Let me know
CHeers.
Stereo Installation
Started by
_LHcruzn_
, Feb 13 2006 03:46 PM
25 replies to this topic
#1
_LHcruzn_
_LHcruzn_
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Posted 13 February 2006 - 03:46 PM
Hey guys/gals, i need some help installing my car stereo. I haven't done it before and i can't justify paying a "pro" $300 to do it. So bascially if someone can come out and do it for me, (SE melb,Skye, near Cranbourne) There will bea slab of beer or bourbon in it for them.
Let me know
CHeers.
Let me know
CHeers.
#2
_Bomber Watson_
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Posted 13 February 2006 - 07:39 PM
why for not you post questions, i answer, and you do it yourself???
i may have done a few....
i may have done a few....
#3
_devilsadvocate_
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Posted 13 February 2006 - 08:16 PM
a $300 quote sounds like quite a lot is involved?
What are you aiming to install, some details would be helpful.
What are you aiming to install, some details would be helpful.
#4
_Yella SLuR_
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Posted 13 February 2006 - 10:08 PM
Just a matter of working your way through the wiring diagram. Most of them have it on the stereo body these days. Hardest part is finding power if you don't already have a stereo/radio. Oh, and if you are putting in an amp, find out if the head unit likes having an earth from the amp or not, if it doesn't it tends to heat up (i.e. cook eggs on) and blow the alternative power supply to the amp. Just my experience!!! Yup, I've cooked one.
Edited by Yella SLuR, 13 February 2006 - 10:10 PM.
#5
_trav_
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Posted 13 February 2006 - 10:12 PM
If you can find one go to JB..i think even autobarn does it out that way...i paid $80...i installed the head unit and four speakers myself but JB did the amp and sub...i didn't want to risk what Yella Slur did lol
trav
trav
Edited by trav, 13 February 2006 - 10:14 PM.
#6
_Yella SLuR_
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Posted 13 February 2006 - 10:29 PM
Oh, it is the alternative power supply in the head unit that blows when you connect the earth from the amp to the head unit on some head units. The amp itself is unaffected. Just read that, and didn't come across too clear, and prolly still doesn't.
I was pretty pissed Trav, specially since I was just fixing up a bodgey existing installation and not really expecting to buy a new head unit, new one had a CD though. Girls in my life, all four of em, were most happy though!
I was pretty pissed Trav, specially since I was just fixing up a bodgey existing installation and not really expecting to buy a new head unit, new one had a CD though. Girls in my life, all four of em, were most happy though!
#7
lakeside
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Posted 13 February 2006 - 11:47 PM
give my a ring on 0419 118098
colin
colin
#8
_LHcruzn_
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Posted 16 February 2006 - 12:30 PM
i've got mp3 headunit,6 1/2" coaxials,6x9's,amp and sub, i have all the wiring, i just suck bigtime at trying to understand it lol.
#9
antelopeslr5000
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Posted 18 February 2006 - 09:21 PM
Hey Yella,Oh, and if you are putting in an amp, find out if the head unit likes having an earth from the amp or not, if it doesn't it tends to heat up (i.e. cook eggs on) and blow the alternative power supply to the amp. Just my experience!!! Yup, I've cooked one.
Just curious as to why you would connect the earth from the amp to the head unit. I can't see any reason for it. What amp and head unit did you use when you cooked your head unit?
#10
_Bomber Watson_
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Posted 18 February 2006 - 09:57 PM
there usualy isnt' a reason for it. but it has been known for interference to be generated by having two earth points. make these the same and the interference goes away. remember theres a lot going on in that metal between the two earths.
i've never done this, but there is certainly a purpose in some systems.
lhcruizn...this is a damb simple install. but it would help to have picks of all your gear so i can tell you exaclty where to shove what.
i've never done this, but there is certainly a purpose in some systems.
lhcruizn...this is a damb simple install. but it would help to have picks of all your gear so i can tell you exaclty where to shove what.
#11
_devilsadvocate_
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Posted 19 February 2006 - 03:59 AM
Ok, the most time consuming part in my experience is physically installing the hardware, the 6x9s in the parcel shelf, the speakers in the front door, head unit in the dash and amps whereever, subwoofer? if there has been stuff installed previously, then this could be more straightforward. Wiring it up is the easy bit............if you know what are doing......, but the hardware is always hardwork and time consuming(especially if you take no shortcuts) no matter how many times youve done it.
Is there anything installed there already? Does the LH have pre existing perforations in the metal shelf for speakers like the UC's? If so, they wont be large enough for 6x9s and will either need to be enlarged with a jigsaw or use spacers on the shelf so only your magnets have to push through the holes. Unless one has a expensive right angled jigsaw, the metal close to the rear screen will need to be taken out lying down inside the boot, same for any screw holes. I take it there is no LPG gas tank in the way?
Subwoofer, is that in a premounted box, or are you going to mount that "somewhere".
Amps - you might be able to squeeze them in the dash or under the centreconsole depending on size. Wouldnt reccommend under seats, they'll get in the way. Whereever they go, think water leaks, the torry is no submarine!
Best place for amps in my opinion, unless you want the non functional techo exposed look is on the inside of the half panel which separates the rear quarter panel from the wheel arch, its well off the floor and water wont run down there if you get a leak and you can still throw stuff in the boot and not worry about it covering up or damaging the amps.
If youve got all the hardware done, Im prepared to help you out with the wiring.
If I was doing the install, Id actually bench test it all 1st, which simply means lay it all out on a piece of carpet make all the connections and see if it works, this will identify anything that is faulty to begin or that you need to revise how you plan to do the wiring.
Re earth wires. No need to run wires to common earths if everything is well earthed to the body/chassis. Problems can occur with weak earths to parts of the dash with head units, typically the metal frame of a torrie dash is well connected to the rest of the car so this shouldnt be a prob, running another earth all the way to the amp neednt be the solution if it is, best to run a cable from dash to body if this is. Differences in potential between earths can be easily tracked down with a sensitive voltmeter if a prob arises.
Is there anything installed there already? Does the LH have pre existing perforations in the metal shelf for speakers like the UC's? If so, they wont be large enough for 6x9s and will either need to be enlarged with a jigsaw or use spacers on the shelf so only your magnets have to push through the holes. Unless one has a expensive right angled jigsaw, the metal close to the rear screen will need to be taken out lying down inside the boot, same for any screw holes. I take it there is no LPG gas tank in the way?
Subwoofer, is that in a premounted box, or are you going to mount that "somewhere".
Amps - you might be able to squeeze them in the dash or under the centreconsole depending on size. Wouldnt reccommend under seats, they'll get in the way. Whereever they go, think water leaks, the torry is no submarine!
Best place for amps in my opinion, unless you want the non functional techo exposed look is on the inside of the half panel which separates the rear quarter panel from the wheel arch, its well off the floor and water wont run down there if you get a leak and you can still throw stuff in the boot and not worry about it covering up or damaging the amps.
If youve got all the hardware done, Im prepared to help you out with the wiring.
If I was doing the install, Id actually bench test it all 1st, which simply means lay it all out on a piece of carpet make all the connections and see if it works, this will identify anything that is faulty to begin or that you need to revise how you plan to do the wiring.
Re earth wires. No need to run wires to common earths if everything is well earthed to the body/chassis. Problems can occur with weak earths to parts of the dash with head units, typically the metal frame of a torrie dash is well connected to the rest of the car so this shouldnt be a prob, running another earth all the way to the amp neednt be the solution if it is, best to run a cable from dash to body if this is. Differences in potential between earths can be easily tracked down with a sensitive voltmeter if a prob arises.
#12
_Bomber Watson_
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Posted 19 February 2006 - 04:29 PM
don't cut a small hole so only the magnet sticks thorugh, it must be the same size as the cone. otherwise it will sound like ass.
#13
_devilsadvocate_
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Posted 19 February 2006 - 05:25 PM
Lcboi, pt taken about the holes, but what I was referring to was that the standard perforations on the torries isnt big enough to sit the speaker directly on the parcel shelf because of the speaker cone frame brackets. If the full perforated holes are used in conjunction with some spacers they are much wider than any 6x9 speaker magnet and will still allow plenty of air to be moved and really have neglible effect on the sound.
It is of course best to widen the hole and have them sitting flush on the shelf and even tilted forwards slightly, though Im not sure how the geometry of this all works with a lot of the high frequency sound being reflected off the rear screen.
It is of course best to widen the hole and have them sitting flush on the shelf and even tilted forwards slightly, though Im not sure how the geometry of this all works with a lot of the high frequency sound being reflected off the rear screen.
#14
_Bomber Watson_
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Posted 19 February 2006 - 07:10 PM
yeah, making sound waves bounce off glass at the correct angle is a bit beyond me to.
#15
rodomo
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Posted 19 February 2006 - 11:41 PM
Just spent 8hrs today fitting four speakers and a Sony Explode to boys UC hatch.
This included making 2 replacement kick panels and 2 replacement rear side panels and painting them the baby poo yellow inside the hatch. I didn't have the heart to start chopping up the SL/E stuff.
RACV MAN
This included making 2 replacement kick panels and 2 replacement rear side panels and painting them the baby poo yellow inside the hatch. I didn't have the heart to start chopping up the SL/E stuff.
RACV MAN
#16
_LHcruzn_
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Posted 20 February 2006 - 02:08 PM
Ok i have the head unit,amp and sub hooked up, it's actually goin into the magna while im finishing the LH. I don't know why but when the bass is up a decent amount it's start's to cut out, and when u hit the horn, turn's the stereo off LOL. All i have left to do now is put the 6x9's into the parcel shelf, and the 6 1/2" speakers into the doors, don't know if they will fit since they need 3" depth to mount them, and the crappy magna has very shallow doors. Now im stuck bigtime with the speakers .
#17
_Flamenco_
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Posted 20 February 2006 - 02:20 PM
Sounds like the battery voltage is low. Amps and headunits often have inbuilt circuits that shut the unit down if there is insufficient voltage or a short in the wiring... Just make up spacers (or buy some) if there isn't enough clearance between the window and the speaker magnet...
#18
_Bomber Watson_
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Posted 20 February 2006 - 06:05 PM
thats fairly good time mate.
#19
_Torana482HP_
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Posted 20 February 2006 - 07:28 PM
HOLD UP.
My mate got a new alpine stereo not long ago and he kept having problems with the unit shutting off, he thought the amp in the boot was sucking all the power but he turned it off and the unit still shut off.
His car is at my house at the moment and he said i can grab whatever car parts i want off it, so the other day i was playing around with the car and i thought id check out his stereo problem (im a sparky by trade) i noticed everytime id turn the lights on the stereo would cut out, now i told him on an earlier occasion to make sure all his connections are satisfactory, especially earths, now i thought there was a power supply problem by the way it was behaving with the lights (brand new battery by the way) opened the hood and what did i find... the battery earth connection to the chassis was disconnected (an earth through the engine mounts is not good enough!) reconnected the chassis earth to the battery and that stereo pumped all day long without cutting out.
So everyone, please make sure your chassis is securely earth or else you will have electrical problems like this.
when i installed my front speakers in my doors i had to cut away some of the metal and i also installed a plastic speaker weather protector that i pinched from me skyline doors that will stop water dripping on the speakers in the door. I just siliconed it on the inside of the door skin.
I also positioned the speaker perfectly so it misses the window winder...
I havent installed rear speakers yet
Heres some tips on what wires u need to run...
At the head unit you need a minimum of..
Permanent power wire from the fuse panel (theres some fuses that have power there permanently, no matter what position of the ignition switch - cigarette lighter is 1 i think.) Stereo needs permanent power so it dosent lose its memory.
Switched 12V, get this from the fuse panel too - one that is only on when the ignition switch is in the on and accessories position - this will turn your stereo on and off. (Heater/Air con fuse i used i think - cause i dont have air conditioning this fuse will be adequate - remember head units these days draw up to 10 Amps.)
Good Ground wire - screw the wire into the metal of the car and remove all the paint where the connection is (dont forget about the chassis wire to the battery as i mentioned before)
Now the speaker wires - front left, front right, rear left, rear right. (this part is pretty strait forward but heres the tip anyway - a speaker has 2 wires, so u need 2 wires for each speaker
)
Now thats bare minimum, if you have an amp in the boot you need a single wire from the head unit to the amp which is a signal wire that turns the amp on when the head unit is on, connection to the head unit is usually to the antenna wire (not the radio arial cable, the electric antenna activation wire) when the unit turns on it sends a signal down this wire which turns your amp on.
Now i think times have changed since a while ago so im not going to mention how many audio signal cables you need to run to your amp cause it depends on what type of amp + head unit you own (i actually just couldnt be stuffed typing anymore, this is enough info to get you more familiar with whats involved electrically with a stereo installation)
heres a nice pic to finish my post with...
Regards Anthony.
My mate got a new alpine stereo not long ago and he kept having problems with the unit shutting off, he thought the amp in the boot was sucking all the power but he turned it off and the unit still shut off.
His car is at my house at the moment and he said i can grab whatever car parts i want off it, so the other day i was playing around with the car and i thought id check out his stereo problem (im a sparky by trade) i noticed everytime id turn the lights on the stereo would cut out, now i told him on an earlier occasion to make sure all his connections are satisfactory, especially earths, now i thought there was a power supply problem by the way it was behaving with the lights (brand new battery by the way) opened the hood and what did i find... the battery earth connection to the chassis was disconnected (an earth through the engine mounts is not good enough!) reconnected the chassis earth to the battery and that stereo pumped all day long without cutting out.
So everyone, please make sure your chassis is securely earth or else you will have electrical problems like this.
when i installed my front speakers in my doors i had to cut away some of the metal and i also installed a plastic speaker weather protector that i pinched from me skyline doors that will stop water dripping on the speakers in the door. I just siliconed it on the inside of the door skin.
I also positioned the speaker perfectly so it misses the window winder...
I havent installed rear speakers yet
Heres some tips on what wires u need to run...
At the head unit you need a minimum of..
Permanent power wire from the fuse panel (theres some fuses that have power there permanently, no matter what position of the ignition switch - cigarette lighter is 1 i think.) Stereo needs permanent power so it dosent lose its memory.
Switched 12V, get this from the fuse panel too - one that is only on when the ignition switch is in the on and accessories position - this will turn your stereo on and off. (Heater/Air con fuse i used i think - cause i dont have air conditioning this fuse will be adequate - remember head units these days draw up to 10 Amps.)
Good Ground wire - screw the wire into the metal of the car and remove all the paint where the connection is (dont forget about the chassis wire to the battery as i mentioned before)
Now the speaker wires - front left, front right, rear left, rear right. (this part is pretty strait forward but heres the tip anyway - a speaker has 2 wires, so u need 2 wires for each speaker
)Now thats bare minimum, if you have an amp in the boot you need a single wire from the head unit to the amp which is a signal wire that turns the amp on when the head unit is on, connection to the head unit is usually to the antenna wire (not the radio arial cable, the electric antenna activation wire) when the unit turns on it sends a signal down this wire which turns your amp on.
Now i think times have changed since a while ago so im not going to mention how many audio signal cables you need to run to your amp cause it depends on what type of amp + head unit you own (i actually just couldnt be stuffed typing anymore, this is enough info to get you more familiar with whats involved electrically with a stereo installation)
heres a nice pic to finish my post with...
Regards Anthony.
#20
_Bomber Watson_
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Posted 20 February 2006 - 08:01 PM
theres almost always one rca (wire that sends signal to amp) for each channel you want to run off the amp. say you want to amp the fronts then two rca's will go to the amp. most rca's have the rem wire (one that turns it on) built in with them.
#21
_devilsadvocate_
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Posted 21 February 2006 - 09:13 PM
Torana 482hp, youve not mentioned anything about powering the amp(s).
Id suggest fused supply direct to terminal on the starter.
Also many front ends now have the main power supply from the +12v wire the and use the ign switch as a trigger for an internal relay, id have this(+12V wire) coming from the starter wire too. One should check for each model.
Cig lighter is switched in an LX at least(dont know what car we are talking about here),possibly it was introduced as an adr to stop kids playing in cars setting fire to them/burning themselves.
I would find it difficult to believe that just running an average stereo at a moderate level is going to put a load on the battery high enough to drop its voltage enough to trigger cutoffs in front ends etc, and would anticipate the problem is as pointed out previously bad engine/chassis battery connections or poor or unsuitable connections at the fuse panel.
Im also not sure of using power antenna lead for remote amp switching, from memory one unit I had, only powered the lead for 10seconds then switched off.
Id suggest fused supply direct to terminal on the starter.
Also many front ends now have the main power supply from the +12v wire the and use the ign switch as a trigger for an internal relay, id have this(+12V wire) coming from the starter wire too. One should check for each model.
Cig lighter is switched in an LX at least(dont know what car we are talking about here),possibly it was introduced as an adr to stop kids playing in cars setting fire to them/burning themselves.
I would find it difficult to believe that just running an average stereo at a moderate level is going to put a load on the battery high enough to drop its voltage enough to trigger cutoffs in front ends etc, and would anticipate the problem is as pointed out previously bad engine/chassis battery connections or poor or unsuitable connections at the fuse panel.
Im also not sure of using power antenna lead for remote amp switching, from memory one unit I had, only powered the lead for 10seconds then switched off.
Edited by devilsadvocate, 21 February 2006 - 09:27 PM.
#22
_devilsadvocate_
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Posted 21 February 2006 - 09:41 PM
Ah,its come back to me, I think the prob was when one switched to tape or cd it would stop power to the power antenna lead making it unsuitable for an amp trigger.
#23
_Torana482HP_
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Posted 23 February 2006 - 07:32 PM
dont have a problem with the antenna wire signalling the amp, if i remember correctly, thats what the instructions said to use, but some may have problems with this setup.
the chassis 2 battery connection was definately the problem in me mates car. When i touched that wire on the car body it sparked.
he had 4 good powerful speakers in his car and an amped subby. it would still cut out with the amp turned off. WHEN lights etc were turned on, the stereo would cut out and also just generally after it was on for a little while.
didnt get round to mentioning amp hook up cause i couldnt be stuffed, i have my amp power wire fused and hooked up direct on the battery positive.
LH cigarette lighter was not switched at all. probably changed the lx for the reason you suggested.
the chassis 2 battery connection was definately the problem in me mates car. When i touched that wire on the car body it sparked.
he had 4 good powerful speakers in his car and an amped subby. it would still cut out with the amp turned off. WHEN lights etc were turned on, the stereo would cut out and also just generally after it was on for a little while.
didnt get round to mentioning amp hook up cause i couldnt be stuffed, i have my amp power wire fused and hooked up direct on the battery positive.
LH cigarette lighter was not switched at all. probably changed the lx for the reason you suggested.
#24
_devilsadvocate_
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Posted 23 February 2006 - 08:47 PM
You claimed it was enough info?. Next time do it properly or not at all or perhaps show some remorse for your omission(if you cant be stuffed), would save someone following your post some possible anguish.this is enough info to get you more familiar with whats involved electrically with a stereo installation
and later:�
didnt get round to mentioning amp hook up cause i couldnt be stuffed
Edited by devilsadvocate, 23 February 2006 - 08:50 PM.
#25
_Torana482HP_
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Posted 24 February 2006 - 03:30 PM
Stereo installation, not amplifier installation.
i was just giving instructions on what the wires are on the back of the stereo, thats what most people get confused about, and i beleive i gave plenty of info on a stereo installation!
i was just giving instructions on what the wires are on the back of the stereo, thats what most people get confused about, and i beleive i gave plenty of info on a stereo installation!
this is enough info to get you more familiar with whats involved electrically with a stereo installation)
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