Hey folks,
I have my new 6x9's and my new headunit, i'm confident installing the headunit (and if not the old man will help me). I just need some help as to what/how much of things like fuses, wiring, etc i will need.

The amp will be installed under the passenger seat (and before you try tell me to put it in the boot i've already decided, and if things screw up they screw up and i've learnt my lesson.) I am rewiring everything so new wires going from amp to 6x9's and to the 6.5's i have in the front. I'll obviously need a power wire to the amp and my 2 RCA's.
I got some advice from woob, he said:

4m of 4m of 8ga cable for power wire
2 sets of 3m RCA cables
5AG fusefolder with a 60A fuse
~12m of 18ga cable for speaker wires

Will i need any other items apart from this? (he also said an *ga ring to attach to the battery or something? if i needed)

If that's all, could anyone write up a basics guide for installation of everything. (i can figure out removal of things to install wiring and stuff) but paths for the wires, how to get the power wire to the battery etc would be helpful. And before anyone tells me yes i do know to put power and RCA cables opposite sides of the car (would middle and side be ok or better if opposite sides?)
In advance thanks for any advice people can give me,

~twiggy~

Hey folks,
I have my new 6x9's and my new headunit, i'm confident installing the headunit (and if not the old man will help me). I just need some help as to what/how much of things like fuses, wiring, etc i will need.

The amp will be installed under the passenger seat (and before you try tell me to put it in the boot i've already decided, and if things screw up they screw up and i've learnt my lesson.) I am rewiring everything so new wires going from amp to 6x9's and to the 6.5's i have in the front. I'll obviously need a power wire to the amp and my 2 RCA's.
I got some advice from woob, he said:

4m of 4m of 8ga cable for power wire
2 sets of 3m RCA cables
5AG fusefolder with a 60A fuse
~12m of 18ga cable for speaker wires

Will i need any other items apart from this? (he also said an *ga ring to attach to the battery or something? if i needed)

If that's all, could anyone write up a basics guide for installation of everything. (i can figure out removal of things to install wiring and stuff) but paths for the wires, how to get the power wire to the battery etc would be helpful. And before anyone tells me yes i do know to put power and RCA cables opposite sides of the car (would middle and side be ok or better if opposite sides?)
In advance thanks for any advice people can give me,

~twiggy~

Umm Ill try my best to helk you.
For power wire Get 5m, can never have too much. And you'll be pissed if you run out.
I would buy a wiring kit TBH which comes with everything you need, except a bit longer, so just have to hide the excess behind the dash.
There is a hole in the firewall below the umm steering colum i think, Drivers side of engine bay...Cannot remember what exactly goes there but yeah, should poke out above the pedals inside.

You dont need to seperate RCA's and power cable unless they are crappy unshielded RCA's
So yeah, just bunch them together

Wiring for the headunit is dead easy mate, its only 3 wires, the rest you will run to the speakers so yeah, pretty easy man

so i have a wire running from the headunit AND the amp that both go to the speakers?
Also, the reason i didn't wanna get a wiring package is cause dad's an electronics engineer and can order everything cost price for me = a lot cheaper. If not i'll have a talk to him and see if he can get one for me,
Cheers tuffy

so i have a wire running from the headunit AND the amp that both go to the speakers?
Also, the reason i didn't wanna get a wiring package is cause dad's an electronics engineer and can order everything cost price for me = a lot cheaper. If not i'll have a talk to him and see if he can get one for me,
Cheers tuffy

Fair enough.
Nah, but your powering your speakers from the amp? so you only need to solder in power and ground wires to the HU.
Umm 5 meters of power cable
1 meter of ground cable
2 sets of RCA's
Fuse and holder like already mentioned
Big ring terminals to fit 8ga into (say 4 in case u screw a few up)
Solder, heatshrink/tape, strippers

ok cheers for that, now on the installation questions.
Does the power cable from the amp go to the neg or pos battery terminal? (i also assume the headunit has a power wire there that i can just splice into? i've already got an aftermarket headunit in atm so i assume this is right)
Also, how do the wires from the amp actually connect?
Cheers again tuffy

ok cheers for that, now on the installation questions.
Does the power cable from the amp go to the neg or pos battery terminal? (i also assume the headunit has a power wire there that i can just splice into? i've already got an aftermarket headunit in atm so i assume this is right)
Also, how do the wires from the amp actually connect?
Cheers again tuffy

Hmm....make sure you know 100% what you are doing first.
Power cable (+) from battery goes to (+) on amp
Negative cable from amp(-) goes to a ring terminal, and then screwed to the body of the car. (the current then flows through the chassis and back to the battery creating a circuit)
In between the + and _ on the amp is usually an input labelled REM
you connect a wire from here to the "remote" wire coming from the headunit. this wire is a signal coming from the HU telling the amp when to turn on and off.

besides that you hook up RCA's to the HU, run your speaker cabling and your done
Hope that was clearish

ok cheers for that, now on the installation questions.
Does the power cable from the amp go to the neg or pos battery terminal? (i also assume the headunit has a power wire there that i can just splice into? i've already got an aftermarket headunit in atm so i assume this is right)
Also, how do the wires from the amp actually connect?
Cheers again tuffy

Your amp will have 3 wires going to it:
Power: Straight to your battery with a big fuse (should be supplied with power wiring kit)
Earth: Straight to bare metal on your car, as short as possible
Remote: 12v signal wire from your headunit so the amp knows when to turn on and off with your stereo, can be thin it doesnt matter

Stereo power can be sourced from behind the dash, you will need:
12v Constant Power: THis can be sourced from original stereo wiring or something like your cigarette lighter
ACC Power: Only comes on when ACC is on, so your stereo wont stay on when you switch off the car, this can also be found from original wiring
Ground: As above

Hope that helps with basic power setup for you, I seriously recommend you read right through this website its great for beginners :-)

http://www.carstereo.com/

Also;
make sure the fuse you put in the power wiring is no more then 12" away from the battery.

and try www.bcae1.com
Fooken great website.

Your list sounds good, just make sure you get appropriate connectors for the end of the power cables if you need also. (with rings to connect to battery and ground and possibly to the amp). I think the 4m length is enough, but should probably go in the car and get a reasonable estimate with a piece of string, as if you are too short you are screwed, too long you just cut if off and you have some spare. (you can use this for the short ground wire).

As for going through the firewall, as TUFFTR said it will comeout just above the pedals. I am pretty sure thats the one the accelelator cable goes through, so just follow that. (when you dont know where it is, its really hard to find in the engine bay, its kinda hidden).

As for the amps under the seats, I have a big amp under both seats, never had any problems, I like it there (out of the way, no visible, easy to get to, shorter wires and easier install).

Ollie

I love bcae1 - get that from me Tuffy? :P

Basically woob as usual was on the money - just left out the 1m of ground cable (8AWG).

Tuffy was also spot on - just buy a kit, they range up to $150 for a decent set, these will even come with speaker wire.

More or less this is the way wiring will pan out:

For the amp:
Remote wire (blue) from headunit, to the 'REM' terminal on the amp.
8AWG wire (red) from battery (positive terminal) to the amp.
- Use 2 Ring terminals for your battery connection, and your amp connection. Crimp and solder these.
- Where the fuse is located (within 25cm of the positive terminal), strip the 1cm of the power wire, solder the ends.
8AWG wire (brown) for your earth, make sure the earth is 50cm or less. Clean the surface it is earthed on (back to bare metal). The seat bolt is a good place usually. Once again, use ring terminals.

RCA's - from H/U to the amp, keep these as far away from the power wire as you can, how you run these depends on how you position the amp, and the amp terminal design.

For the H/U - best bet would be to buy a $15 car loom adapter from most car places.

cheers for the advice folks, big big big help,
I think my dad'll be able to help out alot but you guys have definately contributed to me complete lack of knowledge =D
Will let everyone know how it goes, cheers

~twiggy~

Oh yeah,

Before doing any wiring work - disconnect the negative terminal from the battery.

I love bcae1 - get that from me Tuffy? :P

Basically woob as usual was on the money - just left out the 1m of ground cable (8AWG).

Tuffy was also spot on - just buy a kit, they range up to $150 for a decent set, these will even come with speaker wire.

More or less this is the way wiring will pan out:

For the amp:
Remote wire (blue) from headunit, to the 'REM' terminal on the amp.
8AWG wire (red) from battery (positive terminal) to the amp.
- Use 2 Ring terminals for your battery connection, and your amp connection. Crimp and solder these.
- Where the fuse is located (within 25cm of the positive terminal), strip the 1cm of the power wire, solder the ends.
8AWG wire (brown) for your earth, make sure the earth is 50cm or less. Clean the surface it is earthed on (back to bare metal). The seat bolt is a good place usually. Once again, use ring terminals.

RCA's - from H/U to the amp, keep these as far away from the power wire as you can, how you run these depends on how you position the amp, and the amp terminal design.

For the H/U - best bet would be to buy a $15 car loom adapter from most car places.

Sorry man known about that for years :P

run the RCA's and power away from eachother, whether shielded or not, better safe than sorry. you dont want to be pulling everything apart just cause you get some noise coming through the speakers. i actually found that running the speaker wire on the left, RCA's through the middle and power on the right was best for me, due to completely getting rid of any noise.

getting things separately at cost price would be the way to go. just make sure you crimp and solder all connections.

8GA should be fine for one amp.

my power runs behind the air filter, through the right hand guard along the main wiring loom.

make sure you disconnect the negative off the battery before touching anything.

you dont need a stereo loom, just solder to existing wiring.

dont solder the constant battery wire to the cigarette lighter power, since this switches off when you turn the car off and youll lose all your preset and time settings on the headunit. the cigarette lighter wiring isnt sufficient enough to power the H/u properly anyway

the original stereo loom will have constant power and accessories power on it, just use them, itll be easier

make sure your h/u has at least 2 sets of preouts.

make sure you sand down the amp grounding point on the chassis to bare metal to ensure good contact.

dont use the original mounting for the stereo ground. theres a bolt on the chassis under it. sand down the paint around it and ground it to that.

get yourself some 16-12 GA wiring for the speakers

most of all have fun :)

thanks 92gen2, was the quick guide i was looking for. My old man should be able to help out with soldering the wiring for the headunit as he did the last one for me, will get the amp and wiring as soon as possible and get some pics up of it all finished =D Can't wait, blew my old rear speakers and i'm sick of the non-bass from the fronts hahaha
cheers again everyone

~twiggy~