How To Set Up Amplifier

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

Earlier going through this more than-detailed guide, you might want to watch our amplifier installation video to become an overview of what'southward involved:

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

Power and ground wires

The power and ground wires need to be thick enough to accommodate the amp'southward demand for electrical electric 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 use. Or, you can bank check out How to determine the best size wire for help doing it yourself. Don't forget to measure all distances get-go, so you'll know what lengths of wire to get.

The fuse that will protect your organisation

The in-line fuse on the main ability cablevision, mounted within half dozen inches or so of the battery connection, is essential for protecting the wire, your car, and you lot from a catastrophic fire in the event of a curt circuit. Each wire manufacturer rates their wire'south current capacity differently, but every bit a general dominion, for a typical 16- to 20-foot run, you'll be safe using a:

• 25-amp fuse with 10-gauge wiring
• threescore-amp fuse with 8-gauge wiring
• 100-amp fuse with four-gauge wiring
• 250-amp fuse with 1/0-approximate wiring

An amplifier wiring kit

The easiest fashion to get these items is with an amplifier wiring kit, which volition include matching power, footing, turn-on wires, and fuse.

RCA cables and speaker wire

Amp wiring kits often don't include signal wiring. Your amplifier gets its input signals from the receiver's output typically via RCA cables. RCA cables come in stereo pairs, in diverse lengths.

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

Where should I mountain my amp?

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

• Follow the manufacturer's recommendations for mounting the amplifier and make certain it's secure. An amp that isn't secure could intermission loose in an accident and injure someone as information technology flies through the vehicle.
• The amp should be at least 3 feet from the stereo to avoid dissonance radiated from the vehicle's electrical organization. The amp can also interfere with the stereo's AM/FM reception.
• Exercise not bolt your amplifier directly to your auto's metallic chassis — that'due south inviting noise problems, similar ground loops which hum or buzz. You could use rubber 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 trunk.
• An amp produces damaging heat 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 mount an amp upside down, equally dissipated heat volition radiate dorsum into the amp.
• Make sure there's enough room for y'all to connect the wiring and arrange the controls (proceeds, crossover, bass boost, etc.).

A meaty subwoofer amplifier mounted in an out-of-the-way nook in a body with plenty of air space for cooling

Good locations to install an amplifier include:

• On the firewall (passenger side)
  Pros: You tin use short wires and patch cords. You won't accept to remove a seat or climb into the trunk.
  Cons: Only very pocket-sized amps fit here. This puts your amp close to some common noise sources.
• In the trunk or hatch area
  Pros: Plenty of room for large amps. Most the rear speakers. Like shooting fish in a barrel access to the amp controls.
  Cons: Y'all sacrifice some cargo space. Longer wires and patch cords are required.
• Under a seat
  Pros: Closer to the receiver, so you can use shorter patch cables and betoken cables, which are less prone to noise and signal degradation. Closer to the front speakers, so running wire to them will be easier. No cargo space sacrificed.
  Cons: You may have to remove the seat to practice the installation. Alert: removing your seat could deactivate your vehicle's SRS (airbag) organization. Just minor amps will fit. The amp will demand to exist protected confronting h2o from pelting or snow brought in on shoes.

Where practice I run the wires for my amp?

All system wiring should be concealed for safety, and to give your installation a nice, finished look. Wires should be secured and then that they do not interfere with prophylactic vehicle operation. Depending on the location y'all cull for your amplifier, the wiring may demand to be run nether the dash, door scuff plate, pillar trimpanel, or kickpanel.

Bojo trim panel tools

The instructions beneath address, in general, which panels may need to exist removed and how they typically come up off. Frequently, panels tin can exist pried up at the edges. You'll probably also need to remove some screws and retaining clips. To foreclose damage, always use intendance 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 present which will need to be removed.

Removing the seat chugalug

A seat belt may be located on a panel that needs to exist removed. Virtually seat chugalug anchor covers pry off. The seat chugalug anchor is secured with a big nut or bolt.

Removing the colonnade trimpanel

Remove the seat belt if nowadays. Remove screw covers, screws, and plastic retaining clips if nowadays. Pry upward the edges of the panel to remove information technology.

Removing the kickpanel

Look for screws and pry-out retaining clips to remove. Pry out the edges of the panel to release and remove it.

Routing wire backside the dash

When routing wire behind or under the nuance, always secure information technology with plastic wire ties. Exist sure that the wire doesn't interfere with any moving parts to ensure safe functioning of the vehicle.

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How to install the amplifier

With that background stuff covered, it'due south time to become to piece of work. Gather upwards your gear and tools, maybe a friend and a soda, and give yourself plenty of time.

Footstep i — Disconnect the battery

Set the parking restriction and disconnect the negative concluding from your battery to prevent whatever electrical shorts or shocks.

Step 2 — Mount the amplifier

Mount your amplifier in the location y'all've called.

Pace 3 — Install the power wire

The power wire from your amp wiring kit (usually 16-20 feet in length) needs to run from the battery, through your car's firewall, through the car's torso to the amp. Notice an unused grommet in the firewall or 1 that already has wires or cables passing through it and that has enough room for the ability wire to fit through as well.

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 yous can't find an existing grommet, yous'll have to drill a pigsty through the firewall. Make sure you lot don't drill into any electrical or gas lines — cheque both sides of the firewall. Employ a grommet to protect your wire from fraying and shorting equally it passes through the hole.

Fuse installed on power wire, and secured in engine compartment near the battery.

Step 4 — Install the fuse holder

The ability wire from your amp wiring kit may accept a fuse holder installed. If so, go to Pace 5. If not, observe a skillful spot shut to your battery to identify your fuse-holder (included in the kit) — less than 6" from the bombardment is best. Be aware: even later a fuse blows, the short stretch of cablevision between the bombardment and the fuse holder will still be live and a potential fire take chances in the event of an accident. Ballast the fuse holder to a suitable spot with a screw or cable necktie, so information technology won't hang loose or bounce around.

Cut a short piece off the stop 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 concluding ring (included in the kit) onto one terminate of the short piece of wire, and attach the fuse holder onto the other end. Strip the insulation off the cease of the power wire that leads into the passenger compartment, and connect it to the other end of the fuse holder.

Multi-amp installations

When powering multiple amplifiers, you run a single heavy-approximate power cable from your battery to a distribution block, and then connect a lighter-gauge cable from the block to each amplifier. This system minimizes potential noise problems and keeps your installation looking neat. Make sure the main power cable is thick enough that information technology can handle the total current draw of all the amplifiers.

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

Pace 5 — Connect the ability wire

Attach the ability cablevision to the positive battery concluding (non directly to the battery post itself). For top-mounted battery posts, the most common style to do this is to crimp a ring terminal onto the end of the power cable (many cables in wiring kits come with it already fastened). Remove the battery terminal's nut, skid the power cable'due south band over the bolt that secures the battery terminal to the battery post, and supplant the nut. For GM vehicles with a side-mount mail service, we offer terminal adapters that work nicely.

A wire loom provides added protection for your wire against the loftier oestrus inside the engine compartment. If your kit includes a wire loom, thread it over the ability cable until it reaches the firewall and cut to fit. Thread another piece over the short power wire running from the fuse holder to the battery.

Step 6 — Basis wire: the most of import connection of all

As near to the amplifier'southward location as possible, find a bolt to your vehicle'south metal frame to use for basis. If you can't notice a convenient ground screw or bolt, drill a hole for one — be conscientious non to drill into whatsoever 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 whatsoever pigment and clean the bolt location thoroughly, and and so bolt the last tightly to the vehicle's metal chassis so the ground connection volition exist blank metal to blank metal. Apply a lock washer, a star washer, extra screws, and whatever other technique or device that'll continue this connectedness tight, clean, and electrically conducting. Many people even coat the final connection with silicone caulk to prevent corrosion.

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

Step vii — Connect the remote turn-on wire

The turn-on wire (as well called the remote wire) is located backside the stereo. On aftermarket stereos, it's unremarkably a bluish and white wire. The remote wire will "tell" your amplifier to turn on whenever the stereo is powered up (usually, whenever the vehicle is turned on). You'll accept to remove the stereo to get to this wire. For stride-past-step instructions on removing your vehicle's radio, see your vehicle-specific Crutchfield MasterSheet™, or read our Auto stereo installation guide.

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

Strip the insulation off a small section of this wire coming from the radio and the turn-on atomic number 82 that came with your wiring kit and connect them together via solder, a crimp connector, or a Posi-Connector.

The plough-on point is +12 volts DC. If, like a factory radio, your radio doesn't accept a remote turn-on output, and so you can become the plow-on bespeak from your vehicle's fuse box. Considering of its low electric current demand, you lot tin connect your turn-on atomic number 82 to almost any fused output last, like the one for the radio itself for instance, every bit long equally it merely powers upwardly when the vehicle's on. Using an Add together A Fuse connector plus a 2A to 10A fuse will make this connection easier.

You'll need to road the plow-on lead to your amplifier through the motorcar's body — it's often easiest to route the turn-on wire with the RCA cables (next step) just you lot tin also route it with the ability wire after it passes through the firewall. The power and RCA cables should run on opposite sides of the vehicle, to reduce noise — but information technology won't matter for the turn-on lead'south depression current.

Pace eight — Making the signal connections

If your in-nuance receiver has preamp (RCA) outputs, connect your RCA patch cables to them. Route the patch cables to the reverse side of the vehicle from the power cable. It'south of import to separate the patch cables from the ability wires equally much as possible to avert potential noise problems. At present you can partially re-install the radio in the dash. Avoid completely re-installing information technology if y'all can, in case yous need to fix a problem later.

If you're using a factory radio with no RCA outputs, y'all can go your amplifier's input signals from the manufacturing plant speaker wiring. The speakers will be getting their signal from the new amplifier — which leaves the radio's outputs available to use for the amp's inputs. There are 2 ways to practice this: go a line output converter (LOC) that'll conform the speaker-level signal for your amp's input, or get an amplifier with speaker-level inputs. Yous cut the factory speaker wires behind the radio, and connect the wires coming from the radio to your LOC or amp'southward inputs.

Scosche SLC4 Line Output Converter

Learn more about line output converters.

Pace 9 — Speaker wiring

Now you lot have to provide a way for the music to get from your new amp to the speakers. The best way to exercise that is to run a new speaker wire from each amplifier output to each speaker. Use 14- or 16-gauge wire for speakers, 12- or xiv-estimate for subwoofers. Speaker-level signals are non very decumbent to picking upwardly interference, so information technology's okay to run your speaker wires about power cables.

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

You'll have to run each wire for your door speakers through the rubber gasket or boot 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 like obstruction blocking the way, only you can usually find a place to drill a hole through information technology big plenty to fit your wire through. Disconnect or cut the factory speaker wires and connect the new wires direct to each speaker last.

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

Utilize your manufactory speaker wiring

Another and much more user-friendly manner to send the powered signal from the amp to your speakers is to run the speaker wires to the harness that'due south behind your receiver, where all your car's speaker connections are accessible in one identify. You cut each speaker wire from the receiver'south harness and reconnect information technology to a speaker wire coming from the amp. So, the signal can flow from the amp to the speakers by way of the vehicle'southward original manufactory wiring. This technique volition work fine in systems with upwards to 75 watts RMS of power per channel — but for more powerful systems it would exist meliorate to run new speaker wire directly from the amp to each speaker.

Check out How to connect an amplifier to a manufacturing plant stereo to see how this can be done.

Stride x — Connect all the wires

Neatly drape or trim each wire and connect it to the amp. Brand gentle curves with the wires, non sharp bends that could pinch. Many people cut small slits in their vehicle's carpeting and run their wires underneath, for stealthy installations that look factory-neat. A wiring ophidian comes in handy for this. Tape your wires to the snake, fish it 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 bespeak inputs

Footstep 11 — Turning it on

Cheque all of your wiring, from the battery and receiver to the amp and speakers, making sure every connexion is tight and secure with no stray wire strands laying out that could cause a curt excursion. Especially, check that the ground connection is tight and secure. Set up all the amplifier'due south gains to minimum, and turn off all the filters and whatever bass boost or EQ it may have. See that the main fuse is properly installed in its holder. And so, reconnect your car's negative bombardment cable.

Plough on your car, then turn on the radio. Verify that the amplifier powered up (at that place'll probably be an indicator low-cal on it somewhere). Play some music and plow the volume upwardly just loud enough to hear. Now verify that sound is coming from each speaker and/or subwoofer in your system. If everything sounds right, you can finish re-installing the stereo and all your vehicle's paneling, and then move ahead to pace 12.

Pace 12 — Setting the amp'southward proceeds

Setting your amplifier'south 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 racket.

Setting the amp's proceeds

For a detailed caption of how to do this, read our article about setting the gains on a iv-channel amplifier. If you're installing an amp for a subwoofer, read How to melody your subs. The approach is the same, we've but tailored the explanation to each situation.

Bask your new organisation.

When things become incorrect

Commonly, once y'all've installed your amp, yous tin can turn on the stereo and immediately savor all the actress power and item in your music. Merely sometimes things but don't work like we expect them to right from the start. If this happens to yous, don't become stressed out likewise much. Read our commodity near troubleshooting your amp installation for help with finding and solving the most common bug.

Requite us a phone call — we'll help you outfit your arrangement

Your best first step is to call Crutchfield and talk to an Advisor about what your amplifier volition need. They'll make certain you get all the necessary hardware and accessories for a successful and satisfying installation. And remember, annihilation you buy from Crutchfield comes with free lifetime tech support. Just click on "Contact U.s.a." at the top of this page for the toll-free number and other methods of contacting the states.

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

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