# 1993 Maxima car stereo questions: Active sound?



## Tf0r1 (Jun 20, 2005)

Hi,

I just bought my Dad's Maxima, and he was kind enough to have best buys install a brand new Pioneer cd/mp3 car stereo. All four of his old speakers were pretty much disintegrated, so I replaced all 4 of them..Than I noticed 
in the trunk below the deck (underneath) appears to be some kind of factory amp...The stock system from Nissan is called: "active sound", and is NOT a BOSE setup....It seems that the amp only boosts the rear speaker's at least at this point..Also, it gets very hot, and I notice after it gets that hot, the sound quality is horrible..Say after about 45 minutes of me cranking up the tunes in my way to work...

My 4 Questions:

1. Was this amp supposed to boost all speakers or just the rear?

2. Any suggestions on how to by-pass this faltering amp?

3. Could this stock amp in its faltering state cause my new Pioneer stereo any damage?

4. Any idea how many watts this old amp puts out.....

5. Is it easier to just replace it (factory amp)?

Not only is it annoying that after 45 minutes with the stereo turned up, the sound in the rear begins to get jarbeled..But also, I have to fade very heavy towards the front speakers for it to sound close to level, as the front does not seem to be amplified....

Thanks, I appreciate any and all input


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## rvanders37 (Jan 1, 2005)

Tf0r1 said:


> Hi,
> 
> I just bought my Dad's Maxima, and he was kind enough to have best buys install a brand new Pioneer cd/mp3 car stereo. All four of his old speakers were pretty much disintegrated, so I replaced all 4 of them..Than I noticed
> in the trunk below the deck (underneath) appears to be some kind of factory amp...The stock system from Nissan is called: "active sound", and is NOT a BOSE setup....It seems that the amp only boosts the rear speaker's at least at this point..Also, it gets very hot, and I notice after it gets that hot, the sound quality is horrible..Say after about 45 minutes of me cranking up the tunes in my way to work...
> ...


in the bose systems all the speakers were powered by an amplifier. what you are doing now is overdriving the amp with your new system. either bypass the amp (which is what i recommend) or get an aftermarket amp. and don't take it back to where you got the stereo installed. they should have caught this.


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## Tf0r1 (Jun 20, 2005)

rvanders37 said:


> in the bose systems all the speakers were powered by an amplifier. what you are doing now is overdriving the amp with your new system. either bypass the amp (which is what i recommend) or get an aftermarket amp. and don't take it back to where you got the stereo installed. they should have caught this.





I did some more research, and your advice is right on the money, than I saw your post... By the way, thanks for the good advice :thumbup: ..I just hope that "active" amp didnt hurt my head unit..Now that I own the car, Ill be doing most of the work myself..I am going to try to use the existing (stock) wiring and just bypass that crap amp. I am really struggeling to find a wiring diagram though...Maybe just run new wire from the head to the speakers, harder but easier, if that makes any sense...


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## Matt93SE (Sep 17, 2003)

http://mattblehm.com/faq/rear_amp_bypass.txt

browse through my faq/ directory for more neato stuff you will probably need.


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## Tf0r1 (Jun 20, 2005)

Matt93SE said:


> http://mattblehm.com/faq/rear_amp_bypass.txt
> 
> browse through my faq/ directory for more neato stuff you will probably need.


WOW!!!! :jawdrop: You guys rock!!!

I have to say I'm very impressed with this forum, and its friendly, knowledgable members... This is my first Nissan, a 93 maxima with 56K original miles it, and its very clean.. I look forward to being a member here for a long time, and many more Nissans in the future.. Thanks again


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