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For factory, or any radios without pre-amp outputs,
you need to buy one more part. This is the line output
converter. The more expensive ones, which run about $20, will
allow you to make certain adjustments that will help eliminate any
unwanted interference.
The
first thing to do is disconnect the car battery to prevent any
accidents. Once you've done that, the next most important thing to
do is decide where you want to put the amplifier. When deciding,
remember to keep a few things in mind:
- Make sure it's not somewhere that it will get stepped on or have
things thrown on it repeatedly.
- Make sure it's not too visible. No one wants their
amplifier to get stolen.
- Make sure it is somewhat accessible in order to make any final
adjustments before you are done.
Now that you
know where you are going to place the amplifier, follow the following
steps and you'll have your amplifier running in no time.
- Remove the factory radio by removing the
surrounding panels and then look for screws from either directly
underneath the radio or directly on the sides of the radio.
Once you find these screws, unscrew them and remove the radio.
For those of you with after-market radios without pre-amp outputs,
to remove your radio, use the keys that came with the radio to
remove the radio. If you don't have the keys, look for clips
on the sides of the radio that would allow you to remove the radio.
- Now that you have removed the radio, you need
to splice the speaker wires that are plugged into the radio to the
line output converter. Each line output converter is good for
two speakers. If you want to amplify all four speakers, you
need two converters. To determine which wires to connect the
converter to, use a small 9 Volt battery and connect two wires to
the battery and then touch each wire to one set of speaker
wire. Usually, the speaker wires behind the radio come in
colored pairs, making the task a little easier. When determining
which wires go to what speaker using the battery, you will hear a
small popping noise from a certain speaker. Therefore, that
set of wires is for that speaker. Once you've spliced the line
output converter into the speaker wires, make sure you ground
it. You can do this by either splicing into the radio's
grounding wire, or just screw it into the cars frame.
- Now that you've installed the line output
converter, you can run the auxiliary
cables from behind the radio to the amp. Usually the
cables are run starting from behind the radio, leaving some slack,
to the location of the amplifier. Run the auxiliary cables on
the passenger side of the car underneath the floor moldings by the
door. Removing the panels is usually quite simple, just pop
them off using a screwdriver, since most of the are just clipped
into place.
- While you have your radio out, you should also run the remote
start wire along side the auxiliary cables. This is typically
the blue 12-16 gauge wire. Do not connect either the remote
start wire nor the auxiliary cables yet.
- Now run the battery cable from the battery compartment to the
location of the amplifier. Normally, there are plastic plugs
in the car's firewall that allow you to pass such wires through
without doing any drilling. If you can't find such a hole, I
regret to say that you may have to drill one. If you do drill
a hole, make sure there are no objects behind the location where you
are drilling. Make sure you leave the section with the in-line
fuse in the battery compartment, since this is where it will remain.
- The last set of wires you need to run are the speaker wires.
Run these wires from the speakers to the amplifier, making sure to
conceal any visible wiring behind panels and molding.
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