I am in process of replacing my hu on my 04 screw with the Alpine 9831. I have an external amp under the rear seat on the hump. I need to connect the wires from the amp output to the speakers and was wondering..

a) Should I route the "amp-to-speakers" output back up to the hu where I know where all the speaker wires are? This is the way I had it on the original hu with the amp because I had to use the speaker inputs on the amp.

or

b) Should I try to route the "amp-to-speakers" output directly to the individual speakers?

Option A cons- The wire I am using is I think 16 gauge. I think the existing speaker wires are 18 or 20 gauge. If I route it up to the hu and splice them into the existing wires, will this be a problem?

Option A pros- I don't have to mess around with putting the wires through the door "passthroughs".

Option B cons- Obviously, messing with the door passthroughs

Option B pros- Same gauge wire going from the amp directly to the speakers. Better signal?

Is my logic correct? Any other pros/cons? Please help me decide what would be best and hopefully easiest.

Thanks in advance.

 

I'm right there with you bro. I am in the process of getting my pieces together for my install...just waiting for my 6x8 to 6.5" round adapter plates. I am leaning toward biting the bullet and putting the wires thru the pass-thru because you'll get no signal loss like with the smaller gauge wires. But I am still trying to figure out which way I am going to go.

Gary

 

Option B is the way to go. Take the time now and do it the right way. You won't have to wonder if your system could sound better because you patched in to a higher guage wire.

As for going through the doors, I used a $30 electricians "snake" that I got form the electrical dept at Home Depot. I have also in the past used a coat hanger but that is time consuming and frustrating.

Also, make sure you run the speaker wires along a different way that you routed the amps RCAs. This will help eliminate any unwanted noise.

 

I was afraid you were going to say that. I guess I should do it right.

 

Zolt -

Also ... while you've got that door apart, don't forget to put in some good dampening material. Personally, I like Dynamat but I know there are other good ones out there as well. Found ebay to be the best place for a deal on Dynamat.

Good luck. Let us know how it all turns out.

 

Where exactly did you apply the Dynamat, and how much did you use?

Thanks,

Gary

 

I did all 4 doors and the wall behind the rear seat. I think I went though a 36 sq ft pack and one smaller. You can just measure and buy accordingly.

 

Brown-

I took your advice. I wired seperately to each of the speakers from the amp. The passthroughs weren't hard at all. A lot of swearing but thats it. I didn't install the dynamat. I was to anxious to get the whole setup together. I can always do this at a later time. The Alpine 9831 looks and sounds great!

 

hey mange where did you find the 6.5 adapter plates for the 6x8 speaker holes

 

Ebay. 7 bucks after shipping.

 

cool thanks

 

good call definetly on the 9831, I have the same deck and love all the options that come with it.. it was the illumination that really made me fall in love with it (L)


tomorrow I'm looking to buy a new set of speakers any recommendations?

 

khh, I went with the Kenwood KFC-C6879ie's all around. Maybe in the future I will go to components, but for now the kenwoods sound great.

 

I'm putting my Boston's in this week (components in the front, 5x7's in the rear). I'll let you know how they sound.

 

yeah i thought about getting comps as well but I decided to stick with just speakers for now, I bought JL audio TR570 - cxi 5x7's. I went for these because I already have two ten inch JL subs that I am putting in next month hopefully, I wanted my speakers to compliment my subs. Audio is very important to me