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Aftermarket Stereo Install - No Sound From Front Speakers

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Old 07-07-2017, 12:10 PM
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Default Aftermarket Stereo Install - No Sound From Front Speakers

Hello All,

I recently installed a Pioneer AVHX2800BS head unit in my 2012 Jeep JK Sport using the PAC RP4-CH11 harness and am disappointed with the sound quality.

I understood that I would lose fade control with this setup, but with the Pioneer HU and the factory amplifier most of the output is to the rear/soundbar speakers - I can't hear anything from the front speakers at all...
Needless to say, this doesn't sound very good with only the 2 factory soundbar speakers working.

I plan to install the Kicker speaker upgrade (77KICK10) as soon as they arrive in the mail, which should help with the sound quality, but obviously will not make the front speakers magically come alive.

Is my amplifier somehow faded all the way to the rear?
Or did I connect something up wrong? I followed the instructions closely and everything else (other than the front speakers) is working properly.

Thanx in advance for any and all suggestions...
Old 07-07-2017, 12:44 PM
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where did u buy it? crutchfield has good tech support.

do you have the premium sound with the subwoofer? if so, only one of the channels will work with all the speakers and bluetooth. you have to cross the front and rear wires.


3. Make all connections as described in the connection chart on page 1. Vehicles without a factory amplifier: Connect the aftermarket radio’s
front and rear speaker wires to the vehicle connector. Vehicles with a factory amplifier: The factory amplifier only accepts two channels
of audio input (left and right). Connect the front outputs of the aftermarket radio to the rear inputs of the vehicle connector. This will allow
navigation voice prompts and Bluetooth calls to be heard. The rear speaker outputs of the aftermarket radio are not used. Fading is not
supported in this application. The factory amplifier’s fading is controlled by data communication from the factory radio. Neither the aftermarket
radio or the RP interface have the ability to control the amplifier’s fader.

the wiring was little tricky i found. i have a 13 with the premium alpine and sub. after i hooked mine up i could not get in the setting menu. after calling crutchfield tech the told me i had to connect the blue and yellow parking brake wire on the harness to red/white wire on the nav bundle. there was no way i was going to figure that out.

also as an fyi, after i did the upgrade the power coming out of the new HU (alpine ine960) was too much for the factory speakers. i went with the Kicker 43CSC654 front and rear. the kicker 77 are a lower power rating and have tabs for the soundbar, but it is not needed with the speed brackets that come with any speaker. the 654s have a rms of 300 watts. a lot of people complain about the lack of bass response. they are different speakers and need different volume for the boxes.

i experimented with the frequencies and ended up with 14 oz of poly in each side of the soundbar holes and put 16 oz in the sub box, the front pods are much smaller and only fit 6 oz of poly. i used a 2" pvc pipe connector to port the front boxes in the boxes in the rear. you have to port the front because there is just not enough space to create enough physical volume. with the aftermarket you can tweak the eq and bass response better. I pegged the 50-63hz settings because the factory amp cuts off anything below 200 to the front and soundbar speakers and with the poly in the sub box it pushes more volume.

Last edited by casamtb; 07-07-2017 at 01:08 PM.
Old 07-07-2017, 12:55 PM
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Originally Posted by casamtb
where did u buy it? crutchfield has good tech support.

do you have the premium sound with the subwoofer? if so, only one of the channels will work with all the speakers and bluetooth.

I didn't buy it from crutchfield - got the head unit from a local stereo shop and the PAC interface on amazon.

I don't have a subwoofer.
I DO have a factory amplifier, though (there was only one pair of speaker outputs/channels wired out of the factory radio - according to the wiring diagrams, the 4 speakers and 2 tweeters connect to the factory amp).

If all speakers/tweeters connect to the factory amplifier, I'm not sure how the rear speakers would work and the front wouldn't...
Old 07-08-2017, 06:47 AM
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Are the tweeters working?
Old 07-10-2017, 04:22 PM
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Originally Posted by casamtb
Are the tweeters working?
No - the tweeters aren't working either.
Only the rear/soundbar speakers are working...
Old 07-11-2017, 03:01 AM
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Check the wiring on the PAC harness for the speakers. I had same thing happen only getting sound out of sound bar until I fully read directions of the wiring diagram for it. I think because of the factory amp usage, the wiring is different in how to connect the speakers.
Old 07-11-2017, 04:37 PM
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Thank you all for the responses and support.
As it turns out, it was my mistake... DUH!
My Jeep doesn't have an amplifier after all - I wired the stereo up for an amplifier - after I changed the wiring to the non-amp version, all is good.
Thanks!
Old 07-11-2017, 07:57 PM
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Ahhhh, that would do it. Glad u figured it out. I was going to say that I thought only the systems with subs were amp'd. So for anyone who comes across this thread later... If u have an amp it will be under the steering column to the right of the left front speaker.
Old 07-21-2019, 09:40 PM
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I have a 2006 Jeep Liberty, ^ CD Changer stock radio. I just changed to an aftermarket Kenwood bluetooth deck. After wiring the harnesses together and installing the aftermarket radio my left side speakers stopped working, When i re-install the stock radio everything works fine... I have NOO idea what is causing this



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