I did an install yesterday in an 04 Echo. My buddy kept the factory MP3 deck, and I added on and amp/subs. I used this LOC, an American International one:

http://www.procura.com/lc300cl.html

It has a ground on it, but I did not use it, I have used other LOC's that suggest that the ground only be used if noise is present. Everything sounded good, does this seem right? Thanks.

 

Nice, another Echo

Did you notice how the entire interior comes apart and snaps back together like Lego? (I mean this in a good way).

How did you find the signal quality of that little LOC?

 

Thanks for the info people! Bryan, the car came apart quite nicely, for sure, and all of the sill panels snapped out easily. It had a nice big grommet on the firewall that I ran power through, the install looked pretty clean. Found out that to pull the factory deck out, it is good to rotate the heater control to the right (Hot) setting, as it blocked the top left stereo bracket. I scratched the plastic underneath where the ashtray mounts a bit, trying to wrangle the deck with the metal brackets out. Nothing that can be seen, I showed my customer, he had no problems. As far as the sound quality goes, he is running an older small Pioneer amp, GM-X332 I think, only about 50x2 rms, I would guess, to a pair of the diamondplate style Pioneer 10's. The LOC gains are cranked, and the amp gains are at 3/4 to get some decent volume out of it, I think a bigger amp would definitely be in order. Sorry for the long post. One strange thing was that I tested the wire harnesses that plugged into the factory deck, tapped off of the ignition one for the remote turn on lead, but I noticed that the amp stays on when the key is to the on position, even when the deck is off. I double-checked my wires also. Hmmm......

 

^^ Whoops, thanks!

 

It's even easier if you pull out the *****, remove the two philips screws behind them, and remove the upper console (just yank it towards you and up)

Thanks for the feedback on the LOC, I'm considering something like that for a friend whose requirements don't justify an LC-6 or similar. Do you think that it's worth getting an inexpensive LOC instead of using the speaker-level inputs on an inexpensive amp?

 

^^ Thanks for the tip, Bryan. As far as the LOC is concerned, I like using them, it makes the job look cleaner, in my opinion. It makes it more like wiring off of an aftermarket head unit, where you have your RCA's, remote, and power wire run to the back, instead of wires running from the speakers to the amp for signal.