Car audio install question

Mark Fitzsimmons · 06-29-2003, 09:17 PM

My car stereo install is almost complete, I have one thing to do left and am not sure how I am going to do it yet.

I am not sure of the best way to run my speaker wire from the amplifier in the trunk to the speakers in the front doors. It seems like it is going to be extremely difficult to feed the wire into the doors. I can easily get it to the kick panel area from the trunk, but passing from there into the doors is another challenge. Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Its a 96 accord.

Cam S · 06-30-2003, 02:43 AM

Mark, in my 96 civic coupe, I went from the amp in the trunk and ran all the wires for all 4 channels under the carpet and to their respective speakers. The rears are easy enough, but for the fronts, I had to fish the wires through the weather seal in the door. It's a BUGGER to do, but you will eventually get it. Try using something to pull them through, like the old wires, just tape them all together and yank on it. Someone must know of an easier way though.

Scott L · 06-30-2003, 05:52 AM

I went from the trunk of my Maxima to underneath the rear and front door jams, and there was this rubber stop in the frame covering a hole. I removed it and ran the wire through there, cut a small hole in the rubber grommet where the current wires go through and to the speakers. I used 16g.

It's actually not as hard as you think.. all you have to do is trace where the original wires are and get to that grommet.

btw- it's important to keep the power cables and the line level/speaker cables on opposite sides of the car to prevent noise interference. Good luck!

David-S · 06-30-2003, 07:59 AM

take a wire coat hanger, bend it straight (so you have a loop in one end...) take electrical tape, tape the speaker wires to the coat hanger, then push it through the grommet, the hangar should be stiff enough that you can do this....

Those little "fingers" tools, where you push the end and little grips come out are useful as anything in doing this, but i figured you were more likely to have a hangar around...

to find the grommet: You'll see it, it's a rubber tube that goes from the door jam to the door wall, if you feel around on the inside, you'll find the opening, just push through... on many cars you can actually pull the grommet off it's holder w/out damaging it, and just feed the wire through the hole, compress the grommet and feed it through, then through the other hole and replace the grommet...

Christ Reynolds · 06-30-2003, 03:43 PM

Quote:

it's important to keep the power cables and the line level/speaker cables on opposite sides of the car to prevent noise interference

also, if you MUST cross them for whatever reason, make sure you have them intersect at a 90 degree angle, to minimize the exposure of each wire to the other one.

CJ

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Russell B · 06-30-2003, 06:00 PM

I thought it was the power wire from the battery and the rcas that should be seperated, not the speaker wires.

Scott L · 06-30-2003, 06:20 PM

They essentially are the same thing, analog carriers of the signal, except the speaker wires pass the amplified singal. Each can be affected by EMI and are succeptable to noise; hence the twisted pair, triple shielded wire types.

Mark Fitzsimmons · 06-30-2003, 10:26 PM

Thanks for the tips on getting the wire to the doors. I've been working so much lately I havent had a chance to try it yet.

To note, I've always had the habit to keep wires separated. In my car, RCA signal runs down the right side, power is on the left, and my speaker wires are going to run down the center.

Greg_R · 07-01-2003, 12:04 PM

Quote:

They essentially are the same thing, analog carriers of the signal, except the speaker wires pass the amplified signal. Each can be affected by EMI and are susceptible to noise; hence the twisted pair, triple shielded wire types.

The higher power speaker cables carry makes them virtually unaffected by EMI (that's why they are totally unshielded). Your interconnects on the other hand run at significantly lower power levels and thus should be shielded, balanced, or both.

For my install I ran the interconnects along the top of the car (where the roof meets the A and B pillars) and ran the power and speaker cables along the bottom of the car. Accessing the headliner can be a big PITA, so I would only suggest this if you already have the interior removed (installing sound deadener, etc.).