HELP A NOOB: Audio Upgrade, Enclosed Sub?

[Zambuzan]

I want to preface this post by saying that I am an utter NOOB in terms of audio and wiring. I haven't had too much time to research and am in a time constraint. I'm just looking for suggestions here. So rn my car is 100% stock in terms of audio & wiring (w/ premium system), except for a Kenwood headunit. Some things I learned so far from reading on R3V: keep premium speakers, keep amp wiring, and 5.25" speakers "suck."

So basically I took my carpet out a few days ago to diagnose a water leak and figured I would do some other stuff while I have my carpet out.
My main question is: what type of new wiring should I run throughout the car for a future audio upgrade, if any?

My goal is basically to get better audio in general without breaking the bank. I'm not looking for earth-shattering bass, just better sound OVERALL.
I don't like the idea of getting a full-sized sub and amp bc I don't want to sacrifice trunk space. I am thinking like a small, enclosed sub such as this: (https://amazon.com/Hideaway-Powered-...=sub+amp+combo) in my trunk. I still have the stock amp & wiring so would I need to run any new wires? Like I said, I'm not very knowledgeable with this stuff and am in a hurry bc I need to reinstall my carpet in asap.

Pls don't roast me for lack of knowledge, thanks in advance.

[Mwishlist]

Well if you are good with your current stereo adding a sub is relatively easy. Most any aftermarket stereos are going to have RCA outputs for a sub. So you need to run two things from you radio to the powered sub/amp combo you linked. One, is a set of rca cables to send the music signal to the sub and two, is an amp turn on wire. These are usually blue on the back of your head unit IIRC. When the radio turns on, this wire sends a signal to the amp telling it to turn on as well.

Then you need to run a fused power cable from your battery to the amp and a ground wire from the amp directly to the chassis somewhere. With the powered sub you linked, this is all you need.

Radio > RCA and Turn on wire > Amp
Battery > power wire > Amp
Amp > Ground wire > car chassis

Generally a dedicated amp and separate sub are going to sound a lot better than a small combo sub and amp, but that's the trade off since that takes up more room.

If you went with a dedicated amp and separate sub, all you need to add is:
Amp > Speaker wires > Sub

[Zambuzan]

Hey thnx a lot Mwishlist, really helpful stuff. I ended up going with the powered sub just so it would take up less space, arriving soon. I'll see if the kit comes with the RCA cables and amp-turn-on-wire like you mentioned, or else I'll just buy them separately. I'll probably get it professionally installed since I don't want to screw anything up honestly.

Question: would I need new wires to go to the other speakers, or will the OEM wires suffice with the new amp?
Also, do I have to connect the power wire directly to the battery or is there another place I can connect it to that gets power?
Thanks a bunch.

[Mwishlist]

Well what you linked is an amp / sub combo but the amp only powers the sub. So your normal speakers, which I assume are running off of the head unit, are going to stay running off the head unit. All you are going to get with what you linked is a sub that you can add on to your current system. If you bought another amp, then you would have to do the same as what I mentioned earlier and run all new wires to each of the speakers.

If you are going to have someone install it then just take it in and talk to them about what you want. The sub will help quite a bit, but it really depends on what your goals / budget are regarding whether you need to amp those speakers as well. I've never been happy with speakers running off a head unit, not enough clarity or volume for me.

If you are running one tiny amp you can get away with a separate power wire somewhere, but for anything decent size, you really need to run direct to the battery with a proper size power wire and fuse. Your battery is in the trunk right? If you are mounting this in the trunk that should be super easy.

[Zambuzan]

Mwishlist ok I think I figured it out and will try to do it myself before looking for a professional, hopefully shit doesn't blow up. I have just two more questions, promise!

1: Since I'm not touching the stock amp, should I even bother with removing it rn? Not sure if it even works, since only 1 of my OEM speakers (rear right) currently work, lol! I took out both of the 5.25" speakers (neither work) and noticed that there were three connections to them (wtf). Is this factory? It's green and grey, can't find any info of it. Can't be tweeter above right? Here's a pic or 2. Polarity seems fine, speakers jump, but won't produce any sound!

2: If later I decide to upgrade the OEM amp to "liven up" the 4 oem speakers, I just have to run 4 RCAs, power wire, wire-turn-on, & ground from head unit to new amp right? I've been reading a lot that I should just keep the stock speaker wiring. My head unit has 6 output slots so I guess I just filled up 2 with the enclosed sub I will put in, then later 4 (each speaker) for the amp replacement. Is my trail of thought correct or did I miss something?

And like I said, I have my carpet out so I'm trying to do as much as needed now.

Thanks in advance.

[Zambuzan]

Ok I think the third connection is for the fader, which doesn't work with the after market head unit...

[Mwishlist]

Mwishlist ok I think I figured it out and will try to do it myself before looking for a professional, hopefully shit doesn't blow up. I have just two more questions, promise!

1: Since I'm not touching the stock amp, should I even bother with removing it rn? Not sure if it even works, since only 1 of my OEM speakers (rear right) currently work, lol! I took out both of the 5.25" speakers (neither work) and noticed that there were three connections to them (wtf). Is this factory? It's green and grey, can't find any info of it. Can't be tweeter above right? Here's a pic or 2. Polarity seems fine, speakers jump, but won't produce any sound!

2: If later I decide to upgrade the OEM amp to "liven up" the 4 oem speakers, I just have to run 4 RCAs, power wire, wire-turn-on, & ground from head unit to new amp right? I've been reading a lot that I should just keep the stock speaker wiring. My head unit has 6 output slots so I guess I just filled up 2 with the enclosed sub I will put in, then later 4 (each speaker) for the amp replacement. Is my trail of thought correct or did I miss something?

And like I said, I have my carpet out so I'm trying to do as much as needed now.

Thanks in advance.

Honestly I've never worked on a stock e30 system, so I can't help you much on number 1. The fader throws a whole other set of wiring headaches in there. I am sure there are threads on here that detail the stock wiring but I've never had to go that route. The stock wires are fine, twisted wire. If you have a meter and a way to just test the connections than you should be able to trace the wires.

Regarding number 2 you are dead on but you don't have to run a second power wire for the second amp, just get a distro block like this: https://www.parts-express.com/4-8-aw...m_campaign=pla

Run the one power wire from the battery into this and then power from it to each amp. I use two of these, one for power and for grounds. Same with the turn on wire, you can just splice a second wire and send to both amps. The only additional things you need to run if you already have everything else done for the first amp, are the additional RCA wires from the head unit and the speaker wires from the amp to each speaker.