to make it short and simple here's my idea, get more power to the stock speakers for better sound quality while keeping a stock-ish setup. i want to stick with a stock deck because of theft and overall clean-ness if possible. i'm not really into subs in this car and just want a little fuller sound.

my first thought would be the factory ssl deck. i've searched and searched and nobody seems to have a clue if it puts out any more rms power than the standard non-ssl deck. my guess is that it doesnt and relies on the ssl amp for added power. i'd love to be able to run a stock deck with a small aftermarket 4 channel amp at say 50w rms x4 to the door speakers. probably leaving the tweeters in the a-pillars alone since they do so little as it is.

now i know there is no correct effective way to connect an aftermarket amp to the stock deck but what about the connections associated with a mitah adapter. one came with the install harness from my old deck i had in the car which was later stolen. so i have a 4 wire large connector and also what appears to be the amp adapter with 4 rcas and a remote wire. my thought is if i picked up a stock ssl deck and was able to connect an aftermarket amp to this and run the stock non-ssl door speakers from that for better sound. if this could work i would then likely eventually purchase some better speakers for the doors to match whatever power i chose to run to them.

any thoughts?

 

The mitah adapter won't work here. It's designed to hook up an aftermarket deck to the stock ssl system, not the other way around. You're right in saying that the ssl amps are relied upon for power. Some upgraded factory system headunits do actually produce a speaker level output, it's just fed into the amp(s), but it's usually the same amount of power or less.

I can tell you from my experience, increasing the power to the stock non-ssl speakers is a waste of time and doesn't help the sound quality at all. It sucks, cuz usually you can get a bit better sound just by increasing the power. I would upgrade speakers first before adding more power.

Also, if you do increase power to the door speakers, you'll want to do it to the tweeters too or it will throw the balance between the two way off and sound like ***. Tweeters do a lot more than you might think. The tweets and door speakers are wired together, so short of digging through the car and finding where they're wired together or rewiring them completely, you don't have a choice in not increasing the power to both at the same time.

 

believe it or not, on my old car (03 tib), I added some grounding wires, and it honestly made my stock sound system noticeably better, especially at higher volumes and cruisng on the highway with the windows down.

I haven't tried it on the evo yet, but I don't think it would hurt anything, esp for 30bucks to make your own...

 

This is the same thing I am doing, after my car was broken into and my radio destroyed I decided I was not going to put one back in.

I did some research and figured out that the DIN connector on the SSL headunit puts out Line Level Front and Rear outputs as well as a remote turn on signal, I then did some more searching and figured out that an adapter is/was made by Soundgate called the MITSAMP, I ordered it and it should be here in a couple days. The place I ordered it from is now backordered, I believe they said this was the last on they had in stock.

If you want I can post back and let you know how it works, all my wires are run so I just need to swap the deck and plug in some RCAs. Currently using a Line Level converter works, but the sound isn't as clean as I would like.

 

Actually the MITAH adapter would allow you to hook up an amp as well, the only problem is you need to have the DIN cable that goes from the SSL HU to the SSL AMP as the MITAH is a female connector. Unfortunately it is an extra expense unless you had the SSL system to begin with, and it is also quite difficult to come across those cables.

 

If he had that cable he wouldn't need the mitah adapter cuz he was wanting to use a factory ssl deck, unless it works on the amp end of the cable too.

 

hmm i have a friend that runs a car audio shop. maybe i'll have to stop by and ask him about that mitsamp connector.

tvric - is your's an ssl though?

 

No I did not get SSL from the factory, I was able to pick up a SSL HU for $30ish shipped. I just got the MITSAMP cable and installed it, works just fine, gives you F/R rcas and and a remote amp turn on wire. I hooked it all up and it sounds fine from the little I got to play with it since I was in my garage with it. I wish I had a dedicated sub out, but its not a problem. I just split the rear at the amp and lowered the gain and HPF'd the rear channel, the sub is obviously already lpf'd.

Let me know if you need any help or detail. If you google the MITSAMP cable you will find a place that still has it, but I have never heard of them and not even sure if they have accurate online inventory.

 

tvrvic- one last question, does that mitsamp connector require the ssl hu?

 

Yeah, the ssl head unit is the only one that has the preouts on it. Luckily they can be found pretty cheap.