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Exile zld install question


jrad12381

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Ok this is probably a dumb question but I am trying to install an exile zld in a 2012 mxz with the Rockford fosgate black box. I am not sure what output on the black box connects to the main input on the zld. Any help is greatly appreciated.

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Are you looking to keep the Rockford input's as a source? I believe most are bypassing that whole system and using a digital device (phone, mp3 player) as their only input. I will probably use my phone or ipod with a Bluetooth connection with the Puck that Exile is going to release soon.

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I am having mine installed @ Exile now I have not had a chance to play with it yet. A few members here have it working already, one of them will chime in soon and you will be up an running. Could be power to the ZLD or connection issues with the RCA's. Have you tried connecting the RCA's directly to the cabin or tower amp to see if it will produce sound? Make sure your head unit is on as well as I believe the blue trigger wires are still hooked to that.

Edited by JTech
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you should take one set of the full range RCA outputs from the black box... either "front" or "rear" (or "cabin" or "tower" depending what they call the rca outputs from the black box), and plug that into the input side of the ZLD. Then the output side of the ZLD will go to cabin, tower, and sub amps. There should also be a second open input where you can hook up an aux input (like an ipod, or the bluetooth puck, for instance).

EDIT: LOL, as in the pic on the exile website:

exilezldmanualdrawing.jpg

Edited by shawndoggy
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I have a similar question on this...

When installing, I cannot separate "rear cabin" from "towers". I can fade front cabin from rear cabin/tower but no matter how I try, I cannot fade front/rear cabin from tower. There is a pass thru connection at the amps that connects amp 1 (interior speakers) to amp 3 (tower speakers). If I unplug the pass thru, it then disconnects my rear cabin.

How can I separate my tower from the rest of the speakers?!?! Thanks for the help!

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rewire the amps so that the pass-through goes from one CABIN amp to the other. You need to take the cabins and the towers off of the same channel.

Isn't the first amp powering the cabin speakers, the second powering the sub and the third powering the tower? I need to "rewire" by changing the positions of the speaker wires plugged in at the amp? I guess I am clueless in this sense and I apologize for my ignorance.

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Isn't the first amp powering the cabin speakers, the second powering the sub and the third powering the tower? I need to "rewire" by changing the positions of the speaker wires plugged in at the amp? I guess I am clueless in this sense and I apologize for my ignorance.

You don't need to rewire. First you need to figure out what the arrangement you have to begin with. I.E How many amps ? What amp drives what set of speakers ? How many rca's do you have going over to your amps from the ZLD ? In the example that you have an RCA going from 1 amp output to the input of another amp you will have the same problem. As some of the guys mentioned earlier you need the amps on separate channels (RCA going to the ZLD) in order to fade from one set of speakers to the other. Post some pics if thats easier for you and maybe we can help further.

Good luck,

Claudio

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I have the service pack 3 with 4 tower speakers, 8 interior, and 3 amps. I have been able to determine this much: Amp 1 Drives front speakers, Amp 2 Drives Sub, Amp 3 Drives Tower Speakers. There is a pass thru RCA that is connected to Amp 1 and Amp 3 which controls my rear cabin speakers. I say "pass thru" as they are connected to that set of RCA inputs. If I disconnect the "pass thru" RCA on Amp 1, the rear cabins go out. If I disconnect the "pass thru" RCA on Amp 3, the rear cabins go out.

For the ZLD: I have 4 sets of RCA's connected to the unit. 1 Set plugged into the input of each amp (3 total) and 1 set plugged into the "Front" Output RCA's on the black box.

This link shows what the back of my amps look like (for RCAs) http://www.rockfordfosgate.com/products/product_details.aspx?itemid=108230

Let me know if you have any additional questions. Thanks all for your help!

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I have the service pack 3 with 4 tower speakers, 8 interior, and 3 amps. I have been able to determine this much: Amp 1 Drives front speakers, Amp 2 Drives Sub, Amp 3 Drives Tower Speakers. There is a pass thru RCA that is connected to Amp 1 and Amp 3 which controls my rear cabin speakers. I say "pass thru" as they are connected to that set of RCA inputs. If I disconnect the "pass thru" RCA on Amp 1, the rear cabins go out. If I disconnect the "pass thru" RCA on Amp 3, the rear cabins go out.

For the ZLD: I have 4 sets of RCA's connected to the unit. 1 Set plugged into the input of each amp (3 total) and 1 set plugged into the "Front" Output RCA's on the black box.

This link shows what the back of my amps look like (for RCAs) http://www.rockfordf...x?itemid=108230

Let me know if you have any additional questions. Thanks all for your help!

If you have 3 sets of RCA conencting to each input on your amps , as stated that you do not need the RCA's connecting amp to amp through the pass-through RCA's. So if your amps are connected together thgrough RCA's I would try disconnecting them and see what happens.

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If you have 3 sets of RCA conencting to each input on your amps , as stated that you do not need the RCA's connecting amp to amp through the pass-through RCA's. So if your amps are connected together thgrough RCA's I would try disconnecting them and see what happens.

If I disconnect the RCA that is connecting the two amps from both ends or one end (Amp 1 or Amp 3), then I lose my rear speakers. It doesn't make sense to me but that is what happens.

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OK so let's follow the signal from the ZLD:

Sub signal goes to sub amp. Sounds like you are good there.

Cabin signal goes to cabin amp. Sounds like you are good here, except that it's only going to the front of the cabin not the rear.

Tower signal goes to tower amp. Here, it sounds like your tower speakers and your rear cabin speakers are getting their signal from the same RCA signal.

You linked to this picture.... this is not a picture of a four channel amp, it's a two channel. So this picture does have a "pass through" where you can daisy chain two amps together.

P400-4_3_l.jpg

Instead, if you have a four channel amp, it should look like this:

Pagesfrom1230_55953-01_RFPunch4Ch-MAN.jpg

If your rear cabin and your tower speakers are both powered off of a single amp that looks like this, then you need to make sure that the amp is set to four channel mode, and that the inputs are from their respective sources from the zld. So for instance, if your front cabin speakers are powered from a single amp, and your rear cabin speakers are powered from the rear channels of the other amp, you'll need to run rca splitters to split the zld's signal for the cabin channel between those two amps. Then your tower speakers would be powered by the other two channels from the same four channel amp, and you'd plug the ZLD's tower rca in there.

Remember that you will also DEFINITELY need to reset the gains on all of the amps too.

Edited by shawndoggy
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Thanks for the detailed explaination. I will review the amps but I believe the Tower Amp is a two channel amp as it looks like your first picture. The other two amps look like your second picture. This makes me think that the speakers have been wired to the wrong amps...?

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honestly, it shouldn't be anything that you cannot fix by making sure the rcas are plugged in to the right places, and that the amps are set right.

If there is a pass-through from the tower amp (and it's a two channel amp) and that pass through goes to the cabin amp, probably all you need to do is unplug the pass through and set the cabin amp to two channel input, instead of four channel. Then all four channels on the cabin amp will play the same thing.

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Thanks shawndoggy, jrad and Brian from Exile for your help. I had to switch my interior amp from 4-channel to 2-channel and it solved the issue. However, with the newer Malibu's rolling out the door with audio, they are putting "Warranty VOID If Removed" stickers over the switches and gains. Needless to say, that amp is a sticker short now... :whistle:

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I have a few questions when reading through the manual...

Under the heading Aujusting the Zones - Cabin/ Tower / Sub

1) Set high pass crossover at ~ 100HZ ..I assume they mean the crossover setting on the amp?

4) Turn the ZLD "bass level" to maximum. I assume they mean the knob titled "Bass" and not the aub freq and sub vol knobs? During this process I assume the sub freq and sub volume are to be set to the 12 o' clock position?

Edited by old skool malibu
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Why don't you just call them? This way all your answers will be answered all at once with clarity.

I could however there are lots of crew members are installing this exact product. Some of the questions that were already asked were of benefit to me and perhaps mine will benefit others. Kinda the point of the form...

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Why don't you just call them? This way all your answers will be answered all at once with clarity.

Whats the point of having a community then? We come here looking for many things and one of them is support from vendors and manufacturers. If they were allowed to post solutions, Everyone would benefit.

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I took D-Goose's advice and called Exile. For the benefit of the crew I will let you know what I learned. I spoke with Rob btw and he was a great help. I was incorrect regarding the bass adjustment. Do not touch the "bass" knob you want the knob that says "sub volume". Turn that to max when setting your gains. Glad I asked.

For amp gains generally speaking you can set the stock rockfords to 110hz, decent sized tower speakers (8") to 80hz and sub to 80hz. Obviously you will adjust these levels depending what your ear tells you. These settings are on your amp not the ZLD.

Edited by old skool malibu
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