radio sound won't go very high

Hi all ,

another problem , the stereo sound won't go up very high , its only very quiet?

you can turn the sound down , but not up

not sure what sound sytem is in it? , its a w plate 4.6 vogue


also can I put a aftermarket head unit in or would i have to put all new speakers and a amp in ,


many thanks

have you got the controls on the steering wheel and sat nav

jeff. said:

Hi all ,

another problem , the stereo sound won't go up very high , its only very quiet?

you can turn the sound down , but not up

not sure what sound sytem is in it? , its a w plate 4.6 vogue


also can I put a aftermarket head unit in or would i have to put all new speakers and a amp in ,


many thanks

Click to expand...

PM Clarkey130, he's the guru on the sound systems and exchanging head units. He's not here so much since he got a job and bought himself a Disco to get muddy so you might not get an immediate answer. But it's worth the wait because he's conquered the problem of using a new head unit with the original amps.

I've got an aftermarket stereo but I never changed any thing nor did I have volume adjusters In steering wheel or the h/ kardon set up if this helps only the ones with built in the steering wheels need attention

Jeff,

PM clarky130, as said, he is the man and also a nice chap....

He done me a lead and all good

jamesblake said:

Jeff,

PM clarky130, as said, he is the man and also a nice chap....

He done me a lead and all good

Click to expand...

+1 he will make you a harness to interface from your new unit to existing

I forgot to say if buying a new unit get a DAB radio as fm shuts down in 2015

defender300td1 said:

I forgot to say if buying a new unit get a DAB radio as fm shuts down in 2015

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In politics I believe that this is known as an 'aspiration.' Or if it's not yet it soon will be.

It's not going to happen. First of all there would have to be a 50% take up of DAB radios two years before the government could do it and DAB radio sales are actually dropping.

Then what was proposed in the Carter report was for the big national stations to move to DAB to allow stations still on MW to move to FM along with all these new local stations that haven't appeared. Not surprising as they would be supported by advertising and we're in a recession.

What has happened, and caught the planners, regulators and politicians on the hop, is that more and more of us are listening to radio on-line. So look out for a whole new breed of in-car radios (except they won't be called radios) that can accommodate this.

defender300td1 said:

I forgot to say if buying a new unit get a DAB radio as fm shuts down in 2015

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Pretty unlikely I'd say

I hear the new dabs are crap I thought it was to do with stopping Piracy, its still advertised on the web as stopping
Now was going to treat myself at some point best hold fire

defender300td1 said:

I hear the new dabs are crap I thought it was to do with stopping Piracy, its still advertised on the web as stopping
Now was going to treat myself at some point best hold fire

Click to expand...

It's to do with money. The government of the day made a fortune by moving us all onto digital TV then selling off the then unused band space to the mobile phone companies. They were hoping to do the same again with FM but, as you say, DAB radios are crap and still very power hungry. The other issue was that the BBC funded a helluva lot of the work in moving to digital TV but now that the government has cut their funding they're saying that they couldn't fund a similar exercise for radio. In fact the BBC have even threatened to pull out of DAB completely.

If you want a new stereo either buy a cheapy if you're worried or buy a decent one with extra inputs or blue tooth. That way you can either fit a cheap convertor box, that will appear if an FM switch-off is ever announced, or you can hook it up to your phone and pick up your radio on-line.

hi mate,

Does your vehicle have the Harmon Kardon system, youll know as it will say this on the door mounted tweeters...

If it does, have a look in the L/H side of the boot behind the side cover. You will probably find a sub and cd changer. Also an amp.

Check the head unit to see who its made by also.

If the volume levels are low, an you have a harmon kardon, chances are you have what is known as the "DSP" amp.. This is a single amplifier that does all the systems.

The DSP amp has a volume controll internally set, this is set by the volume level of the headunit when the system is disconnected. At this point my knowledge runs out.

But the usual advice is turn up the head unit volume fully before disconnection of the headunit. Then when it is replaced the DSP amp will have the volume correctly set.

With regard to headunit replacement, it is a tricky matter.

If you have a standard no HK system it is simple.

If you have the HK system, there are two types, Clarion and Alpine.. These use different types of amps and require different things to be done.
Clarky 130 will be your best bet here for in detail advice..

It is possible to get leads from NExxus, which i believe are Connect2 leads, these plug into various parts of your new headunit to feed the amps in the required way. But, you can end up with a high pitched noise... Earthing issue and also impedience i believe...

All in all, as with everything else P38.. not simple and enough to drive you to drink...

dogsbody said:

It's to do with money. The government of the day made a fortune by moving us all onto digital TV then selling off the then unused band space to the mobile phone companies. They were hoping to do the same again with FM but, as you say, DAB radios are crap and still very power hungry. The other issue was that the BBC funded a helluva lot of the work in moving to digital TV but now that the government has cut their funding they're saying that they couldn't fund a similar exercise for radio. In fact the BBC have even threatened to pull out of DAB completely.

If you want a new stereo either buy a cheapy if you're worried or buy a decent one with extra inputs or blue tooth. That way you can either fit a cheap convertor box, that will appear if an FM switch-off is ever announced, or you can hook it up to your phone and pick up your radio on-line.

Click to expand...

Thanks dog nice to know woof

Hi
Fitted a remote dab with remote control in mine last month and really pleased with it. Just swapped the head unit and left the cd changer under the seat. Really loud and nice powerful bass

Hi Jeff,
I had this problem with my radio, apparently I had the wrong radio for the car.
When I bought the car it had a cheap aftermarket one fitted, so I got a clarion off Ebay : (The Alpine XQD10158OLNF) when it should have been a (PRC 7617 (PU-9837A)) This is a very good site with very helpful chap on the end of the phone www.roverville.us
In the end I bought an Avic unit with sat nav, No way was I going to pay £500 for an 16 year old radio. I don't need the Alpine XQD10158OLNF which I had unlocked so If anyones interested send me a PM.

thanks for the reply's

have been out and had a look and its the Harmon Kardon system ,
have tried turning volume up and and unplugging it and still no difference ,

also checked again and it won't go down either?

also the only two speaker working are the passenger ones?

also had a look for the amp , in the boot there is just a cd multi changer on the passenger side , but can't seem to find a amp ( unless its all one unit with the cd changer)

any idea's ?

also in the worst case, say I was to put my own head unit in and rewire it with a after market amp , could i use the original Harmon Kardon speakers?


cheers

jeff. said:

thanks for the reply's

have been out and had a look and its the Harmon Kardon system ,
have tried turning volume up and and unplugging it and still no difference ,

also checked again and it won't go down either?

also the only two speaker working are the passenger ones?

also had a look for the amp , in the boot there is just a cd multi changer on the passenger side , but can't seem to find a amp ( unless its all one unit with the cd changer)

any idea's ?

also in the worst case, say I was to put my own head unit in and rewire it with a after market amp , could i use the original Harmon Kardon speakers?


cheers

Click to expand...

Unfortunately it's not that simple. You'll find amps in each door.

dogsbody said:

Unfortunately it's not that simple. You'll find amps in each door.

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think I might completely start again with sound system then, as want to fit a double din head unit with sat nav/tv etc..

so think it might be easier to just put my own new speakers/amp in , as had another look and wiring has been bodged by previous owners ,

cheers

jeff. said:

thanks for the reply's

have been out and had a look and its the Harmon Kardon system ,
have tried turning volume up and and unplugging it and still no difference ,

also checked again and it won't go down either?

also the only two speaker working are the passenger ones?

also had a look for the amp , in the boot there is just a cd multi changer on the passenger side , but can't seem to find a amp ( unless its all one unit with the cd changer)

any idea's ?

also in the worst case, say I was to put my own head unit in and rewire it with a after market amp , could i use the original Harmon Kardon speakers?


cheers

Click to expand...

Hi Jeff,

thats the exact same problem i had with mine. only sound on N/S of car. mad no difference if using fader or balance. turned out to be the DSP unit behind the sub in the boot. but no way i am paying over £300 for a 2nd hand unit, and even less chance at paying over £800 from a dealer!

i'm exploring different avenues with Clarkey as to what we can do. i think i might have to go and see him and let him use mine as a guinea pig for his idea.

jeff. said:

think I might completely start again with sound system then, as want to fit a double din head unit with sat nav/tv etc..

so think it might be easier to just put my own new speakers/amp in , as had another look and wiring has been bodged by previous owners ,

cheers

Click to expand...

If you have the built in SatNav try disconnecting the cd drive part of it in the luggage area as it uses front speakers when giving directions and if it plays up it will affect both up and down volume levels in the front of the car.