Adding Amp to Audio 15 2014 Sprinter 2500

redz

New member
Hello all ,I'm looking for some info on the Audio 15 Stereo from a 2014 Sprinter
I want to add an amp (or two and speakers /sub) but I would like to keep the stock system look
so I don' t have to worry too much about thieves. Does anyone know if there is a provision or does anyone have any pictures of the back of the audio 15 ..I don't want to take it out until
I have a plan

Any help /input would be appreciated
Redz
 

LetsGo

Member
We had Van Specialties add an amp to drive the additional two rear speakers and added a powered subwoofer under the passenger seat enclosure. We did this while keeping the Audio 15 head unit as it incorporated our Backup camera, Bluetooth phone, and the aux and USB ports as well as the SD Card input. We also swapped out the dash speakers with improved components as well. Huge improvement and remains stealth in appearance.
 

redz

New member
Thank You for the reply ..That sounds like exactly what I'm trying to do ..U got someone else to do it ? I guess you don't know how or have a wiring diagram?


Thanks,
Redz
 

avanti

2022 Ford Transit 3500
I, too, would love to see a wiring diagram or at least a picture of the back. In my case, my goal its to extract line-level outputs so I can feed the audio (and, less likely, video) to the aux input of a separate sound system serving the rear of the van. Shouldn't be too hard but, as you say, I would prefer to have a plan before tearing up the dash.

The details of almost every radio in the world is available on the Net, but this one strangely seems to be an exception. I can't even find the magic incantation for getting into Engineering Mode.
 

spoke

New member
Just got a 2015 with 5 speaker Audio 15 system. It sounds good but the large space of the van along with road noise at high speed the system is not easy to hear.
I think by adding two rear speakers in the top of the rear doors will fill t5he space with sound.
So now I want to ask if anyone knows if it is possible to find wires in the harness back there somewhere that could have been pre installed at the factory and can the radio that came with the van operate and supply the rear speakers via the output jack?
I know that all other car radios can be installed with 2 channels front only and 2 channels rear if you prefer it that way.
I know this is a tough question but I do not want to go to a car stereo shop where I feel I will be misled and allow them to possibly damage the system.
Will this work? Does the system have to be reprogrammed for the fader to work? :thinking:
 

avanti

2022 Ford Transit 3500
Just got a 2015 with 5 speaker Audio 15 system. It sounds good but the large space of the van along with road noise at high speed the system is not easy to hear.
I think by adding two rear speakers in the top of the rear doors will fill t5he space with sound.
So now I want to ask if anyone knows if it is possible to find wires in the harness back there somewhere that could have been pre installed at the factory and can the radio that came with the van operate and supply the rear speakers via the output jack?
I know that all other car radios can be installed with 2 channels front only and 2 channels rear if you prefer it that way.
I know this is a tough question but I do not want to go to a car stereo shop where I feel I will be misled and allow them to possibly damage the system.
Will this work? Does the system have to be reprogrammed for the fader to work? :thinking:
First of all, I started a thread to document the Audio 15:
http://www.sprinter-source.com/forum/showthread.php?t=34948
If you find out anything interesting, please consider contributing there.

To answer your question: If your van did not come with rear speakers, not only will the rear-speaker pins in the head-unit's connector not be connected, but the radio will NOT even have a signal present on those pins. At least that is what I found on my 2014. My guess is that it would have to be enabled via the CAN bus. I don't know if dealers know how to do this or not.

In my case, our GWV Legend RV came with a separate sound system in the rear. I wanted to feed the output of the head unit to an aux input of that system. I ended up using one of those speaker-to-line level converters spiced into the front speaker outputs. Works fine.

I don't know about pre-wiring. I am thinking not, though. The factory seems to customize the wiring for the particular configuration ordered. In my case, I had Great West prewire a cable for this purpose, since I had anticipated wanting to do this.
 

Norwest

Member
Based on some previous threads on this site and MB World forum the Audio 15 system does not appear to have pre-amp (low power) outputs which is what you really want to drive an external amp or powered subwoofer. So if this info is indeed accurate one would have to use the existing speaker outputs (high power/watts) to drive an external amp or powered subwoofer. On will have to use an adapter to drop the speaker output down to the milliamp level which is what external amps can receive. In my experience working in car stereo installation years ago the sound quality suffers because you get distortion from the head unit and then you amplify the music and distortion with your external amp. Perhaps the signal drop down adapters have gotten better and reduce distortion but I doubt it. I do know that if one knows what they are doing and have a circuit diagram for the head unit one can solder in low power outputs from the pre-amp on the PC board.

Good luck,

Norwest
 

avanti

2022 Ford Transit 3500
In my experience working in car stereo installation years ago the sound quality suffers because you get distortion from the head unit and then you amplify the music and distortion with your external amp. Perhaps the signal drop down adapters have gotten better and reduce distortion but I doubt it.
As I said, mine sounds just fine. No doubt others have more discerning ears than I, but if your needs are not extreme, I wouldn't worry about it. if your needs ARE extreme, you probably don't want the Audio 15.
 

vitola231

New member
I had to instal amp and speakers in mine, I have the upgraded audio with blue tooth and every once and a while when you would start the van up it would suddenly blast and blow speakers or phone would ring mega loud and blow speakers. The speakers are of very low impedance and after a few trips to scrap yards I decided to instal line voltage amp and a sub woofer and speakers, mounted amp and sub under passenger seat, found energy component woofers and tweeters that fit door and dash. The auto on feature of amp doesn't work due to such low radio output so switching on from ignition tap under seat, sure could be a way to enable from radio though. Now when it blows my speakers I just go to future shop and buy new off shelf unit. It is a drastic improvement in sound, remarkable really.
 
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