the sub which you won't connect; a pair for the rear; and a pair for the front) but no colors mentioned so presumably they have other markings to help identify. So what you'll be doing is to unplug the OEM harness from the OEM head unit and plug it into the SOS harness. Then take the two RCA male connectors labelled "front" at the other end of the SOS harness and plug them into the female RCA plugs discussed above. No soldering involved. However, you still need to feed a signal to the OEM combined sub/center amp which is actually front L/R and rear L/R (according to the OEM wiring diagram .. not as TURBO2GO said). But you've already used up the front L/R RCA connectors so you could cheat and just connect the rear ones. Do not connect the RCA ones labelled 'sub' on page 14 even though you might be tempted to. The OEM sub amp creates the sub signals from the combination of front L/R and rear L/R signals some how. An alternative is to split the front L/R signal using Y cables so that you can feed both the door amps and the sub/center amp. Need a picture here to better explain

or

2) Do the above AND bypass the amp. Local friend who's done all my Compustar alarms and decks on all my previous cars, says that since the deck has its own amp, I should bypass the OEM amp as to not have snap/crackle/pop noises, etc. (I believe this was mentioned above also).

Sorry, all the back n forth mumbo jumbo lost me. Also, to reiterate, I want to keep stock components.

The only reason to bypass the OEM door and sub/center amps is if you want to use the Pioneer integrated amps and the wiring on page 10. Note that these aren't RCA connectors and so some soldering will be required. Note the wire colors - white and white/black and grey and grey/black. But the SOS wiring harness already has RCA connectors for front L/R so you'd have to cut those off first .. plus it's a bit of a chore to bypass the OEM amps so if #1 works .. do it .. lots less effort.
Not sure why you're saying "keep stock components" as I presume you're already replacing the OEM head unit with the Pioneer head unit.

 

[SarcasticaLy]

Hmm...ok, more miscommunication. I wouldn't be soldering the RCA cables, that's silly. I meant the color coordinated wires between the Pioneer harness and SoS harness (the ones you're describing in scenario #2). The only RCA cables that made sense to connect were the right front and left front ones. So I'll just do scenario #1 and see if I get any popping noises or anything. I'll update as I go along. Thanks.

 

[huck-jai]

Before you solder the 4 wires, just connect them together first with electrical tape to make sure everything works correctly. I'm not sure what all 4 wires are for, but 2 are obviously positive and ground. I'm guessing 3 is remote to power on the amp, and 4th??? Illumination?

 

[TURBO2GO]

Sarcasticaly please listen to me. I've mentioned this before. You should NOT use the internal pioneer amp (speaker wires) neither to feed the signal to the Bose amps as that will cause damage, nor to bypass the Bose amps (which are inside every speaker enclosure and not one big amp) as that will damage YOUR pioneer unit. The Bose speakers are 1 ohm. That deck is not designed to run a 1 ohm speaker. It will work, but it will die an early death.

Your friend is not fully understanding how this system works. You either have to do what I said, or you have to bypass the speakers and amps altogether and install a new set of 6.5" door speakers, a new subwoofer and enclosure, a 3 channel amp of some sort, and forget the center. There's no other way.

 

[SarcasticaLy]

If you bypass the amps, you need to also change the speakers. And their enclosures. The only wires you need to run to the pioneer are constant and switched 12V, power antenna, ground, and remote turn on. No speaker wires are used. You use the two front channel RCA's and you're done.

Leave the rest alone IMO.

Hmm...ok, more miscommunication. I wouldn't be soldering the RCA cables, that's silly. I meant the color coordinated wires between the Pioneer harness and SoS harness (the ones you're describing in scenario #2). The only RCA cables that made sense to connect were the right front and left front ones. So I'll just do scenario #1 and see if I get any popping noises or anything. I'll update as I go along. Thanks.

Turbo, are these not the same things?? Lol.