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Stock amplifier location

21988 Views 37 Replies 8 Participants Last post by  onefellswoop
Anyone know where the stock amp is in a 2014 cruze with my link?
Is it internally in the deck or or an external ?

Thanks
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If we're talking about the upgraded (Pioneer?) 9-speaker system, and it's the same as the 2013, it's in the trunk. Passenger side IIRC. Not to be confused with the fuel pump module.

But if it's the stock system, it's part of the radio.
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It's the 6 speaker system with the my link screen
The radio is the amp. At least, as it came from the factory.
What about the pioneer system? Where would that be located?
if its not the Pioneer system, there is no amp. I have the Mylink screen, tweeters, mids in front and rear doors but no 6x9 on the rear deck....no amp.
I have the pioneer system. Where is the amp located?
I have speakers in all 4 doors, tweeters on the a pillar and the 6x9s in the rear deck.
What about the pioneer system? Where would that be located?
See post #2.
^ that...theres 2 "modules" attached to the rear passenger fender...

see here
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^ that...theres 2 "modules" attached to the rear passenger fender...

see here
I have the 9 speaker setup, but only the center speaker and the two in the rear deck are pushing anything out. The dash tweeters, the front door speakers, and rear door speakers are completely silent. I checked the amplifier fuse under the hood and it's good. I checked the audio fuse under the dash and it's good. I played with the wires connecting the amplifier (which is in the trunk) and nothing.

Any chance this is just a bad amplifier or is there something else I might be overlooking?
I have the 9 speaker setup, but only the center speaker and the two in the rear deck are pushing anything out. The dash tweeters, the front door speakers, and rear door speakers are completely silent.
The problem is somewhere starting with the amp all the way to the speakers. The radio is just a standard 4 channel (left/right/front/back). The front center and back subs are derived from that. So, at least one of the 4 door channels has to be working. I'm leaning toward the amp itself. Perhaps the 4 main speakers are all on one chip that's gone bad. But I'd check connectors on the amp. Because that's a lot of speakers to be going bad.
The radio is just a standard 4 channel (left/right/front/back).
Oh how I miss the days of analog signals.

Now it’s all MOST. Gen 2 Cruze included. It’s Possible I guess to add aftermarket but it gets messy.
The problem is somewhere starting with the amp all the way to the speakers. The radio is just a standard 4 channel (left/right/front/back). The front center and back subs are derived from that. So, at least one of the 4 door channels has to be working. I'm leaning toward the amp itself. Perhaps the 4 main speakers are all on one chip that's gone bad. But I'd check connectors on the amp. Because that's a lot of speakers to be going bad.
I took the amp completely out last night and took it all apart. I was hoping to find a in-house fuse or something. Maybe pregnant resistors. Anything to show a sign of failure. It looked perfect, but that's not say it is perfect. I think you're right about the channels. I'm guessing the front center speaker is the front channel and the subs are the rear channel. And the tweeter, front door and back door are left/right respectively. So, maybe the left and right channels of the amplifier went out?

I was thinking picking up a used amplifier from the salvage yard and giving that a try. I don't have the tools to test the amplifier in really any other way. I guess I could splice into the harness and connect a speaker to it, but that makes me feel like I'd be creating problems down the road.

Is it possible a surge of electrical power could have taken out the speakers on the side? The car was in a front end collision from the previous owner and the air bags did deploy. The packing job in the pillars is garbage.
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The pillar speakers are the tweeters for the front door speakers. I think the rear subs are tied together, so I think the 9 speakers are driven by 6 amp channels. I believe you're correct in the front center is a mix of the front left/right and the subs are a mix of of the rear left/right. It's just 4 audio channels from the head unit.

You might try tacking a speaker in at the amp. The head unit uses the same output for both 6 and 9 speaker versions - that is, the head unit output can drive a speaker. It won't sound "right", but it's good enough for testing. Likewise, you could probably tack a speaker output from a radio or some thing to test the harness and speaker. So, a little playing around at the amp connector should tell you if it's the amp or not.

One little detail - the head unit does communicate with the amp digitally. It controls turning it on/off and maybe something else. If the head unit got swapped with a 6 speaker system, it might cause problems due the wrong software. But that's a long shot.
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Yesterday, I went to two salvage yards that showed they had a few (at least two 2014's) Cruze's and both told me they don't have anything that new. Go figure.

I played around more with the stereo last night. Fader front elminates the subs. Fader rear eliminates the front center speaker. This was expected. Moving balance left/right made the center speaker less loud. I also pulled off the pillars a little bit to expose the tweeters. The connections to them are fine and weren't at all damaged when the airbags deployed. I was kind of hoping that maybe the wires touched and killed the channel in the amp.

I think I'm out of luck and gonna just have to bring it in. I've never had an issue with stereo's before -- always was able to figure it out quick and fix it. 🤷‍♂️
One little detail - the head unit does communicate with the amp digitally. It controls turning it on/off and maybe something else. If the head unit got swapped with a 6 speaker system, it might cause problems due the wrong software. But that's a long shot.
I've struck out at three salvage yards who said they had an amplifier. Each one checked 3 or 4 vehicles and none of them had an amp. I started thinking, forget it, replace the dang thing and wire it myself. Then watching a video this guy said in GM vehicles the door ding is in the front driver door speaker. I figured this was a way to see if my speaker was good. Turns out, the door ding is in my center speaker! What the heck?
I've struck out at three salvage yards who said they had an amplifier. Each one checked 3 or 4 vehicles and none of them had an amp. I started thinking, screw it, replace the **** thing and wire it myself. Then watching a video this guy said in GM vehicles the door ding is in the front driver door speaker. I figured this was a way to see if my speaker was good. Turns out, the door ding is in my center speaker! What the heck?
The head unit only puts out 4 channels. The amp uses those 4 to produce 7 outputs. I think the two subs (rear deck) are derived from the two rear door speaker channels. And the center dash from the two front door speaker signals.

The door chime, being in the LF door, will also be heard in the center dash speaker.

(For anyone counting: to get to 9 speakers from 7 amp channels, the A-pillar tweeters piggy-back off the front door speaker signals.)

Sorry you're having trouble finding another amp. gmpartsdirect.com lists it at $183.

Doug


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The head unit only puts out 4 channels. The amp uses those 4 to produce 7 outputs. I think the two subs (rear deck) are derived from the two rear door speaker channels. And the center dash from the two front door speaker signals.

The door chime, being in the LF door, will also be heard in the center dash speaker.

(For anyone counting: to get to 9 speakers from 7 amp channels, the A-pillar tweeters piggy-back off the front door speaker signals.)

Sorry you're having trouble finding another amp. gmpartsdirect.com lists it at $183.

Doug

Thanks. Do you think the amplifier is the problem? I just bought the car and I'd really like to avoid spending a couple hundred to get all 9 speakers working, lol.

The center speaker and subs in the rear deck work fine. The tweeters, front door and rear door speakers have zero sound. I've checked the under the hood fuse, the under the dash fuse. I've never experience such an issue with a car stereo setup.
I've struck out at three salvage yards who said they had an amplifier. Each one checked 3 or 4 vehicles and none of them had an amp. I started thinking, forget it, replace the dang thing and wire it myself. Then watching a video this guy said in GM vehicles the door ding is in the front driver door speaker. I figured this was a way to see if my speaker was good. Turns out, the door ding is in my center speaker! What the heck?
What plano-doug said. The head unit puts the ding in the left front channel. The amp creates the center channel by mixing left and right. But since the left is dead, you hear it on the center.
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