Wiring up a new headunit

[DenisPalmans]

I tried the search but couldnt find anything.
I just got an aftermarket headunit and have a few questions.

First of all should i keep the stock amp, or bypass it and run the speakers off the headunit? I'm thinking of just keeping the stock amp as it sounds ok to me.

If i keep the stock amp, should i use the amp outputs on the back of the deck (the RCA connectors)?
Or can i just use the normal outputs on the wiring harness?

Thanks in advance.

[Jeron]

I think the amp in my M3 10-speaker system functioned as crossover. I also think it received speaker level input instead of line level (RCA), since I could simply cross-connect the headunit outputs directly to the speakers and get sound.

If my assumptions are true then you should run the the speaker outputs to the factory amp. If you remove the factory amp you will need crossovers and potentially amps to power a speaker system of more than 4 speakers.

Your car model and year and type of stereo system would be helpful in the post.

[blkongry]

My two cents... drop the factory amp (you'll need an amp bypass wiring harness to do this). Just get the wiring harness for an aftermarket stereo for your car, then bypass the amp, and you should be good to go. A friend here at work bypassed his amp with an aftermarket stereo and he said the sound was night and day in difference.

I changed out my speakers to some nice Infinitys using the stock amp to power it, and it sounded like crap. The factory amps are internallly crossed over for the separate speakers. I loathe the BMW stereo set up... all individual wires to individual speakers all crossed over internally in the amp?? Yuk! They should have run full signal to the speakers and then cap and crossed the signal at the speaker to 'shape' the sound output.