I have a 97 cobra with the mach 460 system, I took my sony head unit out of my 96 v6 to put in the cobra, I used the same harness, everything works, but i have no sound???? Do I have to get a different wiring harness in order for it to work with the mach 460???
Don't use a harness. The MACH 460 requires audio feeds to be sent to the amplifiers first, not to the speakers like a normal stereo. You can try two things:
1) You can TRY splicing into the MACH460s harness manually using all of the audio leads from your head unit. You will need to find some sort of a wiring outline... try the12volt.com... the problem with this is that it is going to be LOUD and may be distorted, because the amplifiers are expecting a pre-amp signal. You will be sending an amplified signal.
2) You can also try finding a harness that works with the earlier MACH sound systems, although I don't believe that one exists for anything earlier than 2000.
edit: come to think of it, my 94 V6 had the MACH system in it, but no CD player. I was able to find a harness for it at Circuit City... I don't know if it would work if you have the stock CD player... I doubt it but you could try..
3) You can get rid of the MACH system altogether and replace everything with aftermarket amps. This is probably the best way and it will sound sooo much better. You will also need a crossover of some sort at every speaker so that the highs go to the tweeters and the mids to the door speakers. So it would be like:
HEAD UNIT PREAMPS --> AMP --> CROSSOVER --> SPEAKER
HEAD UNIT SUB OUT --> AMP --> SUBWOOFER
etc...
4) Last but not least... actually... yeah it is least. You can run wire directly from your head unit to your speakers. This will provide the least power and clarity, but is the cheapest and simplest way to get it working.
Contact Metra tech support. I've got the 460 in my 02 GT and Metra makes PN 70-5519 that connect to the aftermarket HU and plugs directly into the wiring harness using the factory 460 amps. The only requirement is that the new HU must have at least one set of pre-amp outputs.
And as far as Crutchfield, they have fair prices and selection but they'll tell you you need to replace everything if you've got the 460, their own tech support doesn't tell you about the adapter they sell that's linked above.
Oh yeah and why spend $50 for their adapter when the Metra adapter is $15 and doesn't require any adjustment just plug and play.
I went to a local stereo shop yesterday (dashboard audio), he had the Metra tech. There are different model numbers, you just have to figure out which one you need, he said that he did a 94 cobra before my 97 cobra, they were different. the 94 took a cheaper model that was priced at 11.00 and the one he thinks that I am going to use costs $24. I am going to take my car out there Thur. and figure out which one it is.