adding amp to stereo system...HOW??

[vy_pete05]

champs, anytime i ask a audio guy they always say "get one of our techies to do it" but i think its a revenue raiser...i cant justify paying $90+ for an installation of an amp

soooooooooooo can anyone here give me some quick steps...i have a PIONEER DEH-P7750 deck 2x PIONEER 6" 4way 260W in my front doors and 2x SONY 6" 3way 250W in my rear doors (of a VT Exec SII)

where do i connect the amp to and where do the speakers go?? is it easy enough for myself to do, ive always put my own decks/speakers in with no probs, am i up for it?? im assuming i need to buy an amp wiring kit...??

thanx soooooo much for your time and help fellas

 

[dephilile]

Yeah, it’s pretty easy to do. Depending on the size of the amp I’d put it under the passenger seat. Means you don’t have to run the power and rca’s all the way to the back of your car. When pulling out the passenger seat, DO NOT TURN ON THE IGNITION/ACC! It won’t destroy anything, but you will need to get your air bag computer re-set (like I did, there is a post somewhere on this forum about it. can’t remember exactly how much it cost me). There is a little wire you have to unplug when you pull out the seat which is connected to the air bag computer.

The hole through the firewall is also on the passenger side so it makes things a little easier.

I’ve got some pictures of what I did somewhere. When I get home from training tonight I’ll try and post them for you.

 

[vy_pete05]

that'd be awesome if you could please email me those pics, please email to: [email protected] and also: [email protected]
that'd be great........soooooooooooo as long as i leave the keys out, i can just unplug the wire under the passenger seat for the airbag and i wont at all have to get anything reset?? i have a VT executive SII, will the amp actually fit under the passenger seat?? also, how long do you think i should give myself to complete such a job
thanx again, look forwrad to hearing more from u

 

[phree]

To be safe and/or if you are not confident you should disconnect the battery before working on the car audio system. Do not power the car up with any airbag components disconnected. This will avoid latching faults into the system, which may need holden service dept to reset.

On amp mounting, i mounted my jaycar 4x130 under the rear parcel shelf. I think 12voltking recommends this on other threads also (correct me if i'm wrong 12voltking).
This was the best option for me, however it will depend on the size and orientation of the amp.

It is always preferable to run the power and signal wires (RCAs and speakers) on opposite sides of the car, if possible. This ensures no interference problems.

It is relatively easy to remove the rear seat and parcel tray cover as well as the sill moulds and kick panels at the same time, which makes wiring and amp mounting on the tray easy.

It is usually better value for money to buy an amp install kit. The better ones usually have everything needed and then some. Cheaper than buying individual items. The size of the power cables needed is determined by the amps current needs. 4 gauge is usually more than sufficient for most sane systems. It is better to go bigger if not sure or running mutiple amps or intending to upgrade with sub etc later.

Make sure to fuse the power cable as close to the battery as you can.
If your car is an auto, consider using the clutch master cylinder grommet in the rh side of the firewall then running your power cables down the rh sill. Run your RCAs and speaker wires down the lh side. Most amps have their power and RCA connections on opposite ends so mount the amp with the power inputs to the right. This will ensure a clean input signal.

For speaker connections, see your HU and amp instructions. Basically connect your HU pre out RCAs to the amps input RCAs. Then the amp speaker outputs to the speakers. You will need two dual RCAs L&R front, L&R rear. Try to use as much of the existing speaker wiring as possible, there is nothing wrong with it.

When you are up and running, you will need to set gains and x-overs etc to match your HU output to the amps inputs.As far as x-overs go you may have better controls with your HU. So you may want to run the amp without any of it's x-overs active and use the EQ functions in the HU.

Sorry for the long post, got carried away!

 

[vy_pete05]

nah thats awesome, thanx 4 the help aye champ (or champ-ette)...will it actually fit under my passenger seat in a VT Exec?? Im confident in doing it as ive always done my own decks and speakers, just wanna make sure the manuals are self explanatory enough for me to fit an amp also...ill be in touch with any further queries, thanx again

 

[dephilile]

To be safe and/or if you are not confident you should disconnect the battery before working on the car audio system.

disconnecting the battery is always a good idea. Means that while you are running wires everywhere there is no chance of one of them being live and shorting out and possibly blowing a fuse or causing damage to electrical equipment.

The only reason I had my battery connected was so I could test everything before I put it back together.

yeah, I’m pretty sure that’s the way it works

the dimensions of the amp I put under there are 358x294x55mm. I wouldn’t want to go to much bigger than that. if you go to much wider it simply won’t fit. You can go a bit longer but it will stick out and possibly get stuck on the seat release bar at the front. If the amp is a little shorter you could go higher. my seat release bar thing at the front sits damn close to the amp so that’s something to watch out for.

 

[vy_pete05]

thanxsooo much for the pics in my email, really helped get a bit of a vision of how it should end up...thanx for all the help here guys, really been great, im gonna get stuk into it in bout half hour, ill take progress n final results pics to let u know how i went...bit worried bou this airbag thing aye

 

[vy_pete05]

where m i supposed tor un the batt6ery cable through on a VT??

 

[phree]

the best places are:

LHS of the firewall, behind the shock tower. There is a grommet installed in a hole that can be used.

RHS of firewall, in auto cars the unused clutch master cylinder hole is best. To the left of the brake booster and down a bit. It is covered by a grommet that can have a hole made in it.

Use whichever is more convenient for your amp installation.

 

[vy_pete05]

thanx for that, i just drilled a hole myself and then plugged her up around the battery cable...all installed now and sounds great...i will post sum pics on ere early next week guys thanx again, really pleased with the results, got some great help from u all