New stereo fitting

[Silverberlingo]

Right, I have a new stereo to fit after the original unit failed. It' an Alpine model with blue tooth DAB etc. First issue was the wiring harness which I have now purchased to adapt it. However upon removing the old stereo and placing the new one in, connecting harness etc it does not power up or anything. So do i need to power it separately ? I dont' want to take the feed from the battery and would like to power it so it works on the ignition like the old unit. Can the cigarette lighter socket handle this. Or is it better to take it from the 12v socket next to it? Any other suggestions welcome and advice as we all know how the electrics are in these cars!!!

[kevsterjw]

I've just changed my stereo this weekend and it was a right PITA. Ended up chopping the power ISO connector off and re-doing the wires (only 4 of them). In the end found I had a:

permanent live,
ground,
switched live,
switched live that stayed on for a while after ignition turned off.

[cancunia]

The radio wiring should be in the handbook IIRC. There's often a mismatch between the switched & permanent live wires but both are present on the Berlingo connector.

[dumdum]

The radio wiring should be in the handbook IIRC. There's often a mismatch between the switched & permanent live wires but both are present on the Berlingo connector.

Not in a Berlingo manual, there is however a switched feed as above in the iso, use that and it will turn on and off, there will be a permanent supply on the iso connector, you need to find this and make sure the yellow of the stereo loom goes to it, then if you feel confident remove the pin for the ignition red if it’s actual location is empty and pop it into the hole, if it’s not free it’s a chop and bullet connector or solder job

[cancunia]

Maybe not in the workshop manual, but the radio connector wiring is shown on P60 of the Handbook.

[Silverberlingo]

All wired but no wires were correct. After using a multimeter and then some time all sorted. DAB bluetooth etc shame the speaker's can't handle all the power. Tried to upload pictures but not working on tablet unfortunately

[dumdum]

The earth would definitely have been correct and the permenant live just requires a switch of bullets in the stereo loom

Further to your comments about the speakers not handling the power, it’s not so much the speakers as where they are mounted, go look at your house hifi speakers and tell me if they are mounted in a sealed, solid enclosure or a piece of tin with more holes than Swiss cheese? One of my descriptions resembles your van and one is the most efficient way to mount speakers

You will also find the amp in your stereo is only 4x10-12watts rms (ignore any bull claims of 4x45wats peak on a good day with a trailing wind) so in reality it’s probably a combination of the amp distorting and a poor mounting location for the speakers leading to distortion, my point is that even if you upgraded the speakers to say a 6x9 the bass may get a little better, the mid and treble would definitely get louder

in reality you’d be better off for some audio quality upgrading the stereo to an alpine or pioneer with in built high pass crossovers to allow the four speakers to do something they can do relatively effortlessly and popping an active sub somewhere as it will be the bass that distorts first

The other way to improve matters is to sound deaden the areas local to the speakers and seal them off as best you can, this will improve the mid bass response by a good chunk and warm the sound up no end and also reduce some rattles in the process (plus your front doors will sound like a Lexus when they shut instead of a tinny French car )

[Silverberlingo]

The stereo is a quality unit. Its an Alpine cost £300 when new, it has enough power etc. The speakers cant handle what it puts out. However, listening to Radio 2 or absolute 80's 90's its fine. It can't handle ACDC though lol!! Will have a look at speakers and sound proofing when the rain decides its going to stop.

It would appear that some one had messed with the wiring at the back and fitted the old unit back in before I purchased it. The simple switching of the bullets did not work as the radio was still drawing power and only drained the battery. So much so, I had to take it off and charge it due to it failing to start the car. All sorted now though.