[Ware]

ok, I am hooking up a Class D MTX 350Watt amp to my factory mustang system. It will be powering a 12" sub in the truck. Well as we all know that the factory system does not have RCA outputs. I am not looking to upgrade my stereo since it will get stolen. Now I have two options, and one is to hook up the amp with a Line converter and use the RCA's, and the other is to hook it up with the Speaker-level inputs.

I have never hooked an amp up with the Speaker-level inputs, so how does this compare to the RCA inputs? Crutchfield says its fine, but someone once told me it produces noise.? Have anyone done this? Is the Noise factor a Myth, or is it true?

[TurboLX]

if it isnt done correctly you will get the engine sound

[Murderjetz]

how would you go about doing it correctly?

[TurboLX]

try to keep the wires far apart frm each other, so which means run the parrallell, Murderjetz your in a band, you dont know how this kinda stuff works?

[Murderjetz]

lol actually I don't. i can play music, i can record music, but I know nothing about the electronics that go behind it all. well I know some but only the stuff relating to recording equipment.
I know about acoustic energy, not electric energy.

[Ware]

I know what you mean to keep the wires apart, but lost you on the paralell wiring info.

Would it just be more easy to get a line converter and use RCA? is paralell hook up easy and a good way to save 17.00?

The difference between in-line speaker, and RCA differ how the outcome sound will be?

[TheUNZippee!]

You will get a higher voltage going in to the amps with high level in. Make sure your amp is capable of handling this. You can also get more alternator noise this way, but properly grounding your amp can help a lot. Make sure that you use a proper gauge wire, and don't ground the amp back to the battery. Run a short length of ground wire from the amp to a spot close by somewhere on the chassis of the car, drill a hole, clean the spot off perfectly, put a good solid O-ring on the wire, and use a nice clean screw to attach it to the chassis. If you still get vehicle noise with your high level in arrangement, try running the ground wire from the head unit back to the ground on the amplifier. Sometimes even with RCA connections, people still get engine noise. This is usually due to shitty grounds somewhere in the factory electrical system. Remember, engine noise is voltage flowing through the ground circuit, and that voltage will always take the path of least resistance. So if that voltage sees a nice big fat clean ground somewhere, say, your stereo system, it will go there, and you hear that as noise. So you can quite often eliminate noise by systematically improving the grounds on the car. Electric fuel pump grounds are notoriously bad grounds, so you can start there. Fix a ground, give the system a listen, and carry on from there.

[Ware]

OK, when you say High Level in, do you mean RCA or Speaker level in?

It would save me some money going without the RCA converter, however I do not want to have noise.