i m going to rewire my all audio system tomorrow in the car cuz the stock wiring is so bad and messed up that its just messed up....last owner or i don't know whoever owned this car before pretty messed up the wiring like all the wires are in small small pieces connected each other with tape....and i have all after market speakers installed and woofers and a dedcated amp for all 4 speakers....and its just the wiring messing up everything....i just wanted to know that can i run the power wire straight from the battery to my aftermarket audio player? i know i can run all speaker wires straight to the speakers....but how about power? like A clean power from battery to the audio player....o ya i dont have bose....

edit: there will be problems with this setup.?

 

Yes! but why not backprobe the exsisting wire to get both ignition and 12volt power wire And go from there. If your running an aftermarket deck the the red being 12v continuious source and yellow being the ignition wire and black ground. But if you are still leaning towards direct current from the battery then make sure you use an addition inline fuse for your 12v source.

 

i guess i will just take existing ignition and 12volt power wire? wat r the colors for them exactly? ignition and power? in FSM it says Ignition wire with Y/G (Yellow with Green?) and battery BR/W (BROWN WITH WHITE?) right? and is there any benefits of running fatter wires?

edit: and how about illumination and power antenna timer?....wat r these have to do with wat?
Illumination = R/Y B/R
Power antenna timer = G/Y

 

its been awhile since i last installed a deck in my max so i dont remember the colored wires and there origins. But since your running an aftermarket amp to power the inside then running a different gauge wire to power your deck is useless. But on the flipside running a thicker gauge wire to the amp from the battery is a different story.

 

ya i m running two amps...one mono amp for woofers and second 4 channel amp for speakers...woofers amp have 4g cable and for speakers amp its 8g cable.....they r running LOUD....ya i will just use normal wire to the deck...well lets see wat happens tomorrow....

 

hey man goodluck on the install im planning to do something similar to yours, it was good reading your thread answered some of my Qs, i have a few for you though did you have to buy the antenna adapteR? because in the audio forums it says that we need it to connect the antenna to an aftermarket stereo.... and also what system did you get, rear/front speakers, head unit,? and how hard was the install itll be my first time messing around with a car complete noob here lol.

And deff have some pics up of the new install



Thanks GOOD LUCK
fatty

 

it is pretty easy....and ya u do need antenna adapter for after market stereo u can get it from any audio store....and ya i m running Sony Xplod on rear and alpine type S on the front....Deck is JVC 200W.......

Sony Xplod ( XS-V1642A) = 4Way speakers 270W Peak Power and Rated Power 55W ( REAR )

Alpine Type S ( SPS-406) = 4x6 (10cmx15cm) speakers 140W Peak Power and 45 watts RMS ( FRONT )

JVC DECK 200W

Alpine 400RMS 4 channel amp for only speakers

2 MTX subs IN PORTED BOX

another Alpine 1000rms MONO amp only for SUBS....

lol theres alot of wiring S*** going in my car under the carpet...its easy it jus takes time thats it....and ya i put amp on my speakers cuz no matter how powerful ur deck is its not gonna provide full power to the speakers they need....so i put the dedicated amp to them and THEY ARE LOUD AS SUBWOOFERS i was amazed lol....plus i would recomend if u buy those speakers dont run them on any deck they wont give u full performance as they will get with AMP.....jus ask me wen u start doing all that stuff i will help ya out...


EDIT : and ya i was rewiring it cuz my old stock wiring to the speakers is messed.....i going to rewire them all just wasnt sure about power wires.....i m jus gonna use existing power wires and run all new wires to speakers...

 

OT- I see your location and I have some friends driving in from there today.

back on topic.
it's VERY easy to install a new setup.
Do you have a BOSE stereo in the car now?
if yes, it makes my way a little tougher, but still easier than running new wires IMO.
if you don't have bose it's easier to redo.

1. Bose stereo is 3.5" front speakers and 6x9 rear
we recommend making/buying brackets to put larger speakers in up front. I made them out of 1/8" MDF with a jigsaw at home
2. Bose has a non-standard amp at each speaker, do not bother trying to reuse them with a non-bose head unit.
3. Non-Bose factory stereo has 4x6 front speakers and 6.5" rear speakers with an amp on the rear speakers (1 amp for both)
4. Yes you will need an antenna adapter, I also recommend getting an adapter harness. it will make hooking things in much easier.

5. When i did my bose swap I bypassed the amp by using it's connector to go straight into the speaker. made hooking it up easier for me.

 

hey thanks for the tips it seems like you have a veryy nice set up, im put on a budget by my dad who thinks i should just plug in a boombox and use that for music...... deff not doing that so right now ive picked up

2 12inch polk gxr subs
2 coustic 161 se but ill prob only use 1 of them
2 pioneer 6x9 says max 300 watts but we all know that number means crap lol,, from what ive read on the audio section they say that your rears should be underpowered compared to your fronts which is why ill prob power my rears from my deck and my fronts with the coustic amp

things needed to buy
head unit (cheap) looking at some used ones leaning towards a pioneer deh p80mp it looks SLEEK a lil pricey but getting it used for 120 only problem is the sellers about 2 hours away (found on craigslist) so not sure yet if i wanna make the drive

2 front speakers any sugesstions? i think my max would be 75 dollarS?

2 ch amp to power the sub becaues the coustic running two chans only puts out 80 watts and i dont want to clip the subs

hopefully ill find all the pieces soon

finally i know this was long but the wooden mounts u made for the speakers how hard was it??? im not the best with power tools but you said jig saw so maybe you can just give a quick write up on it? haha sorry once again for the longgg post

thanks
fatty

 

my setups are always done on a budget. Typically $0
I just drilled a pilot that was large enough to fit the jigsaws blade.

 

Holy crap that's ghetto!!!

 

holy crap it worked perfectly!
I'd have done better, but I had no money to get it done right, and these worked just fine.

 

looks about like mine ('cept mine are 1/4" mdf)

anyway, I have been in cars with "systems," similar to the ones described in this thread. they are unballanced. too much bass; too much trebble; not enough mid. they simply sound like horse ****(<<I would actually much rather listen to that.) my 300 dollar system (kenwood HU, cheap 2-way 6.5" up front, powered by HU, cheap 6x9" in the back in boxes, powered by an amp, 100rmsx2) sounds better than most of these. much better tuned, and balanced. all of this seems like a waste of time. (sure, I would like some better speakers, but I stand by my statement that my car sounds better than most.)

 

wat thee......

 

u sure BOY

 

moar is not always better. yours may be LOUDER, but at least I can enjoy my music, rather than be bombarded by it.

 

LOL bombarded....ya thast true....but i dont bomb my self all the time....BASS is always ON VERY LOW.....theres some guys around here wanna COMPETE to other city boys....so basically i m building a competition system...theres alot MORE to go ..... and i cant get hold on highoutput alternator cuz stock cant tolerate 2 amps and woofers wen they r pumping high....

 

hey i didnt think my system was all that bad,, whats wrong with the components? the polk gxr arent all that loud from what ive heard each sub rms is around 200 and the 6x9 in the back says peak 300 but i think it rms is like 40? and that will be powered by the deck.......... the fronts will be powered by an amp 2x80 watts rms so im not going for loud and distorted like you said i want some clear music not trying to set of car alarms or anything,,,, also my head unit looks like it would give a good clear signal? just like yours after everything is said and done it will be around 300 dollars but im buying used parts so i think itll sound a lil better not sure?

sorry again for the long post finally what gauge power wire should i be using to power the amps? the 160 watt amp im thinking will be fine with a 12? for my sub amp which will prob be 400 watts im thinking 8?

thanks
fatty

 

r u talking to me? lol

well u got polk gxr and i dont think thery r bad....if they r each rated at 200 RMS not peak....and wat box r u running in them? ported or sealed....if its ported they will give u deep bass...in sealed they wont be loud but bass will be clear enough.....hmm they r 400 RMS both and theres no way u r getting thier full power out by putting an 160 RMS amp.....u atleast need 600 rms amp to provide them thier full power and ya if u put lower rms amp on them like u r putting 160....u amp will be fried if u run loud........so think about before putting.....and u will need 4guage cable....

 

If you aren't trying to set off car alarms you probably don't need dual 12's.

What kind of music do you listen to?

With subs 6x9's aren't really necessary, you'd be better off with 6 1/2's, they'll sound better, you don't need the added low end that 6x9's will give you.

12 gauge power wire is almost definitely too thin, and 8 gauge is right on the bubble for that power range, you could run just one real thick wire to the trunk and then split it there if you don't want to run two power lines [that's what I did in case I ever want to add a sub]

EDIT:
You're seriously under powering those subs, which is going to lead to clipping from the amp, which is going to lead to overheated and broken speakers

 

Sure you're not being Ben's TOKED again?
just cause people have large systems doesn't mean it sounds like ***.
I've got a 2500W RMS system. (true power, not that inflated **** quoted above). 1200W RMS going to the subs, 200W RMS going to each mid, and 50W RMS to each tweeter.

It's decently loud, but the thing is it sounds GOOD. It takes power to have clean, clear sound and good dynamics.

But sure.. a well-picked and installed stereo with low power can sound good just as well as a huge high powered system... but don't know the higher powered guys just because of large numbers.

 

I've done alot of stereo install's through the years, including doing the one in my max. For the max, I ran a 4 guage wire from the battery to the trunk, into a power distribution box. From there I run a short 4 guage wire to my 1300W monoblock amp, and an 8 guage wire to my 700W 4ch amp. For the front speakers, I find it best to leave the stock wiring alone, and run wires from the trunk, along the passenger side of the car right up to the front, then running the drivers side wire up in behind the dash to cross over to the speaker in the drivers side door. For the back speakers I just run short wires inside my trunk directly from my amp to the speakers.

One really big thing to watch out for, don't run your audio wires alongside your power wires, always run them on separate sides of the car. If you must run a signal wire over your power wires, do your best to make sure it crosses perpendicular to your power wire, as this will cause the least electrical interference. My personal preference is to always run power wires on the drivers side, and signal wires along the passenger side.

 

Good advice - nothing worse then finishing a stereo install and then having to track down interference

 

hey guys sorry i must have confused everyone the 160 watt amp is for my front speakers i still need to buy an amp for my subs i was thinking 400 rms would be fine but after reading what you guys wrote im thinking 600,,, and i didnt even know that power distribution box was around that sounds like a great idea ,,, i know its not much power compared to other systems like the 2500 watt you have chalzor but will my altenator be able to power a 800-1000 watt system? its not in the best of shape and dont want to over load it but like i said im pretty sure it shouldnt be a problem since it is so little,,, thanks for the wiring help i was thinking about doing it pretty much like that expect i do not want to power my rears using an amp so i will have to run them to the front head unit,,, also speaker wire guage? i never gave it much thought until now so if you guys could do me a favor and do two things
1) suggest some front speakers (what should fit after i make those bracketS?)
2) suggest some speaker wire to go to my amp from my subs, front speakers, and finally to go from my rear speakers to the head unit

thanks alot guys
fatty

ps welcome to the org chalzor what gen max do you havE?

 

Is your alternator stock? If it is it should be able to power the system fine as long as all your connections are clean [specifically grounds at the amp[s] and in the engine bay] Matt runs a pretty high watt system on a stock alternator I believe

12-14 gauge wire is fine for speakers, I just bought some electrical wire from home depot, helps to pick something out where each wire is colored differently.

You can fit 6 1/2's in those brackets, what you get is all about budget, I bought Polk's, the line I bought looks to have been discontinued but would probably be comparible to the mm651's but in the 5 1/4 size. Sound pretty good, tweeters might be a little bright for some tastes

 

1) any speaker, 5.25, or 6.5 that you want. if you are looking for brands, I am an infinty fan, but i am using cheap walmart speakers, atm,
2) based on the amp size you want, i would run 18-16g for the front, 16-14g in the back. should be more than adequate. you can pick up a spool or two (usually about 25 ft on a spool?) almost anywhere. if you wanna be cheap, extension cords are usually cheaper, and have the same gauge wire (I have gotten brand new 50 footers at the store for $5)

this is essentially what you need
http://www.walmart.com/catalog/produ...uct_id=3371476
$6.28 for 40'

if you feel 18g is small for your amps, you can double it up, as long as you dont cross wires.

 

hey guys good news i finally decided to stop being so stingy and ordered a new head unti and new front speakers,,, the head unit is a panasonic deh 5000 looking forward to being able to just plug in a usb stick and listening to music i think itll be easier then using an ipod ,,,,, and for the front speakers i went with the infinity kappa 62.7i,,,, comments on the headunit or speakers would be helpful lol,,, and finally to push my subs im getting a useddd rockford fosgate 400a4 running it in bridged mode will provide 200 watts to 2 ch, i know it perfectly matches my subs rms and i should get more but money is starting to become an issue and im getting the fosgate for 60 bucks lol


let me kno guys

fatty

 

sounds like a good starter system.

I'm betting you meant a Pioneer DEH 5000 instead of a Panasonic...
(that's okay, Pioneer is better than Panasonic anyday.)

The Rockford is a good amp. Better than most of the crap you can buy now- especially the Rockford they sell at Best Buy now... It's crap compared to the older stuff..

Depending on what impedance your subs are, I'd suggest looking at bridging the subs on two of the amp's channels, then run the front speakers off the other two amp channels. Let the rears run off the head unit.

If not, run the amp in 200x2 like you mentioned and just turn the gain down so you can hear the rest of the speakers...

THEN when you're ready to upgrade, buy a larger 2 channel amp and run the subs off it and keep the rockford for your main speakers.

 

Cheap and easy... Go to your hardware store and look at low-voltage direct burial cable-- the stuff you use on landscaping lights and such. It's cheap (about $0.25/ft for 16 awg) and uses good copper in very fine strands.

you can get it in everything from 18 awg to 12 awg. I'd recommend 16 awg at minimum. the more copper you have there, the better. and make sure you have good tight connections. Any place you have a crimped connection, make sure the copper is clean and shiny (don't connect to dingy brown copper.. cut the wire back another inch or so and get some fresh stuff.) before you crimp it, put a dab of dielectric grease on the wires and then shove it inside the connector and crimp. The dielectric grease will help keep the wire from oxidizing and keep a good clean connection for longer. The better the connection, the better the sound. FYI, a single dirty connection can cause as much as a 15% power loss..

For your subs, you want as much wire as you can stuff in there. Usually I use 8awg power cable...

 

1) I just used the 5 1/4" separates I had from my Integra (I believe they are kenwoods). They pretty much just fit into the stock bose speaker mounts, just had to use self-tapping screws to screw new holes into the plastic.

In the rear I replaced the stock bose speakers with 6.5" separates, again screwing into the bose mounts.

2) 16 Guage for fronts/rears, 12Guage for subs (IMO)

Also, you mentioned you want to run your rears off the deck, this is ok, but if you crank your system, you will have distortion, as your rears wont be able to put out the power to keep up with the rest of your system. I highly suggest a 4 channel amp for fronts/rears.

As for my max, it is a 3rd gen (93), so far only mod I have done is z32 (90 300zx) rims (Chromed set I had on my z32). I plan to do a bunch of updates to it though in the near future. Including taking the brakes off my z32, milling the rotors radius down 3mm, and going to 4 piston z32 calipers on the max . Yay free parts.

Trying to get up to the 15 post limit so I can actually post a thread about my project/ideas... hate this stupid limit. Such a barrier to actually participating in the forum (IMHO). I'm the type to read through as much as I can on a forum before I ask a single question.

 

heyy sorry this is gonna be a quick post need some help cuz im working on the install right now, i have the rockford fosgate 400a4 amp, i want to bridge 4 chans into 2 chans, but the output it has right and left but im only powering my subs is there anyway i can make it output in mono?? i was thinking about buying rca couplers but is there anyother way to wire it so i can use it in mono. finally point the subs outwards or into the car or one out the other in,,, i know this was a confusing post so any help would be appreciated,, pics up soon haha

thanks
fatty

 

Just run your single "sub out" channel into a y splitter that splits it into 2 rca plugs you can then plug to your amp. Not nearly as ideal as having a mono-block amp to do it, but it works.

Chalzor

 

read the instruction manual (you can download one online).

to bridge the amp and run it in mono, generally you'll use the Left + and the right - or Left - and right +.... you'll also use just one RCA input.
the owners manual for the amp tells you everything you need to know about that stuff.

 

ok guys so this install has taken alottt longer then i expected but no worries i know it'll be worth it,,, i temporarily hooked up my front kappas to the head unit and they sounded CLEAR but the reason im typing this is,,

i need help getting my power cable for my amps from the battery to inside the car i do not want to drill any holes because i dont trust my self haha so any tips from you 3rd gen owners?


thanks
fatty

 

drill a hole. carefully. measure twice (3, 4, 5, 500 times is fine) cut once.
alternatively, you can try to run the wires underneath the car, but you will
a) have to figure out how to hold the wire to the car so it does not drag,
b)still have to drill a hole into the trunk.


best bet: drill the hole in the firewall

(do not forget to use a grommet.)


have you looked to see if the hole for the engine harness is big enough to allow the power wire to run through there?

 

At least in my 93 maxima there was a rubber plug already plugging a hole in the spare tire well in the trunk, all I did was cut out the center of the rubber plug, and feed my 4 guage wire through it, no drilling needed.

As far as strapping the wire to the underside there are lots of safe places to attach zap-straps to hold a wire up.

Chalzor