I Hate Mark Levinson

[YezusLX]

Reading back through what you have written. It appears that something is causing the OEM Mark Levinson amp to shut off. The most likely offender is a dead short. Dead short is typically a blown speaker. when it moves (an electrical signal passes through it) it connects briefly and then shorts( think a break in connection) causing the amp to protect itself. The other likely cause could be the amp itself has a short. Meaning dead channel, or bad ground. If it is a bad ground it could be from the new harness (unlikely) or the radio chassis is not grounded. Or again a bad channel as in speaker blown. Hunting for speakers starts by unplugging all and then plugging them in one at a time until the amp shuts down. If I was a betting man, I would say the subwoofer or center channel. The sub likes to dry out and go to pieces and does take lots of abuse. The center channel sits in the sun all day every day drying out as well. I hope that helps a little bit.

 

[TheBooth1984]

Okay, so super frustrating, I hate when things should work, but don't!

I think it is all starting at the basics and retracing steps. I assume the head unit appears to have power and working correctly... minus no sound? Have you tried different source material... radio, phone, satellite? Shouldn't make a difference but it can eliminate other possibilities.

Does the install use the speaker outputs from the head unit or the RCAs? I don't have it in my brain, but you should be able to google how to confirm signal is being transmitted with a multimeter. Do you have a multimeter?

Does the amp appear to have power, light up, etc.? I assume the amp correctly powered sound before you started the head unit build? Have you confirmed that there is a signal coming through the amp turn-on wire from the harness to the amp? A signal that appears when the head unit is on and disappears when it is off?

Frustrating. Good luck. All I can suggest without a wiring diagram is to confirm the purpose and signal of every wire is doing its job... but like an hour doing that has to be easier than going back to scratch!

Last part of the mystery. So if I plug my old nav head unit back up, it works. Of course the screen is dark and I can’t change the station, but I get static from the speakers and can adjust volume.

I’m at wits end.

 

[YezusLX]

That is odd. Gonna take a stab and say you may have accidentally turned down the dimmer. and one of the two antennas is maybe not all the way in their homes. Or mast came disconnected somewhere during the pulling and pushing. I am sorry it did not work out. But maybe you could swing by a best buy or one of those types of stores and see if they still have an install department. I think they charge about $100 for our trucks to throw in a radio.

 

[WTB]

I recently purchased a 2002 LX with factory navigation (FML) and my amp is cutting out whenever I crank the volume. The previous owner had new speakers and TranzitBLU installed, which likely explains the amp cutting out. Has anybody been able to replace the factory amp with an aftermarket one without replacing the factory head unit and climate controls? I've been readfing all day and haven't seen anything indicating it is possible.

 

[txsportsman]

If the amp is turning on and off it is an amp problem. Not a harness issue. They are getting the correct voltage. The amp may just be going bad. Many of those systems had/were refurbished at dealers in their lifespan for these issues. May need to just do an amp bypass at that point. YotaMD has a great video on how to accomplish this without losing your mind or pulling out your hairs. I bypassed mine because I wanted to use a different amp anyway. I use the little tiny amps from ALpine and JL audio and they can be stashed in the dash or under the seat without giving up much space. They offer a lot more power and clarity as well. There has been an immense amount of changes since the invention of the iPhone in 2007 with digital music that these old systems are not really equipped to handle. Most of the time the sound is lower volume or muffled when piped through OEM systems.

Which amps do you use? Thanks!

 

[YezusLX]

Which amps do you use? Thanks!

Currently, I am using an Alpine iLX-W650 head unit along with Alpine's KTP-445A and KTA-200M amps on some Focal Flax series 6.75" 2 Way components and Bazooka subwoofer only in the OEM location. Running regular 2-ohm JBL mid-tier series (don't remember the official name) coaxials off the head unit in the rear door for filler. Changing to JL Audio amps MX 500.4 or 600/3 for doors and running the MX500.1 separately for a separate sub with quick disconnects to Bazooka. I like these little amps (about the size of a brick) because they can be hidden anywhere. They are digital so the olden days of MOSFETs needing to be cooled are no more. And the JL stuff is waterproof. They are kind of pricey but they have outlasted the four vehicles they have been in so I call that money well spent.

It's mostly old stuff I had lying around the house from my car stereo days. But once I got into SQ-type stuff it was really hard to go back. Now that I am deaf the only way to enjoy music is by physical listening meaning I still have transmission through bone. So, it's gotta be LOUD. But clear. Most everyone enjoys the clarity just don't need it at the volume I do. JL Audio has lower power offerings as well (check speaker RMS requirements) but I have always been in the camp of more power is better because lack of power kills speakers. Once I get implants I can simply just pipe it in via Bluetooth but until that day everyone gets to listen to my stuff and I will just be a 40-year-old teenager bumping down the block in my LX.

Hope that rambling helps you out.

 

[txsportsman]

Def

Currently, I am using an Alpine iLX-W650 head unit along with Alpine's KTP-445A and KTA-200M amps on some Focal Flax series 6.75" 2 Way components and Bazooka subwoofer only in the OEM location. Running regular 2-ohm JBL mid-tier series (don't remember the official name) coaxials off the head unit in the rear door for filler. Changing to JL Audio amps MX 500.4 or 600/3 for doors and running the MX500.1 separately for a separate sub with quick disconnects to Bazooka. I like these little amps (about the size of a brick) because they can be hidden anywhere. They are digital so the olden days of MOSFETs needing to be cooled are no more. And the JL stuff is waterproof. They are kind of pricey but they have outlasted the four vehicles they have been in so I call that money well spent.

It's mostly old stuff I had lying around the house from my car stereo days. But once I got into SQ-type stuff it was really hard to go back. Now that I am deaf the only way to enjoy music is by physical listening meaning I still have transmission through bone. So, it's gotta be LOUD. But clear. Most everyone enjoys the clarity just don't need it at the volume I do. JL Audio has lower power offerings as well (check speaker RMS requirements) but I have always been in the camp of more power is better because lack of power kills speakers. Once I get implants I can simply just pipe it in via Bluetooth but until that day everyone gets to listen to my stuff and I will just be a 40-year-old teenager bumping down the block in my LX.

Hope that rambling helps you out.

A little technical but I think I dig. Thanks! I am going to start looking at this upgrade so I’m sure I’ll have a couple questions along the way. Appreciate the input.

 

[YezusLX]

Def

A little technical but I think I dig. Thanks! I am going to start looking at this upgrade so I’m sure I’ll have a couple questions along the way. Appreciate the input.

You're welcome. Bring on the questions! The only dumb ones are the ones not asked.

 

[Dparo]

Just read his wiki. I don't like him either.

Serious though, just dump the factory amp and get something else and make life easier.

 

[txsportsman]

You're welcome. Bring on the questions! The only dumb ones are the ones not asked.

So how many amps are you currently running? I want a new head unit and would like to replace all speakers in my 2001 LX 470.

 

[YezusLX]

So how many amps are you currently running? I want a new head unit and would like to replace all speakers in my 2001 LX 470.

Just two amps. The 4 channel or point4 on model numbers is for the front doors. Two channels for tweeters and two-channel for mid-bass 6.5/6.75" speakers. This is commonly called an active setup. The rear doors just run on radio power alone. The second amp (the mono or 1 channel .1) powers the bazooka sub in the OEM location. I need more boom boom so I will run a separate sub when not loaded with cargo hence the need for more power.

Simple answer for you. You can replace the radio and run four speakers off of it with zero issues. The radio should supply enough power to run some low-end regular nothing fancy type of speakers. Any speaker requiring more than 25-45 watts of power (RMS) meaning: for simplicity's sake your constant requirement of power will likely need an amp for better clarity, more volume, and less likely to blow or short out. You can install a radio, and run your own speaker wires to new door speakers. Problem solved. If you want to retain the OEM wires then you will need to perform what know as an amplifier bypass and basically skip over the amp and use the factory speaker wires to run your new speakers. The next step is running amplifiers. I highly recommend this step because it will actually be an improvement in sound over the pretty decent factory stereo setup currently in the vehicle.

I hope this does not overwhelm you. Let me know if I can help. Also, check out JerryB. He is the resident wiring guru here. He has some pretty easy-to-follow how-tos written up as well.

Beatsonic (plug-and-play harnesses and dash kits)
Metra (also plug and play for radio and speakers)
Pac Audio (same as above)