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Old 05-12-2013, 10:37 PM   #1
theo79
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Join Date: Sep 2007
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Location: Camp Pendleton, CA
Vehicle:
2002 WRX - WRB
JDM v7 Spec C drivetrain

Default Will this connect properly for me?

Did a search, couldn't find anything to help me out. Then again, I am terrible when it comes to electricity and wiring.

Basic info:
HU- Pioneer DEH-X8500BH
Speakers - Pioneer all around
Amp - 4 channel 1000 watt. Can't remember the brand name, my step dad gave it to me. It's over 10 years old but it still works.
Sub- 10" rockford fosgate

I'm a little confused on how to wire everything up properly. I will be taking the car apart and soldering/ re-wiring everything to make it pretty.

HEAD UNIT:
- Connect head unit to harness. Only connect positive, negative, constant 12v, dash illumination
- Cap everything else off (OR) how do you take these wires out of a harness?
- Run 3 sets of RCA cables to amplifier (Front, rear, Sub)

AMPLIFIER:
- Connect positive to battery
- Ground to seat bolt
- Blue remote wire to harness on head unit

SPEAKERS:
- Run all new wires from every speaker and individually connect +/- directly to alloted slots on amplifier.

SUBWOOFER:
- Run +/- wire from allotted slot on amplifier, to the slots on the outside of the box that the sub is in.


Questions:
- Will this wiring work out?
- Will I still be able to use the head unit controls to adjust the sound? (high, mid, low, etc.)
- I should run the RCA cables away from the power cables on the amplifier correct?
- What have I missed?

Please post up any write ups on how you guys wired your audio system and where you guys fed the wiring through. With pictures please, i'm a look and learn kind of guy.


Motivation for you to help me out: stolen from google.
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Old 05-13-2013, 04:48 AM   #2
ShadowBoxer
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Location: Atlanta, GA
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It sounds like you have a solid understanding of how to do it... before you make it all pretty and tucked in nice and neat, perhaps connect mostly everything (in priority order... subwoofer after amp, amp after head unit, etc.) and make sure it all runs right.. that way its less moving and more rewiring until the wires are perfect... then the trick becomes tucking them away without messing them up.

I think that as long as your head unit supports an equalizer, you shouldn't lose any functionality there.

Don't forget about your in-line fuse coming off of (and remaining near) your battery for the power cable on your amp, lest your car spontaneously "Flame On".

If its of any merit, I believe the power cables can interfere with the signals in the speaker cables if they are too close, but I have not experienced this firsthand. I only have vague hearsay and a hypothesis.

I have shared what I know about regarding your topics. May the force be with you, and may that woman find abundant calories.

I'm not as skilled with the car dismantling, but the concept of the wiring, I get.
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Old 05-13-2013, 07:12 AM   #3
Tripintaz
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Ae64.com. Go there. Read his stuff. Buy the harness. It will make it so much easier. He is a vendor on this forum.
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Old 05-13-2013, 07:46 AM   #4
Anub1s
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How is a 4 channel amp going to power 4 speakers and a sub?
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Old 05-13-2013, 11:03 AM   #5
theo79
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Tripintaz- How would this help with the install? I have the factory wiring harness already in there. The trouble is, the previous owner ran his own speaker wire to his amplifier (I assume) The whole audio system is a mess.

I have a wiring harness to go from Subaru OEM to aftermarket radio, it is my understanding that I have to solder this harness to the Pioneer HU harness. Is that right?

Anub- I really have no clue how audio systems/ electrical stuff works. Do you recommend that I wire the speakers up to the HU and just run the Sub from the Amp? Also, my amp gives me the option of switching between 2 and 4 channels. I'll take a picture of it when I take the car apart. That way somebody can explain to me how it works.
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Old 05-13-2013, 10:16 PM   #6
Anub1s
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Quote:
Originally Posted by theo79 View Post
Tripintaz- How would this help with the install? I have the factory wiring harness already in there. The trouble is, the previous owner ran his own speaker wire to his amplifier (I assume) The whole audio system is a mess.

I have a wiring harness to go from Subaru OEM to aftermarket radio, it is my understanding that I have to solder this harness to the Pioneer HU harness. Is that right?

Anub- I really have no clue how audio systems/ electrical stuff works. Do you recommend that I wire the speakers up to the HU and just run the Sub from the Amp? Also, my amp gives me the option of switching between 2 and 4 channels. I'll take a picture of it when I take the car apart. That way somebody can explain to me how it works.
That all depends on your goals really. If, as you referenced above, the previous owner ran his own speaker wire back to another amp, your speakers wouldn't be working without an amp in there, is that the case? If the speakers ARE working right now, and there is no amp in there, then somebody hooked the original speaker wire back up to the speakers and the headunit. The wiring clip you bought to go from factory to an aftermarket head unit, is all you will need. You don't have any steering wheel controls or anything else to worry about, so disregard the other comments. You are correct that you will need to solder (or at the very least use butt end connectors) to combine the adaptor harness to your aftermarket HU harness.

If there are aftermarket speakers in there, you'll get the best performance out of them if they are powered by the amp, but you have to have the right amp, or at least the right settings for the speakers you have. The main problem you have right now is you don't have enough channels to run 4 speakers and a subwoofer without combining the front and the rear onto two channels, taking away the ability to use fade to get your sound staging set up properly.

What you would do with your current set up is put both front and rear left speakers on one channel, front and rear right on another, and then bridge the remaining two channels for the subwoofer. In that case, you'd have only two sets of RCA cables to worry about, one set for the front speakers (carrying signal for both front and rear), and one set for the subwoofer.

It would be an overall low power set up, but it'll sound a damn lot better than stock. The absolute best thing for you to do, would be obtain a 5 channel amp, to power front on two channels, rear on two channels, and sub on it's own channel. That way, you won't impede any tweaking you may want to do.

Do you, by chance, have model numbers for the amp, subwoofer, speakers (front and rear) as well as wire gauage for your power and ground to/from the amp? This will all help determine if what you have is sufficient or not.
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Old 05-13-2013, 10:59 PM   #7
SVXdc
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If you already have a "forward" 14-pin harness (like Metra 70-8901 or equivalent), that's fine -- you don't need mine.

To extract the unneeded speaker wires, open the hinged locks near the back (where the wires exit), and use a flat blade jeweler's screwdriver (like for eyeglasses) to release a plastic spring clip holding each pin. Cross section of a similar connector:

(click for larger image)
I don't recommend trying to extract the wires on the Pioneer's harness.

Last edited by SVXdc; 05-13-2013 at 11:05 PM.
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Old 05-13-2013, 11:03 PM   #8
SVXdc
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With a 4-channel amp, another option is to use 2 channels to drive your front speakers, bridge the amp's other 2 channels to drive your subwoofer, and use the Pioneer's built-in rear channel amps to drive your rear speakers.

For that last bit, you'll either need to reconnect the factory speaker wires for the rears (to the factory radio harness), or move or extend the new speaker wires from the rear speakers to the back of the Pioneer.

This assumes your amp allows a pair of outputs to be bridged. You need to find the specs for it.
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Old 05-13-2013, 11:31 PM   #9
theo79
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2002 WRX - WRB
JDM v7 Spec C drivetrain

Default

Now I am confused as hell again lol. Like I said earlier, I don't understand electrical work very well.

I will google, get part numbers + pictures and get back to you guys.

I really appreciate the help thus far.

SVXdc- I believe that is how I initially set it up when I first got the car.

The front speakers are directly connected to the amp, with RCA's running from HU to amp.

The rears are connected directly to HU harness.

There is an RCA going from the SUB output my of HU to my AMP. Also, speaker wire running from AMP to SUB in the trunk.

I have no clue if anything is bridged, i'll google that.

Main reason I am wanting to re-do everything is because:
1) I don't like having things ghetto rigged anymore (grew up?)
2) I am getting a lot of high pitched noises coming from the speakers whenever the engine is revved.


Edit: Nothing is bridged, I may have a 5 channel amp? Because there are 8 slots for +/- and a separate slot off to the left a little bit that has a +/- for a subwoofer. That is how I have it hooked up IIRC. Will start teardown on saturday.

Last edited by theo79; 05-13-2013 at 11:37 PM.
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