LOC vs wire to RCA cables and 5ch questions

Starting to piece together some stereo upgrades for my 19 T4R and I think I'm having information overload and confusing myself more. I have the Metra Harness's to build the harness as well as some 9 wire to get the ball rolling. I will be using a Kenwood Excelon xr901-5 amp to power everything. I have been looking for a decent 4-6ch LOC to add in for RCA inputs for the amp and noticed in the manual it shows wiring in RCA's directly. What would the difference be using a LOC or doing the speaker wire to RCA direct to amp like the picture shows in the manual?

Want to get everything up and running sooner than later to see how it sounds before building a custom box to fit over the rear wheel wells.

 

Using a LOC just complicates gain structure. If the high level input on your amplifier can handle the voltage, you should just do that.

My 2020 factory output clips at 24.7VAC. I don’t know if the 2019 is the same.

Edit:

Crutchfield says preamp inputs only, and I don’t see the input voltage specifications in the manual. Unless you can find definitively otherwise, I don’t recommend using speaker level for input.

 

Found it. 0.2 - 5.0 V so that is a nope on speaker level inputs for that amp.



The image in the manual using speaker inputs applies to the XH901-5, not the XR901-5. For some reason the same manual is used for both models.

 

Awesome, thanks for the reply. I was trying to find that info with no luck or I just kept floating over it.

Kcdude: as I started digging into this more I saw options to do what you said but I already have this xr901-5 and really don't want to get rid of it as it's been great.

I opted to go with the lc7i which I found for $150. Didnt really see any other 4+ channel loc set ups that had good results. Plenty of 2ch but need to have fade options which a 2ch from my understanding would not have.

 

Did the harness tonight for everything and just waiting on the lc7i to connect and test. Used the diy on the taco forums with the metra harnesses but had to adapt a little since the write up was for a kicker key so hopefully I got it right and will be up and running end of week.

 

Best of luck with the new audio. (I love it, myself, and its one of the first things i ever do in a new rig)

If you go with a LOC, be careful, 99.99% of them, will only add noise/distortion.

The only one I would use-
https://damore-engineering.myshopify.com/products/hlc-2-active-high-level-converter


If you are interested.
A vs video of several line output converters
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nqJhkrNq6A

More tested. The AC LC2i Pro is tested in this one, around 17min mark. Looks clean.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cIpJmY6xGTM

If you want to fade, I guess you could use 2. Tap into the 2 front, and 2 rear, and bob's your uncle.
Audio Control does make nice stuff. Though, I've never used their LOC style gear. I like to just get a good source with low level outputs. Especially with most OEM sources, either cutting voltage, or cutting frequencies to save the oem speakers. I want all the 20-20k freq's.
Wish you the best of luck mate. Let us know how it goes.

 

Much appreciated on the luck side! I sprung for the LC7i since it tested out well on YouTube videos I watched. Had a PAC loc in my silverado years ago and had distortion and humming till I swapped out everything for new equipment. I would put a new HU in the 4R but don't really like the way anything looks in our vehicles. Hopefully the LC7i does the trick as it seems to by tests seen.

 

I've installed a bunch of stereo systems and never use a LOC until I put one in my 328ci. The battery is in the trunk and using a LOC saved me from having to run any wiring to the head unit. The sound quality is garbage compared to running RCA's.

 

I feel ya. I chucked a double din in. Used a idata link. Worked great. (kept all steering wheel controls, back up camera, even gained some fun stuff off the obdII) But i feel you. Again, good luck mate.

 

I completely understand boss. With OEM sources, becoming very integrated into the vehicle, its hard to do these days. (swapping the hu) Door chimes, even cruise control and everything in between, can actually run through a oem source these days. Also, many oem sources are actually damn good, making people want to keep them. Its great some people/companies see this, and are coming out with tools to help. A good, strong, FULL RANGE 20-20k signal, is all we want.

 

Ain't that the truth.

This isn’t universally true because it’s not as simple as that. You can still get garbage through RCAs. You can also get excellent sound using speaker outs. It mostly boils down to the quality of equipment you’ve selected to accomplish one or the other.

Granted, correcting the factory tune on the new Toyota stereos is a nightmare, costs extra, and requires some specific knowledge.

As suggested above, the ability to reset the factory output and remove the OEM settings would be a game changer. There’s a lot of fuckery to overcome, but it can be done and you can get really good results using the JL FiX.

 

You have a pic of your setup a little further out to see how it looks in the dash more?

 

Sorry boss, just saw this. And sorry for potato pic. (I work nights)
I can get a better one during the day if ya like.

EDIT- and yep, its filthy,... just spent 48 hours in the desert. Loved every minute of it.