Stereo signal into mono signal?

Question

i need help converting the stereo output of my head unit into mono sound for the input on my amp. The wires are just typical RCA jacks found in any house, i found this..

http://www.caraudioforum.com/vbb3/showthread.php?t=97544

and i kind of understand it but is there anyone who can kind of break this down a little bit? Just the bottom part on actually what to do? with the resistors and all that. thanks

Answer 1

PoohBear is incorrect on his statement about left and right feed comming out of white output on current equipment. You do need to combine your left and right signal to play complete signal from 1 amp. Use an RCA 2Male/1Female Y connector. Plug the 2 male ends into your source or preamp out and you now have a single female RCA connector  to connect to 1 RCA cable going to your amp. The Y connector duplicates the effect of the link you provided for about $3 and without all the soldering. Have Fun.

Answer 2

Are you wanting to run a sub?

Just buy a crossover which will also cut out all the high frequencies for your subwoofer.

Also, if it is a mono amp just use the left connection. 95% of the time the bass is the same from both channels. The stereo information comes into play with high frequencies. You really only need one of the channels for a sub.

Answer 3

You really only need a "Y" connector.

Tak your head unit to Radio Shack. Tell them what you want to do , and they will sell the the appropriate connector.

The only thing he will need to know for sure is the size of the amp input. Assuming it is RCA, then you just need an RCA Y adapter. If the amp uses a 1/4" MIC jack, he will have the Y connector that will work for that, too.

Answer 4

The previous two are overly complicated.  Simply take a single RCA cable and connect it to the White RCA jack on your stereo, and connect the other end to your amp.

The mono signal is actually sent out on the same wire along with the right speaker signal on that cable for the purpose of backwards compatibility.

Answer 5

Coaxial cable (aka co-ax) has a central insulated wire surrounded by a stranded or braided wire shield.

Each of the center conductors of the co-ax from the two RCA plugs are connected to 1 K ohm resistors - just 1/4 watt will do.  The other side of the resistors are connected together and to the center wire of a third co-ax  which has a 1 RCA plug on its end.  That is the mono signal.

Be sure to connect all of the coax shields together also.