A new workaround for premium sound, perhaps...

[Ifixyawata]

My friend tells me that many premium sound cars were equipped with non-premium harnesses as well. In ohter words, maybe if you could find this harness you could use the normal aftermarket CD-player install kits.

My only other idea, if that doesn't work, is to run all four pairs of wires back to the rear of the car and splice them in where the output from the factory amp will go. Seems a hell of a lot easier than going into the dash and the doors.

[Grand Marquis GT]

I ran all new speaker wires. IMO much better sound quality.

A bitch, but worth it.

[marquisman]

i did not have to do any wiring! i got a premium sound harness from wal-mart that you install on the CD player. the thing is, that you get to still use the amp!

[Paul_]

the only prob i had with shifty's stereo was the removal of the old head unit. i had to destroy it in the dash to get it out i'm sure that if i run new wiring it will sound better than it does right now, but it kicks ass so far.

this is what i've learned

1984(just an example) to 87, the premium sound consisted of six speakers
2 dash, 2 door, 2 in the back deck. the aftermarket harnesses do not work on these years from what i know. my 84 had premium sound and the harness did not work.

1990-1991 was only 4 speakers. they eleiminated the dash speakers. the harness i got did work with the premium sound

i'm not sure bout the 88-89s as those had map pockets where the door speakers would be.

[marquisman]

interesting, the car im talkin about is the 1991 LSS, the harness works fine!

[Ifixyawata]

Mine's an '88. It has speakers and map pockets! It's a 6-speaker system and the factory amp is a 4-channel just like the deck's internal amp. The all four front speakers run off of two channels. So the left side dash and door speaker are piggybacked together, as an example. The other side is the same way. Each of the rear speakers got thier own channel. If I can splice in right where the output from the old factory amp would come from, then I could utilize the existing wiring for now. It's about 25 degrees out and I'm really not keen on tearing the dash and door panels off to fuck with wiring up factory speakers, so I'll just leave those go for now. I just want some tunes... Christ, what I wouldn't give to be able to listen to the radio in the morning.

[Paul_]

the ahrness works, but you're actually amplifying an already amplified signal. the harness does not actually bypass the factory amp, from what i gather

[Ifixyawata]

No, Evil, what I'm saying is to hook in right after the factoy amp.

[Paul_]

oops, i din't realize you posted before me,lol. i see what you're saying too bout hooking the harness up.

are we talking bout the same harness? the one that goes between the dahs connectors and the deck or the other one thta i've seen

[marquisman]

between the dash and deck.

[Ifixyawata]

[Radio]----[Amp]--x---[Speakers]

I'm hooking in where the X is. The illustration is of the factory setup.

[Paul_]

oh, i see now

[marquisman]

i allso have an bypass harness that i found, it conects the two plugs that go into the amp.(hope im not side tracking your thread!)

[Ifixyawata]

Nope, not at all. That'd be the easiest solution, but not the most cost-effective. Especially considering it's not a go-to-walmart piece.

[Paul_]

walmart used to sell the bypass harness,

years ago. about 2 years ago my store stopped carrying them