New Pioneer Head Unit

[D-BOI]

I just purchased a new Pioneer DEH P4200UB, looks pretty slick, I want to install it with all the mach components still in place. I know i have to use the metra 70-5510 wiring harness with the 4 rca's and was wondering if some of you on here have had success with the harness aftermarket HU and the Mach 460 amps and speakers. Im not really trying to gut the whole interior and run wires to a new 4 channel because im just too anal about having extra wires where they dont have to be. Any experiences with this setup wheter positive or negative would be appreciated if you could discuss on here, thnks

 

[trombonedemon]

Sure, its pretty basic plug and go, make sure your attach your amp hookup or your entire system will not work. I'm pretty sure you have a wiring diagram.

 

[BlackStang03]

I just installed a Kenwood with my Mach 1000, it sounds like ****(I did adjust settings and made it sound a little better)...I called crutchfield and the guy told me that the kenwood was basically junk, so I have a pioneer unit on the way. The hook up is pretty basic. But if you run into trouble just ask.

 

[D-BOI]

well i just ran into trouble lol, the grey harness worked fine but the small black one with the 4 rca's does not match up to anything from the back of the stock tape player or cd plyer, also there is no plugs that match in the back of the amp thats in the dashboard so i took out the back seat since mine is convertible and there was nothing on the rear amps that would fit it either, crappy thing is that im at my buddys house and im tvking up his garage space. So i definitely need some advice on where this damn thing plugs in

 

[BlackStang03]

the ones for the Amp (RCA) my harness had 2 blue/white, and 2 black. The black is ground, connect these to the black ground cable on other harness. The blue/white, needs to be connected to the power amplifier, normally this cable is blue, or blue/white (mine was labeled P.Cont)

I did lookup the manual for your CD player, the blue/white cable is what you need connected to the RCA wires (most likely also blue/white coming from the CD unit), the other ones should be black, and will be hooked up to the Black ground cable on the other harness.

 

[D-BOI]

i think the 2001 and up re completely diff, yours requires the metra 70-5519, mine is the 70-5510, i just cant seem to find where the hell it plugs in, i think the convertible might have been different, im lost

 

[ItsStock02]

im trying to find a picture or a link for the product that you need.


thats what we used for his car.
Factory System Integration Adapter 1988-up Ford/Lincoln/Mercury/Mazda/Nissan at Crutchfield.com

My buddy and I installed a new HU in his old 00 GT that had the mach 460. He had the same adapter as above. It installed between the new HU and the factory wiring. It was wired to the speaker outputs on the HU and had a dial for each speaker to adjust the gain. It worked perfectly.

Now the speakers would pop when the radio turned on. That was fixed with a resistor from radio shack. I cant find anything online about it so hopefully someone else will chime in about it. But from what I remember it had 3 pins. 1 was grounded, 1 went to the hu remote out and the last one went to the remote in that was on the stock harness.

 

[D-BOI]

well i found what it hooks up too, sounds decent but the base is not as good as it was with the stock HU, bottom line is if you change anything in the mach system you have to upgrade it all or dont even bother.

 

[y2k2GT]

+1, that is exactly what I found out. Once you start replacing, you keep replacing. Our Mach 1000 is totally gone. Started with head unit, sounded like ****, changed out speakers then amps and new subs. Sounds 100x better than stock.

 

[BlackStang03]

I have heard people say they replaced the head unit and it sounded better, and then quite a few say you need to replace everything...the kenwood I got sounds bad, I am hoping the Pioneer thats on the way will sound better....Kind of crazy the stock head unit in my car actually sounded really good, I have never heard of replacing a stock unit with an after market and it sounded bad until now....

 

[patman0911]

You guys need to spend more time tweaking the EQs. Stock headunits are tuned for the Mach system, aftermarket headunits are not.

A big cut at 2.5Khz, a big broad boost at 60hz and a mild boost above 10Khz got my Kenwood sounding better than stock. Straight out of the box it sounded like crap. Don't be afraid to play with the EQ and other processing and to turn things way up or way down - if it sounds right it probably is. It took a couple of weeks of fine tuning and occasionally starting over again from scratch to get mine dialed in.

 

[BlackStang03]

I adjusted my Kenwood, it doesnt sound as bad, but the one i got doesnt have much settings. The guy from crutchfield said the Pioneer one I was looking at was much better and has alot more adjustments.

I know right out of the box the kenwood was horrible, it had way too much bass to the speakers in the cab, after mesing with the settings for about 30 mins it is manageable, but their is hardly any bass to the subs

 

[Shiroelex]

What I found out with some of those harnesses that retain the rest of the Mach system with an aftermarket head unit was that if your new head unit didn't have a good line voltage out from the RCA ports, it would sound like crap. I tried a few different head units before I found one that sounded decent with the Mach stuff. The bass won't ever be quite the same, but I had a 10 in the trunk for that anyway.

 

[D-BOI]

no mine definitely doesnt sound like crap it sounds about the same as with the mach, but its 14 year old paper speakers theres not much to expect and these mach amps are what 20 watts rms lol. Id like to pick up some jl components and a jl 4 channel some 60 watt rms for both and i think i should be good, either jl or alpine, sound amazing. Kenwood cd players are junk they have no EQs at all like pioneer does

 

[BlackStang03]

. Kenwood cd players are junk they have no EQs at all like pioneer does

I found that out...I have always bought Pioneer, and decided to go with the Kenwood and save $10....

 

[D-BOI]

hey guys what size speakers do i have in the 97 gt vert with the mach?

 

[BlackStang03]

I believe for the 97 the front are 6x8 and the rear are 6.5"

I also got my Pioneer installed, sounds 100x better then the kenwood! and now my subs actually have bass again!

 

[evilwunn]

I installed a Kenwood DNX5140 in my car. Out of the box it sounded horrible, but after messing with all the settings it sounds great. I don't get any popping from my amps when it powers up either.