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Alright guys, I want to set up a proper system.......stock stuff has to go because it is crap. First of all this is what I want.....a cd receiver....one multi-channel amp......hook up 4 speakers and a sub to the amp. Now I need help on deciding what kind of items to get.......I want to make this as CHEAP as possible, but while also maintaining quality. Do I have to order a cd receiver with 2 pairs of pre-amp outputs anda sub preamp output....or can I just get a receiver with one pair of preamp outputs and hook up a multi channel amp to that, then hook up speakers and sub to amp? What kind of amp do I need to get if im gonna do this. Right now im going to use all 4 stock speakers......but in about a month or so I will upgrade the two front door speakers.....I have a 1996 camry.
Also how do you do the wiring.........are you supposed to just leave the wiring outside...or do you have to bring it through the doors and stuff? >>
This is going to be a bit long. I'll be writing this while also watching Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, so bear with me if I ramble a bit.
Before anything, make sure you buy an amp install kit before starting. The cables are not included with the amplifier so you need to buy this separately.
For starters, I'm not going to give you a recomendation on an amp, thats really a personal preference that you need to make. I can give you some pointers:
- On an amplifier, make sure the 4 high channels are at LEAST 40 watts per channel. Remember that the speakers you choose to put in will be deciding factor for wattage. Most times though, you should be happy with 50 per channel.
- For the low output, if you are just getting a single sub, 150-200 watts should be fine for now. Thats now going to give you a contest winning bass beats, but it'll do you well until you can afford a better amp (eventually if you get the money you will want separate amps for your high and low frequency channels.)
If you go with the combined amplifier, you will only need 1 set of preamp outs on your head unit, the amplifier will take the signal and filter it out between the sub output and the high ends. For the future though, you want to get at least 2 preamp outs... 1 for the sub and the other for the high end speakers. If you are really going to get into car audio you want 3 preamps: typically it will be 2 full preamp outs and then also a dedicated sub out which only outputs the very low end sound frequencies. Having the 3 preamp outs will be good if you want to have an amplifier for your front pair of speakers, a separate for your rear pair of speakers, and also a third amp for the sub. More than lokely you won't have this much equipment, you're getting into contest territory there.
So basically you've got the amp, head unit, subs, and box. The subwoofer(s) I'll leave up to you, but whatever you buy, make sure that you put that fiber-fill stuff inside the box. It looks like cotton but I think it's made of plastic strands instead of cotton strands. If you buy a box from say Best Buy it should come with it, otherwise a nice sized piece should do. The box in my car is a single 12" sub. I have a piece of fiber-fill in there, about 2.5 feet x 2.5 feet. The fiber stops the low frequencies inside the box from echoing too much and making the subs sound "tinny." So it's a good thing
Once the box is assembled (PM me if you can't figure it out, but it's very very simple) you need to put in the head unit. I just worked on a camry recently installing a head unit, but it was a much older model than your car. The easiest thing to do is to stop by best buy and tell them what you have and the kind of head unit you want to put in. They can sell you the adapter for all the wires. There's something like 15 or so wires that you'll have to connect. If you get the adapter from Best Buy you can just plug it into the old wiring box. (you'll see the box I'm talking about as soon as you pull off the front panel. If it's like the camry I worked on you're going to pull off the entire front of the dashboard, from the AC vent on the left side of the steering wheel all the way over to the vent on the passenger side of the car. Play with it for a bit, it all snaps off and I don't remember using any screws) If you don't get the adapter from Best Buy or another car audio store be prepared to do a LOT of wire stripping and reconnecting things. It's all color coded so you should be able to figure out which wire connects to what wire on the head unit plug, just know that if you do it without the adapter it's going to take you a long time and be very annoying.
Where were we? Oh yeah, don't screw the head unit in just yet. Leave it hanging out just in case you need to change something. Plug the RCA wires into one of the preamp outs and run it behind the console and let it sit there for now. Also you need to splice the remote wire into the power antenna wire. The power antenna wire is the blue wire in that mass of wires you were playing with earlier. Sometimes there's 2 blue wires, just try the first one and when you hook everything up to the amp if it doesn't turn on use the other blue wire. run the remote wire behind the console along with the RCA's.
Now you have to hook up the power cable. Pop your hood and look at the wall in between the inside of the car and the engine. Somewhere on that wall you'll see a hole thats covered by a rubber plug. Thats how you're going to run the power cable. Put one of the round connectors on the end of the cable that will be connected to the battery, loosen the positive terminal on the battery, and hook the power cable to the battery. Put the other end of the cable through the hole in the wall, you might have to cut a slit in the rubber plug to fit the cable through. Jump into the car and find where you put the cable through. You're almost done now. If you want to be lazy you can just leave the cables sitting on the carpet and not put them under anything. This will look like crap, so you probably want it to be installed correctly. Find how to get the carpet in your car up, you can start with the piece of plastic thats held down on the floor where the door sits when it's shut. You want to run the cables under the carpet all the way to the rear of the car.
Once you've got the cables run to the rear you can hook them up to the amp. Some people screw the amp onto the box itself. I think this is bad because if someone breaks into your car they can take the box and amp all at once. If you screw it to the back of your seat it will be much harder to get everything quickly. Plug the power and remote cables into the amp, hook up the RCA's, and find the ground cable. It's the grey cable that is only a few feet long. You'll need to find a screw that is connected to bare metal and connect the ground cable to it. Hook the other end up to the cround connector on the amp.
All you have left to do now is connect the speakers. That should be a fairly straightforward process. Plug the speakers in, turn on the car and make sure everything is working correctly. One of the first things you'll need to do on the amp is to turn up the signal output. Most companies leave the output at the lowest possible level, so you'll need to increase that. If everything is working, you're done. Screw down the head unit, put the front panel back on, and enjoy the thumping
I'm pretty sure I got everything, but I was doing other things and might have missed something. If I wasn't clear on a part let me know.
Remember, I'm not a car stereo specialist, I just know what I've learned from the 5 systems I've installed over the last few years.
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