Have a couple of threads running already on various head unit swapping malarky, but this one is more speaker/amp related I thought it better in a new thread.

I've seen people replace their amp and update the CCF to enable the centre and rear pillar speakers as the wiring is all there, but I wondered how it would work if you replace the head unit for a third party one.

My thinking goes like this:

Replace the head unit and connect using the InCarTec kit that also bypasses the amp.

Add the extra pillar and centre dash speaker

Smile and smugly enjoy the extra sound.

As the LR amp is being bypassed no CCF would need edited and hopefully the amp in the head unit would drive everything?

Any suggestions greatly appreciated 👍 Learned to drive in 2011.
Bought a Micra - great little car
"Upgraded" to Kia Sportage - hated it
Proper upgrade to FL2 TD4 GS 60 reg Facelift - tailgate paint issues, fuel gauge rewire, transfer box failure at 36k miles, clutch at 60k
Reconditioned diff at 70k ish
Sold at 84k and now on a DS. Terribly unreliable.
Sold DS for a 2021 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV. Fingers crossed....
Sold Outlander for a 2014 SD4 SE Tech because I’m mental

I'm not sure I follow the process here, but I'm not sure if you're on a Gen2.1 audio system 13my onwards) or something older, so I might be about to baffle you. . .

What is meant by bypassing the LR amp (AAM)? Every speaker in the car is connected to the AAM, so to bypass it would mean bringing every speaker cable to the front of the car. Are you actually bypassing the Infotainment Audio Module IAM), ie the source for the amp? And bridging the MOST ring?

The front screen (FCDIM) is the bridge between the CANbus and the MOST, so I assume it reads the CCF from the bus and tells the AAM what configuration to work in via the MOST.

If the FCDIM is being removed, then I'm not sure how the AAM will know what configuration to use. I guess this is something in the kit?

Apologies for all the TLAs, I understand the GEN2.1 Infotainment system very well, but not the older system.

thanks for the detailed reply.

I should add my system is the midline Alpine system in a 2011 GS. So it doesn't have the screen or rear pillar speakers or the centre front one but does have the cables.

The kit from InCarTech does indeed bypass the amp by running the cable from the head unit to the harness that would have been plugged into the amp in the boot. A few people on here have used the kit. Sadly you lose the sub so need another amp to run that. It's all very messy!

But I'd like to do it and if I can add 3 more speakers then all the better. Learned to drive in 2011.
Bought a Micra - great little car
"Upgraded" to Kia Sportage - hated it
Proper upgrade to FL2 TD4 GS 60 reg Facelift - tailgate paint issues, fuel gauge rewire, transfer box failure at 36k miles, clutch at 60k
Reconditioned diff at 70k ish
Sold at 84k and now on a DS. Terribly unreliable.
Sold DS for a 2021 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV. Fingers crossed....
Sold Outlander for a 2014 SD4 SE Tech because I’m mental

Looking at the schematics the AMP seems to have the following connectors:

C4ME27A for the standard speakers and the sub
C4ME27B for headphone units
C4ME27C for MOST
C4ME27D for power
C4ME27E for the premium speakers

I assume the bypass only connects to the C4ME27A connector, you will have to disconnect it from the AMP and connect it to the bypass cable.

On a standard installation the C4ME27E might be there but is probably not connected, it is only connected to a premium amp.

The bypass cable seems to have only 1 plug, I guess only for C4ME27A. I don't see an additional plug for C4ME27E.

So no, adding the bypass cable will probably not add the extra speakers.

Found the schematics here: https://www.freel2.com/gallery/albums/user...iagram.pdf

Last edited by grumsel on 27th Aug 2019 3:03 pm. Edited 1 time in total

If the LR amp is no longer connected to the speakers, then the CCF change doesn't matter.

And to add the three extra speakers on 13my onwards you do have to change the CCF but also need the 16channel premium amp, which cost me ~£200 . . .

Ok, that makes sense 👍 I did wonder how it worked and that makes sense so I won't get the extra speakers.

Thanks. Learned to drive in 2011.
Bought a Micra - great little car
"Upgraded" to Kia Sportage - hated it
Proper upgrade to FL2 TD4 GS 60 reg Facelift - tailgate paint issues, fuel gauge rewire, transfer box failure at 36k miles, clutch at 60k
Reconditioned diff at 70k ish
Sold at 84k and now on a DS. Terribly unreliable.
Sold DS for a 2021 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV. Fingers crossed....
Sold Outlander for a 2014 SD4 SE Tech because I’m mental

Hey Chuckalicious, Just bought my 1st LR2 (2012) and would like to replace the head unit. I've been reading a ton about this and was thinking about running the bypass speaker wires as well. However, I don't want to lose my parking sensor tones, which I believe come from the canbus + MOST connect in the stock head unit. What did you end up doing?

Anyone else here have suggestions as far as keeping parking sensor tones with aftermarket head unit?

As far as I know, most of the kits have parking sensor retention kits, so you'd be ok.

As for me, I decided not to do it as to get it where I wanted was just going to cost too much, what with head unit, various kits then another amp to keep the sub. Or, using a kit that didn't need a new amp to keep the sub but had its own limitations. Learned to drive in 2011.
Bought a Micra - great little car
"Upgraded" to Kia Sportage - hated it
Proper upgrade to FL2 TD4 GS 60 reg Facelift - tailgate paint issues, fuel gauge rewire, transfer box failure at 36k miles, clutch at 60k
Reconditioned diff at 70k ish
Sold at 84k and now on a DS. Terribly unreliable.
Sold DS for a 2021 Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV. Fingers crossed....
Sold Outlander for a 2014 SD4 SE Tech because I’m mental

Thanks.. yes replacing the head unit can get VERY expensive. After a LOT of research, here is my rough plan at the moment:

Ebay face plate from china 40 USD
https://www.ebay.com/itm/CARAV-11-075-Car-...2872660076

MOST Interface 99USD (No fade, just LR)
https://avinusa.com/most-fiber-optic-amp-i...ander.html

MOST Loop Cable (for removing the disc player, but keep MOST Loop intact) 10 USD
https://www.amazon.com/Easyget-Optical-Ada...B01DZBMFBM

Steering Wheel Interface (Optional ) 53
https://www.amazon.com/Axxess-ASWC-1-Unive...B00B4PJC9K

That's 150 - 200 plus the head unit.
Anyone want to poke holes in my plan?

Just to follow up, I went with the xtrons unit. Works great. Sound is not amazing but acceptable with onboard EQ. The only complaint I have so far is that the Xtrons unit does not work very well with headunit reloaded (Android Auto emulation app).

Interested to know if you went ahead and if you ended up finding a solution that retained the Parking Sensor tones? I went with an Alpine unit and a kit I purchased in Australia but the parking sensor is the one thing I haven't been able to get working and i'm missing it. I've seen some ugly kits that look like they plug separately into the parking sensors and into another buzzer. I want the same functionality as the OEM audio system (mute and come through the speakers)

I just picked up 2008 and I plan to drive it for about a year until my daughter is ready to take it over, but I really want to update the radio and have very little understanding how that works, any insight would be helpful.

I have the navigation system that appears to be useless at this point - Could I remove that screen and just put a double Din radio in its place and run all the speakers to the new radio and just bypass the old radio system - leave it intake. Is that an option?.

hey jedmund1. Little more complicated than that. What spec is the car? Is it the base model audio system?


Have a look through the forums, there's some Pioneer upgrades, and some Xtrons upgrades. People have taken a few different paths, as different options have become available over the years. Some people replaced the nav units with XTRONS devices. Others replaced the actual audio head unit.

IMO, you're best off pulling out the actual radio head unit and replacing it with an AV head unit with apple play etc. All of the speaker driving ties into the CANbus system and wiring loom. You'll need to get something like the Aerpro CHLR6C interface and then appropriate ISO cable adapter for the head unit. Aerpro, Connects2 and IncarTek are some of the brands that make all of this as an Audio upgrade kit. SpiralAudio in the US used to as well, but I can't see anything on their website anymore. If you have a look on youtube you'll see a few videos of upgrades as well.

With regards to existing nav unit. I would just ignore it pull it out. --
Freelander 2 TD4 (2011) RHD - Base kit (standard audio) with rear parking sensors