Stereo FAQ

[4LoforSno]

Success! Sorry in advance, as this post is gonna be a bear (and no real pictures either), but for those like me who want an easy to follow guide to install a stereo, I think this will be worth it...

Simple Cheap Stereo Install (w/Amp Bypass)

Parts-
-$90 Miratowa TH0011 (https://a.co/d/fyZzQMe)
-$10 Metra 70-8112 Harness (https://a.co/d/hpfkXlL)
-Assorted Butt connectors, wire screws, and wire taps
-Wire cutting/crimping/stripping tool
-10mm wrench
-14mm wrench

Time required- 2 hrs, mostly spent splicing connections at an easy pace. Less if you've done it before.

Here are the only two references I needed to make this happen, aside from the bag the Metra harness came in and the startup guide for the Miratowa head unit. The first is from the site mentioned in the beginning of this thread, and the second is from this site- https://tlcfaq.com/main/2012/05/land-cruiser-lx-470-stereo-wiring/

View attachment 3308584

View attachment 3308585

Step 1.
Build the Harness.

Modify the Metra harness. Because you're not using passive RCAs to the amp, youll have to clip the RCAs off and splice the Metra harness to the Miratowa harness. Remember that shared ground on the RCAs is the Speaker Ground (S GROUND), so all the negatives (FR-, FL-, RR-, RL-) will splice to that. Everything is super easy because the colors match between the Metra and Miratowa harnesses. Best part is that you can do this indoors with some beers and take your time.

The only issue with the Metra harness that I found is that it doesnt have a spot for ILLUM. You'll have to tap that guy (Pin 9) on install later, or be like me and just say screw it!

Step 2.
Amp Delete.

Remove the amp and jumper the power for your headunit as well as the speakers.

Amp removal- there are two forward 10mm bolts (one which you'll want to return as it's an anchor for a ground), and two aft 10mm bolts hidden under a foam block. Remove all the bolts, disconnect the connectors, and boom- amp gone!

Jumpering Connections- There are two connectors; S7 (little guy, comes from the headunit), and S6 (big guy, pushes signal to speakers).

First splice all your power connections.

On Connector S7 remove pin 3 (B+ out) and on Connector S6 remove pin 7 (B+ in) and butt splice them blue and gold bad boys.

On Connector S7 remove pins 2 (accessory in) and 9 (accessory out) and splice em together.

On Connector S7 remove pin 10 (ground int) and on Connector S6 remove pin 13 (Ground out) and splice em!

That's all your power splices. Now for your speaker splices.

Front Right- On Connector S7 remove pin 6 (yellow) and on Connector S6 remove pin 1 (yellowish green). Splice em!

Front Left- On Connector S7 remove pin 5 (pink) and on Connector S6 remove pin 2 (pink). Splice em!

Rear Right- On Connector S7 remove pin 14 (red) and on Connector S6 remove pin 3 (red). Splice em!

Rear Left- On Connector S7 remove pin 13 (white) and on Connector S6 remove pin 4 (black). Splice em!

Speaker grounds- On Connector S7 remove pin 11 (black). This is the speaker ground. Hold onto this guy for a second. On Connector S6 remove pins 8, 9, 10, and 11 (purple, blue, white, and yellow- all the ones that were directly underneath what you just spliced). All these guys will get spliced together to the speaker ground.

I know. That was a lot of splicing, and this is supposed to be simple. It is! This is as simple as it gets with the LC.

Step 3.
Install the stereo.

This is the easy part. The center dash just pops off. I used the brackets from the side of the OEM headunit to mount my new one.

Now that you have everything spliced under the passenger seat and the harness spliced together and ready, you literally just have to put it in, plug the harness into the headunit and the P500 connector (the only one that fits the harness).

Step 4.
Add Options.

There are a ton of optional components you can add to the mix here before you button up, or later when you decide to do the work. I'll try to cover what I can think of.

-Backup Camera/Forward Camera
I'm not going to run through a full backup camera install, but instead remain focused on the headunit side of the install.
On install if you decide to add the backup camera, you'll have to tap the Reverse signal from the ECU behind the glove box.
Forward camera requires no such tap, but will require you running the feed in through the firewall. A good place is right in that same area, behind the ECU.

-Antenna
The LC uses one standard mast antenna and a second antenna in the rear window glass. The standard power antenna is plenty powerful and uses a normal connector, but if you really want to connect up that rear glass guy as well just to get a bit more reception range, you'll need an antenna splitter and an mda b adapter.

-Microphone
The main reason I installed this is to get better call quality while driving, so a microphone was an essential upgrade for me. I mounted mine on top of the steering column- putting it close to me but out of the way, and not in a place where it will be affected by breeze from the windows or AC.

-Sub
You'll note I didn't wire in the stock sub. That's honestly because it's rather anemic and frankly I dont like how it's tuned (totally personal preference). Instead I have ordered an underseat powered sub which I'll install where the stock amp used to sit under the passenger seat. Several folks have had luck with them, and the largest I've been able to find record of having been installed was approx 10x13x3.5, although I believe you could grab a bit of space and bring that up to about 10x16x4, depending on how good you are at clearancing space in that spot. That said, anything that big would really be pushing your luck.
As for routing, it's just a quick run of RCAs from the back of the headunit to the sub, and then tap into the power and grounds that you spliced first thing earlier. If it needs a remote on signal, you can grab that from Connector S7 pin 1.

Hope this helps someone else! Not gonna lie- with all of this info in various places across the internet I was super nervous to tackle this, but if I had been able to use a reference like this early on I probably would have done it weeks ago. Cheers!

how did you eliminate the buzzing?

 

[War Rig]

how did you eliminate the buzzing?

Full amp delete. It's as quiet as death now when the sound is muted. I really thought the amp delete would be more difficult. It was just a little time consuming.

 

[4LoforSno]

Thanks...I added aftermarket amps, reusing front/side speakers, replaced rear sub driver only, reused box, have a sub amp, it all sounds good...but, have some engine whine...not quite a swarm of mosquitoes but it aint silent...open to suggestions...currently just grounded under the pass seat on frame....power supply lines are updated, clean install...

 

[War Rig]

Thanks...I added aftermarket amps, reusing front/side speakers, replaced rear sub driver only, reused box, have a sub amp, it all sounds good...but, have some engine whine...not quite a swarm of mosquitoes but it aint silent...open to suggestions...currently just grounded under the pass seat on frame....power supply lines are updated, clean install...

In that case a Ground Loop Isolator for your RCAs that go to the amp is what I suggest. You can install it at the headunit or at the amp, doesn't really matter. I really think if my grounding issue wasnt so bad (wife insisted she was feeling current when sitting in the passenger seat), the GLIRCA I bought would have sorted my issues out.

 

[usedname]

So I got a stereo question.

What the hell makes the Mark Levinson so Mark Levinsony?

It's amazing for folk and Indian/Western classical music. I hear a lot more of the mid bass in this car than I do in other sound setups I have. On the other hand, it's pretty awful for really high distortion, highly abrasive rock of various kinds. That kind of music sounds pretty bad.

WHY?

No one answered my question, probably cause they're too afraid to come face to face with the ML's superiority to all these cheap ass subs, I tell you.

That's alright. I knew this, as I got in my truck today and turned up the bass on Mama Tried.

CLATTER CLATTER CLATTER

Dammit. I just got done refoaming everything. Spent my work day with visions of off-center voice coils in my head. Drove home and backed it in to the garage. By now I've gotten real fast with trim removal. Foam is intact, but CLATTER CLATTER CLATTER. Thought I might get lucky with a loose wire. Turned out to be the spider. The outer rim is detached 3/4 of the way round.

Everybody on youtubes fixes it with 2 part epoxy but I went to the simplyspeakers-supplied rubber cement, cause I have like 3 tubes left. It was a horror show trying to make sure I didn't leave any gaps, and I flooded the center of the spider/voice coil interface for good measure and good luck.

And if this didn't fix it, a brand new one is available on impex for the low low (low low low) price of 400 smacks.



EDIT: IT WORKS!

 

[FamilyCamper]

Advise from just going through the process for better sound. Spend the money or save the money. Doing anything in between is mostly hassle with little gain or worse outcome.

Just finished amp bypass and new amp install but have some serious whine and the subwoofer (Skar wired in 8ohm config) is underpowered even more than when it was running off the OEM amp. I have double checked all splicing for amp bypass and tested multiple different grounding options otherwise but I still have hissing coming from the driver front speaker the most and the other speakers have whine when the car is on. It is definitely increased when the car is running and revs go up.

All speakers work but an idea is that there is a ground issue causing the hiss with the connections from the oem headunit to the amplifier. The amp has settings for speaker wire input but there are not individual negatives coming out of the HU. Each speaker output shared the common ground. When I hooked it up to the amp adapter I tied each negative (amp adapter wires) to the black speaker ground wire (SGND).

Crutchfield tech thought it was interference pre amp which i have tested using a factory speaker plugged in directly to the amp output and I still had the hiss. I ordered a new headunit now to try and see if it fixes it.

UPDATE
I got it working and not more hissing but I had to replace the HU from the OEM to the Pioneer. The subwoofer has good power now and sound is so much better than before. I spent about $700 on this upgrade.


Setup:
2000LC no nav
Pioneer MVH-S622BS - $150
4 polk audio db 652 100watt rms 4ohm - $200
Skar 6.5 subwoofer 4ohm 200watt rms - $60
Amp - Pioneer GM-DX975 RMS Power: 75Wx4; 175Wx1. - $300

 

[4PF RIS]

Success! Sorry in advance, as this post is gonna be a bear (and no real pictures either), but for those like me who want an easy to follow guide to install a stereo, I think this will be worth it...

Simple Cheap Stereo Install (w/Amp Bypass)

Parts-
-$90 Miratowa TH0011 (https://a.co/d/fyZzQMe)
-$10 Metra 70-8112 Harness (https://a.co/d/hpfkXlL)
-Assorted Butt connectors, wire screws, and wire taps
-Wire cutting/crimping/stripping tool
-10mm wrench
-14mm wrench

Time required- 2 hrs, mostly spent splicing connections at an easy pace. Less if you've done it before.

Here are the only two references I needed to make this happen, aside from the bag the Metra harness came in and the startup guide for the Miratowa head unit. The first is from the site mentioned in the beginning of this thread, and the second is from this site- https://tlcfaq.com/main/2012/05/land-cruiser-lx-470-stereo-wiring/

View attachment 3308584

View attachment 3308585

Step 1.
Build the Harness.

Modify the Metra harness. Because you're not using passive RCAs to the amp, youll have to clip the RCAs off and splice the Metra harness to the Miratowa harness. Remember that shared ground on the RCAs is the Speaker Ground (S GROUND), so all the negatives (FR-, FL-, RR-, RL-) will splice to that. Everything is super easy because the colors match between the Metra and Miratowa harnesses. Best part is that you can do this indoors with some beers and take your time.

The only issue with the Metra harness that I found is that it doesnt have a spot for ILLUM. You'll have to tap that guy (Pin 9) on install later, or be like me and just say screw it!

Step 2.
Amp Delete.

Remove the amp and jumper the power for your headunit as well as the speakers.

Amp removal- there are two forward 10mm bolts (one which you'll want to return as it's an anchor for a ground), and two aft 10mm bolts hidden under a foam block. Remove all the bolts, disconnect the connectors, and boom- amp gone!

Jumpering Connections- There are two connectors; S7 (little guy, comes from the headunit), and S6 (big guy, pushes signal to speakers).

First splice all your power connections.

On Connector S7 remove pin 3 (B+ out) and on Connector S6 remove pin 7 (B+ in) and butt splice them blue and gold bad boys.

On Connector S7 remove pins 2 (accessory in) and 9 (accessory out) and splice em together.

On Connector S7 remove pin 10 (ground int) and on Connector S6 remove pin 13 (Ground out) and splice em!

That's all your power splices. Now for your speaker splices.

Front Right- On Connector S7 remove pin 6 (yellow) and on Connector S6 remove pin 1 (yellowish green). Splice em!

Front Left- On Connector S7 remove pin 5 (pink) and on Connector S6 remove pin 2 (pink). Splice em!

Rear Right- On Connector S7 remove pin 14 (red) and on Connector S6 remove pin 3 (red). Splice em!

Rear Left- On Connector S7 remove pin 13 (white) and on Connector S6 remove pin 4 (black). Splice em!

Speaker grounds- On Connector S7 remove pin 11 (black). This is the speaker ground. Hold onto this guy for a second. On Connector S6 remove pins 8, 9, 10, and 11 (purple, blue, white, and yellow- all the ones that were directly underneath what you just spliced). All these guys will get spliced together to the speaker ground.

I know. That was a lot of splicing, and this is supposed to be simple. It is! This is as simple as it gets with the LC.

Step 3.
Install the stereo.

This is the easy part. The center dash just pops off. I used the brackets from the side of the OEM headunit to mount my new one.

Now that you have everything spliced under the passenger seat and the harness spliced together and ready, you literally just have to put it in, plug the harness into the headunit and the P500 connector (the only one that fits the harness).

Step 4.
Add Options.

There are a ton of optional components you can add to the mix here before you button up, or later when you decide to do the work. I'll try to cover what I can think of.

-Backup Camera/Forward Camera
I'm not going to run through a full backup camera install, but instead remain focused on the headunit side of the install.
On install if you decide to add the backup camera, you'll have to tap the Reverse signal from the ECU behind the glove box.
Forward camera requires no such tap, but will require you running the feed in through the firewall. A good place is right in that same area, behind the ECU.

-Antenna
The LC uses one standard mast antenna and a second antenna in the rear window glass. The standard power antenna is plenty powerful and uses a normal connector, but if you really want to connect up that rear glass guy as well just to get a bit more reception range, you'll need an antenna splitter and an mda b adapter.

-Microphone
The main reason I installed this is to get better call quality while driving, so a microphone was an essential upgrade for me. I mounted mine on top of the steering column- putting it close to me but out of the way, and not in a place where it will be affected by breeze from the windows or AC.

-Sub
You'll note I didn't wire in the stock sub. That's honestly because it's rather anemic and frankly I dont like how it's tuned (totally personal preference). Instead I have ordered an underseat powered sub which I'll install where the stock amp used to sit under the passenger seat. Several folks have had luck with them, and the largest I've been able to find record of having been installed was approx 10x13x3.5, although I believe you could grab a bit of space and bring that up to about 10x16x4, depending on how good you are at clearancing space in that spot. That said, anything that big would really be pushing your luck.
As for routing, it's just a quick run of RCAs from the back of the headunit to the sub, and then tap into the power and grounds that you spliced first thing earlier. If it needs a remote on signal, you can grab that from Connector S7 pin 1.

Hope this helps someone else! Not gonna lie- with all of this info in various places across the internet I was super nervous to tackle this, but if I had been able to use a reference like this early on I probably would have done it weeks ago. Cheers!

I just did an install similar to this. I did not use the Metra harness however. I just spliced the necessary power, speaker ground, acc, and ground wires directly from the new head unit harness to the factory harness wiring. Then I ran new speaker wire from the head unit to the passenger seat harness and spliced the positive wires there, and spliced all the negatives with the ground wire like you stated. I also made all the necessary power connections under the seat to bypass the factory amp and remove it.

After completing the install, my head unit turns on and works just fine, but it will only play music for about 4 minutes before the music gets quieter and quieter and then just stops producing sound.
There is also a buzzing noise coming from the speakers or head unit.

I read in another thread, that “tying speaker ground wires together is a sure fire way to fry your new head unit”.

Behind the head unit, I spliced the speaker ground, and the ground wires together. Under the passenger seat, I spliced all the negative speaker wire to the speaker ground wire.

I’m thinking my problem is lying in one of these two steps. Does anyone have any advice on what I should do?

 

[PabloCruise]

I just did an install similar to this. I did not use the Metra harness however. I just spliced the necessary power, speaker ground, acc, and ground wires directly from the new head unit harness to the factory harness wiring. Then I ran new speaker wire from the head unit to the passenger seat harness and spliced the positive wires there, and spliced all the negatives with the ground wire like you stated. I also made all the necessary power connections under the seat to bypass the factory amp and remove it.

After completing the install, my head unit turns on and works just fine, but it will only play music for about 4 minutes before the music gets quieter and quieter and then just stops producing sound.
There is also a buzzing noise coming from the speakers or head unit.

I read in another thread, that “tying speaker ground wires together is a sure fire way to fry your new head unit”.

Behind the head unit, I spliced the speaker ground, and the ground wires together. Under the passenger seat, I spliced all the negative speaker wire to the speaker ground wire.

I’m thinking my problem is lying in one of these two steps. Does anyone have any advice on what I should do?

No advice, but I will be watching for what the smart people say!

 

[War Rig]

I just did an install similar to this. I did not use the Metra harness however. I just spliced the necessary power, speaker ground, acc, and ground wires directly from the new head unit harness to the factory harness wiring. Then I ran new speaker wire from the head unit to the passenger seat harness and spliced the positive wires there, and spliced all the negatives with the ground wire like you stated. I also made all the necessary power connections under the seat to bypass the factory amp and remove it.

After completing the install, my head unit turns on and works just fine, but it will only play music for about 4 minutes before the music gets quieter and quieter and then just stops producing sound.
There is also a buzzing noise coming from the speakers or head unit.

I read in another thread, that “tying speaker ground wires together is a sure fire way to fry your new head unit”.

Behind the head unit, I spliced the speaker ground, and the ground wires together. Under the passenger seat, I spliced all the negative speaker wire to the speaker ground wire.

I’m thinking my problem is lying in one of these two steps. Does anyone have any advice on what I should do?

Went back through the pictures I took when I did it. I DID combine all my Speaker GND together, but not with my main GND. Hope this helps!

 

[4PF RIS]

Went back through the pictures I took when I did it. I DID combine all my Speaker GND together, but not with my main GND. Hope this helps!

Yep figured it out yesterday shortly after my post. Went back and got rid of the negative ground splice i did, and individually spliced the negatives with the negative speaker wire. Buzzing went away, music continues to play, and it sounds 10x better than before.