Audio Upgrade Follow-Up
Questions and Answers, Part 6

> You know I just noticed that even when I turn off the radio power, the amps
> stay on. Do I have something wrong here? or is that the way yours is as
> well?

Mine works like that, sort of. The CD head unit that I have (UP3) does not have a normal output lead that tells you when the unit is on. I assume the other GP head units work the same. The output that the head unit gives, and that is used in my description on Brian's site is the Retained Accessory Power (RAP). The way RAP works on our cars is the following:

When the ignition is turned to ACC or ON, the RAP is energized. Once the ignition is turned OFF, the RAP will remain active for 10 minutes, or until any door is opened. This allows you to listen to tunes, play with the windows, or the sunroof after you shut the engine off (for a short while).

After you sent me this mail, I did the following experiment:

Walk up to car with ignition off, amp was off.
Start car, radio off, amp was on.
Turned radio on, amp stayed on.
Shut off engine, radio on, amp stayed on.
opened door, radio and amp turned off.

Basically, it's a glorified ACC voltage.

> and the leads that are tapped by the amplifier, are those signals going
> into the amp, or coming from it?

The amp's inputs are the four pairs of speaker outputs from the head unit that also go to the speakers themselves. The amp's outputs are the signals that drive the 6X9's. In short to answer your question, the leads that are tapped into are going into the amp.

> Are the tweeters, installed and perfect fit? Can you provide pictures of
> how they look?

I had to break off the plastic mounting tabs to get the new tweeters to their proper location. The plastic tabs used to hold the old tweeters in place. Once the tabs were out of the way, the new tweeters sit flush on top of a plastic mounting ring. My tweeters were tacked in place with hot melt, and then secured semi-permanently with a bead of very viscous silicone. I would have to open up my door panels to show how they look, and I wasn't really planning on doing that.

> BTW, did you physically remove the 6x9's?

Yes.