I already tried posting this in the "Audio & Electronics" forum, but they're not very helpful. Because I am a highschool student, and was trying to replace a crappy Bose system in my '91 GXE, I was driving around with a new Pioneer HU (DEH-1500) and 2 front 4" Pioneer Speakers (TS-G1047). For Christmas I got a pair of Pioneer 6x9s (TS-A6960R). Ever since whenever the bass 'hits' the HU's screen flashes. I have Rockford Fosgate bass blockers in the front, and the FIE setting on, so I know it's not coming from the front speakers. Could the +s and -s (polarity?) of the 6x9s be crossed, in turn sending a bad signal back to the HU? Could I have loose wiring behing my headunit? Any help would be greatly appreciated...

 

pick up some speaker caps, you can get those from best buy, i know we sell em. plus, check the gound too.

i have the same hu and problem, but im too lazy to fix even if i know whats up

 

what are speaker caps

 

speaker capacitors, theyre really small and just run in line, you can pick em up for like 8 bux

 

ok what is it that they're going to do for me?

 

Ok, you said you have a pioneer H/U..that explains most of it..Pioneer, while they sound good and are vertually bomb proof (especially the one you have), WILL flash a lot on big bass hits...I had the same model from the previous year (DEH 1400 instead of 1500)..my new Kenwood h/u doesn't flicker at all, but it does occasionally skip on certain songs and some bass tracks if I really have the bass cranked, which my pioneer never did..Don't worry about what its doing, I ran mine like that for 2 years...just before I replaced it with the Kenwood unit I have now, the bass would hit and the lights on the h/u would almost shut off completely..two 10's wired down to 2 ohms really beats all of the componentry in my car to death..my Pioneer still worked and sounded fine (still does, its in my mother's blazer now), I just wanted a cleaner sounding MP3 player instead..

Unless the flickering REALLY bothers you, I wouldn't pay a second thought to it..

 

well i know its not hurting it, but its annoying, its not SUPPOSED to flash, so i want to stop it

 

well think of it like i do, its like having pulsing neons in your car with out having to go all ricey-raverish and spending the money. my hu has been flashing since i had just the 4x6's and the 6x9's and it does it just as much with the 12's i have. its fun and a focal point, mine bass hits soo hard i think its shaken something loose in the hu, but it still works fine.

i have another pioneer hu from like 93 in my c10 and that is still kickin it with 25watts x2 and 14w x4. pioneers are pretty indescrutible.

 

oh and before you told me to get some capacitators, i believe you mean bass blockers? i dont want to change the way my music sounds, only stop the headunit from flashing. CAN ANYONE HELP ME

EDIT: i remember not using the illumination wire when i installed the new cd player because it didnt go into the harness without me splicing. i think im HU out and hook up that wire, anything i should look for while im back there? im also gonna tighten the screws that hold the bracket in the console.

 

Just a thought here, are you using deck power ? And if so, is the HU wired to the battery ? If not, when the bass hits the HU might not be getting enough power. I've had that before, and putting caps on the speakers won't help. The HU will still be trying to put out the watts for the bass, just the speakers won't see it.

 

im confused at what you're saying? i used a wiring harness to hook into the stock one, and my speakers are ran off of deck amp power yes? is this wrong to have it liek this?

 

i think he means running a wire diirectly from a constant source (such as a battery), that way your hu wont be trying to get the voltage out of the facotry wiring that it needs to put out the bass. he is saying that doing that wonr cause the hu too flash and that youll get better sound in the low frequencies. if youve got any more q's go the the actual forum for this.

 

well as i said before its just connected thru a harness into the stock wiring, but i dont see why it would make any difference

 

You wouldn't run a 200w sub amp off of a tiny wire like the your hu is hooked up to, would you? Same goes for a deck. If you weren't using deck power, only the pre-outs, it would be fine to run it the way you have it. But if you are using deck power for four speakers, and 6x9's at that, that deck needs to be able to draw more amps than that thin factory wire can supply. Most aftermarket decks put out more power than a factory one. You really only need to run one wire to the battery for the constant 12v on the deck and I'm sure it will improve things.