Ok guys..... I am contemplating adding a 4 channel amp to my truck. I already have ALL the hardware listed in my sig. It is only going to be about a 60-75W/channel amp. I have still not chosen what I am going to purchase or where I am going to mount it. Thinking about under the rear seat so I can access the gain controls easily.
Now, my question..... with all the collective knowledge here, would you spend the time to run ALL the speaker wires to the individual speakers or do you think I could get away with tapping into the harness behind the HU for the speakers.
Running to ALL speakers would require me removing almost ALL of my interior to run the cables where I want them. If I tap into the HU harness, I can run them right up the center console to the rear of the HU and be done with it.
As of right now, the Pioneer HU has a built in amp. I am just going to adding a little cleaner, more usable signal. In the past, I have always ran ALL wires directly to the speakers.....I also installed the unit ENTIRELY from scratch.
What are your thoughts? Fire away

 

in my 2010 I kept the stock wires and ran to the harness behind the head unit. I am running a Kappa Four amp at 4 ohms so 125 x4 RMS and it sounds good. Don't get me wrong I would like to tear everything out and run from the amp to my speakers but I have the dreaded molex connectors in my doors so it makes it a little more difficult to do.

 

I would do it right and run speaker wire to the speakers instead of tapping into smaller gauge factory speaker wire because they are being amplified and youre using more wattage than standard 13 watts per speaker. As for amplifier location, the best location is on your cab's rear wall behind the bench seat. You'll need a deep socket and a big torx bit screw to remove the seat belt plastic surround and holder. Heres a video that shows how to remove the back seat fairly easily: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KeUcR0faIMw

Hope that helps

 

Thanks for the replies! I was asking bout the harness mostly.... My HU currently puts out 50x4 on the factory wires without any major issues. I didn't think that the extra 15-25 watts would make that much of a difference on the wire loads.
As far as the back seat removal..... I have already had it out to get the factory keyless code. It has been a few years ago but it was not hard when I did it.
I just really don't want to have to fish all the wires through the door looms! It's a PITA to get them through....especially the drivers door! If I do it this way, I would run 14g to all the door speakers.
The reason I wanted to place the amp under the back seat is to gain easy access to the gains if needed without removing the seat back. I have a Lariat and with the leather seats, I don't really like having to remove them. Add this to the fact that I would remove the front seats also to run all my wiring and this will turn into a LARGE project! If I do run all new wires, there would be sound mat placed in ALL the doors as well as the rest of the interior! It would definitely sound fantastic though!
I still haven't decided on an amp yet.... I don't need anything crazy but I like the sound to be CLEAN! I looked at the Infinity and the Kicker amps already.
The Pioneer has pretty good audio controls already and sounds great without the amp but I am the type that ALWAYS wants MORE! As it stands right now, I can actually hear the guitar pick hitting the strings!

 

The head unit does NOT do 50 watts per channel. They put that on the box as "Max" peak output, which is still a stretch. Actual power is probably 8-10w RMS per channel at the most.

You have a 2004 = no molex plug. The door boots are really easy to run wire through, scrunch them together and use a little muscle.

 

I am just going off what the documentation says. Like I said, It sounds pretty damn good now.... 2000X better than the factory unit did with the same speakers. I know running all the wires through the door looms isn't that bad.... I ran the wires for my puddle lamps. It's actually easier to remove the boot from the door jamb and then fish the wire. Once run, just push the boot back into place. It's the rest of the interior removal that I don't really want to deal with! The front seats are 7 way power with heat and they are leather. Heavy as hell!

 

Very true. You really don't need to remove the seats though. You can pull up the long plastic pieces along the door sill (which pop off) to reveal the large wire sill, you can run all your wires there without even removing the carpet if you so wish. The only other thing you need to pull out are the plastic pieces covering the kick panels which just pop off.

 

I am aware of this also. I have had the kick plates off more than once. I already have an amp and Bazooka tube under the back seat.......I just don't like the way the wires have to route around the B pillar in the crew cab. I would rather run them up the center.