05 Adrenalin Radio upgrades

[James Ledbetter]

I was looking to upgrade the radio in my ST from the 6 disc Pioneer. I was told by a radio shop here in town that I would have to replace the entire system because there was no way to make the amplifier/sub work without the original radio. Is this true? If not are there any suggestions for easy fit applications?

 

[Todd Z]

I am sure there is a way to do it, But may not work as good or as clear.....



And honestly it is not that hard to install a radio and just run new wire to all for door speakers..



Todd Z

 

[OFF TRAC]

Used this kit, Best Kits BHA5700R Ford 98-06 OEM Radio To Aftermarket Harness . Look it up, e-bay has them for around $10.00. It will allow you to add an aftermarket head unit, amps and keep your factory amp/sub. I have this kit installed in my ST. Have two aftermarket amps, an aftermarket head unit, aftermarket door spearkers, aftermarket subs and still have the factory Sub/amp hooked up and working with this kit. It's an 02 ST that came with the Factory 6 disk Pioneer.







edit...whoops, just noticed it's an 05 Adrenalin.....not sure if the kit will work on the Adrenalin version of the ST. My ST is not an Adrenalin and the 6 disk Pioneer in non Adrenalin I seem to recall is differant then the one the Adrenalin.

 

[user 62851]

I upgraded my 04 adrenalin from the factory head unit, to an Alpine IVA310 and was able to keep my OEM sub and amp. Just had to have a special connect that changed the group of wires over to RCA connects to go to the brain of my new unit. I couldn't tell ya what the connect model/make is b/c i didn't do the install. I had it done at a local stereo shop. I do know this much, just to let you know. When i had them do the install. They charged me $250 bucks for the install of the unit and of the connect just so i could keep the factory amp. I know 250, sounds crazy, but at the time, i didn't care, i just wanted it installed.

 

[FlipTrac_511]

The Adrenalin head unit needs different harnesses but, more importantly, does not have an internal amp. I learned this when I upgraded from my 04 Audiophile in-dash 6. Even with correct harnesses installed, the Adrenalin headunit only turned on but gave no power to the speakers. It simply needed an external amp. It wasn't too long that I was overhauling my entire audio system with new speakers all-around, a sub/box, and two amps! It wasn't the plug-n-play swap that I had expected and more time and money was spent just to achieve MP3 capability (and the headunit itself looks pretty spiffy yet OEM). But I'm very happy with how things sound and haven't looked back since.



There is probably a way to make it work, like shvdnlayd mentioned above, but this was the route I ended up taking. Goodluck!



BTW, a shop installed everything for me.

 

[A K]

They charged me $250 bucks for the install of the unit and of the connect just so i could keep the factory amp. I know 250, sounds crazy, but at the time, i didn't care, i just wanted it installed.

Gah. The harness that powers an OEM external amp and sub is $25 on Crutchfield.

 

[Preston Lasater]

I know that in order to do the stereo swap you need to get rca converters. Here is the route i'm going...



So far I've done the 8 inch shallow mount premier sub in the stock adrenalin location (rear driver side) and 10 inch shallow mount premier sub with custom enclosed sub box that fits in the passenger rear side.



I will be replacing the stock amp in the rear back section behind the seats with an aftermarket 5 channel amp (hopefully a 60watt x 4 and 160watt x 1 and just bridge the two subs). I then will put the aftermarket amp where the stock amp is and bypass it (have a shop do this unless your very good with electronics because if you don't you can ruin each speaker)



Then I'm going to do the rca converters on the amp bypass and on the deck in order to put an aftermarket in dash dvd player. and walllah i'm done. i think the stock speakers in the doors sound very clean and are fine for the job considering that you are in such a small cubic volume. In all honesty the 2 aftermarket subs alone make wonders compared the stock 8.



So there ya have it I will post back and let you know the luck i have within this month. Thanks.