More Aftermarket Stereo Questions?

[Dude]

I have not installed a radio for twenty years. When I took my cluster panel off to see what kind of radio I had(Panasonic), I noticed there was a crap load of connections in the back(actually about 5 on my midlevel system).
From my recollection, I believe in the olden days there was just an antenna input and a single wire harness that sometimes required an adaptor. Do new headunits now have the same inputs so I can just unplug from the old and plug into the new or do I have to be a stereo engineer to hook the new one up? I know it can't be that simple.

Can anybody expand on the finer details as far as the wiring goes? I assume the speakers can just be changed by disconnecting the old and simply plugging in the new or at least that is how it used to be. How hard is it to figure out where the heap of wires are supposed to go in the new head unit? I would assume all wires needed are already run. Of course, you know what can happen when you assume.

Hopefully, this has not been discussed before. I have been reading the forums for many months and don't recall this being talked about.

[Sammy Sandbag]

I'm not too sure you'll be able to simply get a harness and plug it in. The Titan uses a seperate amp under the dash to power the speakers, so the head unit isn't supplying a powered signal. You'd have to remove the factory amp or at least take it out of the loop and run new speaker wire to your head unit if you plan to run the speakers off the receiver, which I wouldn't recommend. Best thing to do would be to run RCA signal to (a) new amp(s) and then then from there to new speakers. You would only be utilizing the ingnition power, constant 12V, antennae, and possibly wire the steering wheel controls as well. There's probably some wiring diagrams to show you what wires are what or just grab a multimeter and start testing. Now if you got the bottom package double din in the Titan, it might be entirely different. I also recall someone telling me the factory speakers were 2 ohm instead of 4.

[deeger]

his midline stereo does not have a seperate amp...
and the speakers are 2 ohm

has anybody figured out which one of these 5 connectors has the speakers wires?...the manual color codes are not very clear on this

JJ

[Sammy Sandbag]

Originally Posted by deeger

his midline stereo does not have a seperate amp...
and the speakers are 2 ohm

Well at least I was half right. Batting 500.

[Dude]

Thanks. I guess I will leave it to the pros. I hope to hell they know what they are doing. Worries me a bit, because most shops have not done a Titan yet. I hate being the guinea pig.

[Russell]

If you are not replacing anything but just the head unit. Go to Circuit City or Best Buy and buy the adaptors. It easy as hell and plugs right up to your stock system. Probably the best 15 - 20 dollars you can spend. Dont even have to cut the stock system wires. I did this in my last car so when I sold it I was able to put the stock head unit back in. Just my 2 cents

[MaxPowers]

If you order a stereo from crutchfield at all they will give it to you for free.