Amp help

[CarMan1]

ok a friend said i needed to get an amp for my reg speakers... im curious since i have one amp for my subs already installed he said adding another is very easy, since most of the hard work is done already...

im just curious about where the speakers hook up.. i know they have to hook up to the head unit for the sound to go to em... or do they?

im curious what i hafta hook up to the amp.. i think its head unit speaker wires->amp, then run the speaker wires from the speakers to teh amp? or am i way off?

any help would be greatly appriciated, since ive never put amps in... done lots of head unit installs and stuff tho

[ovendenk]

this is what i have done and believe it to be the easiest/cleanest way of putting in multiple amps.

first off, make sure your power wire is the proper gauge for running both amps and make sure the ground wires from each amp are as short and thick as possible. remember bigger is always better for power wire.

you should be using at least 16 gauge speaker wire if you're amplifying them. i recommend 4 gauge for non competition multi amp setup.

1. REMOVE FUSE BEFORE ANYTHING!!!!
2. run existing power wire into a distribution block.
3. split off one power wire to the capacitor's pos and a short ground to the capacitor's neg terminal (optional part, but very helpful).
4. split off two more power wires and send one to each of the amps' pos terminals.
5. hook up short thick ground wires to each amp and attach other end to bare metal, remove all paint from where ground wires touch frame.
6. split the remote signal wire coming from the deck (usually blue wire coming off deck's harness) and connect to each amp's REM connection.
7. run one set of rca cables for each pair of speakers to the speaker amp (if you want to amplify 4 speakers but only have one pre out on deck, get 2 sets of rca spliters and split each of the original rca wire's connections. it's always better to have dedicated outputs though because splitting means you lose fade control.)
NOTE:red and white/black represent right and left if i remember correctly
8. run an rca wire from output on speaker amp to input on sub amp and if no output on speaker amp split the input rca wires.
9. cut you speaker wire in approximately equal lengths for right and left speakers (sound has speed and if one cable is shorter, then sound gets there faster)
10. hook up speakers/subs to amp(s) and make you you're always hooking up positive on speaker to positive on amp or else you'll have the speaker in reverse phase (ie. moves in opposite direction of a correctly wired speaker)
11. turn all gains to zero.
12. put fuse back in to fuse holder (it better not have been in there the whole time!!)
13. turn on the deck and set the volume to 3/4 of max (should be no sound playing if you did step 11).
14. turn up the gains one at a time to the absolute max volume you want to have (should never have gains at 100%).
15. dial down the volume on the deck to comfortable listening volume and customize the deck's eq (try to not use the "loud" setting on a deck).
16. last, but not least, enjoy your system!!

may seem like a lot, but a beginner could get this all done in 1-2 hrs at most. if you don't already have existing power wires run and are not 100% on this, get a shop to run the wires for you cause it involves drilling through the firewall and you don't want to fuk that up.

good luck man.

[ScooterBovine]

I didn't drill through my firewall...

[ovendenk]

I didn't drill through my firewall...

where'd you run the power wire through?

oh ya. i forgot to mention that if at all possible, run the signal wires (rca) on the opposite side to the car from the power wires.

[MX-SLICK]

For one, dont be so quick to think you absolutley need another amp for your regular speakers. I cant see why you would need an amp, but having one always makes the mids/highs a bit cleaner at high volumes. Second, you hook amps up to the head unit VIA RCA cables, do not wire an amp into the headunit with your speaker wires from the deck. Although this can be done, its best to use RCA's if you can. They are 100% cleaner cables then using high level and you dont have as much "twist and tape" going on to connect wires. The reason why wiring in with your speakers is not good is because headunits only have IC chips instead of a genuine amplifier. This means the output is dirty and distorted on even the best head units. ...USE RCA'S!! If you do decide you dont have enough power to your speakers then get a good 4 channel amp. Now dont be taken in by so called "high power" amps with huge output numbers printed all over the front of them. We are looking for RMS power outputs here. 40watts X 4 @ 4 ohm RMS with less than 1% THD (total harmonic distortion) will be a good number for most any aftermarket speakers. Its best if your amp is rated under CEA 2006 standards, this way all amps are rated the same and you arent comparing Cavaliers to Ferraris. Mind you most headunits will only provide about 10 watts RMS below 1% distortion...regardless of what the specs are. Headunits really dont put out any good clean power.

[2fazed]

If you take the carpet back, where your feet goes, under the dash, you will see a hole that you can run your power wires. Might have a rubber grommet on it. I think theres one on both sides. There is no need to drill a hole.

[MX-SLICK]

yeah you gotta poke a hole in it..make sure you dont poke any wires..

[Nd4SpdSe]

If you take the carpet back, where your feet goes, under the dash, you will see a hole that you can run your power wires. Might have a rubber grommet on it. I think theres one on both sides. There is no need to drill a hole.

Yep, there's one on the passenger side that I used to pass my 0 guage.

[ovendenk]

never saw that hole or at least never thought to use it. oh well, worked fine with a grommet and a 1/2" drill bit too. that might come in handy down the line though...