Audio-Related Question: Speakers & Amp

[Murci]

Hello, thank you for visiting this thread.

I have purchased a head unit, 4 speakers, and an amp to replace the current stock setup. I currently have the door speakers replaced. In addition, I hooked up the head unit to test the speakers. The right door speaker works great! However, the left door speaker is not working. I used a voltimeter to test the circuit. I believe there is a short.

1) But before I approach this problem, is there something I need to know about the left side? More specifically, is there anything restricting the connecting between the head unit and speaker that I don't know about? I'm not sure if the speaker also need to run through the amp as well to function properly. WTF

2a) Another question I have encountered: do I just cut the wiring harness that used to connect to the stock amp and wire it to the new one?

2b) If I do need to cut the wiring harness, does anyone have a wiring diagram for the amp? If so, please post it and link it.




-Jordan

I thank everyone in advance who can provide input to my questions.

 

[MHuddy1213]

do you have the correct wiring harness for the car if so it should use the stock amplifier if you want to hook up another interior amplifier you need to bypass the stock one. to bypass the stock 1 you run RCs's from the deck to the amp and run speaker wire from the amp to each speaker. of course you run a positive wire with a fuseable link and a ground wire to the amp. if you have the correct wiring harness for the car then you shouldnt be having any problems with the left speaker i always find it better to just redo it all due to old wiring.

 

[wings9191]

I have to agree, when replacing c the stereo I prefer to replace the wires.
Now that being said I leave the whole factory setup intact for future use.
I worked in the car stereo buss for many years and hated having to bug out wires because someone got antsy.
Hell just the other day I did a stereo for a buddy in his Grand Prix and it had 2 yellow wires.
Easy enough to bug out but if you use harnesses you know you will always do it right.
If you are having a problem with one of the factory wires already I'd just run some new ones and be done with it.
Just curios what kind of jams are you putting in?

 

[Murci]

i really tried running new wires. it's just not happening. i don't know how to get it through the boot near the door hinge. i have gotten the wires through the boot but i couldn't find anyway to get the wires inside. i would tell you what i'm running, but i don't remember at this moment. when i have a grasp on what i should really be doing, i'll check my boxes.

thank you for all of your help, both of you.

also, yes i have the correct wiring harness. however, i'm kinda leery on what the proper method is to connecting them. i bought splicers. should i have soldered and shrink wrapped? or is my current method sufficient?

 

[luv2rallye]

Never use splicers (they typically use a razor blade) on audio equipment (or anything) in a car or you will get connection problems on bumpy roads. Always solder and at least tape (shrink wrap is best).

 

[MHuddy1213]

solder would be the best method for sure and then shrink wrap i dont trust tape it tends to come off over time and then things start to short out but i havent tried to rewire my door speakers yet so i couldnt be able to tell you how to run the wires through a picture would help greatly and then i could explain it to you fully on what to do

 

[NHerron]

I haven't done this particular job yet but I have needed to replace wires before.

Disconnect the wire you're getting rid of. Now that it's end is free, take your new wire and put it side by side with the new one. Wrap the two wires together with electrical tape. Now you can pull the old wire though until the new wire comes out. If there is any tight spots where the tapped up section has to go through, just put on a bit of grease and it usually does the trick.

Works great as long as the wires aren't bundled together in a zip tie or something.

Also, I know you can buy adapters to go from the stock connector to the new stereo connector since that's what my car came with, but I'm not sure how to go about finding one. I really would try to find one of those first before cutting the stock harness up, because you'll be hard pressed to find that stock connector again if you get rid of the old one.

Good luck and welcome to Tuners

 

[marineeagle28]

As I have redone all of the audio wiring in my GSX, I'll offer some advice. It is easiest i you pull off all of the lower panels of the dash. Use a small prybar, or flat head screwdriver to pop the boots off. (Just push on the long side, there is a plastic clip as I recall, then pry out)
After you have the boots free, there are two little panels on the interior side held on by boots of phillips screws, i dont remember at the moment. Use a coat hanger with one end of the wire taped on to feed it through the holes created when you removed the two little panels. (it may be easier if you undo the electrical connections behind said panels.)
Now that you have wire in between the chassis and the door, undo, then reattach the wire to coat hanger. Feed coat hanger through boot, but be careful so you don't poke a hole in the rubber. Now again remove wire from coat hanger, feed through hole in door(where boot goes). Pull to desired length.
Installation of boot is exactly the opposite of removal, use your little prybar to distort the shape slightly, and press back into place. Redo any connections that you undid to feed the wire. Reattach panels. Route your wire cleanly, then reassemble dash. Voila!

I'll reitterate, solder and shrink wrap should be your best friends when making connections. Also makes for the "cleanest" sound, and you can safely run more power through it, than a splice/crimp connector. Also, it becomes less of a fire/ short hazard. If you need more info, or pics.. I can gladly help.. PM me.. (my car still has no interior in it, so detailed pics should be REAL easy to get for you.

 

[Murci]

oh my gosh, thank you so much marineeagle28! you shall truly become a saint when this is all said and done. i have attempted this rewire before, however I failed because I didn't know where the new wire goes once its through the boot and in the body. if possible, could you take a picture of where it'll come out from the inside of the car? when i tried snaking the wires in, i hit the metal body inside the car. the only way to get the wires in (i think) is to snake it down along the body. it would help if i can get pictures on where it comes out. thank you so much. sorry for the long post. also, a picture of what lower panel you are talking about, please. is that the dash panel?

@ NHerron; they make an adapter for the AMP harness? also, thank you for the warm welcome. i'll try my best to contribute and help those in need.

 

[NHerron]

No problem

I found this:
http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/electrical-tech/412926-whats-car-stereo-connector-my-2g.html

Other threads show that people have good luck at a best buy or other audio stores

*Woohoo 1K posts!

I have no life apparently.

 

[Murci]

DSMs are your life.

I have the wiring harness for my head unit. I was talking about the wiring harness that connected to the stock infinity amp.

also thank you, i will solder and shrink wrap ASAP.

also, so i run wires from speaker to the amp? instead of the head unit and just connect the head unit and amp with RCA cables?

 

[NHerron]

Sorry about that, I got confused at some point. No I am not aware of an adapter that adapts the stock amp connector to an aftermarket amp.

My head hurts when talking about the stock setup, even after much research on the subject in the past year.

This might help you since I cannot.
http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/electrical-tech/419700-replacing-stock-infinity-amp.html

Not the best way to kick off a 1K post count, normally I can help a lot better

 

[Murci]

thank you. that sorta helped.

once i get the last piece of info from marineeagle, i think i'll be set. thank you all!

-Jordan

Good luck on all of your endeavors!

 

[Murci]

Or if anyone else can help me with this problem?

Where do I lead the wires after I get through the boot? I tried to lead my wires through the body but I encounter another layer of metal. No clue what I'm suppose to do.

 

[boarderlib]

Are you still stuck on getting it through the door boot?

 

[wings9191]

Does that boot have a molex plug in it?

 

[Murci]

I've always been able to get it through the boot. I just can't get it in the car. Again, once the wires are through the boot, I guide the wires in, but theres a metal plate in my way. I don't know where else to lead the wires.

i don't think it has a molex plug. its just a bunch of wires

 

[RedTurboEclipse]

hmm..

ive been someone of the 2g audio guru here..

see the writeups.

been a while.

left speaker not working? make sure to rule out its not the stereo or the amp.

and also you are contradicting the equipment to how you are installing.

you said you had 4 speakers, stereo and an amp to replace the stock setup.

SO WHY DO YOU KEEP MENTIONING STOCK AMP?>

that should be out of the equation.. you kno awnytime you are having external amps powering all the speakers, the only wires being connected from the deck to the vehicle harness is constant, switch, ground, maybe power antenna wire, illumination, antenna wire, i think thats it. very few wires.

ive setup many dsms in the most simple yet effective way in all ways.

if the amp you got is a 4 channel amp to power ALL THE SPEAKERS (we're not speaking subs here), then what i said above follows. rcas to the amp from deck output, remote wire, and amp to the speakers.

if you neglected to say the amp you got is for sub, and you still want to use your stock amp to power the speakers, first let me ask you why? that stock amp puts less power than new MOSFET decks. this gets even more complicated because if you do use your deck to power the speakers, guess what, YOUR EARS will tell you it sounds WORSE, WHY? cause the tweeters/dash speakers wont work. and why is that? because the stock amp has the built in XOVER for the dash speakers.

the only time you see a "fair comparison" to see that deck power sounds better than stock amp, is if you get component speakers and wire properly the included passive xovers so the dash sepakers work, OR you know how to wire the dash speakers to work.

now regardless. guess what you dont have to rewire. ALLLLLLLL the wire leads are under the passenger seat. dash speakers, door speakers, rear speakers, very convenient so you dont have to run wires all over the place.

SEE WHAT I WROTE

http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/art...removing-2g-inifinity-amp-w-diagram-pics.html

excuse the sloppy nature of the splicers, it was a very quick job. btw, has always worked never had any probs.

but if you swear to using your stock amp.

buy the"MITAH" adapter wiring harness. it makes it easy to use aftermarket deck so the stock amp still power the speakers, which meanns your dash speakers will work. this means you never really experience the power of that expensive deck you paid for except the cool new screen and features. you plug one side to the stock amp, then it turns into rcas to connect to the output for the front and rear from the new deck. then you connect the remote turn on wire to it too that comes out of the mitah adapter.

thats usually for people who just want a new deck, and get an amp for a sub. but not want to do all the wiring and work to setup to amp all the speakers

 

[Murci]

@RedTurboEclipse; i haven't mentioned anything about the stock amp unless you include the question about whether or not I could use the stock amp's wiring harness for the new one, which I already have an answer for.



all i wondered was whether or not I could cut the existing wiring harness and wire that to the new amp. the consensus was to replace the wiring harness with fatter wires.

i have truly checked through the entire thread, i havent mentioned anything about reusing the stock amp. if i did and i somehow missed it, my apologies. Regardless, i'm using a new amp.

 

[unplugged]

headunit -> amp -> speakers