jaeravenal

Sup fellow Z drivers!
I have an 84 GL with no external amp.
I bought the car with an aftermarket headunit already installed.
I'm unsure about the wiring, but so far it only has the front 2 speakers
and bitching betty DOES work!

I have a problem with cutting out at high volumes (probably a crappy head unit or something i'm not an audio guy)

So i'm deciding to get an external 4 channel amp.
I do already have a powered subwoofer installed that is taking the Rear rca inputs from the head unit, leaving the FRONT inputs open
From my understanding I can add an amp and wire it to 4 speakers and use the FRONT RCA, but this will not fade the rear speakers only the sub since its' using the rear rca, but this doesn't bother me.


I've read other posts that they advise to run NEW speaker wires from the external amp to each and every speaker (2 front, 2 back) to lessen the headache from the stock wiring system.

I understand if i remove the stock wiring from the speakers and run new wires directly from the amp; I will lose bitching betty :[


How can I get around this and maintain bitching betty I want to keep her bitching that my left door is open every time I hit a bump


Is it possible to A: Run new wires to all speakers from the amp,

but leave the stock wiring that is hooked up to the driver speaker (which BB interrupts and sends the signal)
So that the front driver speaker will have both the new wiring from the amp, and the stock wiring from the system and hopefully have BB cut in when she decide to bitch
Will this fry anything by leaving BOTH the stock wiring and new wiring to the front driver speaker?

Or is B possible: Run new wires from the amplifier disconnect all stock wiring, possibly find the wires from BB under the driver dash , and run new wires from those BB wires to any speaker so she can chime in when she wants?


Any thoughts or ways to attack this?

Thank you all!

zxguy1986

Not enough info - but my guess is that Betty still works because the replacement head unit was connected through the original OEM radio harness connector to power all four OEM speaker locations. I think Betty feeds independently to the door speaker - and the OEM harness connector can handle that just fine.

If your original head unit harness connector is still there behind the unit, definitely use it. Cruthfield will give you a custom adapter for free when you buy a new head unit - or sell you one cheap for your existing unit. Plugs right in to the harness. Just wire it in to the unit. If the orig connector is missing, you have a mess of wires back there and will have to start from square one tracing everything.

Not sure why you want an outboard amp since a basic 45W head unit will power your 6" +/- OEM speakers just fine. If you want to add more speakers to the hatch area (like your sub), a separate outboard amp can be fed a signal from the preamp outputs on the back of your new head unit, like you did with the sub. Not a good idea to feed two amps to the same speaker in any case.

Rewiring all your OEM speakers from square one is a pain and you are likely to cut Betty out. Better to trace your orig wiring to see why your non-working speakers aren't working. Otherwise, all that wiring is in your FSM. Even Betty. Easy to follow if you trace it using colored markers on the elec schematics printed out on 11x17 paper. Be patient. Maybe you can splice the new speaker wire upstream to the existing Betty speaker wire to keep her in the loop. Make sure your speakers are all in-phase when you are done. Great sound in your future.

PredatorZ

She is on the left channel, you can hook up a separate speaker for her, then just wire your stereo normally, a lot of head units have a channel for the sub, so you can fully control the front to back fade. The area across from the spare tire is an ideal area for a sub box, works out so its a perfect match for a 10 inch. This sub box was built for my 84 Z31, but fits pretty good in my 280zx, copied it off a box I saw on ebay a few years ago. ZBum has a write up about betty, quote " How do I hook "Bitching Betty" back up?
Please note this only applies to the 84-86 GL and GLL models. The easiest way is to use the original wire for the front left speaker. Simply run the output of the stereo or amplifier to the origin of the speaker wires (84 and GL = behind the stereo, 85-89 GLL = under passenger seat). Then reconnect the original speaker leads in the door to your speakers. " end quote

jaeravenal

Thank you for the response. So from what i'm getting from this is that I can get a 4 channel amp,
run the speaker wires from the outputs of the amp
to the OEM wiring behind the stereo (that's currently into the head unit, basically cutting of the positive and negative leads from the front and rear speakers and connecting it to the lines from the amp, since the RCAs will carry from the amp to the head unit through the Front output anyways) and retain BB?

I was worried if I did this that I might fry something
pardon my noob level experience at car audio

^_^

jaeravenal

Thank you BB is defintely working and the OEM harness is intact and connected / soldered to the Aftermarket headunit wiring. I want to upgrade to an amplifier to the speakers because I'm getting sound cut off at high levels, like its not cutting out completely but chopping up my music and i have to turn it down -_-

Could this be a failing/overheating head unit?
I figured an amp would remedy this since the headunit is not providing enough juice.

THanks YOu!!!

zxguy1986

Sounds (!) like a head unit problem. Your output stage is unstable. And you don't need an outboard amp to power your four OEM speakers (doors/shock towers). A good 40-50W/channel head unit is plenty. So why not just replace your head unit with something you like? They're cheap. Then your outboard amp can power any additional speakers - and your sub.