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Amplifier Wiring
Wiring an amplifier is not as complicated as it looks. It basically consists of three main wires, two RCA cables, and speaker wires.
The three main wires are a positive battery connection, a negative ground wire, and a switched on/off wire. You will need to drill a hole in the car's firewall, and another hole for the ground wire. Its not a scary thing - Its just metal. Take a deep breath and just read on. Trust me.
Before you start this, remember to disconnect the battery. If you don't do this, you can make some sparks and hurt the battery. The battery wire is connected to the positive terminal of the car's battery. This is called the "lead wire". Run this wire in the engine compartment towards the firewall. Be sure to keep the wire away from as much heat and moving parts as possible. Before you reach the firewall, install an "in-line fuse". This will help protect the amplifier and the wiring from any battery problems or power surges that could happen. If something is hooked up wrong, this fuse will fail before anything major happens to the car or the audio equipment. Drill a small hole in the firewall and don't forget to install a rubber grommett to protect the wire from the sharp edges of the hole. Then push the lead wire thru the grommett and into the passenger compartment to the amplifier. Connect the lead wire to the "battery" connection on the amplifier.
The ground wire is a black wire that connects from the amplifier to a clean metal surface of the car. Common connection points are bolts that hold teh seats to the floor, or the underside of the rear deck in cars. You may have to drill a small hole and install a simple flat-topped screw or bolt to make a good connection.
The "remote" wire connects to the back of your radio. It is a connection that is on when the radio is on and off when the radio is off. In most wiring harnesses - it will be the blue wire (sometimes with a white stripe) or the "power antenna" line.
The RCA cables connect from the back of the radio to the input lines of the amplifier. Do not run these cables next to the remote wire or the lead wire. Doing this can cause a "hiss" or static sound in most stereos.
From there, the amp is ready. Just connect the speaker wires to the output connections of the amplifier. Remember to keep the polarity correct for the best sound (+ output of amp to + input on speaker, and - output of amp to - input on speaker).
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Choosing The Best Location For The Amplifier:
Amplifiers generate a lot of heat. It is recommended to place it where air will flow freely over the "ribs" on top of the amp. Common spots for amps are under the passenger seat, or in the trunk. Remember to keep it out of sight as much as possible, to avoid theft.
If you can't find a cool place, or the amp just gets too hot, but its in the only location you want it, then spend the extra at Radio Shack or Parts Express to get a small fan. These aren't house fans, and they are very easy to install. Most are only 2" tall, a simple battery wire and ground wire to hook it up, and they don't drain a lot of power. A good tip is to connect the fan to a toggle switch, so you can turn it on and off when you need to. |
Amplifiers like this one can be purchased online for half the price of buying it at a local retail store. |
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Buying An Amplifier:
Buying an amplifier is easier than most people think. In order to make an educated purchase, you need to know a few things. Power ratings, THD, channels, and other "technical terms" are used to confuse most shoppers into buying an amp that a particular retailer sells. The total power an amp can supply is listed as "Max watts" or "peak watts". Normal listening power is listed as "RMS watts". An example is: 250 watts RMS/500 watts peak. They usually will break it down into the number of "channels" the amp has. Basically, a channel is an output line of an amp. 2 channels means that the amp's power is divided into 2 output lines. "THD" stands for Total Harmonic Distortion. All you need to know is that the lower the number, the better. (.005% THD is better than .01%THD). So to sum it all up, here's an example. You are comparing 2 amps at the same price, and Amp 1 says "175 x 2 channel RMS/250 x 2 channel Peak. THD = .10%". Amp 2 reads "175 x 2 channel RMS/300 x 2 channel Peak power. THD = .05%". Amp 2 is the better buy because the THD is lower and the peak power rating is higher.
Another important factor to understand is that each retailer has a select or limited product line. And naturally each retailer wants you to believe that their product line is the best in the industry. On-line retailers can offer more of a selection than typical retail stores, because of not needing to carry a lot of inventory. Most On-line retailers can order direct froma wholesaler or distributor to get the prices lower than typical stores. XSNoise Car Audio offers the ability to sell almost any brand of equipment, and you can contact us to submit special order requests for free. |
XSNoise Car Audio is just one place on the Internet to buy car audio equipment. The web address is www.xsnoise.net |
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