How To Set Up An Amp

This installation guide offers examples of amplifier installation and layout. Installation specifics volition depend on the make and body way of your vehicle and the equipment you purchased.

Before going through this more than-detailed guide, yous might want to watch our amplifier installation video to get an overview of what'south involved:

Car amplifiers don't come with any wiring included. You must supply the amp's power and ground wiring, an inline fuse, a remote plough-on wire, RCA cables, and speaker wires.

Ability and ground wires

The power and ground wires need to be thick enough to accommodate the amp's demand for electrical current or the amp won't operate properly or put out its rated power.

Your amp's instructions volition include a recommendation on what size wire to utilise. Or, y'all tin can check out How to make up one's mind the all-time size wire for help doing it yourself. Don't forget to mensurate all distances kickoff, so you'll know what lengths of wire to get.

The fuse that will protect your organization

The in-line fuse on the main power cablevision, mounted within six inches or so of the battery connectedness, is essential for protecting the wire, your car, and you lot from a catastrophic fire in the issue of a brusk circuit. Each wire manufacturer rates their wire'south current capacity differently, but as a general rule, for a typical 16- to 20-pes run, you'll exist condom using a:

• 25-amp fuse with 10-gauge wiring
• 60-amp fuse with 8-estimate wiring
• 100-amp fuse with 4-estimate wiring
• 250-amp fuse with i/0-gauge wiring

An amplifier wiring kit

The easiest style to become these items is with an amplifier wiring kit, which will include matching power, ground, turn-on wires, and fuse.

RCA cables and speaker wire

Amp wiring kits frequently don't include signal wiring. Your amplifier gets its input signals from the receiver'due south output typically via RCA cables. RCA cables come up in stereo pairs, in various lengths.

When running new speaker wires from your amplifier's output to the speakers, whatever size wire from 18- to 14-gauge will work fine. (The lower the gauge number, the thicker the wire.) For subwoofers, use xvi- to 12-gauge wires.

Where should I mount my amp?

Use these guidelines to cull a location for mounting your amplifier. A smart mounting location volition help your installation go smoothly:

• Follow the manufacturer's recommendations for mounting the amplifier and brand sure it'southward secure. An amp that isn't secure could break loose in an accident and injure someone as it flies through the vehicle.
• The amp should exist at least three feet from the stereo to avert racket radiated from the vehicle's electrical system. The amp can also interfere with the stereo's AM/FM reception.
• Practice not bolt your amplifier directly to your car's metal chassis — that'southward inviting noise problems, like ground loops which hum or buzz. Y'all could use prophylactic grommets around the mounting screws to isolate the case. Or you could mount the amp onto a wooden board or plastic panel and attach that to the car body.
• An amp produces damaging rut during operation, which its heatsink absorbs and radiates away from the circuitry. The amp needs a few inches of air space around it to stay as cool as possible. Never mountain an amp upside downwards, as dissipated estrus will radiate dorsum into the amp.
• Make sure at that place's enough room for you to connect the wiring and adapt the controls (gain, crossover, bass boost, etc.).

A compact subwoofer amplifier mounted in an out-of-the-fashion nook in a trunk with plenty of air space for cooling

Skillful locations to install an amplifier include:

• On the firewall (passenger side)
  Pros: You can use short wires and patch cords. Y'all won't have to remove a seat or climb into the trunk.
  Cons: Only very small amps fit here. This puts your amp close to some mutual dissonance sources.
• In the trunk or hatch expanse
  Pros: Enough of room for large amps. Near the rear speakers. Easy access to the amp controls.
  Cons: Y'all cede some cargo space. Longer wires and patch cords are required.
• Under a seat
  Pros: Closer to the receiver, and then you can use shorter patch cables and point cables, which are less prone to noise and betoken degradation. Closer to the front speakers, so running wire to them will exist easier. No cargo space sacrificed.
  Cons: You lot may have to remove the seat to do the installation. Warning: removing your seat could deactivate your vehicle's SRS (airbag) organisation. Only small amps will fit. The amp will need to be protected against water from rain or snow brought in on shoes.

Where do I run the wires for my amp?

All system wiring should exist concealed for safety, and to give your installation a nice, finished wait. Wires should be secured and so that they exercise not interfere with safe vehicle operation. Depending on the location you cull for your amplifier, the wiring may need to exist run under the dash, door scuff plate, pillar trimpanel, or kickpanel.

Bojo trim panel tools

The instructions below accost, in general, which panels may need to be removed and how they typically come off. Often, panels can be pried upward at the edges. You'll probably also demand to remove some screws and retaining clips. To foreclose harm, always use care when removing panels — a console tool is helpful.

Removing the door scuff plate

The plates are usually removed by prying up the edges to release clips. Some vehicles will take screws nowadays which will need to be removed.

Removing the seat belt

A seat belt may be located on a panel that needs to be removed. Near seat belt anchor covers pry off. The seat belt ballast is secured with a large nut or bolt.

Removing the pillar trimpanel

Remove the seat chugalug if nowadays. Remove screw covers, screws, and plastic retaining clips if present. Pry up the edges of the panel to remove it.

Removing the kickpanel

Wait for screws and pry-out retaining clips to remove. Pry out the edges of the console to release and remove information technology.

Routing wire behind the nuance

When routing wire behind or nether the dash, always secure it with plastic wire ties. Be sure that the wire doesn't interfere with any moving parts to ensure safe operation of the vehicle.

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How to install the amplifier

With that background stuff covered, it'south time to get to work. Get together up your gear and tools, maybe a friend and a soda, and requite yourself plenty of time.

Step 1 — Disconnect the battery

Gear up the parking brake and disconnect the negative terminal from your battery to prevent any electric shorts or shocks.

Step 2 — Mount the amplifier

Mount your amplifier in the location you've chosen.

Pace 3 — Install the ability wire

The power wire from your amp wiring kit (normally 16-twenty anxiety in length) needs to run from the battery, through your machine'south firewall, through the car's body to the amp. Discover an unused grommet in the firewall or one that already has wires or cables passing through it and that has enough room for the power wire to fit through too.

Route the power wire from your amp wiring kit through a hole in your vehicle'southward firewall, using a grommet or bushing to prevent the insulation from scraping against metallic.

If y'all can't find an existing grommet, you lot'll have to drill a pigsty through the firewall. Brand sure you don't drill into any electrical or gas lines — bank check both sides of the firewall. Utilize a grommet to protect your wire from fraying and shorting as it passes through the hole.

Fuse installed on power wire, and secured in engine compartment virtually the bombardment.

Step 4 — Install the fuse holder

The power wire from your amp wiring kit may have a fuse holder installed. If and then, go to Step five. If not, find a proficient spot close to your battery to place your fuse-holder (included in the kit) — less than half-dozen" from the bombardment is all-time. Exist aware: even after a fuse blows, the short stretch of cable betwixt the bombardment and the fuse holder volition yet be live and a potential fire hazard in the effect of an accident. Anchor the fuse holder to a suitable spot with a screw or cablevision tie, so information technology won't hang loose or bounce around.

Cut a curt piece off the end of the power wire (to cover the distance from the battery to the fuse holder location), and strip the insulation off both ends with a wire stripper. Crimp the terminal ring (included in the kit) onto i end of the short piece of wire, and adhere the fuse holder onto the other end. Strip the insulation off the finish of the power wire that leads into the passenger compartment, and connect it to the other terminate of the fuse holder.

Multi-amp installations

When powering multiple amplifiers, you lot run a single heavy-estimate power cable from your battery to a distribution block, and and so connect a lighter-gauge cable from the block to each amplifier. This arrangement minimizes potential noise problems and keeps your installation looking neat. Brand certain the main power cable is thick plenty that it tin can handle the full current draw of all the amplifiers.

Check out our amplifier wiring diagram to run into how the wiring gets connected in a typical 2-amp system.

Step v — Connect the power wire

Attach the ability cable to the positive battery terminal (not directly to the battery mail itself). For elevation-mounted battery posts, the most common way to do this is to crimp a ring concluding onto the end of the power cablevision (many cables in wiring kits come with information technology already attached). Remove the bombardment terminal's nut, skid the power cable'due south band over the commodities that secures the battery terminal to the battery post, and replace the nut. For GM vehicles with a side-mount post, we offering terminal adapters that work nicely.

A wire loom provides added protection for your wire against the high heat within the engine compartment. If your kit includes a wire loom, thread information technology over the power cable until it reaches the firewall and cut to fit. Thread another piece over the brusque power wire running from the fuse holder to the battery.

Step six — Footing wire: the almost of import connexion of all

As near to the amplifier's location equally possible, find a bolt to your vehicle'south metallic frame to use for basis. If you lot can't find a convenient ground screw or bolt, drill a hole for one — be careful not to drill into any wiring, the gas tank, or a gas or brake line. Crimp a ring terminal (usually included with the amp kit) to the short piece of ground cable (also in the kit).

Scrape away any pigment and clean the commodities location thoroughly, and then bolt the terminal tightly to the vehicle'due south metal chassis so the basis connexion will be bare metal to bare metallic. Use a lock washer, a star washer, actress screws, and any other technique or device that'll keep this connection tight, make clean, and electrically conducting. Many people fifty-fifty glaze the concluding connection with silicone caulk to preclude corrosion.

Improper or loose grounding is the #i cause of amplifier problems.

Stride seven — Connect the remote turn-on wire

The turn-on wire (also chosen the remote wire) is located backside the stereo. On aftermarket stereos, it's ordinarily a blue and white wire. The remote wire will "tell" your amplifier to plough on whenever the stereo is powered up (usually, whenever the vehicle is turned on). You'll have to remove the stereo to get to this wire. For step-by-footstep instructions on removing your vehicle's radio, see your vehicle-specific Crutchfield MasterSheet™, or read our Car stereo installation guide.

Locate the remote turn-on lead behind your radio (commonly a blueish and white wire), and connect the turn-on lead from your amplifier wiring kit to it.

Strip the insulation off a small-scale section of this wire coming from the radio and the turn-on lead that came with your wiring kit and connect them together via solder, a crimp connector, or a Posi-Connector.

The plow-on signal is +12 volts DC. If, like a factory radio, your radio doesn't have a remote turn-on output, and then you tin can get the turn-on signal from your vehicle's fuse box. Because of its low electric current need, you can connect your turn-on lead to well-nigh any fused output terminal, like the 1 for the radio itself for case, as long as it only powers up when the vehicle'southward on. Using an Add A Fuse connector plus a 2A to 10A fuse will brand this connectedness easier.

You'll need to route the turn-on lead to your amplifier through the auto's body — it's often easiest to route the plow-on wire with the RCA cables (side by side step) but you can as well route it with the power wire after it passes through the firewall. The power and RCA cables should run on opposite sides of the vehicle, to reduce noise — but it won't matter for the plough-on lead's depression electric current.

Step 8 — Making the signal connections

If your in-dash receiver has preamp (RCA) outputs, connect your RCA patch cables to them. Road the patch cables to the contrary side of the vehicle from the power cable. It's important to separate the patch cables from the power wires as much every bit possible to avoid potential racket problems. At present you tin can partially re-install the radio in the dash. Avoid completely re-installing information technology if you lot can, in instance you need to fix a problem later.

If you're using a factory radio with no RCA outputs, you lot can get your amplifier'south input signals from the manufactory speaker wiring. The speakers volition exist getting their signal from the new amplifier — which leaves the radio's outputs available to use for the amp'south inputs. In that location are ii ways to do this: get a line output converter (LOC) that'll accommodate the speaker-level signal for your amp's input, or get an amplifier with speaker-level inputs. You lot cutting the manufacturing plant speaker wires behind the radio, and connect the wires coming from the radio to your LOC or amp's inputs.

Scosche SLC4 Line Output Converter

Learn more about line output converters.

Step 9 — Speaker wiring

Now you have to provide a manner for the music to get from your new amp to the speakers. The all-time way to practise that is to run a new speaker wire from each amplifier output to each speaker. Use 14- or 16-approximate wire for speakers, 12- or 14-judge for subwoofers. Speaker-level signals are not very prone to picking up interference, so information technology's okay to run your speaker wires near ability cables.

Running wires is all near finding the best path. Here, we're running a bundle of speaker wires across the backseat to the amp in the trunk.

You'll take to run each wire for your door speakers through the rubber gasket or kick around the hinge, to protect the wires from the weather or from getting pinched in the door. There may be a Molex plug or a similar obstruction blocking the way, only you tin can usually find a place to drill a hole through it big enough to fit your wire through. Disconnect or cut the factory speaker wires and connect the new wires directly to each speaker terminal.

It is important that you keep the polarity of your speaker wiring straight. This means that each positive concluding of the amp connects to a positive terminal of a speaker — and the same goes for the negative terminals. This ensures that your speakers volition operate in mechanical phase — all the speaker cones moving the same direction with the same kind of betoken — and will sound balanced when playing together. The positive and negative terminals of each speaker should be labeled, but if not, the positive final volition usually be wider than the negative terminal.

Employ your factory speaker wiring

Some other and much more convenient mode to ship the powered signal from the amp to your speakers is to run the speaker wires to the harness that'south behind your receiver, where all your car'due south speaker connections are accessible in one place. Yous cut each speaker wire from the receiver's harness and reconnect it to a speaker wire coming from the amp. And then, the indicate can flow from the amp to the speakers by style of the vehicle'southward original factory wiring. This technique will work fine in systems with up to 75 watts RMS of ability per aqueduct — but for more powerful systems information technology would be better to run new speaker wire directly from the amp to each speaker.

Check out How to connect an amplifier to a factory stereo to run across how this can be done.

Footstep 10 — Connect all the wires

Neatly drape or trim each wire and connect it to the amp. Brand gentle curves with the wires, not precipitous bends that could pinch. Many people cut pocket-sized slits in their vehicle's carpeting and run their wires underneath, for stealthy installations that look factory-swell. A wiring snake comes in handy for this. Record your wires to the snake, fish information technology under and through to where you want your wires to go, and pull them on through.

RCA cables routed through slits in the vehicle's carpet, and connected to the amplifier's signal inputs

Step 11 — Turning information technology on

Check all of your wiring, from the battery and receiver to the amp and speakers, making sure every connection is tight and secure with no stray wire strands laying out that could crusade a short circuit. Particularly, cheque that the ground connection is tight and secure. Prepare all the amplifier'south gains to minimum, and plow off all the filters and any bass boost or EQ information technology may have. See that the main fuse is properly installed in its holder. Then, reconnect your car's negative battery cable.

Turn on your car, so turn on the radio. Verify that the amplifier powered up (there'll probably be an indicator low-cal on it somewhere). Play some music and turn the book up only loud enough to hear. Now verify that sound is coming from each speaker and/or subwoofer in your system. If everything sounds right, yous can finish re-installing the stereo and all your vehicle'southward paneling, and so move ahead to footstep 12.

Step 12 — Setting the amp's proceeds

Setting your amplifier's gain, or input sensitivity, matches the amp's input level with the receiver's output level, resulting in maximum distortion-free music and minimum background noise.

Setting the amp's proceeds

For a detailed explanation of how to do this, read our article virtually setting the gains on a 4-channel amplifier. If yous're installing an amp for a subwoofer, read How to tune your subs. The arroyo is the same, we've just tailored the explanation to each situation.

Enjoy your new system.

When things go wrong

Usually, one time you've installed your amp, yous tin can turn on the stereo and immediately relish all the extra ability and item in your music. But sometimes things just don't work like nosotros expect them to correct from the showtime. If this happens to you, don't get stressed out as well much. Read our article well-nigh troubleshooting your amp installation for help with finding and solving the most common issues.

Requite u.s. a call — we'll help yous outfit your system

Your best kickoff step is to telephone call Crutchfield and talk to an Advisor about what your amplifier volition demand. They'll make sure you lot go all the necessary hardware and accessories for a successful and satisfying installation. And recollect, annihilation you buy from Crutchfield comes with free lifetime tech support. But click on "Contact Us" at the top of this page for the toll-gratuitous number and other methods of contacting u.s..

Source: https://www.crutchfield.com/ISEO-rmsbcspd/learn/learningcenter/car/amplifier_installation_guide.html

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