How to install a killer stereo for $500 (loads of pics)

[bernzpeed]

with all the talk about how great the bmw speaker wires are, I so happen to have a complete wire harness from my donor car. Would it make more sense to use this than the wire that came with my amp kit?

[StereoInstaller1]

Here is a quickie:

How to wire in the speakers on a non-premium car.

This covers late model non amplifed only at this point, but will be updated to cover early models soon.

OK, so pull your back seat and get the seatbelt out of the way, and find the rear speaker wires:



Now, grab about 20 feet of basic 16ga speaker wire, cut into 4 5' lengths. Wrap some tape around all 4, and shove it through the stock grommet:



Now get these things together:



Cut the rear wires and strip every end you have there. That would be all 4 aftermarket speaker wires and the cut ends of the stock wires:



Now, twist the pairs together. Remember that the black wires are positives on the stock wiring. I used the blue stripe as positive, but whatever you have, get the positives adn negatives correct and start crimping them as shown:



Note the technique, so when you are done you will have anice tidy bundle you can tape up:





Now, after 10 minutes, you are half way there

On to the next step, the wiring behind the deck.

What we did back there, if it isn't obvious, is connect the rear wires to the trunk wires and connect the front half of the rear wire run to the trunk wires...so how does that get to the front speakers? Simple, you connect them together behind the deck:



Note the colors: left rear positive now connects to left front positive and so on.

Now, as you see, the wires running from the trunk connect to the wires that run to the front and connect to the front wires behind the deck, so you need not run any wire at all, except RCAs and remote.

I am hoping that it is obvious that you don't connect these wires to anything else. They are just front speaker wires now, from the amp to the stock locations.

Does that help?

Luke

[mr walker]

^Ditto. Stoked for updates!

[marshtgrade]

cant wait for updates, especially the part about tuning. i have THIS EXACT box/sub/amp combo prepped for install on recommendation by Luke. cant wait to have it all together so i can give a solid review just for this thread. feel free to pm me Luke if you have some tips on tuning if you dont feel like adding where you stated u would come back to in time.

[StereoInstaller1]

How does the install work when I don't already have the stock amp? I didn't have premium speakers before and I retrofitted them in there. Now I will be installing an aftermarket amp.

OK, here is the basics, in "non-newbie" form:

First, connect the front and rear together behind the deck. Just simple parallel connections, bypassing the deck wiring.

Second, you cut and splice extensions into the rear speaker wires going to the rear speakers, then extend the wires going to the front of the car, so all 4 pairs of speaker wires go to the trunk.

Oh, run a remote wire with the RCAs too..that is why that whole topic is going to be a separate thread.

Don't know if this pic helps or not



This will be even less help

[bernzpeed]

How does the install work when I don't already have the stock amp? I didn't have premium speakers before and I retrofitted them in there. Now I will be installing an aftermarket amp.

[StereoInstaller1]

One question for you Luke,

First off, great write up! I'm very excited to try one of your products.

Now my question is that you mentioned to extend the white wire, the red black wire, and the thicker brown wire right? If one does that then where do they get terminated? Am I using the white for the remote?
Does the thicker brown wire just get grounded to my amp ground?
Red/black? I'm confused

Thanks for the awesome read so far

:)

Thanks! The fact that you asked that question shows 2 things:

First is you are paying attention

Second is that obviously, I suck at explaining shit. I really try hard not to suck, but it seems impossible. Working on it though.

OK, so the red and brown wires are going to be used to power the optional amp rack. They run the fan relay to power the fans.

The white wire, as you noted, is the remote wire. it is also used to turn on the relay that runs the fan should you choose to purchase one of our lovely and optional amp racks.

Thanks!
Luke

[shauno]

One question for you Luke,

First off, great write up! I'm very excited to try one of your products.

Now my question is that you mentioned to extend the white wire, the red black wire, and the thicker brown wire right? If one does that then where do they get terminated? Am I using the white for the remote?
Does the thicker brown wire just get grounded to my amp ground?
Red/black? I'm confused

Thanks for the awesome read so far

:)

[Ether-D]

Thank you for noticing that, you rock. If you buy a box, remind me to give you a $20 discount for that comment.

Done and done. Thanks.

[StereoInstaller1]

What brand of wire? All of it is crap, basically. None of the so-called "high end" brands last well in a car. I will be doing Kimber Kable in my next install, but that is pretty exotic.

Seriously, the stock BMW wire is about as good as you can get. It is still nice and shiny after 20+ years and it is just fine for sound quality. I have yanked harnesses out of cars just for the wire.

Otherwise, just get cheap 16 or 18ga wire and replace it in 5 years. The stuff at WalMart is fine.

Luke

[Varinn]

Nice writeup luke, one question, my car has no factory premium sound, I've already run new (shitty) wire to all 4 corners but I'm considering doing this. If i do a full re-wire from deck-amp-speakers, what brand should I look at getting?

[StereoInstaller1]

Yep, this thread is for beginners. It's been said about 15 times in previous posts. There may be a better way to do any of this, go ahead and do it. This thread is for beginners...

Thank you for noticing that, you rock. If you buy a box, remind me to give you a $20 discount for that comment.

Yes, it is absolutely retarded to think that a guy such as myself, who has been a professional car stereo installer since 1980 does not have a few options available to me to connect stuff, be it wire, plastic, metal, bracketry, upholstery, whatever...very very few can even come close to doing what I do for the price I charge, right? I have plenty of tricks up my sleeve, believe me.

This is the only logical way to do this. If you use ANY other type of screw in one of my boxes, please pre-drill. Drywall screws won't split anything, but any non-tapered shape will split the wood unless pre-drilled.

Besides, no matter what anyone says, there is nothing at all wrong with using drywall screws to mount a woofer. I use top quality MDF, not some cheap pressboard or particle board. There have been zero issues from any of the boxes I have built over the last 30 years...trust me, my stuff is sturdy. I could make it sturdier, but the price would go up drastically, and no one wants that.

The point of this thread though is how to get the average person a fighting chance of doing a top-notch install with commonly available materials. If you follow what the thread lays down, you will get truly kick ass sound for less than you local shop would charge in labor alone.

I think I am gonna go through this thread and clean it up. This is a DIY, not a sales thread, not a discussion of advanced fabrication skills, nor any place for bashing...can we keep this to comments regarding this particular install and valid questions, please?

(BTW, yes I know I am the worst offender, STFU)

[Ether-D]

For the beginner I guess drywall screws are what they have around, but even though my 87 E30 is an old bucket, it deserves better than a Honda done by a backyard hack.

Yep, this thread is for beginners. It's been said about 15 times in previous posts. There may be a better way to do any of this, go ahead and do it. This thread is for beginners...

[dwvw]

[QUOTE=NitroRustlerDriver;2900915]Why? They are so universal and due to their coating, are generally rust proof. Easy to use to as the sharp point starts nicely without having to pre-drill a hole.

Well they are called drywall screws for a reason, they are meant for drywall. The shape of the head has a curve to them that is not designed for being against a flat surface, I guess if you are lazy and don't have a countersink bit they can counter sink themselves! But they also tend to pull through MDF, especially in an accident, and everything I build at work needs to survive for years.

I personally use pan head screws for things like mounting amps to MDF, or mounting subs in boxes, the flat contact surface is better, and they are designed for screwing into wood and MDF unlike drywall screws.

I have completely moved away from using screws in metal at all, I now only use machine screws and nutserts when mounting to metal. When I get to that point in my install I will post pics. The big advantage is when you pull something apart, it will go back together the exact same, whereas with drywall screw (or any wood screw) you will usually see that there are multiple holes from stuff not lining up 100% every time you disassemble are reassemble something.

For the beginner I guess drywall screws are what they have around, but even though my 87 E30 is an old bucket, it deserves better than a Honda done by a backyard hack.

[StereoInstaller1]

Why? They are so universal and due to their coating, are generally rust proof. Easy to use to as the sharp point starts nicely without having to pre-drill a hole.

Luke, write-up is looking good.

Why do you use a zip-tie on the sub wire inside the box instead of just tying a knot? Just curious as you seem apposed to zip ties everywhere else.

Agreed on the drywall screws...after years of hating them, turns out they work incredibly well in MDF. They split less, they grab well, they do the job better than any other screw... and easy to find anywhere.

The reason I don't like using zip ties is once you get them tight enough to really hold, they have the potential to do damage to the wire internally, as in broken strands, etc.

I use them in the box (and lots of other places as well) because they do have superior gripping. This is all just an example, you guys who actually know what you are doing can do as you please...this post is just my personal opinion of how best for the complete newbie to get his car rockin'

Luke