Hi all, I have a few audio system questions about a '98 XK8 with the H/K premium setup:

1) This steering wheel has the track-forward audio control only. Is there a way to fit a later year steering wheel with the forward and reverse?

2) Is fitting a later year Alpine head unit and amp as simple as unplug, remove, install? Or are there other issues with wiring/connectors?

3) What are the stock crossover points for each of the speakers? Are the crossovers located in the preamp, amp, or just before each of the speakers?

4) I remember seeing an audio system wiring diagram somewhere on this site but I cannot find it now. Does anyone know if it is still here?

Thanks,
Marty

 

Not sure when the steering wheel with forward and reverse was first fitted, but up to 2004 the wiring is the same; i.e it's a pair of wires with various resistances being switched in dependent on which button is pressed (the diagram makes that a little clearer)

I believe it's not straightfoward; perhaps someone else can jump in here?

All the speakers are fed on separate lines from the power amp, with the exception of the dash squawker and door tweeter which are fed from the same line. The door tweeter has a series capacitor inline, so the others may also have some crossover components, although I'd expect not since they're separately fed.

I've had a quick search but can't find the electrical guide here. PM me if you want a copy as I'm not sure if it's OK to post this on here.

Hope this helps,
Mike

 

as above, the steering wheel controls are resistance based. You could always try to work out what the different resistances are for different controls, it will all be standard Alpine, and then you could look at 'recoding' one of your buttons

Alpine did something tricky when they put the headunits in these cars, I believe it is a bespoke 'handshake' signal, so the factory headunit will only work with the factory cd stacker. However, there is nothing stopping you replacing BOTH, and using the factory AI-net cable to connect to either a new cd stacker. In reality though, if you replace your headunit you'll probably move to an ipod/usb based music source, so any factory wiring is irrelevant anyway

as per the wiring diagram below, assuming it is the same as the XJ's, the crossovers for the front speakers are set at the amp. The real question is, why do you want to know? Are you looking to replace the speakers? If so, consider replacing the factory amp as well, it's not actually any better than the internal amp on a new headunit.

http://www.gusglikas.com/images/Auto.../jagxj1999.pdf
Hopefully that will be some help... I'm not sure if there is a proper XK diagram anywhere though, sorry.

 

Ok, so if I replace both the steering wheel and the head unit from the same donor car the resistance-based controls should match.

Do you happen to know if the factory wiring uses the same connectors from the H/K to the Alpine? I'm thinking that would be too easy. I am probably in the minority here, but I'd rather have the factory unit and associated steering controls. I am really not a fan of ipod or anything apple. I'm a stubborn old man in a 30 year old body and I still prefer my vinyl and CDs. Heck, the stubborn old men have all left me behind for ipods. (Funny thing is, I jumped on the mp3 wagon back in 1996 before Napster was even a thing, and the majority of my music listening is done in my $25k system from an HTPC. So I'm kind of a hypocrite, although I have updated my library to mostly FLAC at this point.)

I am planning on replacing the dash and window tweeters with folded ribbon drivers and the door speakers with dedicated midranges. (The rears are already replaced with Kicker CVT654s, which while unable to provide the quality I am used to, really kick harder than I thought possible from a 6.5" speaker.) The problem is, I believe the stock crossover points interfere with the frequency cutoffs of the new speakers. So if the crossovers are done at the amp, I can just replace the amp and run capacitors right at each individual speaker.

Thanks, this should help