2004 Kdc-x679

[sudgalvas]

I installed Kenwood's KDC-X679 in my SVT today. I chose this radio because it does not have any masking feature (Kenwood's terrible idea for theft prevention!) and it has a brushed aluminum trim which matches the heater controls.

I used the Metra dash kit and it worked awesome. I had the audiophile system and I did not want to lose the factory sub. Being a former installer, I set out to figure out how to make it work with the new radio. The stocker radio has 3 plugs. Two standard Ford plugs, one speaker, one power. The third connector has the steering wheel controls and the sub outputs.

I took a sacrificial RCA cable and chopped off one of the RCA's with about 10" length. Carefully striping back the jacket for about 3 inches. Separate the center conductor from the shielding. Connect the signal wire to the White/Black. Attach the shield to the Brown/Yellow. Hook up the amp turn-on wire to the White/Red. Thats it. See second picture.

The Kenwood has a dedicated sub output with full crossovers. I set the high-pass on the fronts and rears at 120 Hz, Sub low-pass at 50 Hz. With independant control over the stock sub and amp the car sounds 100% better. I will actually be able to live with this until I can install the rest of the system.

Hope this info helps anybody who wants to upgrade their Audiophile with incredibly surprising results!

[sa_pyro_ne]

good job, but just a quick question, if you have your sub low passed at 50 hz and your fronts and rears high passed at 120 hz aren't you missing alot of the audio spectrum (everything from 50hz to 120hz)?

- Scott

[sudgalvas]

I have little choice. I still have the factory speakers all around. The front speakers are actually a component set with a 4" mid and 1" tweet in a 5x7 sealed enclosure. I don't want to blow one of the "woofers" with too much low frequency information.

That is why my final system will be an 8" midbass, 4" midrange, 1" tweet front stage. Rears will be 6.5" components with a single 10 L5 Solobaric sub in a new enclosure. Until I get around to fabricating new door enclosures, this will have to do!

sa_pyro_ne, where abouts in MI are you from?

[sa_pyro_ne]

ic ic, sounds like you have a good system planned out though, good luck. and i'm from milford, that's like 25-30 mins from livonia.

- Scott

[SVT4ME]

I have yet to blow out my factory speakers, but there's always tomorrow.

Sadly, I could *really* have used this information. I couldn't figure out the sub/steering wheel harness and just gave up and took it to a local stereo shop... I never found out exactly what they did to hook up the sub to the head unit, but I suspect it was something similar to what you describe. The Nakamichi came with a couple of RCA to "micro" (?) plugs (like the kind your computer uses to hook up a fan to the motherboard for example) and I assume they chopped one of those up at the RCA end and tapped into the car's wiring that way. Oh well, it works and that's all that matters.

Nice work on your install.

[revamp]

Hi everyone! This is my first post on this board and my first day as a Focus owner. I have an '04 Focus ZX3 SVT with audiophile and I want to install my Kenwood H/U (KDC-X969) that I already have without sacrificing the sub OR the steering wheel controls. I have looked at the wiring pics provided by sudgalvas and they are great, but I was wondering if I could get a little more info. By "Sacrificial RCA", did you mean you chopped an RCA from around the house to use in your install, or you modified one from your Kenwood? Also, have you been able to hook up your steering controls? In europe you can purchase a wiring harness for like 35 pounds that is supposed to connect a Kenwood deck to a Focus, but I am not sure if it would work with an American car.

http://caraudiosecurity.com/catalog/...oducts_id+2367

If I used this product and it worked for steering controls, I would probably lose the sub.

I have also read a good deal about the PAC SWI-X

http://www.pac-audio.com/products/swi.htm

That seems to work well with everyone. I just would like to keep my install as clean as possible without a lot of excess products and cables and wires everywhere.

One last thing...what wiring harness works best for my Focus? Have you all used the VW harness and then performed the Sub mod? I have never purchased harnesses before....I just chopped and spliced wires. I would prefer to keep the factory harness intact here, though. Thank you so much for your help!

-Amanda

[sudgalvas]

Amanda

First of all welcome to the board! Lets see some pics of your new SVT!

By "Sacrificial RCA", did you mean you chopped an RCA from around the house to use in your install, or you modified one from your Kenwood?

Yes, the sacrificial RCA was just an inexpensive RCA that I cut off with about 9" length on it so that I could hardwire it to the factory connector.


Also, have you been able to hook up your steering controls? ..... I have also read a good deal about the PAC SWI-X....That seems to work well with everyone. I just would like to keep my install as clean as possible without a lot of excess products and cables and wires everywhere.

I use the SWI-X in my SVT and it works great. Just be sure to follow the instructions. I mounted the transmitter LED on my steering column near the key-switch facing towards the radio. It was simple to install and works great for me!


One last thing...what wiring harness works best for my Focus? Have you all used the VW harness and then performed the Sub mod? I have never purchased harnesses before....I just chopped and spliced wires. I would prefer to keep the factory harness intact here, though. Thank you so much for your help!

I used the American International FWH-594 wireharness, which ford has used on their NON-premium sound radios for the longest time. You will also require a VW-6 (AI part Number.) Volkswagen antenna adapter to plug the antenna into your Kenwood.

[revamp]

Okay, things are getting clearer....Thanks! I have all of my parts on order and they should all be here the first half of next week. In the meantime, I want to make sure I know what I am going to do. More questions:
do you have the Sub/Steering control plug hooked up to anything? (I can't tell in the pic)
where does the amp turn-on wire come from?
The un-spliced end of the "sacrificial RCA" plugs into where? (I have aux input, front, rear, and non-fading input RCA's on my H/U)

Thank you so much for your help....I'm so excited. I will get pics up as soon as the blasted rain stops. Oh yeah, I picked up the pac swi-x, as well....any pointers you could give me beyond the installation manual would be appreciated :)

[sudgalvas]

Amanda, your welcome! Your excitement makes posting worthwhile.

The Sub/Steering connector is not plugged into anything. The amp turn on wire comes from the wire harness adapter. Make sure you use the Blue/White amp turn on wire and NOT the blue power antenna wire. Otherwise, your subwoofer will turn off when you play a CD.

You only need one channel for the input to the factory subwoofer amp, so pick either the right or left to hook up your sacrificial RCA to the sub input wire. Use the non-fading output of your Kenwood.

Be sure to set the crossovers on your Excelon radio. High-pass the front and rears and low-pass the subwoofer.

A couple things with the SWI-X: Be sure it is set in the proper mode for the Focus. It is not clear in the instructions that the Brown/Yellow wire (next to the white/black wire in on the sub/control plug in the picture) needs to be grounded. To do this, simply connect a jumper wire from the Brown/Yellow to the ground wire on the radio wire harness.

Good Luck!
Jonas

[revamp]

Hello again,

I have all my pieces and parts in and I began splicing wires from my kenwood harness to the harness adaptors while watching some TV. I have prepared my RCA cable and it is stripped with the shielding separated from the signal wire. My question concerns the blue and white power control wires. Should I splice the Kenwood p. cont. wire to both the adaptor harness blue/white AND the sub turn-on, or does the sub turn-on just go to the adaptor harness blue/white?

Also, when splicing behind the sub/steering plug, what method do you suggest? I see that the wires aren't severed. How did you do this? Is this the same method you used for the jumper-to-ground on the swi-x install?

Hmm...I wonder if there is anything else I don't know....I'm sure I'll find out

Thanks!!!

[sudgalvas]

Originally posted by revamp
Should I splice the Kenwood p. cont. wire to both the adaptor harness blue/white AND the sub turn-on, or does the sub turn-on just go to the adaptor harness blue/white?


You need to hook up the Kenwood amp Turn on lead to the factory sub amp turn on lead. The other way around, and the sub will turn off when you put in a CD, because the radio will turn off the power antenna when a CD is played.


Also, when splicing behind the sub/steering plug, what method do you suggest? I see that the wires aren't severed. How did you do this? Is this the same method you used for the jumper-to-ground on the swi-x install?

Simply peel back some insulation from the wires and make the connections. Then solder the wires before you tape them, that way you know they are permanent.

Are you taking pictures as you go along?

[revamp]

I have Good news and Bad news...

The good news is that I completed my install today (took maybe an hour, start to finish) and everything seems to be working well (Sub and Steering controls). I High Passed my front and rear speakers to 120Hz and Low Passed the Sub to 50Hz (as recommended) and the bass is still thumping and the other speakers sound great. The swi-x seems to be tempermental with the positioning of the xmitter so until I come up with a better idea, I have it running inside my steering column and then looped around my windshield washer lever--aimed at the H/U. This seems to work best. I am pleased with how everything turned out, except I have a large H/U and I don't like how far out from the dash it protrudes, but the sound quality is so much better that I will deal. This particular unit certainly did aesthetically do better in my Contour (my old car) than in the focus.

Now the bad news...During a family rush at my sister's wedding yesterday, my Dad ended up taking off with my camera so I was unable to take pictures during my install. Heck, I haven't been able to take ANY pics....I should have my camera back this week as soon as I can make the drive to pick my camera up. Pics will come soon, I promise!!!!