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Aftermarket cassette player install and general radio questions

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    Aftermarket cassette player install and general radio questions

    Alright guys, pulled an aftermarket cassette player from radioshack out of a late 60s mustang II at the yard. its a "Realistic" model no. 12-1816.

    I pulled my radio out of my 78 LTD and looked at the wires...looked at the wires on the cassette player and Im baffled by what I see.

    The cassette player, has 5 wires. One of them is power, the other is ground. Idk what the others do possibly go the speakers. The Radio in the car...which is stock, had 5 wires as well. But one of those is power with a seperate wire for ground.

    Im baffled because all the radios Ive messed with, had 2 wires going to each speaker. Like in my tercel, it had two wires going to each speaker. The LTD has 1 wire going to each speaker.

    Is it possible that its set up to send the signal to the speaker, and then the speaker grounds to the body?

    #2
    Not sure about the speaker to body ground thing, but a lot of older cars only had two, or even one speaker. Can you find wiring diagrams for either?
    Pete ::::>>> resident LED addict and CFI defector LED bulb replacements
    'LTD HPP' 85 Vic (my rusty baby) '06 Honda Reflex 250cc 'Baileys' 91 Vic (faded cream puff) ClifFord 'ODB' 88 P72 (SOLD) '77 LTDII (RIP)
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      #3
      No wiring diagrams that I can find. I didnt bother to even trace the wires in the mustang, it was too cold and I had to shit real bad.

      I just came inside from messing with it. I got it to work, and it turns out it does only use one wire to each speaker. Not sure how many were in the mustang, probably two, but theres 4 in my LTD.

      Gonna spice the wires tomorrow, but Ill upload a video from after we found out how it works. turns out there are two wires going to each speaker, but they ground somewhere else. O.o

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        #4
        I'm not an expert at all in regard to sound systems, but I've been recently trying to replace the original radio in my '89 Grand Marquis because the radio went bad and no longer works. Apparently, this era car had something called a "floating ground." I'm still not sure exactly what that is.

        I tried to put a recent stereo in the car and could not get decent sound -- it was real "tinny" sounding with a WHOLE lot of static. I called a couple of different aftermarket wiring harness manufacturers and they both told me the problem was due to the "floating ground" but each gave me contradictory advice on how to correct it. At the very least, I'd have to buy a bunch of expensive adapters and I still won't be sure it will work.

        I finally decided to scrap the idea of installing the newer stereo and use an old Kraco 5-wire unit that I've had sitting in my garage for years. On this radio, one wire is switched power (for the radio power), one wire is non-switched power (for the radio memory) one wire is for left speakers, one wire is for right speakers, and the remaining wire is a common speaker ground.

        You can buy a kit at Walmart that has Ford connectors to help you install the radio. I still haven't put mine in yet, but if I do, I'll let you know how it turned out.

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          #5
          The 70s radios used common grounds for the speaker, meaning one hot wire, the the - side just goes to the power ground, or to a handy ground point on the body. The 80s Grand Marq used something slightly different, it had 3 wires for the front speakers, and 3 for the rear, two hots plus a common for each end of the car. They are not the same system.
          86 Lincoln Town Car (Galactica).
          5.0 HO, CompCams XE258,Scorpion 1.72 roller rockers, 3.55 K code rear, tow package, BHPerformance ported E7 heads, Tmoss Explorer intake, 65mm throttle body, Hedman 1 5/8" headers, 2.5" dual exhaust, ASP underdrive pulley

          91 Lincoln Mark VII LSC grandpa spec white and cranberry

          1984 Lincoln Continental TurboDiesel - rolls coal

          Originally posted by phayzer5
          I drive a Lincoln. I can't be bothered to shift like the peasants and rabble rousers

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            #6
            Gadget...that right there...is what I was looking for. Thank you SO much for explaining it and confirming my suspicions. Ill keep that in mind about the 80s cars too in case I come across one one day.


            Would the floating ground be kind of like the 75 mustang II's? Where everything has one hot wire running to it and its grounded by its casing or whatever? I know the dash is grounded to the chassis by bolts and rods. No wires.
            Last edited by Jon; 12-20-2010, 12:27 AM.

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              #7
              Originally posted by Jon View Post
              I didnt bother to even trace the wires in the mustang, it was too cold and I had to shit real bad.
              lmao
              1988 MGM GS - Preferred Equipment Package 172A; InstaClear

              1980 Lincoln Continental Coupe
              1994 MGM GS Montigua
              2005 F150 Lariat Scab 4x4 3.73 LS
              2002 Mustang GT Coupe

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                #8
                Originally posted by gadget73 View Post
                The 70s radios used common grounds for the speaker, meaning one hot wire, the the - side just goes to the power ground, or to a handy ground point on the body. The 80s Grand Marq used something slightly different, it had 3 wires for the front speakers, and 3 for the rear, two hots plus a common for each end of the car. They are not the same system.

                My '89 has eight speaker wires, which are labeled: front left (-), front left (+), front right (-), front right (+), rear left (-), rear left (+), rear right (-), rear right (+).

                I has the factory premium sound system with the power amp. It also has two completely separate wiring systems for the speakers. One has a small square 2x4 pin connector that's used to send the signal to the amp, and the other is a standard Ford 1x8 pin connector that apparently by-passes the amp. There is also a third 1x8 pin connector for the power, ground, etc.

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                  #9
                  Originally posted by TomO View Post
                  My '89 has eight speaker wires, which are labeled: front left (-), front left (+), front right (-), front right (+), rear left (-), rear left (+), rear right (-), rear right (+).
                  Correction -- actually, that's the way the wiring is labeled on the Scosche connector kit that I bought. I was planning on merging the four negative speaker leads on the connector into the single common radio speaker ground lead.

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                    #10
                    Originally posted by TomO View Post
                    My '89 has eight speaker wires, which are labeled: front left (-), front left (+), front right (-), front right (+), rear left (-), rear left (+), rear right (-), rear right (+).

                    .
                    It changed at some point. If you look at say an 86, you'll have 6 total I think at the radio, 3 for the rear speakers, and 3 feeding the amp. There are 4 wires going forward from the old style amp though, +/- per side. It also uses different connectors and stuff. The stuff from the early 80s is different yet, with the pullout knob for the premium sound. I have no idea how those are wired, but its gotta have some extra BS involving that switch.
                    86 Lincoln Town Car (Galactica).
                    5.0 HO, CompCams XE258,Scorpion 1.72 roller rockers, 3.55 K code rear, tow package, BHPerformance ported E7 heads, Tmoss Explorer intake, 65mm throttle body, Hedman 1 5/8" headers, 2.5" dual exhaust, ASP underdrive pulley

                    91 Lincoln Mark VII LSC grandpa spec white and cranberry

                    1984 Lincoln Continental TurboDiesel - rolls coal

                    Originally posted by phayzer5
                    I drive a Lincoln. I can't be bothered to shift like the peasants and rabble rousers

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                      #11
                      I know its a little late for this discussion, but heres a video.

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                        #12
                        Just to add some meat to this discussion, remember in the 60s-70s, the manufacturers used different resistance in their speakers than they do now. Most aftermarket stereos and speakers expect to see or have 4 ohms of resistance per speakers. Most stock speakers back then were 8 ohm or 10 ohm and the stereos expected to see that. So you take my car with the stock stereo and stock speakers, you have 2 parallel wired 8 ohm speakers and that's 4 ohms resistance in the rear speaker wires. Then you put 4 ohm speakers in it and it sounds bad because 2 parallel wired 4 ohm speakers is only 2 ohms resistance in the circuit. That causes too much current to be demanded from the stock radio's amp.

                        Options:

                        1) Disconnect ONE of your rear speakers. Now you have a 4 ohm resistance in the rear speaker wires. Problem solved but with only one speaker working (this is what I have now)
                        2) Rewire the speakers in series. Now you have 8 ohm resistance in the rear speaker wires. Problem solved but with less maximum volume capability.
                        3) Add 4 ohm resistors in line with each rear speaker (at least 10 watts each). Now you have a 4 ohm resistance in the rear speaker wires. Problem solved but those resistors create heat.
                        4) Replace rear speakers with correct 8 ohm units. Now you have a 4 ohm resistance in the rear speaker wires. Problem solved but where the heck do you get 8 ohm speakers?

                        Turnswitch.com sells 8/10 ohm factory sized speakers, the prices aren't bad, but they are only stock stereo quality. That's fine for me, because stock stereo quality is way better than distorted aftermarket or blown originals. For $40 I can get a pair of 6x9's in 8 ohm from them with black fabric covers and everything. That's not bad. I'm assuming that's a pair for that price. Emailed to ask. They have every size you can think of even the 4x10's for the back deck of GM G-bodies and the rear sides of 80s Suburbans and like, everything from the 60s. They also have the right front dash speakers for GM A-bodies (60s-77) that have to fit those angled brackets. And 4x8's for Suicide Door T-Birds and Lincolns from the 60s. Been awhile since you've seen one of them, I bet!

                        So yeah, I'd rather spend a little more and get real 8 or 10 ohm speakers than try to rewire my back speakers in series or add resistors.
                        Alan Moore | Wichita Falls, TX
                        00 Suburban | 95 Cutlass Ciera | 76 Gran Torino (Cavalier and Durango SOLD)

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