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Amp

By FjB, April 8, 2015



Does anybody know where the amplifier is located on a 2012? Or where I can get one. The dealership has them for 500

Which system are you looking to connect to / which one is already installed - the standard Toyota headunit and speakers or the upgraded factory JBL system?

For $500 - I'd go aftermarket - get a lot more bang for you buck.

I tried installing a 2012 stereo on my 9th gen, it turned on and everything but no sound. I went to get help at an audio store and they said I needed the factory amp because, I guess, the 2012 comes with premium sound

That's pretty weird, never heard of a Toyota OEM factory headunit that only had line level outs, as that is usually restricted to pretty high end or specialized audio equipment.

Possible that the headunit has logic that is looking for particular wiring or accessories. Could be some extra components in the amp that the headunit needs.

This is especially true with JBL, BOSE, HK, systems that some automakers use. There are inline filters and logic that run between the headunit and the speakers themselves. Without them, you'll get lousy sound or even no sound coming out. That's why when some people replace a factory premium headunit with an aftermarket - but not pull the wires and keep the OEM speakers, the system sounds terrible or doesn't generate any sound at all.

As for the amp location - that might be harder to pin down - lots of the audio system is port installed, meaning they are installed at the dealership. Same with the factory security systems. Common places for amps are in the trunk, behind a sail panel, under the rear deck and under the front seats.

So, what do you suggest I do, Fish? Look for another stereo or get it installed at a dealership?

Might get lucky and find the OEM amp cheap on eBay or Craigslist. My fear is that, depending on what headunit you have, it may be expecting certain components to be wired inline to the speakers / body computer.

Also entirely possible that the headunit you have is defective - starting you down this path of wild goose chase.

Two of the most important things with car audio are impedance matching and RMS power. Making sure that the speakers and associated filters/crossovers (if equipped) CAN be driven by the headunit/amp, in terms of power (some speakers won't even start to make noise until they get minimum about of power fed into them) and impedance (matching the "resistance" of the speaker to the amp/headunit - too much resistance and there will be little to no sound, too little resistance and you could short out the headunit or burn up the speaker).

In case I might start leading you away from a solution - need a baseline of what you have:

- What audio system do you currently have in your 9th gen Corolla? Standard factory, upgraded, or premium up (branded) headunit.

If you have a premium system installed, you might have to rip all the wiring out and start over from scratch - as it exceptionally hard to find every single occurrence of a filter or choke in the line. Sometimes they are wired into a function box, effectively hiding it from view.

- Which 10th gen headunit did you get? Who was the original manufacturer who made it (might be hard to find, might have to open it up and look a some chips) - Rosen, Sony, Panasonic, Pioneer, JVC, Kenwood, etc.?

I know in the case of the 10th gen - trying to find an aftermarket headunit replacement for a factory installed JBL system - unless it was made by Rosen, none of them worked. In the case of dropping a 10th gen into a 9th gen - you don't have that restriction, but a few might have issues with the speaker's impedance. Also, sometimes the factory wiring can be all over the place - ex. Toyota FJ - front speakers have high impedance, but are wired in parallel to drop their effective impendence in 1/2. Can throw a lot of aftermarket installers off, as they look at the speaker's spec say one thing and the headunit says something else.

(I couldn't figure out how to post pictures of the headunits I have, so I got those off Google)

Got it. With just the standard audio system in the receiving car (9th gen) - you shouldn't have any issues with that 10th gen headunit. I don't think those headunits needed the amp - the only one I know for sure was the Rosen one and the amp was directly behind the headunit.

Maybe you have something else causing grief? Bad wire, incorrectly adapter (pinned wrong), possible that there is an amp in the 9th gen, etc.? Pretty hard to believe that two different/working headunits do not work when plugged into your car unless there was something with the wiring. Possible it might have something to do with the newer anti-theft circuitry inside - may need to take that to a dealership to be "unlocked".

The other common possibility would be the amp - some of the premium branded ones had system critical electronics split between the headunit and amp - so they couldn't work independently from each other. That was also an attempt at anti-theft - as you needed the headunit and the associated hidden amp to make a working unit.

Also possible that you had an amp with the original 9th gen Corolla headunit - if you replaced it with the 10th gen, it wouldn't necessary see the amp (pinned differently, doesn't get turn on signal, etc.). Assumed you already tried wiring speakers directly to the headunit using some jumpers/clip leads?

So you think there might be a factory amp in my Corolla?

I was told to follow the wires in back of the 10th gen headunit to get to the "hidden amp", but it was too hard because of the million wires crossing each other. Plus, I didn't want to tear up the whole dash looking for it

I searched online to see if I can get the wiring diagrams of the headunits to see if the pins were different but couldn't find them either

It is possible that the 9th gen has an amp. I used to have a 2003 Matrix XRS - basically the wagon version of the 9th gen Corolla. Even though it had just the upgraded factory (ie, had the multi-disc built-in changer vs the singe disc, but not the premium sound setup) - it had an amp behind the headunit.

The 10th gen units that I've seen (Rosen) - the amp was directly attached to the rear of the headunit, so it should have been pretty obvious that there was an amp there. But like I mentioned earlier, many of these systems are port installed - so a dealership might have done the work themselves or more likely, farmed the work to a third party to install that equipment. So it is possible that amp could be anywhere in the car.

I also took a quick peek at wiring guides, didn't have much luck turning any over. There might be some floating around on the Toyotanation forums under their 10th gen section - be worth a look and see if they might be able to point you in right direction.

I haven't been farther than the stereo on my 9th gen, I'll check if I see an amp somewhere in the back.

Installing this stereo has been a pain, I'll check on Toyotanation to see if I get any help

Thanks, Fish

I checked wiring diagrams for the 2012 and if there is an amp it's integrated into the head unit as it shows wires going from head unit to speakers with no modules between. I assume the units are powering up?

Really Nice i was very appriciate your Post and can you share some more benefits



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