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04-16-2016, 10:21 AM
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#1 |
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Member
Join Date: Dec 2015
Location: Florida
Posts: 86
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Kenwood Amp Install
Hi all, thought I would share my project from last weekend. I installed a Kenwood KAC-M3004 amplifier and Pioneer TSA-1376R speakers in my 2015 Vaquero. I chose the Kenwood because I like their products and the M3004 had features I liked such as the auto sensing turn on and variable adjustable filter. I chose the Pioneers because of their 75 watt RMS rating as well as their bandwidth specs.
From the photos, the inputs are from the front and rear speaker connections that I snipped and spliced into the gold plated RCA plugs from pre-made stereo cable I had laying around. While the colors on the factory speaker wires coincide with the service manual, I still beeped them out with an ohmmeter to double insure. The front speakers came from the factory with a nice little pigtail adapter that can be used for this. The amp is a 4 channel amp but it is wired for 2 channel bridged mode. Kenwood is a little different from others who only bridge the outputs. The inputs are bridged as well between the front and rear. The amp is mounted to an old piece of 1/8" aluminum plate that I had in my recycle bin with a small section of angle iron that fastens it to the 2 bolts that hold the factory radio in. I found the nuts from the angle iron mounting to be resting on the factory radio so I used a piece of 1/2" foam rubber with sticky backing about 1.5 inches wide and the length of the radio to protect it from the amp when it vibrates or bounces. The results were a very sturdy mount that is cushioned. The black cube is a12 volt 40 amp automotive relay that I bought many years ago to put lights under my old Nomad but never got around to doing. It was perfect for this as the amp is rated at 30 amps max. The relay is energized by a tap in to the factory radio power so that if the ignition switch is in "accessory" or "on" position, the amp is on. Power to the relay contacts is directly from the battery thru a 30 amp fuse adapter I purchased from AutoZone. The amp gets it's ground from the ground lug that is under the seat at the bottom of the gas tank. The relay coil only draws miliamps so it doesn't load the power to the radio. I drilled a bunch of 1/2" holes in the ends of the black plastic speaker tubes to allow the speakers to vent but after some more thought, I think I will drill a 2" hole at the end with a hole saw as you can still feel the speaker laboring to force air out of the holes. This will probably help the bass. Next I'm going to get some sound dreading mat to put inside the fairing. Will use it on the gauges as well because a couple of them are "buzzy" and it's annoying. This was a 24+ hour project but, I like how it turned out and the sound is much better than factory. The Pioneer speakers are very clean in the mid range and highs. So, I'm thinking where can I put a sub-woofer without cutting into those beautiful fiberglass saddlebags........ Login or Register to Remove Ads
Last edited by BobBear; 04-16-2016 at 10:32 AM.
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04-16-2016, 01:39 PM
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#2 |
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Member
Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 70
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Uh. Awesome!
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04-19-2016, 06:38 PM
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#3 |
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Jr. Member
Join Date: Aug 2014
Location: South Florida
Posts: 45
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Woofer in Da Bag
Here is a thought......(see photo)
As far as your setup, you may want to seriously consider upgrading your 5.25's to 6.5's using the speaker adapters many of us here have acquired. Having upgraded your 5.25's from factory is a definite improvement. But I assure you it is nothing like the 6.25's. Also with the adapters once you go into the 6.5's you wont need the factory cones. So the 6.5's will be free air. I built a makeshift enclosure for the sub woofer, which I haven't really put much effort into tweaking it as I would like. It's a JL Audio 9" marine grade and rated for infinite baffle (no dedicated enclosure needed). But I did drill a port vent in the back side of the bag and installed a 3" port tube. I decided to install a sub because doing so allows my amp to run more efficiently, in that I can utilize the built in crossover. This way I can eliminate the low's from going to my front speakers, and the sub handles the lows. Quite honestly I cannot tell the difference while I'm riding. The growl of my FP's dont let me hear or feel the thump of the sub. But the 6.25 handle everything else just fine and very clearly. Realistically I'd have to be running a 12" sub in a band pass box to overpower the exhaust!...lol However when she's pulled over and I slightly 'crank it', I get many thumbs up on the sound. ;)
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2012 Green Vaquero - Ray's TMod - Clear View Shield - FP True Duals (black) Kawi KQR Backrest - Thunder BAK Cobra PWRPro2000 - CD Plasma Rods Truck-Lite LED Headlight - LED Fog Lights Kawi Pass Floor Boards - Luverne Lowering Links JLAudio 280/4 AMP 6.5 Speaker Adapters - JLAudio 6.5 - JLAudio SUB CD MagicFlex Accent Lights
Last edited by c3po; 04-19-2016 at 07:15 PM.
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04-19-2016, 07:38 PM
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#4 |
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Member
Join Date: Dec 2015
Location: Florida
Posts: 86
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Thanks for your thoughts c3po. I was aware of the 6.25 option for the front speakers and was considering them for a future date. Who is selling the adapters? Doing anything to my bags is out of the question as I don't want to give up the storage or modify the bags. I would like a little more bass but don't really want to rattle the neighborhood. Have you ever wondered how Bose, Genelec and other companies get so much base out little speakers?
The port the sound with physical shapes, I was working on a powered speaker the other day and the manufacturer ha designed this odd looking tube to enhance the bass. It seemed to work pretty well. I may experiment with this idea a bit. |
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04-22-2016, 11:18 PM
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#6 |
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Advanced Member
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: crooked river ranch oregon
Posts: 723
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That's really cool. Amazing there is enough extra room inside there to fit that amp in.
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2012 Vaquero S.E. Chuckster's tear drop intake, Freedom true dual racing exhaust, Ivan flash, Clearview windscreen, Corbin gunfighter seat, Clockwerk's hugger style front fender, Kawasaki KQR backrest and luggage rack, kuryakyn iso grips and rear passenger boards, front highway pegs, revolutionspeed clutch and primary covers and reservoir and switch box covers and Kuryakyn skeleton rearview mirrors. 
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04-26-2016, 07:24 AM
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#7 | |
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Member
Join Date: Dec 2015
Location: Florida
Posts: 86
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Quote:
 Actually the Kenwood looks bigger than it really is.
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09-24-2019, 11:11 PM
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#9 |
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Member
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Australia, Perth.
Posts: 236
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Kenwood inputs confusion
From the photos, the inputs are from the front and rear speaker connections that I snipped and spliced into the gold plated RCA plugs from pre-made stereo cable I had laying around.
G'day BobBear. Concerning the Kenwood KAC-M3004, did you use a line level adaptor/convertor for the speaker wires into the rca plugs? The Kenwood specs state "speaker wire inputs" but all I can see from pics are rca type input plugs, which take a lower input signal (so I am lead to believe).....very confuzzled   Hoping someone can shed some light Thanks, Pete
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2012 Vaquero 2007 Nomad |
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09-25-2019, 02:06 PM
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#10 | |
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Member
Join Date: Dec 2015
Location: Florida
Posts: 86
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Quote:
You are correct that in normal stereo world, RCA jacks are for lower level signals. However, this amp is made to take speaker level audio into those RCA connectors and there are adjustments on the amp to trim those levels down so that they don't overdrive.  I fed the speaker level outputs from the Kawasaki factory radio right into the Kenwood and used the adjustments on the Kenwood to knock the levels down. Can't believe it's been 31/2 years ago I did this. Swapped the Pioneer speakers out for Infinity and the Infinitys sound even better.
Last edited by BobBear; 09-25-2019 at 02:16 PM.
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09-25-2019, 06:46 PM
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#11 | |
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Member
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: Australia, Perth.
Posts: 236
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Quote:
At the moment it'll be running Polk's 5.25's when amp arrives. However I will check out the infinity units for the future. Thanks again, Pete.
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2012 Vaquero 2007 Nomad |
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09-25-2019, 08:12 PM
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#12 | |
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Member
Join Date: Dec 2015
Location: Florida
Posts: 86
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Quote:
Glad to help Pete. Being able to feed speaker audio into the Kenwood amp was one of the reasons I chose it. The factory Kawasaki radio does not have pre-amp outputs so, that was a necessary feature that some other amps don't offer. Also, I bridged the front and rear speaker connections into the amp. The instructions that come with the amp show how to bridge the inputs. You can use it in non-bridged mode and just feed it front left and front right but I bridged it because it seems to allow the front/rear fade control on the radio to act like a channel separation or input balance adjustment. Probably works fine either way. Also, I don't recommend reusing the factory speaker wires. It's very small wire. Use some regular "zip cord" (lamp cord) type speaker wire. If you have any questions during your install, let me know.
Last edited by BobBear; 09-25-2019 at 08:23 PM.
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10-13-2019, 09:05 AM
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#15 | |
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Member
Join Date: Dec 2015
Location: Florida
Posts: 86
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Quote:
Not sure what you mean by "change from original" and "can someone help with parts". With this upgrade, you keep the factory radio and all the factory controls still work. If you are not knowledgeable with installing or working with electronics, perhaps you could find someone local to you to help you. It is fairly easy but, one minor mistake can ruin the results. Anyone with experience installing car stereo systems should be able to handle this easily. |
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Linear Mode
