Rob_Marciano

Hey guys, I'm a little stuck here. . .
I used the search feature to find some posts about the stock amp's location and how to take it apart and all that, but I still feel lost. I tried to get some help in the A/V forum but no one responded. Countin' on you guys to help me.

I still don't know if I'm supposed to take apart my amp and use those connections for the new one or if I'm supposed to take out my HU to do this or what. I'm running the new amp with my factory system and don't know exactly how. This sucks. Feeling pretty stupid right about now.

Can someone please help me

athlonxp

Hey, How's it going?

Is this a two channel or four channel amp? If it's a four channel amp it shouldn't be too difficult. Only thing would be that you would need to find a place to mount the amp since no amp with alot of juice will fit in that tiny stock location.

You would have to cut the connector but leave some extra room just in case you have to use the connector again.

There are color codes you must know. (Color codes taken from DustBuster4, thanks Richard!). They are as follows:

Black - Input [Right Rear (-)]
Brown - Input [Right Front (-)]
Green - Input [Left Rear (-)]
Orange - Input [Left Front (-)]

Blue - Input [Right Rear (+)]
Yellow - Input [Right Front (+)]
Red - Input [Left Rear (+)]
White - Input [Left Front (+)]

Brn/Blk - Passenger's door speaker (-) and Right Tweeter (-)
Red/Grn - Passenger's door speaker (+) and Right Tweeter (+)
Gry/Blk - Driver's Door speaker (-) and Left Tweeter (-)
Blu/Grn - Driver's door speaker (+) and Left Tweeter (+)
Blu/Yel - Left Rear Speaker (+)
Gry/Wht - Left Rear Speaker (-)
Brn/Wht - Right Rear Speaker (-)
Red/Yel - Right Rear Speaker (+)

White/Yellow - Constant Power (12V +)
Yellow/White - Remote Switch on (12V + low amperage)
Black - Ground (12V -) - Thicker wire than speaker input
Light Green - Ground for Speaker

Okay here we go...

You must run your own Power and Ground Cables since the 14 Gauge or whatever stock wire won't suffice. So Just cap the thick Black wire and the White/Yellow Wire. This is the one that is all white with yellow specks or a yellow line (majority of the wire is white and the opposite with the Yellow/White wire).

I hope you know how to solder cause to do a good job you will need it, unless you want to purchase two Line to RCA converters for about $20 each. I wouldn't recommend using the high level inputs since the stock head unit puts out wimpy power (that's why you have the amp!) Therefore, you would be using the low level RCA inputs, I'm assuming. Go to you nearest Radioshack and pick up 4 RCA adapters (the Silver ones) for about $2 for a set of two ($4 total). Pick up about 25 Feet of speaker wires no more than 14 Gauge and a 3 foot piece of wire for the remote turn on. Also pick up any type of connector for the speaker wires but the same gauge as the speaker wires you chose. And get a wire cutter/stipper/and crimper.

Now you should have already mounted your amp not more than three feet from the stock location or you'll have to get more speaker wires. Take the 25 feet of speaker wire and cut them into 3 feet segments, you'll have a foot of leeway.

Strip both ends of the eight segments and get ready for the soldering. Take four of those segments and put them aside. You will be soldering the RCA plugs onto one end of each of the other four segments of speaker wire. Remember that one side of the speaker wire is a copper color which is positive and the other is a silver color which is negative. Now unscrew the top of the RCA plug from its shell and let's solder. For each of the four segments solder the copper wire to the center tip and solder the silver wire to the outer part of the RCA plug. (Pictures would help alot but don't have any sorry). It will take awhile to get it right especially if you have big fingers like me.

Now I assume you are done and we can go onto the next step. With the correct color codes we will now connect the proper wires to each of the factory wires. You should start with the input wires. Twist the black input wire to the silver wire of one of the speaker wire segments with the RCA plug on the other end. Then twist the Blue Wire to the copper wire that same segment.
Here's a breakdown.
Segment #1 with RCA plug: (RR)
Black - Silver
Blue - Copper

Segment #2 with RCA plug: (RF)
Brown - Silver
Yellow - Copper

Segment #3 with RCA plug: (LR)
Green - Silver
Red - Copper

Segment #4 with RCA plug: (LF)
Orange - Silver
White - Copper

Now put the connectors on each of the twisted wire ends and use the crimper to crimp them on. Note: It would be a good idea to label each segment so you would know which is which when you plug it into the new amp, e.g. LR, RF, RR, LF... same for the speaker connections.

Now the speaker connections are a little easier since you don't have to solder. Just connect the wire segments as follows:

Segment #1: (RF and tweets)
Brn/Blk - Silver
Red/Grn - Copper

Segment #2: (LF and tweets)
Gry/Blk - Silver
Blu/Grn - Copper

Segment #3: (LR)
Gry/Wht - Silver
Blu/Yel - Copper

Segment #4: (RR)
Brn/Wht - Silver
Red/Yel - Copper

Again, put on the connectors on each twisted end and use the crimping tool to crimp the connectors.

Now you just plug in the RCA plugs to its repective jack and connect the ends of the wires running to the speakers to its repesctive connector on the amp (which are usually the screw terminals).

Twist the one end of the remote wire to the Yellow/White remote turn on wire crimp a connector on and connect it to the remote terminal on the amp. Connect your Ground wire to the amp and then connect your Positive twelve volt wire (that should have been run from the battery with a fuse 6 inches away) from the battery to the amp. You can clean up the wires by putting it in the plastic tubes found in Home Depot or auto parts stores.

Now's time for the fun part. Power on your radio and listen to some sweet tunes. After installing this amp, I guarantee you would probably be getting new speakers and a new head unit. Maybe Infinity Kappas and Alpine beacause Bose blowz. Just my opinion.

I know this is long but it should be fool proof. If anyone else has corrections please correct me and I will stand corrected besides I don't want Rob to sue me once his car explodes!!!! Just Kidding.

Have fun Rob. Job should take about an hour. But it's well worth it. Like I said you don't have to solder, it may take a little longer but you're saving about 30 bucks.

Alright Later,
James

mazor1

Whew. I got tired just reading all of that! Great info James but
thanks for convincing me to let the shop where I purchase my new amp/subwoofer unit do the install no matter what it cost. More power to those of you who do it yourself but I've got the money so here's to letting someone else do it. MHM

athlonxp

Hey Mazor1,

Yeah I wouldn't mind someone else installing it for me either, but don't you at least want to be able to claim that you did it yourself?!!!

Just Kidding. It really isn't that bad, instructions are a bit long but once you get into it, it'll be fun! Like I said, it shouldn't be more than an hour unless you haven't soldered before.

If you have the money then I guess I can't do anything to re-convince you to install it yourself right?! If they charge more than a hundred bucks for installation and install supplies, you should do it yourself and save the hundred bucks for something else.

Oh wait! You're just installing a subwoofer and subwoofer amp? Believe me that is very simple. If you want to reconsider I'll give you clear and concise instructions for that install. Whaddya say?

Anyhow, just have fun with your setup no matter which way you go!

Later,
James

Rob_Marciano

Hey James thanks for the info.
Unfortunately I don't have time to do this b4 NOPI.
But at least I"LL enjoy it myself. Besides, there's always next year.

Thanks again

mazor1

James,

You make a good point. And when it comes to just about anything else, I consider myself a do it myself kind of guy. Shoot, instead of spending $1,000 bucks I just built myself a 10' long garden bridge for less than $100 in wood plus labor. So, maybe with your help I'll give adding the Infinity Basslink myself, a shot.

However, at the moment I have a very badly strained ankle, so walking is difficult enough, and the idea of crawling in the back seat, mounting the unit up front in the trunk, etc. isn't too appealing to me right now. So, if you don't mind, when I get well I'll PM you for some advice. OK?

djz

you have absolutly too much time on your hands.

athlonxp

Hey Mazor1,

No problem! I'll always be glad to help any Acura-cl.com member. Others here have helped me so it might be selfish not to. Email me or PM me whenever you're ready.

Get well soon!!!

-James-