the problem is the "brains" of the amp are in the factory radio.

 

wow. why the hell would they do that.

this may sound dumb, but where's the amp located anyway? i know the sub's in the back, is the amp there as well?

 

its the CAN BUS thats the problem. Its just like the GM LAN harness. The digital signal to turn the amp on comes from the radio. There is a harness in the works for the lancer from metra, its been delayed 6 months already so I dont expect to see it anytime soon, plus metra quality has dropped.

I think the amp is under the front driver seat

 

The amp is under the drivers seat.
Its more than just the CAN BUS, The circuit board that does the audio processing for the amp is in the factory radio in the dash. It uses the CAN BUS to pass data back and forth. This is why they still have not been able to make the harness. They need to create a circuit with software (Integrated Circuit software, not PC software) that emulates the one in the factory radio.

As far as why they would do that, I can tell you that from an engineering standpoint its a much cheaper solution than having each unit (radio & amp) be totally self contained. Stupid maybe, cost effective yes.

 

Just to note:
The Fosgate Amp in the 2006+ Eclipse only needs to "see" the CAN BUS to turn on and they already made that module harness that sends a fake CAN BUS signal to the amp.

 

the amp has to be self contained in its current state.

Reason being.

Look at it from the stereo perspective, Im using a non rockford head unit(to control sound) in my wifes car but she has the rockford soundsystem. And everything works as it did when we used the rockford unit.

Which means that all the head units are the same and the amp is the amp. They only put that rockford emblem on the unit for looks, it does mean the head unit is any different. Which means all the head units do the same sound processing, its not special to the rockford units

 

that would also mean they have 2 navigation systems, one for with rockford and one for without it. That is definitely not true because we actually tested a nav unit out of a car that didnt have rockford in my wifes and it worked flawlesly.

 

PGH,
Did you remove the factory radio? Then it would be self contained.
The way the amp works is by talking to the radio/nav/etc through CAN BUS for setting things like volume, sound field, balance, etc. The sound to the AMP comes from the front left and right speaker wires. That’s why I say to spice the new speaker wires from the new radio into them. The old radio maintains the AMP being turned on and settings will the new radio send the music through the speaker wires to be amplified. The AMP does not use a digital audio signal.

 

I never said the amp uses a digital audio input(but it is a digital signal to turn it on), but the amp either does the sound processing or cars with the standard system have head units that have way more guts then needed. I am using a audio uinit from a non rockford lancer to turn on the amp, and by your statement you say that the rockford head units are different then the standard ones because they do the sound processing. If that were true the non rockfor unit would not beable to create the same sound the rockford one does. Im telling you it does though. Her car sounded the same with both units. Which means yes the headunit controls volume and sound firld just like any head unit but the speaker wires act as RCA cables also just like any other head unit. So in the end the amp does do the sound processing, not the head unit like your stating

 

It would be way to expensive to have 4 different models of head unit and one amp then to have 2 head units and one amp, and only change the face plates to signify the rockford system as they do

 

Oh, and there are 2 or 3 different module numbers of the nav, different ones for the outlander, lancer, etc. I don’t know why but there are, I saw them in the system at Mitsu parts when ordering parts. I’m convinced there is no difference to them though.

 

there isnt, thats what im saying, part numbers change because of the car in that sense. But there isnt a different unit for a rockford nav and a non rockford. Just like the brains of the two non nav systems rockford and non rockford are the same

i had a huge discussion ojn this with the dealer when my wifes nav broke and we were testing ones out of other cars to see if they work.

 

they also changed the module numbers when they updated the maps from 07 to 08(on factory units) and so on, just like they discountinued the current nav and the new ones looks and works the exact same but has some different tweaks

the amp does the processing and the headunit acts just like any other head unit to get the sound signal and turn on signals to the amp, then the amp does the processing. If the head unit did the crossover function and such there would be more wires coming out and not just the 4 sound signal wires

 

I understand what your saying now. Your right and I should be much more descriptive. I said it that way to be blunt and general. Technically all the sound processing (analog sound goes in and gets amplified, conditioned, processed and sent out) is done in the AMP, you got me. The Volume, settings like balance, soundfield, etc, live in the AMP but can only be accessed or changed via the software in all Lancer/outlander headunits through the CAN BUS. The CAN BUS link is already there on non-Fosgate radios (for diagnostic and testing proposes according to Mitsu) The software would have been an easy add. That way they only need one radio. Didn’t know non Fosgate radio would work, good to know.

Sorry for the misunderstanding PGH, I thought you were saying that you could use any aftermarket radio to turn on the amp. I’ll make sure I’m more clear in the future.

 

no mis understanding, sorry I ketp going at it.

I had this same thing with my cobalt and the pioneer system so I went though this with that piece.

We both were saying the same thing basically just a little different way. Thats where the forums fail, interpretation.

Sorry about me being an ***. Thanks for being a tester on this too, it made me screwing around with it a little easier