Will this wiring work?

04silvertib · 07-14-2008, 08:10 PM

Okay I'm not going to be running a headunit at all. With that being said here is what I have in mind will it work?

I'm going to use a 3.5mm to rca cable which will be plugged into a 4 channel amp (or should I use a 2chanel amp?). I will then use a wireharness adapter and run speaker wires from the amp to the wireharness.

Am I missing something or is it as easy as that?

Thanks

scott_fx · 07-14-2008, 08:13 PM

are you using stock speakers? is there a stock external amp? how many speakers do you have? what is the power of the amp?

04silvertib · 07-14-2008, 08:33 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by scott_fx

are you using stock speakers? is there a stock external amp? how many speakers do you have? what is the power of the amp?

Yes stock speakers

Yes there is a stock external amp (I'm not sure what to do about that yet)

4 speakers 2 tweeters (I don't really need the tweeters though)

I don't have the amp yet I'm looking to get one. The amp that powers the stock speakers is 500 though so I would think somewhere around 500ish I would go with.

FusionFanatic · 07-14-2008, 08:35 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by 04silvertib

Okay I'm not going to be running a headunit at all. With that being said here is what I have in mind will it work?

yes

Quote: Originally Posted by 04silvertib

I'm going to use a 3.5mm to rca cable which will be plugged into a 4 channel amp (or should I use a 2chanel amp?)

you can use either a 2-channel or a 4-channel. either way it will be 2-channel (stereo) audio.

if you use a 2-channel amp you will have to wire the front left and rear left speakers in parallel and the front right and rear right speakers in parallel. this will cut their impedance in half, make sure the amp can handle that impedance load.

if you use a 4-channel amp then you will have to use a couple RCA-RCA Y-adapters to split each channel in two (unless your amp has a 2-channel input mode, my Pioneer amp has that feature).

Quote: Originally Posted by 04silvertib

I will then use a wireharness adapter and run speaker wires from the amp to the wireharness.

just remember that your amp will probably put out more power than your factory wiring was designed to handle. so if you're going to run an amp that is significantly more powerful than your car's factory HU, then you may want to bypass the wiring harness and run thicker speakers wires from the amp directly to the speakers.

Quote: Originally Posted by 04silvertib

Am I missing something or is it as easy as that?

in it's most basic form, yes it is that easy. but you will have to control your volume and EQ settings through software/touchscreen interfaces. some people are ok with that, others are not.

I personally hate touchscreen volume/EQ control. it forces you to look at the screen just to raise or lower volume. some people use USB volume knobs but that is still software controlled, so if the PC locks up then you have no volume control!

I wanted a true hardware-based volume/EQ solution, so I bought a Clarion EQS746 1/2-DIN equalizer. it takes a single 2-ch RCA input and outputs 3 independent 7-volt RCA pre-amp outputs (front, rear, and subwoofer). you can control the volume of each output independently and from the master volume knob. as well as volume control you get 7-band EQ control and subwoofer volume/crossover control without having to look at the screen.

good luck

scott_fx · 07-14-2008, 09:06 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by 04silvertib

Yes stock speakers

Quote: Originally Posted by 04silvertib

Yes there is a stock external amp (I'm not sure what to do about that yet)

if yo uhave an external amp, it's best to run new wires to the speakers

Quote: Originally Posted by 04silvertib

4 speakers 2 tweeters (I don't really need the tweeters though)

this poses a problem. you would need to figure out either a passive x-over or go active... both would be too much of a hassle. your best bet may be to replace both of them with a coaxial speaker or component set if you have some extra cash

Quote: Originally Posted by 04silvertib

I don't have the amp yet I'm looking to get one. The amp that powers the stock speakers is 500 though so I would think somewhere around 500ish I would go with.

the amp that power the stock is proably 15 watts per speaker (realistically)

04silvertib · 07-14-2008, 10:12 PM

After a little more research I found out the car has 4 speakers 2 subs and 2 tweeters. It also has 2 amps powering each sub. The car is rather new so I'm still learning the ins and outs. This makes things a little harder now.

scott_fx · 07-14-2008, 11:11 PM

check out the options for oem interfaces (i.e. pac-audio, peripheral, soundgate) and see what they have available to tie into the factory system. you may be able to get away with a small 4 chan

04silvertib · 07-15-2008, 01:14 AM

I found this

http://www.logjamelectronics.com/piefrd04aux.html

It plugs into the stock harness and allows you to plug in aux or rca cables and it will play it through the stock speakers without using the stock radio. I think it will work wont it? I can hook that up and then run an aux cable from my pc to that unit. My pc will power the speakers in the car and the stock amps will still power the 2 subs. Can someone take a look and correct me if I'm wrong?

Thanks

scott_fx · 07-15-2008, 02:04 AM

you'll need to retain the stock stereo with that piece

what kind of car do you have?

FusionFanatic · 07-15-2008, 07:43 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by 04silvertib

My pc will power the speakers in the car and the stock amps will still power the 2 subs. Can someone take a look and correct me if I'm wrong?

you may be able to use the stock subwoofer amplifiers to power your subs but you will still have to use an outboard amplifier to power your regular speakers.

your PC cannot directly power any car speakers. your PC's audio output is a low-level pre-amp output. the signal needs to be amplified by an outboard amplifier.

04silvertib · 07-16-2008, 01:09 AM

I have a 2007 ford mustang with a shaker 500 system. Okay so after some gathering of data here is what I think will happen.

Stock amps will power the two subs like usual.
I will convert my 3.5 jack to rca cables and run them into my 4 channel amp (200 watts)
Run speaker wires from the amp to the stock radio harness.

50w per speaker seems to be okay from what I've read just as long as you don't crank it to the max. I will be purchasing new speakers in the future though and running my own speaker wires to the.

This should do the trick correct?

scott_fx · 07-16-2008, 03:16 AM

with the correct interface, it should work like you described

04silvertib · 07-16-2008, 10:31 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by scott_fx

with the correct interface, it should work like you described

Alright cool I will give it a shot. If anything goes wrong I guess I will just go back to step 1 and try it again.

04silvertib · 07-16-2008, 10:36 AM

One last thing. Say I get a 4 channel amp but it's over 200 watts. Is there a way to restrict the amount of watts going to each speaker? Is this something that would be on the amp or would I need some kind of resistor?

scott_fx · 07-16-2008, 11:08 AM

just set your gains correctly and you'll be fine. Actually more power is better as a general rule of thumb. it give you something called 'headroom'... AS LONG AS YOU SET YOUR GAINS CORRECTLY :-)

i think there is a write up in the audio faq.