I recently added an 8" subwoofer to my XK8, since it did not come with the HK stereo upgrade.

I've installed an amp in the trunk, right above the CD changer, which I will use to power the sub. I have to adapt the bare wire Jaguar-proprietary leads for the sub to fit into the RCA jacks on the amp (not a big deal). This amp (Rockford Fosgate P400-4) has enough juice to power the rest of the speakers in addition to the sub; would very much like to do this.

Problem is, I can't find a lead/plug for the rest of the speakers in the trunk. Is there such a lead or do I have to route wire all over the place?

Thanks in advance

 

My 97 Coupe had the base Audio System, which had some upgrades installed by the previous owner. The wiring harness for the car with the Base Audio System is different than the harness used with the Premium Audio. The base harness does NOT have the speaker wires available in the trunk. The nearest junction point is a connector under the compartment below the Arm Rest.

Actually, the preamp level outputs that would feed your Amp are not even brought out of the Head Unit in the 97 car standard audio harness. The signal wires going to the CD unit Can Not (to my knowledge) be used to obtain the signals for your amp. This is clearly shown on the 1997 Electrical Diagrams.

Note: The preamp level outputs actually are available on the IC-14 Connector on the Head unit. This would require finding a hard-to-source plug to connect to IC-14.

 

Ok, that answers that question, thanks. I'll probably have to go with a new head unit and who knows what for a wiring harness to get the full benefit of the amp. At this point it's either do it yourself or take chances with a shop that might not know squat about this unusual car (unusual for the average stereo shop, that is).

One other thing though, my car with the base wiring harness *does* have the wires leading to the non-existent sub and the dash tweeters - are you sure the premium sound cars had a different harness?

I would like to keep the stock steering wheel controls. Fortunately there are adapters for various makes (Alpine, Kenwood, Pioneer, etc.) but all must use the appropriate plug for the wiring harness of the specific car. In my case it would be:

http://www.nexxia.co.uk/products.asp...&Submit=search

Nexxia site says this will work on a 1998-2002 XK8. Any experience with these products? Will such a plug fit on the 1997 XK8?

 

There are 2 different harnesses used, W/ or W/O Premium Sound. However the Harness that services the Dash Speakers is actually part of a front harness that includes non-sound functions and is supplied on ALL cars.

 

I just hooked some tweets to those dead leads up in the dash. Also added the sub & amp in the trunk. I made the leads live with some creative clipping from the site mentioned above. That guy is very helpful, btw, and emailed me back a couple of times with some tips. He insists the wiring harnesses are the same, but then again he has a UK model so maybe there are some variances there.