sdshipe

ruley - ur the man. Im on it this week and well see if i can get it done.

sdshipe

Hell yes...this worked.

Ok so they guy above had it slightly wrong. Im not sure where the 3 wires came into play but basically mine had 4 wires at the amp for each speaker (makes sense) positive and negative input to the amp, and positive and negative output. So i just took one speaker and bridged the positives together and the negatives and presto...sound...

So now that I know what the issue is and how to bridge the amp...is there any reason i cant just wire any 5 channel amp in to replace my bad one? The only question i have is with the AMP CONTROL and AMP SENSOR wires? Do normal 5 channels amps have these?

Thanks to ruley73 and if someone can tell me how to do it I can post the wiring diagram i have...

ruley73

The one major downside to bypassing the factory amp is that the factory subwoofer will no longer function. There's a lot more work involved in installing a different 5-channel amp so if you are satisfied with the factory setup then the easiest solution for you is to just buy a replacement factory amp and be done. The factory amp is GM/AC Delco part number 22727883 and can be bought from RockAuto for about $280 including S&H.


You can wire in a regular 5-channel amp, but there are a few things to consider...

1) The factory speakers & sub may not be able to handle the power of the aftermarket amp. Replacing the factory speakers is easy, but finding a sub that fits well in the factory location is a bigger challenge.
2) You'd need to use the high-level inputs on the replacement amp unless you also replace the factory radio with an aftermarket radio equipped with preamp outputs. You could also use high>low output converters with the factory radio, but that could be cumbersome and hard to do in a neat & tidy manner.
3) You'd need to run bigger power & ground wires (at least 8AWG) to the new amp because the factory amp's wiring (probably 12AWG) is definitely not sufficient.


The AMP CONTROL wire is the equivalent of the remote/amp turn-on lead found on aftermarket radios. It's the wire that tells the amplifier to turn on when the radio is turned on. The AMP SENSOR wire is only used in the factory setup. When this wire is connected to the factory amplifier, it tells the factory radio to output a low/preamp level signal.


Here is a direct link to the diagram...

2005_Equinox_Premium_Sound.pdf

One thing I noticed in this diagram is that all the speakers leads are labeled as output at the amp. The leads coming from the radio are actually inputs. This might be obvious, but I figured I'd point that out so you aren't confused when looking at the diagram.

rschmidtke

I tried it yesterday just like you did and it WORKS OK, 4 wires

sdshipe

So I just finished doing all the speakers...this was way simpler than it seemed. I realized that it appears to be more than it is because the amp has inputs from the head unit and outputs to the speakers. But on the diagram they are all labelled as outputs...I ended up just cutting the connector off and splicing the wires because I could not find a chevy 24 pin male connector easily...

Definitely should remove the rear seat or at least shift it get access and do the job cleanly. Its only 4 bolts (2 x 13mm at the front portion of the seat, and 2 x 18 mm in the rear).

Note: ruley73 recommended taping off the amp power/sensor/control wires and bottom line is that you def want to terminate these correctly. I had originally left the amp control wire in the plug and left the plugs connected to the amp (to keep the assembly clean). But as he explained, that made the stock head unit output a low signal to the speakers.

Again lots of thanks to ruley73. I have done lots of jobs with help from forums and although this turned out to be fairly straightforward, there is simply no substitute for getting good know-how from the horse's mouth...hopefully this thread can now be helpful to someone else.

Kimm Helton

Ok I used 2 scorcio after market plugs only used one plug and the wires from the second, placed the pins in the 16 holes 8 on each side. I will number them 1-4 (L) left (T) top or (B) bottom the right side i will call 5-8 startin on the inner. <br/>1LT TO 6LT<br/>2LT TO 5 LT<br/>3LT TO 7LT<br/>4LT TO 8 LT<br/>1LB TO 6LB<br/>2LB TO 5LB<br/>3LB TO 7LB<br/>4LB TO 8LB

Mrd129

So I have an 05 equinox. I don't think it has premium sound as it does not have the subwoofer in the back.
Does this mean it also does not have the factory Amy under the backseat?
I'm interested in changing the radio to an aftermarket single din, so I can get satellite radio, but it's very difficult to find a standard wiring harness for installation.
I've contemplated hacking the factory harness up, and hard wiring everything, but there are some concerns I have about ACC power, and true speaker wire colors.
Also, there is another harness in the radio that is seemingly useless, doesn't effect sound, power, door chimes, etc.....just an extra 3 wires that don't carry power, or control steering wheel function as there aren't any on the wheel.
I'll post pics of what is there..

ruley73

Correct

I would advise against cutting the factory harness. Do it the right way, and get an adapter harness and interface. If you don't install the interface you will lose OnStar and warning sounds/chime.

This harness is used for OnStar (if equipped), warning sounds/chime, and satellite radio (if equipped). Here's a link to the diagram for the base stereo system (applicable to 2005-2006 Equinox/Torrent).

Mrd129

As far as i know I don't have OnStar or satellite radio....here's what they look like....even with the diagram, there seems to be some wires that aren't accounted for....unless the colors vary at all...








Ok, upon review of my own pics the main harness is accounted for....other than a second purple wire....
That secondary harness gets me goofy...I'll take another look and see what they are, unless of course you know what they are by looking at them..

hurnik

Here's what I'd do:

Buy a Metra Axxess Wiring harness with the AWSC-1 steering wheel control interface.
Now, I'm assuming of course, that you want to use an aftermarket head unit.

I've used the GMOS-08 (I have Onstar/premium sound) and have used 3 different head units (alpine, pioneer for the last 2) just fine. The AWSC-1 works great. The only feature I lost was the ability to hold down the Mute button on the steering wheel to "trigger" OnStar.

However, you do have to tap into the factory wiring harness if you use the AWSC-1. Technically there is a way to re-wire the GMOS-08 so you don't have to do that, but for some strange reason, Metra chose not to do this.

As for the main thread:

If you're using an aftermarket head unit with the Metra wiring harness, I'm not 100% sure if the sound still goes through the factory amp. I only say that because the '05 Equinox with Premium sound has an overpowered amp that causes a most annoying "hiss" in the speakers. I had gotten GM involved to the point that they did send someone out, and investigated and came back and said it's working as designed, that GM deliberately put an overpowered amp in the system. On recourse was to use the aftermarket head unit as those have their own amplifier (albeit not as "strong"). At the time, Metra was the only company that had a wiring harness that didn't cause the lose of Onstar or door chimes.

Hope this helps.