How to wire up an amp?

[AdironRider]

OK, so Ive been piecing together my stereo system piece by piece over the last few months or so when I have the extra cash and now its about that time to wire everything up. Yeah Im a stereo noob so Im trying to figure everything out. I think Ive got a hold of everthing besides how to wire up the amp. So Im going to go out on a limb and guess a bunch of stuff and you guys can tell me where Im wrong and fill in the details.

Do I just run left and right side speaker wires back to the amp from the headunit or do I need to bypass the built in preamp on my panasonic somehow? Also how do I wire up power and grounds and stuff to the amp? Can I just run the power directly from the car battery in the trunk? Also, can I gound it to the same spot as the battery as well? Thanks

[AndrewBird]

Assuming your head unit is of reasonable quality, there should be Pre-amp output on the back of the deck. These are RCA plugs, just like what you see on the back of a TV. You run these to the amp using RCA cables.

Ground the amp as close to the amp as you can. Most guys just grind the paint away near the amp and ground it there with a big sheet metal screw.

As for power, I'm not really sure. Power directly off the battery will give you alternator whine, so I would think you would want to run a new lead from the fuse box to where your amp is to help reduce that. If this is incorrect, someone correct me.

[kylebes1]

Do a little better than a sheet metal screw for the ground. Try to find a place to ground where you can get to both sides. Grind away the paint on both sides, use Stainless bolt, nut and washers.

As far as the signal, you can use high outputs, but if you have preamp RCAs that will be FAR better. I would venture to say if your HU does not have RCAs throw it away and get one that does. You will also need to have a "on" signal. Often the blue wire on your HU harness.

Try using power straight from the battery since it is in the trunk. I did not have any trouble with my last setup... You will need a in-line fuse for your power supply; I think the standard is twice the amount your amp fuse is.

BTW what amp do you have?

[ak96ss]

Try using power straight from the battery since it is in the trunk. I did not have any trouble with my last setup... You will need a in-line fuse for your power supply; I think the standard is twice the amount your amp fuse is.

Actually, it depends on the gauge of wire you use. Go to http://www.the12volt.com/info/recwirsz.asp and http://www.bcae1.com/ (scroll the right-side menu to item 14., Fuses) and check it out.

[trieuth]

im using power right from my battery as well, and i have the alternator whine, which gets pretty annoying. but ive learned to live with it.

[AdironRider]

Do I still need to power the head unit as well? My Panasonic has RCA hookups in the back but will those be sending 50 watts per channel?

[DSchultz325e]

Assuming your head unit is of reasonable quality, there should be Pre-amp output on the back of the deck. These are RCA plugs, just like what you see on the back of a TV. You run these to the amp using RCA cables.

Ground the amp as close to the amp as you can. Most guys just grind the paint away near the amp and ground it there with a big sheet metal screw.

As for power, I'm not really sure. Power directly off the battery will give you alternator whine, so I would think you would want to run a new lead from the fuse box to where your amp is to help reduce that. If this is incorrect, someone correct me.

Uhm, every amp install I've ever seen uses a B+ wire run directly to the battery.

[kylebes1]

Do I still need to power the head unit as well? My Panasonic has RCA hookups in the back but will those be sending 50 watts per channel?

I have an Alpine, it has a on/off in the settings for the internal amp. When you go to the RCAs you should turn your amped wires off...

The HU will not lose power... not really sure waht you are asking...

_kyle

[netcsk]

Do I still need to power the head unit as well? My Panasonic has RCA hookups in the back but will those be sending 50 watts per channel?

The RCA outputs send usually from 1-4V (.25w-4w @ 4 ohms), not 50 watts. It has nothing to do with powering the amp or speakers, it's purely outputs to your amp.

I think that's what your asking?

[e304me]

is there a way to eliminate the altenator whine with out running a cable from the front of the car to the back?

[808BMW]

is there a way to eliminate the altenator whine with out running a cable from the front of the car to the back?

run good grounds?

power directly fromn the battery will not give you alternator whine, a poor ground (deck OR amp) will do that.

[AdironRider]

Basically what I was asking was how do I power the actual headunit itself in combo with an amp. In the sense that without the amp, the unit supposedly puts out 50 watts per channel. I didnt want to run into problems like I did on my Pathfinder, where the fucktards at Best Buy just wired an Alpine deck right in, and could only turn the volume up to like 2 without blowing the speakers as I was running the deck through the factory amp as well. Didnt know if the same would apply to a headunit in combo with an aftermarket amp.

As I think I understand now, I dont have to worry about it as long as I use the RCA hookups, and still need to wire the headunit the same otherwise (power, ground, antenna, etc.). Then I wont have problems like I did on my Pathfinder?

[Addissimo]

is there a way to eliminate the altenator whine with out running a cable from the front of the car to the back?

The quality of interconnects that you're using can completely illiminate all whinning noise/ground loop noise. A capacitor can help greatly too.

In my e34 I was using the stock bmw signal cables with RCA ends attached. I had terrible feedback in the lines. I just replaced my front speaker signal cable with Monster Cable XLN Pro interconnects and all feedback is gone. its divine.

I'm just waiting for enough time to rip my carpet out and put the remaining two XLN cables in. They're not the easiest to run- The thickness is about that of an automotive 4awg power cable.

But yeah- interconnects and a capacitor.