McIntosh EF-1080I Information

2/28/14
McIntosh EF-1080I Information | My Blog
My Blog
Thoughts, projects, hacks and whatever else springs to mind
McIntosh EF-1080I Information

17 JUNE 2010 105 COMMENTS (HTTP://NZLAMB.WORDPRESS.COM/2010/06/17/MCINTOSH-EF-1080IINFORMATION/#COMMENTS) Ive had quite a few requests for more information about the McIntosh EF-1080I amplifier (often but incorrectly referred to as the EF-10801). This unit is actually made by Clarion and is supplied as stock equipment (http://www.drive.subaru.com/01_04_Winter/SoundVision.htm) with many Subaru Legacy and Outback cars manufactured between 1998-2003.
Block Diagram and Description
nzlamb.wordpress.com/2010/06/17/mcintosh-ef-1080i-information/
1/38
2/28/14
The amplifier receives four balanced inputs from the head unit; front left and right, and rear left and right. It features a built-in low pass filter (also called a crossover) for the subwoofer. This low pass filter is set to a fixed roll-off frequency and gain, although I havent yet worked out exactly what the frequency is. The main channels then pass through a fixed 6-band equaliser that has been tuned to match the speakers and car interior. The front and rear equalisers are feature different configurations. All fives stages then each go to a TDA7295 power amplifier. The main speakers are all 8 Ohms and the subwoofer is 4 Ohms. The power supply produces +/- 26V for the power amplifier stage and +/- 15V for all of the preamp stages. Based on the datasheet for the TDA7295 the amplifier is probably rated close to the following: 38W RMS per main channel 72W RMS into subwoofer
2/38
2/28/14
Wagon and Sedan

The amplifier is configured slightly different for sedans and wagons. Although they feature the same model number, they can be identified by the power connector. Amplifiers intended for a sedan have a green power connector; amplifiers for wagons have a white connector (see photos below). Inside Ive noticed that the subwoofer gain is reduced in the sedan model but have yet to locate any other changes.
Connections
If you have one of these amplifiers and wish to connect to it, heres the details.
Input Connector
Pinouts for the input connector. The colours simply refer to the original Subaru wiring.
Original Wiring
Pin Function Colour
1 2 3
Front Left + Front Left Front Right +
Pink Violet Orange

3/38
2/28/14
4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
Front Right Amp Remote Power Ground Rear Left + Rear Left N/C N/C Rear Right + Ground Rear Right -
Blue Red Shield Green Grey Light Green Shield Brown
The input connector is a 13-pin DIN style and is readily available from electronics suppliers such as TradeTech (http://www.tradetech.co.nz/shop/Plugs+Sockets+Leads++Cables/DIN+Plugs+%26+Sockets/PLG58.html) and Digikey (http://search.digikey.com/scripts/DkSearch/dksus.dll?Detail&name=CP-1013-ND). You can connect the amplifier to any brand of stereo; simply use the + inputs only and connect these to the line (not speaker!) outputs of your stereo. If you are installing your amp with a matching McIntosh head unit and do not have the official cable to connect them, you can fit the plugs to length of shielded Cat 5 cable instead. As Cat 5 cable is twisted pair it suits the job of carrying balanced audio perfectly! Wire it as shown in the table below. You will also need to run a separate wire for the amplifier power control.
Cat 5 Wiring
Pin Function Colour
1 2 3
Front Left + Front Left Front Right +
Blue White/Blue Orange

4/38
2/28/14
4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
Front Right Amp Remote Power Ground Rear Left + Rear Left N/C N/C Rear Right + Ground Rear Right -
White/Orange Separate Shield Green White/Green Brown Shield White/Brown
Output Connector
Pin 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Function 12V Battery Front Right + Front Left + Rear Right + Rear Left + Subwoofer + 12V Battery Front Right Front Left Ground Ground Rear Right Rear Left Subwoofer Colour Red/Black Violet Pink Light Green Orange Violet Red/Black White White Black Black White White White
The power and speaker connector is a proprietary Subaru connector and is best obtained from an automotive wrecking yard. Note that the official amplifier connectors are extremely hard to find; fortunately it is the same type as used by Subaru head units so if you can locate one of those it will also
nzlamb.wordpress.com/2010/06/17/mcintosh-ef-1080i-information/ 5/38
2/28/14
work. Make sure you use both ground and power pins due to the high current drawn by the amplifier.
Other Useful Info

Subwoofer Gain
It is very easy to change the subwoofer gain to get a bit more punch. See this post (http://nzlamb.wordpress.com/2010/04/19/subaru-legacy-mcintosh-subwoofer-hack/) for more information.
Repairs
If your amplifier is dead it could quite likely be the 25A fuse. This is a standard automotive blade fuse but is soldered onto the main PCB making it a little more work to replace. One unit I came across appeared to be almost completely dead but was quite simple to fix. Read this post (http://nzlamb.wordpress.com/2010/01/27/mcintosh-ef-1080i-silent-output-fix/) for details. If you do decide to open your EF-1080I, make sure you take note of where every screw goes! Installing them incorrectly risks shorting the amplifier chips to the chassis of the amplifier which will permanently destroy them (the mute pin ends up internally shorted to ground).
Photos
Connectors
Note the green power connector shows this unit came from a sedan. Wagon amplifiers have a white connector.
2/28/14
Top
(http://nzlamb.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/ef-1080i-top-view.jpg)
Inside
2/28/14
Some high resolution photos of the inside. Click for the full size version.
Component Side
(http://nzlamb.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/ef-1080i-component-side.jpg)
Solder Side
8/38
2/28/14
(http://nzlamb.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/ef-1080i-solder-side.jpg)
Subwoofer
The subwoofer is a simple 69 4 Ohm polypropylene driver, part number 09-0291-31. In wagons it is fitted in the right wall of the boot (trunk) and in sedans it is on the left side of the rear shelf.
9/38
2/28/14
(http://nzlamb.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/sub-with-grille.jpg)
removed.jpg)
(http://nzlamb.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/sub-grille-
rear.jpg)
(http://nzlamb.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/subwoofer-
10/38
2/28/14
About these ads (http://en.wordpress.com/aboutthese-ads/)
LP-2020A+ Lepai Tripath Class-T Hi-Fi

$34.99
$18.02
FILED UNDER CAR AUDIO
TAGGED WITH CAR AUDIO, MCINTOSH, SUBARU
105 Responses to McIntosh EF-1080I Information

Perry says: 18 June 2010 at 01:51 Great jobs nzlamb..whats that 5 Bands Equalizer doing there? adjusted/control by head unit? i dont have the head unit, which one the best to get for? worth buying? which clarion unit compatible to? or i just leave the EF-1080i alone. I no more having cassette(give 100s away 10 years ago), head unit with cassette/cd, not look good if i not using the cassette player, maybe go for mini disc/cd, i do needed FM to work great. CD player great audiophile sounding? where best place to get and cheap price?:)saw someone in NZ sold few items month ago..:) THANKS Melb,AU Reply Perry says: 18 June 2010 at 01:56 6-band equaliser that has been tuned to match the speakers and car interior which usless for normal sounding? then i might give up the EF-1080i..and head units!? Reply Vince says: 3 August 2010 at 00:16 The head units PF-2142I Do you know on the power connector when they say illuminate if this is the 12 volt input. They have 12 V dimmer 12 V Antenna 12 V Accessory and 12 V illuminate. The Antenna and Accessory are outputs but I am not certain of the Dimmer and Illuminate. Just want to be sure andy input will be greatly apprecaited. (my unit came from New Zealand and I am not sure if they use the term Illuminate for 12 Vot input as to turn on like a light bulb. Reply nzlamb says: 6 August 2010 at 08:30
2/28/14
If there is only the Illum+ input, then yes it is 12v. If the radio has two Illum inputs (+ and -), Illum+ needs to be supplied 12v to turn on the backlights and Illum- should be permanently connected to ground if there is no connection for it in the vehicle. Reply James says: 6 August 2010 at 03:57 Ive just acquired this power amp.Is it absolutely nexcessary that I use only the original 8 ohm speaker? can I use 4ohm of other brands? 8ohm car speakers are impossible to come by here in Malaysia. thanks nzlamb. james Reply nzlamb says: 6 August 2010 at 08:28 They probably will be fine but they might drown out the sub; you will need to increase the sub gain to compensate. There is a risk you might stress the PSU or blow the fuse if you turn it up too loud due to the increased current requirement though. Reply Sheldon26 in AUS says: 22 March 2012 at 00:53 Hi NZlamb Can you tell me do you know the pinout (location/output and colour) for the 14 pin auto connector on the back of the PF-21421. Im assumming this is the ouput to the AMP. Is that correct??. I Managed to get hold of a PF-21421 recently but dont have the AMP James says: 7 August 2010 at 14:06 nzlamb. thanks for the prompt reply.I wont take a chance.Contacted the seller and hes still got the original speakers with him. Hes upped the price as he knows how much I want them.Will arrive by mail next week. Was disappointed though that the drivers are made in China and the sub in Korea.Was it always that way? The din cable will have to be modified though as Im using the RCA out from the Pioneer player that I now have.Shame to have it cut up though. thanks again nzlamb,
12/38
2/28/14
thanks again nzlamb, james Reply nzlamb says: 7 August 2010 at 14:22 Those DIN cables are exceptionally hard to find (at least outside of Japan or NZ); you could probably sell it on eBay for a good price and make up your own quite cheaply with RCA connectors. I agree with you on the speakers; they are not spectacular but are certainly better quality than most OEM car speakers I have seen (e.g. mica-filled polypropylene cones, etc). The speakers were all originally made in Korea (MY98-MY00 models) before production appeared to shift to China. Interestingly enough the Chinese built ones use a slightly different type of foam for the surround which seems to last longer than the older style. There are some other nice touches in the system too like a Burr-Brown DAC in the CD player and the EQ in the amp but I guess we have to bear in mind the system was still made to a budget and its really manufactured by Clarion. The speakers are quite cheap here in NZ if you talk to the right parts shops; you can sometimes pick them up for less than NZ$40 per pair. Just watch the condition of the surrounds; they are of the age now that many have worn so be prepared to repair them if necessary. I replaced the surrounds in mine with butyl rubber versions and they perform very well. Reply Tom says: 29 November 2013 at 10:27 The surround on one of my front speakers has gone out, giving me the rattles. Do you know the cutout and depth dimensions? I dont want to disassemble my door panels any more times than absolutely necessary, I have a tendency to break clips. Im planning on replacing the fronts with a new pair of separates, leave the rear doors stock, and put a secondary amplifier for an independent subwoofer (which should ease the current draw with the new 4ohm load). If you have any tips tricks or ideas, let me know! Much appreciated! nzlamb says: 10 January 2014 at 17:39 Any 6 car speaker should do, provided its not too deep. Other than that I cant see any issues except for the fact that the rear speakers will be a bit quieter than the front ones due to the different impedance. That said your rear speakers probably wont last much longer if the front ones have already gone. I actually replaced the surround on my factory speakers with butyl rubber ones which last much longer. James says: 7 August 2010 at 21:04 nzlamb, thanks again for the prompt reply.
2/28/14
Ill just have to wait till the courier man arrives to see the real condition of those speakers. The seller threw in the DIN cable for free though.Next, Ill have to get the auto tech to correctly identify the pins on the cable(using the chart youve posted)and have them converted to RCA style for the Pioneer head unit. Are they any things we ought to watch out for during this process? I dont quite understand how pins 5,6 & 12 work. Could you help explain? Bit of a novice when it comes to car electronics. thanks again, james Reply nzlamb says: 7 August 2010 at 21:14 The ground wires simply connect to the cable shield on each end. The remote cable switches the amp on when 12v is applied to it. This should be connected to the amp remote wire (blue/white) on your Pioneer unit so that the amp powers up when you turn the stereo on. Reply James says: 8 August 2010 at 04:26 thanks again nzlamb, will keep you posted of my progress. regards, james Reply James says: 9 September 2010 at 22:20 hi nzlamb, managed to get get an excellent condition Mcintosh head unit (CD & MD unit) for a really good price recently and had the entire thing installed at the loacal auto accessory shop. The system sounds really great compared to my previous setup and Im mighty pleased with the sound quality.Very analog sounding even. The subwoofer is a bit of a letdown as youve mentioned and I might just have the technician swap out the resistor as you suggested. Only problem now is the the head unit keeps showing the focus error or disc error message whenever I change discs while driving.It doesntdo so when I change discs when the engine is switched off. So I switch on the Cd player first before starting the car and then it continues playing. What seems to be the problem? Changed to a new battery,added a voltage stabilizer,added a new 5 point grounding cable system
2/28/14
and this problem persist.No such problem with the radio though. The technician cant figure out the problem. Do you have any ideas as to how this can be problem can be solved. Would be realty glad for any suggestions from you. Cheers, James Reply nzlamb says: 9 September 2010 at 22:46 I had the same problem once and cleaning the lens fixed it. Having said that it could also be an alignment problem or worn laser. Im sure you will be pleasantly surprised by the sub mod! Reply James says: 10 September 2010 at 02:09 nzlamb, thanks again for the prompt reply.Really appreciate it! Will try out the lens clean-out as you suggested. Failing which Ill just have to have the unit taken out for the necessary alignment. Shame though if it turns out to be a worn laser.However, that may seem highly unlikely as it plays just fine when the engine is switched off. Yeah, and Im looking forward to have the mod done for the sub. May try to tacle this part myself, if I can work up the courage. Will keep you posted on developments as they come along. Cheers, James c Reply Jacob Taylor says: 29 September 2010 at 23:46 Hi NZLamb I was just connecting my second hand McIntosh Amp in my Subaru along with the McIntosh Head unit. I misread the diagram and connected the 12V to the sub pins. I believe i have stuffed the amp in doing this. Should i try to see if it is the fuse or is it now a nice paper weight? Thanks for your informative post. Regards Jake
2/28/14
Reply nzlamb says: 4 October 2010 at 17:02 To be honest Id be surprised if this destroyed the entire amp. There are no output decoupling capacitors so this means 12v would have done directly to the sub amp chip (IC405) but these are usually pretty robust. Are all channels now dead? Reply James says: 6 October 2010 at 03:05 nzlamb, sent the head unit to the local radio shop who had it serviced and it works beautiful now.No skipping,no nothing whatsoever Am enjoying every bit of my collection of CDs while driving. Next on the the list is the resistor swap in the amp to give that sub a little help. Am just a little skittish about attempting it myself so Ive decided to let the amp tech to have a go at it. Will report back on the results later. Cheers James Reply James says: 30 November 2010 at 03:14 Hi nzlamb, did the resistor swap on the power amp today and wow!!! My system sounds real good now,with just the right amount of punch in the bass. Thanks nzlamb a million. Do call me if youre around Kuala Lumpur.Be glad to show you around. You can email me @ james.peter736@gmail.com beforehand. Cheers & Shalom James Reply Vinnie says: 19 December 2010 at 12:24 Hi nzlamb. Im looking at replacing the factory HU in my RS30 very shortly. You mention that I can connect to the amp from the new HU using the + inputs only and connecting to the line of my new HU.
2/28/14
If I buy the DIN adapter and wire my own adapter, so I can go back to factory if I sell the car, how exactly would I wire the RCA ends to the + only inputs? Im assuming the center pin is wired to the + input for each channel, but what do I do with the shielded part of the cable at the DIN end? Just not connect it to anything and leave the - empty? eg. For front left, white RCA center pin to pin 1 of the DIN and the shield just neatly trimmed and not connected to anything at the DIN end? Also, when providing the 12V to pin 5 of the DIN, this should be the remote power from the HU, correct? What do I wire pins 6 and 12 to? Can I just ground them on to the cage the radio screws into (which Ive been told to do in past cars, but Im not sure if I should with this one)? Thanks for any help you can provide. Reply nzlamb says: 19 December 2010 at 21:10 Youre onto it, simply connect the centre pin of the RCA jacks to each + input. Connect the RCA shields to the DIN shield and pin 6 or 12 (doesnt matter which). If you dont use one of the ground pins just leave it disconnected. Make sure you leave the inputs disconnected. The head unit remote wire goes to pin 5. Reply Vinnie says: 20 December 2010 at 09:02 Just to make double sure, you say to connect the RCA shields to the DIN shield and pin 6 or 12. So split the shield roughly into two for each lead, at the DIN end of the cable, and take one part of the shield to the large metal outer circle for the DIN, and the other part to pin 6 or 12? Also, in order to make the adapter cable, am I after the 13 pin socket, or the plug? Its been a while since Ive had the head unit out and I cant remember what the connector looks like. You seem to refer to the pinout diagram being for the plug that connects to the back of the head unit, so Im guessing Im after the socket in order to make up the adapter cable? Thanks for your help with this, Ive been searching for info on how I was to replace this unit without having to pull new cable or spend a heap of money, and this seems to fit the bill perfectly! nzlamb says: 20 December 2010 at 19:28 You need a socket to make an adapter, but if you cant find one buy a plug and connect it directly to the amp itself. Pins 6 and 12 are interchangeable; you can use either one or both as you please as they are connected together internally. I use both as the pins can be fiddly to solder to and I find that spreading things out makes it easier to work on. Vinnie says:
2/28/14
10 January 2011 at 11:05 Hey there, Tried this over the holidays whilst I was away, and it works quite well. Little problem when the car is on Accessory, everything works fine, but if I turn it to On, there is a high frequency buzz across all the speakers. The person I was with, suggested that this could be because Ive split and soldered the RCA shield onto the ground pins as well as the DIN shield. He has suggested I solder the RCA shield to just the DIN shield and a separate cable to pin 6 and 12 for the ground and ground this to the chassis. Does this sound acceptable? If not, could you perhaps explain in a little more detail how you made up your socket for the Amp, so that I can perhaps reverse the process for just using the existing DIN plug. Thanks. nzlamb says: 10 January 2011 at 17:40 That would work, or try connecting the RCA shield to pins 6/12 and leave the DIN shield disconnected. My car is completely stock but Ive used these amps on the bench with other gear with no problems. Marty says: 10 January 2011 at 22:11 Hi nzlamb Lots of good info provided here thanks! Im having trouble replacing the McIntosh door speaker as the foam has split. Can you tell me if the foam repair kits available in the US are any good? Are they available in NZ? Thanks Reply nzlamb says: 10 January 2011 at 22:15 The foam kits from the US dont work; Ive already tried that! The problem is that the roll in the surround is too wide so you cant reattach the tweeter frame. I ended up getting some low cost ($12.95/pr) 6.5 NVS brand speakers from The Warehouse that had quite decent butyl rubber surrounds. I carefully removed the surrounds and used them to repair the McIntosh units and they fitted perfectly. They sound like new and the butyl rubber will easily outlast the original foam. Reply Marty says: 10 January 2011 at 23:03
2/28/14
Good idea, I might give it a go. What glue did you use? Ive got a bit of left over but butyl rubber cement from roofing would that do? Thanks:) nzlamb says: 10 January 2011 at 23:09 I used Sellys Plastic Glue and a year later its still as good as new. Roofing glue doesnt stick to the polypropylene cone very well; tried that with a different speaker once and it barely lasted a month. Marty says: 1 February 2011 at 14:15 Couldnt find any suitably cheap speakers to butcher for their foam. But have re foamed all four door speakers with kits from Speaker Exchange http://www.reconingspeakers.com Refoam kit 6 angle small RFK6 did the trick very nicely. System sounding great now, I might try your woofer mod next. Marty says: 10 January 2011 at 23:16 Youre right the roofing glue doesnt even want to stick to the roof for very long!!! Thanks for you help Reply Marty says: 2 March 2011 at 20:28 My system is now sounding fantastic. after replacing the 4 ohm Mcintosh subwoofer with a Lanzar 140watts RMS 69 subwoofer I did the sub mod as you suggested but with a 100k ohm pot I found lying around just great!! Thanks for all the info:) Reply Gary says: 11 March 2011 at 01:59 Hello from the UK. I stumbled across youre blog a few weeks ago and have been reading with great interest. I plan to make up a lead to connect the EF1080i to a new HU, as my Mcintosh CD/MD unit is beyond repair. Can I ask why I wouldnt just connect the HU line output RCAs + to + and - to - to the amp? Many thanks. Reply nzlamb says: 11 March 2011 at 19:33 Hi Gary, thanks for the feedback. The McIntosh amp uses balanced inputs; is the inverse of + and not ground. The RCA preamp outputs on most stereos are unbalanced and do not have a signal, just + and ground. To connect an unbalanced source to a balanced input you only use
2/28/14
the + pin and either leave the pin disconnected or tie it to ground. Connecting the RCA ground to the input instead of ground will mean the signal will end up grounded through the amp chassis or negative power feed and be very susceptible to noise. See this article on Wikipedia for more information. Reply Gary says: 29 March 2011 at 00:48 Hello again, OK, so I bought the 13 pin din socket and have soldered per you diagrams above. I do get some sound, but it is very thin if that makes sence. There is sound out of both speakers, but its almost as if the majority of volume is being cancelled out. Any ideas? Thanks in advance, Gary. Vinnie says: 29 March 2011 at 09:19 Hey Gary, Let me know if you manage to get this to work in your vehicle, as I have tried several times to get this going in my car, and have massive problems with ground loop style noise when using the unbalanced to balanced process as described above. Mine could be caused by the fact that Im plugging onto the end of the cable at the headunit end and not remanufacturing the plug down at the amp, so the remote power and the audio are running side by side along the factory cable. Id be interested to hear which way you are doing this, and if you have success. What I see is that it is fine when the ignition is at the ACC point, but as soon as I turn it to ON, the noise comes through. Start the car and accelerate and you can hear the whine through the speakers go up and down with the revs. Change back to the factory unit and everything is perfect again. Im actually at a point where Ill probably just replace the amp under the seat with a 4 channel one and stick a separate mono one in the boot to run a proper sub, or the superwoofer when I need the boot space. david (Hamilton NZ) says: 23 March 2011 at 16:27 Hi z lamb Any ideas what eror 6 means when I try to play a CD. I have a 2001 Legacy fitted with Mcintosh. Car just been recovered after being stolen. They also stole the box that was under the passenger
2/28/14
seat, the amp is still under the drivers seat. Could this be related? I dont even know what was under the pasnger seat such is my ignorance. Also the sound is really poor when I turn up the vollume on the radio. Any help much appreciated Reply Marrick Bernstein says: 25 September 2011 at 15:38 Hi Everyone, i have a 2001 Subaru Legacy with McIntosh System. The system for long time was having a lot of sound cracking and popping. Now there is completely no sound. I am wondering if it has to do with the McIntosh Amp under the seat. Is there any real way to test or fix the amp? Any help would be greatly appreciated. My email is bernstma@yahoo.com Thanks, MB Reply nzlamb says: 25 September 2011 at 17:14 Try the fix suggested in the article. Reply Marrick Bernstein says: 8 October 2011 at 16:52 Hi. I took out the amp from the car and found an enormous amount of rust on the bottom of the AMP. I took apart the amp and found some corrosion on two small sections of the circuit board. i am not too familiar with repairs on boards but wouldnt mind learning to see if I can fix this amp. I cleaned up the corrosion but I am not sure on how to test this to look for anything that may be shorted out.. The fuse in the AMP is not shorted out. I have to believe the corrosion has to be the reason why there is no sound in the stereo system. Any recommendations would be great.. I can supply pictures to try to help guide me. Thanks. nzlamb says: 8 October 2011 at 17:26 Its highly likely that the corrosion is the cause. Somebody probably spilled a drink on the floor at some stage in its life. Liquids often destroy solder joints (they will be dull and crystalline) and PCB tracks. Its a good sign that the fuse hasnt blown. Try reworking all of the solder joints with some decent new solder and you will likely see it working again; this worked for one amp I came across. If the PCB tracks are corroded you can fix them with short lengths of wire.
2/28/14
Ben says: 7 October 2011 at 10:41 Just wanted to pass on my thanks for a great and informative article! Ive just decided to add some real subs to my 02 Blitzen which was badly bastardised by a previous owner: Theres two headunits in it at the moment, neither of which are the original one and one of which is disconnected and is just a placeholder! It still has the McIntosh amp under the seat and I was hoping I could use it to drive the front speakers while purchasing a new amp for my subs, and it sounds as though I can but itll be complicated!! Thanks again for the info. Much appreciated. Ben. Reply nzlamb says: 8 October 2011 at 15:04 You sure can and it would work quite well for that IMHO. Reply Rakiura says: 23 October 2011 at 10:23 This info is really great. I recently bought an imported 2000 Legacy Lancaster. It has the McIntosh MD/CD unit but on the Jap FM band. I didnt want a band expander as Ive had poor results in past Jap imports so the dealer put in a Sony HU as a freebee. I had no idea of the amp under the seat and believe they just byassed it. However the message centre above the HU lost power and I took it back to the dealer who said they could not run the message cente off the Sony HU as it ran through the McIntosh. They put the McIntosh back so I got the message centre going again, and a band expander which is OK in city signal strength but quickly deteriorates on the northern nmotorway in Auckland. Do you have any idea how to fit a NZ band after market HU with the amplifier and still keep the message centre going. Its useful as it displays the climate control graphics. Im thinking the McIntosh is well obsolete so probably not able to be replaced with NZ (US) band variant, so a newer car stereo is better for FM receptionn and I can get a unit with Aux. In for mp3 player connection. But how to marry it to the EF-108I amp as well as keep the message centre going.? Any suggestions welcomed. nzlamb says: 23 October 2011 at 11:40 Unfortunately the satnav unit will not work at all without a CeNet connection to a Clarion/McIntosh head unit. I know because I had one in my car, and also have them sitting on my work bench. Id recommend one of two options (or even both!): Replace the satnav with a regular climate unit as described in my post on the Club Sub forums at http://www.clubsub.org.nz/forum/index.php?topic=4654.0 . Buy a good aftermarket head unit with both front and rear pre-outs and wire them to the + inputs of the amp as described above. Make sure you connect the
2/28/14
pre-out shields to ground and also ground the inputs of the amp. Convert your McIntosh tuner to local FM band and add an aux input (both described on this site). Note you will need a McIntosh HU with a tape deck, not the MD version, in order to do that. Rakiura says: 23 October 2011 at 18:07 The more I learn the more I dont understand -:). The SatNav is what I called the message centre? And my son showed me how to open the front of it and I note a CD slot. Exactly what is this unit me thinking it was just a place to display workings of the car e.g. climate control, engine alarms etc. I note that in the link you provided, the mention of CeNet. What is that? I had a car radio installer take a quick look at the car and he was of like mind to you about removing the upper display unit and replacing with a standard unit as you suggested. I must confess it seems a little daunting to tackle the climate control and the surround; and clearly some research needed before pulling it out. The McIntosh is an MD/CD variant so not the cassette version your refer to for retuning. Anyway the next step before I decide to remove the unit and the McIntosh is for a better look at the type of band expander fitted and whether there is a better one than what is fitted perhaps. I believe there are two antennas and the thought was maybe only one was connected. More investigation needed. Thanks for the info so far. Rakiura says: 18 December 2011 at 10:01 In the first sentence of your instructions on how to replace the climate control unit and removing the SATNAV you mentioned you had a copy of the CD for the SATNAV. I am assuming that with that CD it is possoble to change the default display on the screen, say to the climate control graphics(?). It displays a message in Jap characters. presumably an error mesage of some kind. The reason I ask is that I have found a guy who will install an after market tuner that he can keep the SATNAV function powered up without removing it. Leaving the standard climate control function intact. He can do it for about the same price as buying the replacement climate control unit and surround parts. It seems wreckers are on to the value of the stand-alone climate controls and surround and the price was in the order of $400. If I simply had the McIntosh replaced and could leave the SATNAV displaying the climate control, that would save me the trouble of pulling the dash apart. My main aim is replacing the McIntosh with a NZ band tuner/CD/MP3 player with Aux input, not with the SATNAV. Can you supply a copy of the CD? nzlamb says: 24 October 2011 at 00:39 Yeah its a combined GPS navigation, information system and climate display. The CD or DVD in it contains the firmware; without it the unit will just display an error in Japanese. CeNet is the interface used by Clarion/McIntosh head units to communicate with accessories such as CD changers and is also used by the satnav. There is also likely to be a factory TV tuner under one of the seats; if that is still fitted it will also interface to the satnav via CeNet. To access it press the top left hand button (next to Off) on the satnav to change it to TV; the same button that swaps between GPS and climate displays. When it goes to TV mode the
2/28/14
HU will say AUX on the screen. If it doesnt go to TV then yours has probably been ripped out. You can use the TV tuner to make a proper aux input if its there; see my climate control thread on Club Sub for a picture on how to wire it up. Japanese head units usually have two antennas for diversity reception. The main antenna connector is a standard Motorola style; the sub antenna is similar but smaller and the genders are swapped. The FM will also pass through the satnav unit for VICS reception. As we dont have VICS in NZ, you can safely bypass it and go direct to the radio. Wire the band expander to the main antenna (it will only fit in the main antenna plugs) and leave the sub antenna directly connected. The ultimate option for the McIntosh is to try and import a PF-2520I. This is an American only version with a 6 CD changer instead of a tape or MD player. It tunes NZ frequencies natively (a minor tweak is recommended though) and is awesome; I have one in my car. Unfortunately they are very rare but worth it if you can get your hands on one. Rakiura says: 24 October 2011 at 10:02 Geez youve obviously been there done that with this!! Ill have to have good fossick around always a little tentative when it comes to ripping into the dash but peering under seats I can handle. But youve given me some good pointers and food for thought. Ill wait and see what this car audio guy has to tell me when he checks the band expander and antenna hook up. Im amazed it runs the satnav with a CD in place for firmware. I see Jap characters on the screen and the buttons do nothing so Im picking its an error message and no CD in place means the unit doesnt do anything apart from the climate graphics which are probably hard wired. Thanks once again for your input. Ill consider what you have said about the replacement aircon panel. I see Partsworld are listing a few so might call and make inquiries about that and the surround. My Lancaster has the faux woodgrain plastic surround. Regards Musashi says: 14 January 2012 at 01:08 A very interesting thread. I own a BH5 (wagon) GTB E-Tune 2001. I imported the car myself from Japan to Australia about six years ago, after being the second owner in Japan. Factory spec was a McIntosh 2-din CD/MD head deck (HD) setup. Unfortunately, about six months ago the car was broken into and someone stole the head deck. Its an insurance claim, with Subaru replacing the original HD with an original McIntosh CD/cassette setup with Australian FM band. I wanted to keep the car original. All good? Well not quite, I have no right channel at volume. Subaru have tried to resolve it. Apparently the speakers are fine and Subaru believe it is the din adapter cable between the HD and amplifier which is damaged. Theyve assessed that it was stressed when the HD was literally ripped out of the vehicle. As noted in this thread, no chance to get a new din cable form Subaru. Subaru (not very impressive) have stated that the din cable is complicated and difficult to repair. So I started searching Then I found this thread
2/28/14
Also, Ive found someone in Australia who is pulling out their original HD and amp and yes, the din cable. Im pushing Subaru to fork out the money for the used package. All good? Maybe, provided the problem with the right channel is resolved by the second hand din cable. Otherwise Ill push Subaru to get an auto electrician repair the din cable as outlined in this thread. Anyone got any thoughts? Reply nzlamb says: 14 January 2012 at 09:19 I dont like their attitude; insurance is supposed to male sure the car is restored to its previous working order. I agree that the cable would be a pain to repair; it would be.much easier to replace it. Replacinging it requires taking the drivers seat out so its a little bit of work but not too bad. Any good Subaru dismantlers will have a good one available for a reasonable price. In NZ I often deal with Rosco in Ashburton and they normally have them available for about NZ$35. As stated above its pretty simple to make one from scratch too which also might be worth a shot. If you get nowhere Id suggest doing it yourself. Nice that they gave you an Aus replacement though, they are worth far more to buy than the MD unit as they are much harder to obtain. Reply Musashi says: 14 January 2012 at 14:58 Nzlamb, I dont like their attitude either. Its frustrating that I have to do all the work. The replacement HD is brand new and according to Subaru (quote to the insurers) its AUD4500!! Ive told Subaru I dont care if the required replacement DIN cable is second hand, hence it looks like theyll pay for one from a guy in Queensland. Just need it to work. Once we get the cable, over to Subaru to replace it, and all thats involved ie, removing the seat (which is electric). Its a great car, but do to a couple of changes in my life I need to move it on. Hence the desire to get it back to what is (over here in Oz) a rare example of a BH5. Reply Rakiura says: 15 January 2012 at 10:41 Nzlamb do you have a copy of the DVD for the McIntosh unit? I would like to change the default view to climate control if possible. Reply
2/28/14
PJ says: 11 February 2012 at 03:24 I own two 2002 Subaru Outback SW VDC models, both of which have the McIntosh factory audio systems. The green one has 240,000 miles and the McIntosh performs perfectly. The red one has 90,000 miles and recently the audio system went completely dead. One second it was performing fine and the next completely dead. I checked all the fuses. Apparently there are three.a 30 amp under the hood, a 20 amp under the dashboard, and a 25 amp on the amps PCB. They all look fine visably but I havent checked them with a multimeter for continuity yet. I downloaded the Clarion service manual for the amp off the internet. The head unit seems to be functioning fine. I guess I could narrow the problem down by taking the amp from the green Soob and hooking it up to the cables in the red car. If the system works good then I know the original amp is the problem and go from there. Thanks for an informative blog. Reply nzlamb says: 11 February 2012 at 10:04 Correct on the fuses. Id recommend checking the power supply voltages in the amp too. In addition there is a transistor that switches the mute pins on the amp chips that sometimes dies; see http://nzlamb.wordpress.com/2010/01/27/mcintosh-ef-1080i-silent-output-fix/ Is it possible to get a copy of the amp service manual off you so I can post it here to help others? Reply oldwiz says: 15 February 2012 at 07:48 All the fuses are fine. Theres 12V getting to the amp but when I measured the 26V and 15V power supply rails there was zero volts! Backing up to the power supply transformer there is 12V on the primaries but zero on the secondaries. Looks like the transformer (T-601 on the schematic) might be shot. Wonder if I can get another one from Clarion? Ill have to check on whether I can put the manual on the internet. I may have agreed not to when I bought it from the internet download source. There isnt much in the way of troubleshooting tips in the manual I received. It has some specs, a block diagram, exploded view parts diagram, detailed parts lists, two large schematics, and a large PCB layout diagram. The schematics do have normal operation voltages for a lot of the circuits. nzlamb says: 15 February 2012 at 22:07 To be honest Id be surprised if its the transformer thats failed; Id concentrate on checking the driver transistors and rectifier diodes around the supply to begin with. The 15v rails are derived from the 26v rails so once you get the latter going it should all begin to work. The EF-1080I PSU stage is a relatively standard design based around the common TL494 (or a clone) as found in many computer PSUs.
I have a scrapped amp lying about with a working PSU stage so if it is the transformer I
26/38
2/28/14
I have a scrapped amp lying about with a working PSU stage so if it is the transformer I could send you a replacement if you need it. No worries on the manual either, I didnt realise you had paid for it! The circuit diagrams are still very useful for troubleshooting though. PJ says: 16 February 2012 at 03:43 Yeah, I think youre right about the transformer. It looks to be in perfect shape. In any event Clarions part supplier in the US is checking availabilty. Since I have two cars with the McIntosh audio systems I might go ahead and spring for a spare, new amp from Subaru. That way Ill always have a backup and it will give me more time to troubleshoot and repair this one. Used EF-1080I amps for sale are pretty rare as the McIntosh audio system was only installed in Subarus top of the line Outback VDC model in North America for a few years. I drive long distances and good music is a must. Let me know your email and I will forward the manual. Its a zip file of about 2.5 MB. I found that it works good to print each of the schematics as a landscape poster on four sheets of 8.5 x 11 paper, then tape them together. Thanks for the tips and the very generous offer of the spare part!! Rakiura says: 12 February 2012 at 08:46 Does anyone have the DVD/CD firmware disk for the McIntosh? Reply Rakiura says: 12 February 2012 at 08:47 Correction to my previous submissiondoes anyone have the DVD/CD firmware for the SATNAV! Reply Pingback: Anonymous matt rusbatch says: 24 March 2012 at 11:34 Hi, my mcintosh suddenly has no sound coming out of the speakers in my subaru 1998 gt wagon, i removed the head unit and installed a jvc head unit, once the jvc connected there is sound on both radio and cd but only for a few seconds, and i only have sound in the two back door speakers once all wires are rejoined, there is a buzzing in the front door speakers and the sub in the boot. Is there a problem with the (mcintosh) amplifier under the drivers seat??? how can i fix this???
2/28/14
Reply James says: 10 April 2012 at 14:32 Hello, First off, thank you for this site its extremely helpful! But Im having the same problem that others are having with the alternator whine noise. Ive tried: Ive tried the RCA (+) to the (+) inputs of the McIntosh DIN cable, and the RCA shields to the (-) inputs of the DIN cable. This configuration seemed to be the quietest, but it was still not usable. since then, Ive tried connecting both the DIN and RCA shields, with the DIN (-)s disconnected, and that was very noisy. Ive also tried connecting both shields directly to the headunit ground, and it was also extremely noisy. And lastly Ive tried both the RCA shields to headunit ground, and it was also extremely noisy. Other comments talk about connecting to the #6 and 12 pins as a ground but my DIN cable doesnt have wires to it, as its internally wired to the DIN ground. At this point Im very confused because connecting the RCA shield to DIN (-) shouldnt work, but that was the quietest so far. What am I missing here? Thanks again, James Reply James says: 10 April 2012 at 14:34 Oh, and this question is about a North American Market, 2003 Outback VDC Wagon. Thanks! James Reply cj says: 9 July 2012 at 23:56 Hi guys, Ivi just finished installing an aftermarket head unit in front of one of these amps in my BE5 legacy and wanted to point out how I got around the ground loop (alternator whine) issues that a lot of people seem to have. The factory Mcintosh HU was pretty reasonable sounding but was jap frequency radio, no mp3 playback, and no usb (not surprising given its form 1999), so I decided to swap it out for a new alpine CDA-117E. BIG SCARY WARNING: do not just connect your flash new head unit up to the wiring harness behind the stereo. Unless you disconnect BOTH cables from the amp under the drivers seat (RHD model) it will short out your outputs and blow the high level outputs on your head unit after about
2/28/14
10 seconds of a loud buzzing noise coming through the speakers along with your music! The service manual says the HU > speaker wiring isnt connected to anything, but its wrong, at least it was for me. So with that very expensive mistake made, I was stuck using an amp of some sort. I looked at an aftermarket one but decided to give it a shot with the existing Mc amp first. In the spirit of my changes being reversible, I ordered a 13pin bit plug off ebay for ~$13. This was marketed as a light wiring connector and had both male and female din sockets attached to about half a meter of wire each. My plan was to use the female socket and wire it into 2x pairs of rca leads that I cut in half and could be connected straight to the HU. This would all sit in behind the HU and connect to the factory DIN cable. I followed the steps various people have mentioned above, and sure enough, there was a faint humm on acc, and some awful ground loop noise when the enigne was on. After much planning and a bit more dodgy temp wiring, I determined that the ground loop noise can be eliminated *completely*, if you change the wiring instructions a little bit, so: center pin of each of the 4x rcas goes to FL+, FR+, RL+, RR+, amp remote goes to the amp output trigger from the HU, and I joined all 4 RCA shields together, and connected this to both ground pins (6+12), as well as every channels negative output. ie nothing goes from the DIN socket directly to ground, everything negative or ground all joins to one cable that attaches to all 4 RCA shield wires. The last remaining issue I had was that the plug I had ordered had only 12 wires connected to the 13 pins, and pin 13 didnt go anywhere. This meant that the back right speaker still had ground noise coming from it. To resolve this, I stripped the coating off about 12mm of very thin tweeter wiring, and with a couple small screwdrivers fed one end of it into the hole for pin 10, and a few strands of wire down the edges of the pin 13 hole where the male din plug in the car would press against it. This essentially moved the pin13 RR- to pin 10, where I had a usable connecting wire. I then added the wire for pin 10 into my massive ground/neg wiring bundle and everything now works brilliantly. Hope this helps someone else thanks Reply Ron says: 20 October 2012 at 13:51 This helped. I still get a faint whine when the engine is running, but not as bad as it was before. I was thinking about running the (-) DIN connections to the RCA shields. I also thought about just running each separate, as in not all bundled together, as youve done. Mines a 2001 US model VDC with the McIntosh system. Its getting late here, so Ill have to finish it up tomorrow when I get back into town.
2/28/14
Reply Pingback: replacing head unit in radio - Page 3 - Subaru Outback - Subaru Outback Forums Pingback: Pinout of 13 pin din Amp Connector on McIntosh HUs - Page 2 - Subaru Outback Subaru Outback Forums Stephan says: 4 November 2012 at 01:01 Hi there, I have the PF-21421 and under seat amp set up and I want to install a Sony HU that Ive just bought which doesnt have RCA outputs just a standard harness with the +- output for FR, FL, RR, RL, Power, acc power, gnd and a power antenna output. The McIntosh HU has the rectagular 14pin harness and the 13pin DIN plug which goes to the amp as well as the 2 male and female connectors for the antenna(?). I know I might be repeating questions asked already but if I connect the DIN lead up as suggested above, what do I do with the 14pin harness? If anone has a wiring diagramme that would be super helpful. Ive been hunting all morning and cant figure this out probably a serious noob question but any help would be appreciated! Thanks a lot! Stephan Reply Pingback: Mcintosh amp - Subaru Outback - Subaru Outback Forums Pingback: Pingback: Outback rear speakers not working (originally mcintosh, now impreza stereo) - Subaru Outback - Subaru Outback Forums Tim says: 11 January 2013 at 09:42 Hi, Do you know where in Auckland or in the country I can get the components for the repair job that youve talked about? Or otherwise do you know where I could buy another one of these amps to replcae mine. Ive searched everywhere and cant seem to find much. Any help you have is greatly appreciated. Cheers, Tim Reply nzlamb says: 12 January 2013 at 11:13
Element14 sells the parts and usually deliver overnight. Regarding the amp, just search Trade30/38
2/28/14
Element14 sells the parts and usually deliver overnight. Regarding the amp, just search Trade Me. They dont come up often but when they do they usually go cheap. Reply Frank says: 19 January 2013 at 05:29 Hi, I am having a very hard time understanding how I am going to be able to connect my Pioneer 4800MP into my 2003 Subaru OBW VDC. I already took out the McIntosh HU, now im perplexed. I am about to buy the 14 pin wiring harness, but even with much reading I can not understand how the 8 pin subwoofer output and the round 13-pin pig-tail output will all connect into the amp under the seat. Ive read that 8 of the speaker outputs from the 14-pin outputs are n/c, so does this mean instead they come from the 13- pin pig-tail one? I would really appreciate any help on this, I keep reading SVXdcs posts to get more understanding but all i can get is that Im going to have to create a harness that splices into the RCA cables for the Pioneer HU (which seems to give many people a alternator whine. Thank you. Reply Red says: 17 April 2013 at 03:54 2001 US-spec VDC wagon So, Ive already made a custom harness to use my JVC stereo with the McIntosh amp. It works well, but I still get a little (not much at all) alternator whine. I ended up replacing all door speakers, since the front two were blown when I bought it. The amp seems to be holding up ok with the 4 ohm speakers (cant find 8 ohm replacements, period). I had a brainstorm that I tried to put into action the other day, but the end result was bad real bad. My idea was: get another Subaru wiring harness (Metra 70-8901) (it mates up to the harness that plugs into the amp perfectly, minus one power wire thats absent), wire up the speakers from the head unit to the harness using speaker wire according to the pinout for the McIntosh amp shown above, effectively removing the amp altogether. At first, it worked. The volume seemed a little weak, so I tried to push it. I ended up with a warning across the screen of the JVC saying to check the wiring and reset the stereo. I did so several times. I cant find a problem. In theory, shouldnt the wires just go to the speakers from the harness coming from the McIntosh amp? Would the harness need grounded? Id think the ground pins are for grounding the amp, not the speakers. I didnt try that, since it was getting late and I was getting frustrated. I threw everything back together, and called it a day. The only progress made over 4 hours was installing the antenna extension cable I wont get into what else I did that took so long
2/28/14
I noticed the dash harness has wires in all pins, which isnt used with the McIntosh stereo (for speaker output). Are these live wires? Do they go to the speakers? If so, do I have to do anything with harness that plugs into the amp under the seat? Next up: where is a good place to run the power wire for an aftermarket amp? I cant see anywhere that theres a grommet passing through behind the pedals, thanks to that extra thick rubberized sound deadening material there. I wont start drilling holes in the dark aint gonna happen. My plan was to place the aftermarket amp under the passengers seat, then use my wiring harness theory to feed power back to the stock 69 (will be upgraded), but now Im not sure. Reply nzlamb says: 22 April 2013 at 21:12 You could use that harness to push sound directly to the speakers via the old amp connector, just be aware that the pinout is very different so you would need to wire it as shown above rather than using the colour codes on the harness itself. Also, dont use the power or ground pins on that connector for the speakers. That said, theres no reason why you couldnt use that entire connector for an aftermarket amp, including the power supply. Be an easy way to fit in place of the factory amp with minimal wiring mods required. Reply Tony says: 27 April 2013 at 14:45 NZLamb, Thanks for keeping this page up to date. I have successfully fixed a dead (silent output) EF-1080i in the past as a result of this thread, however now i am faced with another problem with my new car (bugger!). My Gen4 Spec B Liberty McIntosh Amp has failed. It is a EF-1259I which looks remarkably similar, except that it has (FL,FR,RL,RR, Centre, Sub) Channels and uses TDA7296 amps. The power circuit looks near identical, and thats why im here: The problem i think lies in the power circuit as the B+ and GND are shorted out with each other, which causes the fuse in the engine compartment to blow when the amp is plugged in. Opening up the amp, there doesnt seem to be anything out of the ordinary, and there is no leaked caps or obvious blow outs. Do you have the service manual for your amp?, It would be a delight to be able to probe around knowing what should be shorted, and what shouldnt be. Anyway, any help you could provide or what to look for would be awesome! Amp Specs: http://img260.imageshack.us/img260/8255/mcintoshampschematicpg1rc9.jpg
Amp Pin Out:
32/38
2/28/14
Amp Pin Out: http://img260.imageshack.us/img260/3010/mcintoshampschematicpg2hk5.jpg (i wish i could get my hands on the rest of that image, as it has the circuit schematic!) Reply Tony says: 27 April 2013 at 15:54 Ive just bought the Service Manual for my Amp, so will dig into that a little. It is near identical to your amp, so if you want a copy, shoot me your email address so you can load it up on your page. Reply Ferdinand says: 1 August 2013 at 05:26 Hi Tony I have a Subaru Legacy SPortswagon B4 Spec B with a McIntosh EF-12081 amp system. 11 speakers. 4 in each front door and 1 in each back door + subwoofer in the boot. All the door speakers are 8 ohm but can only get 4 ohm here in Barbados. Can I use these without a problem? Also, i would also like the service manual for your amp if it is similar to the forementioned unit. Thank you in advance. janus77 says: 24 May 2013 at 15:28 Ive purchased a cheap aftermarket head unit on ebay so that we can do bluetooth phone calls and also music streaming on our MY02 Liberty B4 (macintosh head unit and under seat amp). . What im reading is, that while you can buy a 13 socket din connector and wire in the unbalanced RCA outputs from an aftermarket head unit to feed into the amp,and ground the lines, no matter which way you swing it, youre going to get some noise through the speakers? The wiring option from CJ on the 9th July last year seems like the least noise creating solution, however there is still some noise from what hes saying. I guess im now wondering if a head unit replacement is even possible while retaining decent sound/signals. I want to be able to get my car back to stock again when i sell it, so a full system rewire is not really what im looking for. Reply nzlamb says: 24 May 2013 at 18:24 To be honest, in your situation Id probably recommend one of the Anycar adapters. I put a Clarion-compatible Bluetooth version on my factory McIntosh HU and it works really well. They are all over TradeMe but Im not sure where you can buy them in Australia. Reply janus77 says:
2/28/14
24 May 2013 at 18:39 Thanks for the quick feedback, much appreciated. Yeah, guess ill just sell the Chinese one i got and try to recoup whatever i can from it, then get an adapter for the music streaming, and use the hands-free option on my phone rather than have it run through the stereo. How do i wire an anycar style adapter into the stock head unit? theres a square looking plug in the back of the Macintosh unit thats not in use, is that it? Reply janus77 says: 24 May 2013 at 18:49 ah, theres a blog post on your site on it.. sry. Reply Gloss says: 24 June 2013 at 19:46 Did the sub boost.sweet! used a slightly high value 46.2k resistor my systems sounds totally different.thanx man! Reply Rich Steele says: 3 July 2013 at 13:59 i have a HU but no amp and want to refit 01LLbean wagon to McIntosh. emailed info would be greatly appreciated. Reply nzlamb says: 8 July 2013 at 08:26 The HU will be a drop-in replacement if the factory wiring is still intact, except for the speakers. You will need to supply an amp of some sort (even if its not a McIntosh one) and re-route the speaker wiring to it. In JDM vehicles theres a suitable ground point under the RH front seat and you can take power from the dedicated, fused high-current feed intended for the McIntosh amp. This normally exists even if you dont have the McIntosh as a factory option; look for a fuse marked Amplifier in the fusebox under the dash (you will need to remove the kick panel to get to it). The connector is a large four pin connector under the dash facing down; look for a spare terminal and measure the pins while pulling the fuse to see which one to hook to. Reply Rich Steele says: 8 July 2013 at 10:23 Thanks, this helps. Which is easier, Mc amp or replacement amp? Got sugestions for suitable or better fit amps? What about under seat sub & 6 disc under stock HU? What is VDC switch under HU for? Lots of ?s, sorry, starting from scratch here, hardly any help or info around. Thanks again, Rich. VinnieNZ says: 10 July 2013 at 11:21
2/28/14
Hi NZLamb this is good info re: the amp wiring, I was just looking at doing something like this to replace the McIntosh amp in my vehicle. A question regarding the wiring Im looking at a fairly low powered amp, a 350W Alpine Mono (this one actually: http://www.crutchfield.com/S-wt4oCn8KGOg/p_500MRPM350/Alpine-MRP-M350.html). I see it recommends that I should use 8 gauge wiring for the power and ground feeds, I dont suppose you happen to know what gauge wiring is there for the amp power feed in the factory install, or if it would be enough to successfully and safely drive this amp. The idea will be to use it to power a sub the majority of the time, but when I require the boot space, Ill probably just hook it back up to the McIntosh superwoofer in the parcel tray. Ill be looking to use as much factory wiring as possible, I want to be able to refit the factory setup when I sell the car (so far Ive easily managed to achieve this). nzlamb says: 10 July 2013 at 17:41 That Alpine unit rated at 200WRMS into 4 Ohms at 1% THD so its realistic output power is slightly below that (unless you drive a 2 Ohm load). The factory McIntosh power feed has a 20A fuse (i.e. it can supply 240W max at 12v). Accounting for inefficiencies in the amp it would be pretty close. Id suggest at least trying it if you wanted a quick solution; provided you dont run it at maximum volume for long periods it will likely be sufficient. If the fuse blows then its time to run a dedicated cable. John says: 1 August 2013 at 03:04 Hi. I am replacing the HU of a 2002 Subaru Legacy with a newer unit with Bluetooth. After wiring the harness to the 13 pin mini din connector to the preamp, the preamp has a noticeable whine when on. The audio channels seem to work OK, but was wondering what might cause this. The only thing different from standard would be non twisted pairs for the inputs and the din shroud does not connect to anything on the new harness. I removed it because it would not let the original connector seat properly. Any thoughts would help. Thanks. Reply Pingback: Need help replacing 2002 McIntosh Head Unit - Subaru Outback - Subaru Outback Forums Pingback: Anonymous shawndmeslanted says: 30 November 2013 at 08:40 NZlamb Thanks for all this info. Im not a really technical guy. I think youre saying one of these should work http://www.anycarlink.com/
https://www.isimplesolutions.com/unive
35/38
2/28/14
https://www.isimplesolutions.com/unive rsal-solutions-TranzIt-IS77.aspx?mode=review http://www.cushieaudio.com.au/subaru-ipd3.html If you dont want to keep bumping this you can email me at shAwnsadjatumwadee@gmail Reply Tom says: 19 December 2013 at 04:33 Hi, this is a fantastic blog with heaps of info, keep up the good work. I have a question, if i was to connect a powered external subwoofer would i connect it to the subwoofer output of the amplifier through a speaker to line level converter or to the rear speakers through a line level converter? Reply nzlamb says: 19 December 2013 at 06:17 Id do it to the rears so you can bypass the low pass filter and use the one in the new sub. It will give you a little more control over the sound. Reply Tom says: 19 December 2013 at 09:10 Great! Thanks for your advice. I had done that in my last car, but didnt even think about it in this one. Im probably going to install some of the subwoofer stuff either today or tomorrow. Any tips on running power and ground in this car? Im trying to keep records of my work on its own blog for the North American owners, since the cars may differ just slightly. The URL is in the reply info. Tom says: 19 December 2013 at 23:53 so do the rear speakers have no low pass filter in the amplifier then? sounds good i will hook it up to them cheers Tom nzlamb says: 20 December 2013 at 06:17 Correct, they are full range so your sub will need its own low pass filter. Rich Steele says:
2/28/14
11 January 2014 at 09:25 What amp should I use 2 replace the McIntosh amp 98 Subaru? Craig says: 29 December 2013 at 19:18 Hi, I have this setup in my subaru outback. Has performed very well until recently. It has started loud crackling and popping no matter what volume the head unit is set at. I thought it could be loose connections and am having a look this afternoon. Found this site as a great resource and would be glad for any pointers you may have and if you have heard of this problem before. Thanks heaps and loved your diagrams and advice Craig Reply nzlamb says: 10 January 2014 at 17:10 I assume this is in all speakers? Id first try hooking a different amp to the output of the head unit (see the pinout above ignore the negative (cold) outputs) and see if you still experience it to help isolate the cause to the amp itself. Check that none of the amp connections are loose too. If its the amp its probably either the muting circuit or the power supply section. Id also suggest replacing the muting transistor as it seems to be a weak point in these amps. It could even be on its way out and causing the problem in the first place. Ive got an article on this for more information. Reply Tyron says: 23 January 2014 at 12:43 Hey there, just wanted to drop a thanks for supplying this information! Ive got a 2007 Legacy (based in Tauranga) where the headunit has failed, so am putting in a new headunit and amp (wanted a new amp anyways) and the wiring info for this is really, really handy! So just a big thanks for posting this, and continuing to answer questions! Reply
Blog at WordPress.com . The Enterprise Theme. Follow
Follow My Blog
2/28/14
Powered by WordPress.com
38/38

McIntosh EF-1080I Information - My Blog

Transféré par

Informations du document

Titre original

Copyright

Formats disponibles

Partager ce document

Partager ou intégrer le document

Options de partage

Avez-vous trouvé ce document utile ?

Ce contenu est-il inapproprié ?

Droits d'auteur :

Formats disponibles

McIntosh EF-1080I Information - My Blog

Transféré par

Droits d'auteur :

Formats disponibles

2/28/14

McIntosh EF-1080I Information | My Blog

Block Diagram and Description

McIntosh EF-1080I Information | My Blog

McIntosh EF-1080I Information | My Blog

Wagon and Sedan

Front Left + Front Left Front Right +

Pink Violet Orange

McIntosh EF-1080I Information | My Blog

Blue Red Shield Green Grey Light Green Shield Brown

Front Left + Front Left Front Right +

Blue White/Blue Orange

McIntosh EF-1080I Information | My Blog

White/Orange Separate Shield Green White/Green Brown Shield White/Brown

McIntosh EF-1080I Information | My Blog

Other Useful Info

McIntosh EF-1080I Information | My Blog

McIntosh EF-1080I Information | My Blog

McIntosh EF-1080I Information | My Blog

McIntosh EF-1080I Information | My Blog

McIntosh EF-1080I Information | My Blog

About these ads (http://en.wordpress.com/aboutthese-ads/)

LP-2020A+ Lepai Tripath Class-T Hi-Fi

FILED UNDER CAR AUDIO

TAGGED WITH CAR AUDIO, MCINTOSH, SUBARU

105 Responses to McIntosh EF-1080I Information

McIntosh EF-1080I Information | My Blog

McIntosh EF-1080I Information | My Blog

McIntosh EF-1080I Information | My Blog

McIntosh EF-1080I Information | My Blog

McIntosh EF-1080I Information | My Blog

McIntosh EF-1080I Information | My Blog

McIntosh EF-1080I Information | My Blog

McIntosh EF-1080I Information | My Blog

McIntosh EF-1080I Information | My Blog

McIntosh EF-1080I Information | My Blog

McIntosh EF-1080I Information | My Blog

McIntosh EF-1080I Information | My Blog

McIntosh EF-1080I Information | My Blog

McIntosh EF-1080I Information | My Blog

McIntosh EF-1080I Information | My Blog

McIntosh EF-1080I Information | My Blog

McIntosh EF-1080I Information | My Blog

McIntosh EF-1080I Information | My Blog

McIntosh EF-1080I Information | My Blog

McIntosh EF-1080I Information | My Blog

McIntosh EF-1080I Information | My Blog

Amp Pin Out:

McIntosh EF-1080I Information | My Blog

McIntosh EF-1080I Information | My Blog

McIntosh EF-1080I Information | My Blog

McIntosh EF-1080I Information | My Blog

McIntosh EF-1080I Information | My Blog

Blog at WordPress.com . The Enterprise Theme. Follow

McIntosh EF-1080I Information | My Blog

Vous aimerez peut-être aussi