With all the work going on with the Rover I figure I'll tackle this as well.

Let's start from the top. I have an 04 with an Alpine system that I'd like to do away with. The rear subs have already been removed, and will not be installed again. There's already an aftermarket head unit in the Rover, but the wife doesn't like it. The factory speakers sound like crap with the factory amp since nothing can be adjusted.

I'm wanting to replace my current head unit with an Alpine UTE-52BT Media Player. I also plan on using an Alpine KTP-445A mini amp to power the door speakers, and those will be replaced as well. This is a smaller amp that will power some 2-way components in all four doors. The door speakers are going to be Apline SPS-610C's which are 6.5 2-way components, and the RMS from the amp will be good for these. I'll also sound deaden the doors while I'm in there.

This amp is a plug'n'play style, and will require making a new pigtail on the vehicle end. In order to make this happen I'll need to rewire the pigtail to include the speaker outputs, and so everything is in one connector. It looks like my only area of concern is going to be the speaker wires since everything else is already in place. I don't think I'll need to use anything from the factory amp to power the new one either.

So here are the real questions:
*Should I just remove the factory amp, pull the fuse, and call it good?
*Or, is there some factory wiring that can be removed since it's not being used?
*Do I use all the factory speaker wires?
*Or, do I run all new speaker wire from the head unit into the doors?

I can't think of anything else that would cause me any issues. Wiring a stereo is pretty straight forward, but nothing is straight forward on a Rover.

Thanks,
Mike

 

Sounds like a good idea. But, why not start from the pigtail instead of rewiring all again. It has existing wires anyway. Do you need a thicker gauge wires? Pigtail, then speakers. Then check sound. If not convinced replace the amplifier. Wiring under the seat anyway. Cheers!

 

Please post whatever you do with regards to amp & speakers. I just installed the same head unit to gain bluetooth and kept the factory amp & speakers.

I wasn't pleased with the sound levels and plan on going with a new amp and new speakers. But I want to stay away from sinking hella dollars into a system because I have other plans for the funds instead of a rolling concert.

The Alpine KTP-445A mini amp looked like a good way to do that.

 

The amp is getting replaced regardless since you have zero control of sound. I was hoping the speakers would have sounded better with a new head unit, but it didn't improve that much. The idea behind the new amp is being able to control more of the HP and LP from the radio.

In a vehicle that doesn't have a factory amp this would be completely plug'n'play. With the amp the I plan on using you don't need to run any wires at all, but with a factory amp that's a bit different.

The only additional wires I'd need to run would only be speaker wires. I should be able to use the existing speaker outputs in the dash, and they should be the correct gauge. I would only need to bypass the factory amp, and join like speaker wires to complete. This seems pretty simple to me, but want to make sure that I'm not missing anything.

 

I plan on purchasing everything by the end of the week, but I'm unsure about the timeline on the install. I'll make sure to get everything posted up as I go though.

 

Actually i saw the model you want and looked exactly like my kenwood. Amazing sound, you need a separate controller so youll be able to use your steering wheel controls. I went to different route since originally my system has harman kardon. So only the head unit was replaced.

 

Can't you adjust the gain and sound and such at the head unit level? I'm quite certain this is not audiophile quality, but might save you a heck of a lot of work/money.

My plan is just the head unit (for the same reasons as everyone else: bluetooth and/or usb) using the OEM amp. As such, I thought that Metra or whatever adapter gives you the ability to turn the OEM harness into regular RCA cables. And if you've got RCAs, can't you plug them into the pre-outs of the head unit and subsequently control the sound and output by amp?

Again, not the audiophile way, but could save a lot of headache.

 

I really thought that would have done it as well, but it didn't. Don't get me wrong though. It did sound better that all factory did.

I started off with replacing just the head unit, and removing the rear subs. I used the Metra harness to convert the RCA's, and was instantly greeted with engine whine. Tried getting rid of the whine, but nothing worked. No RCA's are used in these, and the Alpine that I'm getting doesn't use them either. All connections are line input/outputs. With the factor amp you can't adjust frequency on the amp. The new amp I'll be able to adjust the frequency for the front and rear separately. To some it might not sound like a big, but I like something that sounds pretty good. I grew up being very involved, and it's kind of struck around since. I don't need a sub anymore, but some decent bass I do.

 

I ordered just about everything that I need for this install. I still need to pick up a few small items, and then find time to get this done.

Items that I picked up:
*Alpine CDE-143BT CD Player
*Alpine KTP-445A 4-Channel Amp Power Pack
*Alpine Type-S SPS-610C 2 Way Components
*PAC SWI-RC Steering Control
*Dash Kit - Have already
*Wire Adapter - Have already
*ISO male pins
*Sound deadening

I'm not looking for big sound here, but something better than factory. I feel this is going to be a good entry level type setup, and should still perform a lot better then the current setup.

 

Did you try using s HUM eliminator? There are several of those you can get wether rca ends or mini stereo jack. I will check which harness used, but I'm sure there were no rca like the Metra, didn't even remove the sub.