87Chief Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 This could be a dumb question, but I was wondering if I could use a amp without a sub? I guess, get more out my speakers in the door and behind the seats? Would I plug the amp in the RCA jacks in the back of the unit and call it a day or..? I know there's additional wiring than just that for the amp (power, ground), but do I actually plug my speakers into the amp? How would I go about doing this.. THanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skidoo_j Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 This could be a dumb question, but I was wondering if I could use a amp without a sub? I guess, get more out my speakers in the door and behind the seats? Would I plug the amp in the RCA jacks in the back of the unit and call it a day or..? I know there's additional wiring than just that for the amp (power, ground), but do I actually plug my speakers into the amp? How would I go about doing this.. THanks You can use and amp for full range speakers, however your deck needs to have outputs that cover full frequencies. There are ways around it, but they require other components and are nolonger worth it as a Deck with 6 rca out is only a hundred dollars. the basics... You need an 8 gauge fused 12v+ from the battery to the amp(or larger pending wattage). You need to run rca from the deck one for left/right of front and rear assuming you're running 4 channels off the amp. Then you need your amp turn on wire. A good ground at the amp. Then you run wires to each speaker. I usually ran 12gauge speaker wire to each full range speaker. the benefits will be: your speaker life will increase, you'll hear better sound. Bad thing is if your amp is powering stock speakers odds are you can't really turn the volume up all the way as they're not designed to handle the power and can blow up. Non-oem speakers love power and will get cleaner and cleaner (within reason assuming you're not going to send a 50watt rated speaker 70watts). reason your speakers will sound better your average deck that says it's 50wattx4 is peak, the actual rated power is about 5-10 watts per speaker. where as your amp if a good brand being sold at 50wx4 is going to put out 50wx4. Some of the cheaper amps will actually put out 25 when sold as a 50. so powering non stock speakers that want more power will operate in their correct power band range so they'll last longer with cleaner power. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Backdraft Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 First, ensure you're using the right amp for your speakers (read: not a sub amp). Next, run your power, ground, and trigger(blue wire/ power antenna wire from the head unit) to that side of the amp. Then run your RCA cables from the back of the head unit to the signal inputs on the amp. Finally, run the speaker wire outputs to your speakers. Be aware of correct polarity. That's it in a nutshell. Keep in mind using an amp that can dish out more power than your speakers can handle will result in a crappy sound and most likely shorten their life by blowing them. Also if you have four speakers, use a four channel amp. Two speakers, use a two channel amp, obviously. And this is assuming your head unit has RCA preamp outputs for both front and rear speakers. You cannot hook it up to the RCA subwoofer preamp outputs and expect to get what you want. Once its all hooked up and you didn't blow anything up, a general rule of thumb for adjusting the amp would be to turn the amps gain(s) all the way down. Then turn the head units volume to 3/4 of capacity. After that, turn the gain(s) up slowly until just before the sound starts to distort. And if your amp is equipped with a dial to adjust frequency cutoff, play with that also until the sound is clean. Its not an exact science, but rather a seat of the pants way to get full usable capacity from your amp. Once complete, pop in some music you like, fire up the MJ, hit the road, and enjoy jamming to some louder tunes! Good luck :thumbsup: Edit: D'oh.......he beat me to it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
87Chief Posted September 5, 2012 Author Share Posted September 5, 2012 So, for the speaker wire outputs from the amp, go to the positive side of the speaker itself or..? Sorry for all the questions, and thanks so far! It's helped a lot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Backdraft Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 Two wires per speaker. One positive, one negative. They will be marked with a + and a - on the amp and speaker both. So positive to positive and negative to negative. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
87Chief Posted September 5, 2012 Author Share Posted September 5, 2012 OK. Would I have to get a seperate connector? Or do I unplug speakers from head unit and put those wires to the amp? I'm sorry I'm new to the speaker thing.. :oops: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alexia Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 OK. Would I have to get a seperate connector? Or do I unplug speakers from head unit and put those wires to the amp? I'm sorry I'm new to the speaker thing.. :oops: RCA cables from the head unit to the amplifier then speaker wires from the amplifier to the speakers. Also, if you wire a speaker's positive and negative backwards it will work, but not operate at peak efficiency. It can also have a weird effect since it is operating in a different phase than the other speakers. b5y_GO22icY Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
86customanche Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 skidoo and backdraft have it right. Since you want to run speakers through the amp, they will not be hooked directly to the deck anymore. The decks have built in amps that kind of power the speakers but a seperate amp will be much much better. Just more work to be done. My suggestion is to get some aftermarket speakers that you like, then get an amp that is rated to power those speakers appropriately, then go to town wiring it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
87Chief Posted September 5, 2012 Author Share Posted September 5, 2012 OK thanks guys. Just want to make sure.. I disconnect the speakers from the head unit (stock wiring) block those off and then wire the connectors on the speakers to the amplifier. Correct? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
87Chief Posted September 5, 2012 Author Share Posted September 5, 2012 Thanks for the video. Great info thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skidoo_j Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 OK thanks guys. Just want to make sure.. I disconnect the speakers from the head unit (stock wiring) block those off and then wire the connectors on the speakers to the amplifier. Correct? Correct. You can just disconnect them at the speaker, be sure to prevent the ends from touching each other and the truck if you're going to just leave them there, wrap with ends with electrical tape etc. By not cutting them at the deck it makes it faster to remove the amps setup when you sell the truck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skidoo_j Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 OK thanks guys. Just want to make sure.. I disconnect the speakers from the head unit (stock wiring) block those off and then wire the connectors on the speakers to the amplifier. Correct? Correct. You can just disconnect them at the speaker, be sure to prevent the ends from touching each other and the truck if you're going to just leave them there, wrap with ends with electrical tape etc. By not cutting them at the deck it makes it faster to remove the amps setup when you sell the truck. Also it is best not to run your 12v from battery and your RCA cables from the deck beside each other for any significant length. This is more important with cheaper RCA wires. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Backdraft Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 Skidoo is right. Run your power and signal wires in different locations. For instance, one down the drivers side, one down the passenger side. If they have to criss cross, try to cross them perpendicularly, as to minimize interference with each other. Also, in my experience, RCA cables that have twisted pair wiring instead of shielded wiring, yield the best resistance to interference and signal noise/distortion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Backdraft Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 Here's a diagram. This includes the sub wiring and adds a capacitor. It doesn't sound like you're interested in a sub yet so just ignore the extra stuff that doesn't concern you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skidoo_j Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 Skidoo is right. Run your power and signal wires in different locations. For instance, one down the drivers side, one down the passenger side. If they have to criss cross, try to cross them perpendicularly, as to minimize interference with each other. Also, in my experience, RCA cables that have twisted pair wiring instead of shielded wiring, yield the best resistance to interference and signal noise/distortion. When I installed amps I ran the power down the side of the vehicle the battery was on to keep the wire shorter. Then following that same "keep wires short" I would pull carpet and run my RCA's down the tunnel and get them as short as possible, but not tight. Pretty much you can half @$$ an amp install in about 30 minutes. wires ran together. not routed well (hidden, or preventing interference) it's what alot of people will do because they're not looking for quality sound they're looking for loud. If you're buying your parts at walmart or similiar the sound quality will not be there so the attention to detail is not as critical vs you ordering some MB quart reference component speakers with crossovers (separate signal to a woofer and a tweeter) running off a phoenix gold amp. A good source to order stuff through if you don't have a local stereo shop that won't rape you is crutchfield.com they carry most all brands sell everything for a car stereo, and also have pretty detailed instructions for installs. When shopping for amps be sure you pay attention and only compare RMS wattage not peak. An amp claiming 1000watt peak could be $100 dollars. It will put out 1000watts when it's getting 18v and is about ready to catch fire. An amp that has 1000 watt RMS will cost $500 but will drive 1000watt to your speakers safely, cleanly, and reliably. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
87Chief Posted September 5, 2012 Author Share Posted September 5, 2012 that diagram helps a lot! I printed it :roll: :brows: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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