DIY: Rear Door Speaker Wiring

[BlackVr6ix]

I'll update this(read Finish) again tomorrow but i was being eaten alive and it was getting dark.

I made it in word as it was the easiest method of keeping it all together, if people can suggest a better method I'm all for it!

CLICK ME!

If you have any questions or need clarification on any steps please ask

[rayray086]

Nice!! My Golf GL came with speaker grilles in the rear door cards but no speakers nor speaker wires. This will come in handy! Thanks!

[bboyskidz]

nice work man! i love lots of photos - really does make things so much easier
I think i'm going to have to get me some more speakers to fill up that void!!!

i would say that once it is finished, make a new thread, upload the images to www.photobucket.com or www.flickr.com and then post away... That way it will encourage more users to the forums...

[BlackVr6ix]

We have a limit of 4 photos per post i think. And DIY's are MUCH easier if you have lots of photos.

Do you guys have any more Audio/Electrical related DIY's you want me to do for you?

[Soundofav6]

Do you guys have any more Audio/Electrical related DIY's you want me to do for you?

Hey black.. Could you give me an ova view of how to install an amp ?
just basic basic basic. as in wiring from where to where, and rough idea on time if you were doing it yourself.

The other day I saw at binglee, they were selling a Sony
(I know...) 2 channel amp for $69.

I only want an amp for more a touch clearer sound, non of those dof dof stuff, Believe it or not I am an oldies music fan, most downloads have poorer quality for older music. you reckon any odd amps would do the trick ?

[BlackVr6ix]

Basically any half decent amp will produce more power than your headunit. this is a good thing.

So yes i do think that it would help alot. Installing an amp is pretty straight forward for anyone with even basic electrical skills.

Should take a rookie/noobie no more than 3 hours with no breaks. factor half a day if you are really unsure.

I will take some photos of the way i did my install tonight if its not too dark/wet when i get home.

[bboyskidz]

an amp wouldn't really do much if you are listening to music at a low level really...

most aftermarket speakers are rated at about 60w+ but most headunits can only put out about 40w on each channel (front left, front right, rear left, rear right) - if you start to turn the volume up, the sound will distort and some people think that this is the speakers distorting when it is actually the headunit that cannot provide enough power.

If you want to listen to old music (and I'm assuming you mean rips from vinyl) there is not much that an amp can do - it simply takes whatever sound is there, and amplifies it. Best bet would be to get a more expensive headunit with more equalizer options - that way you can adjust the different frequencies to make it sound better.

I'm still keen for an amp tutorial though, i've always wondered about power to the amp and stuff...

[BlackVr6ix]

Sorry to burst your bubble, but no headunit ever put out 40wrms a channel!

most put out at the very most about 20 wrms, which is fine for some people.

What people dont understand is the distortion level that also comes with this "power". even at lower levels you should be able to tell the difference between a headunit and a decent amplifier.

Most headunits have great high range response but lack response in the bass region, its all muddy which is why they add bass boosters and loud functions to make the bass boomier so that you dont hear the fact that, instead of playing several bass frequencies its just playing one!

With an aftermarket amplifier you have the ability to reproduce the lower frequencies much better, because it takes more power to reproduce these frequencies which is where the headunit amplifier fails.

To give you an example, i am currently running an old Sony Xplod headunit in my car. when i ran my front speakers off it (Polk Momo MMC6500 splits) i had to have the bass nearly full to have anything that i would consider decent bass wise coming from them, even at low listening levels.

Fast forward to now where i have an Audison SRX3 running them and they sound spectacular, and the settings on the headunit? Everything is flat, 0 bass, 0 treble, and no bass boost, loud function or any of that nonsense.

Poor Quality recording i do agree will always sound bad, its like baking a cake, you start with bad eggs and they arent going to just magically get better. i have however found that the recordings will sound better if they are converted to an Audio CD first via Nero and not decoded by a poor quality mp3 decoder found in most car radios.


**Edit** By better i mean less tinny

[muggo05]

what does it mean with amplifiers if they are 2 or 4 channel?

does 2 mean you can only boost 2 speakers (say the rear speakers)?

or am i completely off the track? (most probably!!)

[BlackVr6ix]

yes, a 2 channel amp can do 2 speakers, 2 speakers + sub (not recommended) or 1 sub depending on brand and wiring method.

4 channel amp can do 4 speakers, 4 speakers + sub or 2(again not recommended), 2 speakers (both sets of channels bridged) 2 speakers and 1 sub (one set of channels bridged) or 2 subs (both sets of channels bridged) depending on brand and wiring method.

[muggo05]

ok cool thanks. wasnt quite sure.

so what would you recommend me getting in my car then? 2 or 4 channel?

i will have 6inch in the doors front and rear.

will have 400W(200W each) 3 way 6inch in the front and probably (300W) 150W each speaker 3 ways in the rear.

[BlackVr6ix]

depends, are you wanting a sub at a later date?

you are better off getting yourself a set of split componants for the front.

if you have the money and want to amp everything i would say go for the 4 channel. you will need to rewire all 4 speakers to the rear of the car however.

[muggo05]

nah not to interested in a sub.

ok thanks for that mate. will look into what prices i can get

[bboyskidz]

this is a great discussion. loving all this info. i've learnt so much in the last hour!

What about say, If I wanted audio input from two devices to come out of the speakers at the same time? Let me explain...

I've got a pretty standard Headset (Kenwood KDC-MP333) with two 6" ($100 Pioneer Splits) and two 6x9" in the parcel tray ($140 Pioneer Splits). I might think about a sub, but not for a couple of months.

I've also recently decided to build a CarPC (for GPS, MP3, OBDII monitoring and other stuff) and I want the audio prompts from the GPS to come out of the speakers at the same time as the radio/CD player.

I was thinking of running the Pre-Out from the headunit into the soundcard of the PC (i've got a good creative sound card - not the standard poo one) and then amplifying the signal from the laptop but if anyone has anymore ideas, i'm all ears.

[BlackVr6ix]

you could do that , but the only problem would be that you will loose your ability to safely control the volumes.

If you adjust the volume on the headunit it may/will overpower the input stage of the sound card. your options are really this

1) Do away with the headunit and run everything via CarPC.
2) Run a 2 channel mixer before the amplifier, that way you can independently control the volume of both units ie. set the upper limit of the carpc and the headunit on the mixer and then adjust each volume accordingly on the headunit volume control and your CarPC