Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

1987 Vert Premium Stereo....just want it to work

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

    1987 Vert Premium Stereo....just want it to work

    I recently bought a 1987 Vert with Premium Sound with fader back in November. Since then I've been replacing various things that the previous owner had neglected for years......Timing belt, fuel pumps, relays, etc....My next thing on my fix-it list is the stereo.

    The problem: Only left side speakers work well (and the front is about twice as loud as the rear). To hear the right side speakers at all I have to turn the balance all the way to the right.

    L -------C-----*-R

    The * is where I have to put my balance if I want equal sound. I don't actually do that, I just have been suffering with the functioning speakers I have so far.

    I suspect either the 20+ year old head unit or the almost 30 year old factory amp is causing the issue, but I just want to double check on some of the wiring at the back of the head unit.

    Head unit is aftermarket. Pioneer KEH-2200QR cassette deck. Likely installed in the early 90's. I pulled it out and there was a delightful rats nest of non-uniform length wires. I cleaned it up as best I could.

    Amp is factory, not bypassed. I have two brown/black wires coming from the dash, one thicker than the other.

    I cut the fader out and wired up all the positive speaker connections to rule that out as a possible culprit. The speaker positive colors in the Amp Bypass thread were the same as in my car so that was easy.

    Here's the really interesting part - there are three solid black wires on the back of the head unit and two solid red wires. The previous owner has the two solid red wires connected to the Violet/White in the dash. Two of the black wires are in a pin spot that might make them seem like speaker negatives (there are only two other speaker negative wires on the HU harness) and each have one of the black/brown wires connected to them. The other black wire is at the other end of the harness, is about 4 inches long and bolted directly to the head unit cage.

    Could the way this is wired be affecting the left/right balance of the stereo? I am thinking that the black/brown wires should also be bolted to the cage?

    Sorry if any of my writing is confusing.....

    Please halp!

    - Joe

    #2
    Post a picture of the wiring
    Originally posted by codyep3
    I hope to Christ you have looks going for you, because you sure as fuck don't have any intelligence.
    2001 silver/Blk 325 cabby. SOLD
    1988 Blk/Blk e30 factory wide body kit car SOLD
    1992 DS/BLK 325 m-tech II apperance pack cabby SOLD!
    2002 325xit Sil/blk. SOLD
    2012 328i xdrive touring. Wht/blk. SOLD
    2009 135 cabby. monacoblue/blk leather SOLD
    2007 Z4m coupe. Silver grey/black/ aluminum. 1of50
    2010 F650gs twin
    2016 M235i cabby. Mineral grey/Red leather

    Comment


      #3
      This will have to do until I can get an actual picture since I am at work

      HU ========= Dash

      Blue ==== both white wires
      Red ==== Violet/white
      Red ==== Violet/white
      Gray ==== Blue/Red
      Green ==== Yellow/Red
      Gray/Red ==== Blue/Black
      Green/Red ==== Yellow/Black
      Gray/Black ==== capped
      Green/Black ==== capped
      Black ==== thicker brown/black
      Black ==== thinner brown/black
      Black ==== head unit cage
      Female Antenna ==== Male Antenna plug
      1 pair of RCA's ==== nothing

      The Red/Green and Grey/Red coming from the dash are both capped and unused.

      Comment


        #4
        Yes, please pull the deck and post pics of the decks harness.

        Back in those days (remember I did this for a living from 1980) Pioneer was the 2nd weirdest wiring around. Some of their decks were just plain old common ground, low power with a normal parallel fader, while others were "high power", meaning no chassis ground was used at the speakers, but also were a "series" fader so there was "2 channel" and "4 channel" wiring. A third option was a common ground 2 channel front output and a high-power floating ground rear output. We had to deal with all that weirdness from almost all of the manufacturers, each had their own way.

        Honestly, thinking about it, why not just buy a $125 deck now, bypass the amp, and get on with enjoying the weather? You will get much better performance anyway, save all the diagnosis time and nonsense, plus easily play your phone through it.

        Your call, but you see my point, right?

        GL!
        Luke

        Closing SOON!
        "LAST CHANCE FOR G.A.S." DEAL IS ON NOW

        Luke AT germanaudiospecialties DOT com or text 425-761-6450, or for quickest answers, call me at the shop 360-669-0398

        Thanks for 10 years of fun!

        Comment


          #5
          I will post pictures when I can. It has a 2 channel option as on the front of the deck is says 25Wx2 / 15Wx4.

          I think this is heading towards a new HU and amp bypass, but if I can get sound for free as opposed to sound (albeit better sound) for $125, I'd rather do it for free. Another plus to keeping the HU is it has an amber display that matches the interior very well. It also has black knobs so it looks era appropriate. Not opposed to getting a new head unit if it comes down to it, though.

          Comment


            #6
            OK, so the logical thing to do is use the low power 4 channel input to the amp, exactly what you did.

            If you still have a channel imbalance, it is one of two things: bad deck or bad amp.

            Got another E24/E28/E30 amp lying around?

            If you actually care enough to test, you could easily tell with just any old speaker connected to the wiring, or check AC voltage on interstation hiss with a DMM.

            BTW, it's not as bad as it was, there are plenty of color matching options around, and if you feel brave and want that "old school" look, there is the Blaupunkt BT420 Toronto.

            Oh! You have the wiring correct, that deck must be an analog tuner, so you have no memory wire (that was a shitty deck back then too BTW, we always laughed at the cheap bastards that bought those things) and of course, no need to use a dash light circuit, either.

            Luke

            Closing SOON!
            "LAST CHANCE FOR G.A.S." DEAL IS ON NOW

            Luke AT germanaudiospecialties DOT com or text 425-761-6450, or for quickest answers, call me at the shop 360-669-0398

            Thanks for 10 years of fun!

            Comment


              #7
              Thanks, Luke. I think I will just start looking into a new head unit.

              Comment

              Working...
              X