Help with new radio deck for Mach 460

[zenboy99]

My CD player broke and I'd like to get a new system thats MP3 compatible. I know nothing about stereos so I was hoping someone on here could guide me towards what's good and how I'd go about installing it. Do I need to get something specific for the Mach 460 system or doesn't it matter?

 

[inphiniti]

IMHO, alpine is the way to go... others might sway u in a diff way.. there is a CERTAIN plug to use for it to work with ur Mach system, i forget where i got it... but its out there lol.. its a little wire kit, no more than $30 TOPS... i paid like $15 for mine...

 

[wytstang]

As long as you get a wiring harness for the Mach system it's becomes plug and play. I went with a pioneer premier deh-p7800(?) (mp3 capable) and works fine for my needs. I am fond of Clarion head units, solid units with nice style. .02

 

[BlownFiveLiter]

You need something like this to integrate an aftermarket head unit with the Mach 460: http://www.crutchfield.com/S-K5ZXHwz9Vsn/App/Product/Item/Main.aspx?g=751&i=142C4FDK5&tp=3486

 

[inphiniti]

thats the 1!.. i only used the rectangle and the square, no idea what th ehell that other thing is

 

[zenboy99]

Just bought/installed my new alpine deck. Everything went well except for the stupid antanae.

Can anyone suggest a good set of speakers for the rear and front that will complement my alpine and stock amplifiers? I don't want to get too involved with re-wiring the whole car.

 

[urban96]

if your going to spend the $$ for components spend the extra few mins to run some new wires. its not as hard as you would think.

fronts are a breeze, only tuff part might be getting into the door

rears run under the center console and then just snake it under the carped above the hump to under the rear seat


i like my polk audio components

 

[zenboy99]

if your going to spend the $$ for components spend the extra few mins to run some new wires. its not as hard as you would think.

fronts are a breeze, only tuff part might be getting into the door

rears run under the center console and then just snake it under the carped above the hump to under the rear seat


i like my polk audio components

Cool, so new wires will make a noticeable difference in sound quality?

 

['66 coupe]

You need something like this to integrate an aftermarket head unit with the Mach 460: http://www.crutchfield.com/S-K5ZXHwz9Vsn/App/Product/Item/Main.aspx?g=751&i=142C4FDK5&tp=3486

thats the 1!.. i only used the rectangle and the square, no idea what th ehell that other thing is

Do the tweeters still work using that harness?

 

[urban96]

Cool, so new wires will make a noticeable difference in sound quality?

definatly, it also bypasses the stock amps this way allowing the deck to actually power the speakers

 

[95BlueStallion]

"Do the tweeters still work using that harness?"

The entire sound system works just like a factory deck when you use the correct wiring kit. Splice the like colored wires together (keeping track of the black line on the negative wires), then plug the two cd player connectors into the two car connectors and youre done. All the factory components will be functional as long as you bought the correct wiring harness.

 

['66 coupe]

"Do the tweeters still work using that harness?"

The entire sound system works just like a factory deck when you use the correct wiring kit. Splice the like colored wires together (keeping track of the black line on the negative wires), then plug the two cd player connectors into the two car connectors and youre done. All the factory components will be functional as long as you bought the correct wiring harness.

Awesome. Thanks.

Somehow I doubt Best Buy sells the harness, but I'll check just in case. If not, I'll just break down and order it from Crutchfield.

 

[zenboy99]

"Do the tweeters still work using that harness?"

The entire sound system works just like a factory deck when you use the correct wiring kit. Splice the like colored wires together (keeping track of the black line on the negative wires), then plug the two cd player connectors into the two car connectors and youre done. All the factory components will be functional as long as you bought the correct wiring harness.

I spliced all the wires together just like the instructions said and the radio didn't work. I was later told through Crutchfield that I had to splice a blue wire from the connector to the "remote" wire on the deck to power the amplifier. I had to move the blue wire over one slot. Maybe I got the wrong connector.

I also broke my antenea pulling it out of the old deck. Anyone else do this? Mine was stuck in the deck and soldered in. Now I've got to route a whole new antanea in. Sounds like a winter project.

 

[zenboy99]

definatly, it also bypasses the stock amps this way allowing the deck to actually power the speakers

So the deck has more power than the amps? I thought I was using them together right now.

I'm really dumb when it comes to this electronics stuff.

I currently have an Alpine CDA 9883 (18 watts RMS/50 peak x 4 channels)

 

[95BlueStallion]

The blue wire with the white stripe (remote) is a wire from the cd player that gives the amp a signal to turn on. Without that wire connected, the amps dont know to turn on, and then you would have no sound. I thought the correct wiring harness had a blue wire to connect to the radio's blue/white, but its been a while since Ive done it so Im not sure how I powered the amps. I did actually get mine from best buy 66coupe, but make sure to ask someone personally for the mach 460 harness, or they will probably get you the wrong one the first time. That happened to me, and I didnt know better until I pulled my radio and saw they werent the same shape. It should look like the connectors in the above picture, but you dont neccessarily need the black box in that kit pictured above...

 

[95BlueStallion]

Zenboy99, the amps are more powerful than the deck! Its best to use the connector harness with the factory mach 460 amps, or your sound quality wont be quite as good. The other option is to run aftermarket amps with aftermarket speakers, in which case you would be connecting the aftermarket amps to the deck via RCA cables. Then your aftermarket speakers would wire up to your aftermarket amps directly. Its kind of confusing to read about, but if you did it a couple times or watched someone else do it you would see its no big deal. The antenna wire shouldnt have been souldered to the deck, it should have slipped right out the back of the radio. Maybe the person before you had a staticy radio and wanted it mounted solid in there.

 

['66 coupe]

I did actually get mine from best buy 66coupe, but make sure to ask someone personally for the mach 460 harness, or they will probably get you the wrong one the first time. That happened to me, and I didnt know better until I pulled my radio and saw they werent the same shape. It should look like the connectors in the above picture, but you dont neccessarily need the black box in that kit pictured above...

Cool. It's been 2 years since I stopped working at Best Buy. But I used to always ask the car audio guys, and the general consensus was that you have to rewire a Mach 460 and just bypass the amps. Awesome that someone finally makes a harness for it.