HILLY
Active Member
Looking for some Expedition Audio experts here.
Currently in the process of slowly upgrading the stereo in my Expy (2018 XLT Base Sync 3 with 4.2" screen). Not a rookie at this, but I am a little bit stumped at this issue.
This project started off as I had an extra 3.5" Infinity speaker lying about and decided to make good use of it. I honestly like the center channel and have had it in most cars. For me it brings the stage up to the middle of the dash plus it adds volume to the music (I am hearing impaired by birth, so I do listen to music a bit louder than most). I know most say to bypass/ignore this speaker, but I like it, especially for the extra volume. I knew that the center speaker I replaced would be 8 ohms stock vs. the 4 ohm speaker that I replaced it with. This hasn't been too much of a problem other than when I do start cranking up the volume, the factory amplifier must start to overheat and as a result will start to attenuate the volume until cooled down. Kind of annoying. I looked around for a solution and came across this:
Pretty small, simple, and compact. Should play long and loud for my needs. It fits under the center dash panel with ease. Wired up easily and used the speaker level inputs.
Now this is where it gets weird... When I have the speaker connected to the amp, it will not output any sound. The amp is powered on (turn on is with ACC, not speaker sense), no protect/faults, etc. When I disconnect the speaker to bypass the amp and go back to the factory power, the speaker plays. I'll disconnect and go back to the amp and I'll get no output. Messing with connecting and disconnecting leads I'll eventually (what seems at random) start to get amplified output. Not sure if I "shocked" something into working. This will work fine until I turn the car off and after it would seem that everything as gone to sleep. After that I have to go through the motions of disconnecting and reconnecting leads to get it working again.
I'm wondering if the factory system has a way of checking resistance in the line and if it doesn't sense any, if it will deactivate the channel. Has anyone else experienced this when installing a stereo with speaker lever outputs in these trucks? I got stopped in my tracks with trying to do more electrical testing due to weather and other life stuff. Just curious as I plan to build up the rest of the system by going the speaker level route (AudioControl, etc.). I have reason to believe it's not the amp since it plays great once it's going.
Currently in the process of slowly upgrading the stereo in my Expy (2018 XLT Base Sync 3 with 4.2" screen). Not a rookie at this, but I am a little bit stumped at this issue.
This project started off as I had an extra 3.5" Infinity speaker lying about and decided to make good use of it. I honestly like the center channel and have had it in most cars. For me it brings the stage up to the middle of the dash plus it adds volume to the music (I am hearing impaired by birth, so I do listen to music a bit louder than most). I know most say to bypass/ignore this speaker, but I like it, especially for the extra volume. I knew that the center speaker I replaced would be 8 ohms stock vs. the 4 ohm speaker that I replaced it with. This hasn't been too much of a problem other than when I do start cranking up the volume, the factory amplifier must start to overheat and as a result will start to attenuate the volume until cooled down. Kind of annoying. I looked around for a solution and came across this:
ST2.500D Amplifier – Soundstream Technologies
soundstream.com
Pretty small, simple, and compact. Should play long and loud for my needs. It fits under the center dash panel with ease. Wired up easily and used the speaker level inputs.
Now this is where it gets weird... When I have the speaker connected to the amp, it will not output any sound. The amp is powered on (turn on is with ACC, not speaker sense), no protect/faults, etc. When I disconnect the speaker to bypass the amp and go back to the factory power, the speaker plays. I'll disconnect and go back to the amp and I'll get no output. Messing with connecting and disconnecting leads I'll eventually (what seems at random) start to get amplified output. Not sure if I "shocked" something into working. This will work fine until I turn the car off and after it would seem that everything as gone to sleep. After that I have to go through the motions of disconnecting and reconnecting leads to get it working again.
I'm wondering if the factory system has a way of checking resistance in the line and if it doesn't sense any, if it will deactivate the channel. Has anyone else experienced this when installing a stereo with speaker lever outputs in these trucks? I got stopped in my tracks with trying to do more electrical testing due to weather and other life stuff. Just curious as I plan to build up the rest of the system by going the speaker level route (AudioControl, etc.). I have reason to believe it's not the amp since it plays great once it's going.