G'day gents,

I am going to attempt my first amp and subwoofer install and I was wondering if anyone had any pearls of wisdom fr a newbie so as I dont blow myself up.

I intend to run the wires for the amp to the boot. I know the electrical wire and the speaker wires should not be on the same side. Therefore the electrical cable will run along the LHS side of the car into the boot. Does anyone see any fault with this? I must admit i am a bit skeptical about running a live wire across the fuel tank.

I intend to place an MDF board against the back of the rear seat but I was wondering how I would secure it. Can I just drill screws into the board and into the seats? The sub would be just at the ski hole opening.

As for the wires, I have read that some use 0gauge wire. I must admit I am lost. I was intending on buying the amp and subwoofer set from either supercheap or JB hifi. I may have to split the electrical cable further down the road as I will be putting an amp in for the speakers in future.

Any input anyone has will be greatly appreciated. Really dont want to set my car on fire..... :facejump:

thanks

Basically you need to get yourself a wiring kit. Run the power cables along the same side as the battery. Run the signal cables from the back of your head unit along the opposite side. Make sure the signal cables and power cables do not cross at any point. You also need to ground the amp. Run a short length of wire from the ground on the amplifier to the chassis of the car. I'm not sure where you would connect this and remember that anytime that you drill something into your car that it is a defect. As long as there are no shorts and you use a high quality amplifier and subwoofer combo, a fire should be the last thing on your mind.

The size of the wiring will depend on the current draw of the entire system. For most people 4 guage is sufficient. What exactly do you want out of your system? Do you want something basic of do you want something insane? Are you looking for quality or are you looking for volume?

Fill us in with those details and we can help you out.

Hi joe,

Thanks for the reply. not after insane sound, just better quality. I just want to have 2 amps. One mono block for the woofer and 1 for the speakers. I will most probably mount the amp on a board in the boot and won't drill the floor. For grounding, I was thinking of attaching it to one of the many screws in the boot already. its good to know that a fire should be the last thing on my mind. Just not too sure on where to place them now.

One thing that hasn't been said yet - the power cable should be fused as close to the battery as possible.

Oh How about the next thing... Remove the Fuse from the Power cable BEFORE installing it... You dont need to roast your Amp...

I always do the Ground wire first and this needs to be as short as you can get it and earthed to a Bare unpainted Metal part of the car...


I also have to clarify if you intend on using an enclosure or will you be free-air mounting the sub (Without a sub box).. Cause there are a few guidelines you will need to follow if your going to just free air mount the sub...

Cause its not as easy as just wacking it on a peice of board and mounting it in the ski port

make sure you disconnect the negative off the battery when working with electrics
always you'll fry you cars electrics (can be a costly fix)
apart from that its not too hard
run power down the passenger side, RCA's down the centre (remeber to keep away from power wires) and speaker and remote wire down the drivers side
4ga grounds would be the go, make them no more then 300mm
also add another ground wire from the negative terminal to the chassy, will sorta help with the dimming lights plus alternator whine

Mr_Roberto is correct. If it is a simple installation pulling on average no more than 1000RMS then 4 gauge wiring should suffice.

hi guys,

thanks for the replys. went to pick up an amp from the local independent audio store and told him what I was going to do. He advised against it saying that I would need a free air sub for what I wanted to to. Added to that, the sound will not be so good as the subs in a box. as magnat said, its not as easy as putting a board and whacking a sub on it. :( I may just get a dub in a box considering this is my first install so i shall keep it easy.

As for the RCA wires, can i run them down the right together with the remote and speaker wires. I can see that running the RCA down the centre is gonna be a bit*h.

On this last point, how hard is it to run the power, RCA's and speaker cables under the carpet? Is there a trick to it or does the carpet go in and out easy enough?

Cheers, Greg.

On this last point, how hard is it to run the power, RCA's and speaker cables under the carpet? Is there a trick to it or does the carpet go in and out easy enough?

Cheers, Greg.
Very easy, you run it down either side, which just involves pulling the scuff plates out the carpet can be pulled away enough to easily run all the cabling down. They're held in with christmas tree clips (+ a screw at the front in the footwells for the front two), so you just need to carefully lift them up unclipping on at a time.

when i had my rca's running with the speaker wire i got really bad engine noise
tho it might have been because of my electric seat, but there are other wire along that side
if you dont wanna run it down the centre then run it under the centre of the drivers seat, no need to remove the seat as you should be able to lift the carpet high enough to get your hands under there

as for accessing under the carpet, its very easy
open your door and look at the floor, you'll see a black kick plate
these are just clipped in and should pop right off, tho the front one does have a screw in it just under the dash which is very easy to see

What sort of Music do you like to Listen to ? as this will be important as far as what enclosure to get and what size sub will do the job for you

also Mention what gear you currently have so we can determine what is going to blend in with what you have...

when i had my rca's running with the speaker wire i got really bad engine noise
tho it might have been because of my electric seat, but there are other wire along that side
if you dont wanna run it down the centre then run it under the centre of the drivers seat, no need to remove the seat as you should be able to lift the carpet high enough to get your hands under there
That's the first time I've ever heard that. What RCA's and what awg speaker wiring were you using?

That's the first time I've ever heard that. What RCA's and what awg speaker wiring were you using?
dunno what guage the wire is nor the brand of the RCA's
the noise only popped up when i upgraded the power cable from 4ga to 0ga
but since moving the RCA's to there current spot the noise has seemed to disappear

Hi all,

I will follow Mr Roberto and put the RCA cables seperate. Save me the trouble of having to re-route them when something does happen.

Magnat: I like going down the road once in a while with the windows down and going 'doof doof' but most of the time i prefer to listen to normal songs like the ones we get on 92.9FM. However I also like to feel the bass.

I,ve currently got a kenwood h/u. the one with 2 rca outputs and a aux and usb port in the front. I also have kenwood 6 x 9s in the back. I am currently waiting on Lugo's front speakers to arrive which are Cadence speakers. After doing some searching i think i will go with this package:

http://www.fusioncaraudio.com/australia/car-audio-1/bass-packs-9/repk2120-41-product.aspx

What do you guys think? I reckon its good enough for me and saves alot of hassle. and the best part, it fits nicely into the back of the boot with space for a pram and shopping.... :)

Meh, check out the Jaycar range. Better bang for your bucks. I'm not a fan of buying a badge.

I have to agree its a little bit of over kill..
a Single 12 inch ported would do the job..


Where in WA are you so we can track down the best people to deal with in your area..

Hi magnat, im NOR in Nollamara. so you guys reckon a single 12" sub in a box will do alright.... of course pwered by a proper amp?? any recommnedations on the sub and amp?

thanks

Hi magnat, im NOR in Nollamara. so you guys reckon a single 12" sub in a box will do alright.... of course pwered by a proper amp?? any recommnedations on the sub and amp?

thanks

Budget please :D

hi Mr charisma,

i am willing to spend about 700 for amp, sub and wiring. I will do the install myself. of course if i can go lower, tha would be better. I was planning on getting the fusion kit but I'm keeping my options open. :)

http://www.vibecaraudio.com/products/blackaircbr12/

$699 including wires and amplifier.

That's my 2c.

http://www.vibecaraudio.com/products/blackaircbr12/

$699 including wires and amplifier.

That's my 2c.

They are great for so many reasons, only other thing I would recommend is 1 port plug, lowers the port tune for the same ported gains with better SQ.

whats a port plug?

they dont have an australian distributor???

also, i prefer this as it is smaller than the Fusion brand that I was going to put in, do you guys think this is much better?

whats a port plug?

they dont have an australian distributor???

also, i prefer this as it is smaller than the Fusion brand that I was going to put in, do you guys think this is much better?

They do have an Australian distributor: http://www.icedistribution.com/index1.html

VIBE is a premium brand. It would definitely be better than most other brands out there.

A port plug is a device which you use to block the ports on the VIBE boxes. You can change the sound of the box by changing the plugs. If you plug the ports completely it becomes a sealed box.

why dont they have a distributor in W.A.... :( Have emailed them and hopefully i'll have one soon.... :)