Audio ?

[ViewAskew]

I just ran wiring for an amp and speakers and I just wanna make sure that what I've done will work. Not alot of knowledge in car audio so any advice will be appreciated.














All wires will be trimmed of course but just want to make sure what I've done is alright. Eventually a sub will be wired in as well.

[oakrdrs187]

Looks like a clean install.

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[wetamup2k3g]

Edit: Nevermind, the big wire I see is not power wire, it's signal wire. Looks like an amp bypass. All is well then

[ViewAskew]

Thanks for the replies. So stupid question, but what's an amp bypass? I have the power wire running in the electrical raceway on the drivers side and then its going to be through the the firewall under where the slave cylinder goes. I hope that is a decent spot as I'm hoping to 5 speed it in the near future. Also, I've read in some of the other threads that I can hook my ground up to one of the bolts holding the back rests in? Is that a good spot as long as I strip the paint? I just took a self tapper and drilled it anywhere the only other time I've installed an amp. Never had a problem with it but just want to start trying to do it somewhat right. Oh and one last thing, I measured the distance from the bottom of the rear deck to the arms for the trunk and got 3" so I should be able to put Alpine Type R's 6"x9" that only have 2 7/8" mounting depth or is that cutting it too close? I was looking at going with Type R's all around with the components in the front but if anyones got another idea about what I should do I'm all ears. Those are just what I've been told I should get. That or polk. Thanks again.

[ViewAskew]

So another stupid question. I had to cheap out and I had to get the Sony GS6920 and the GS1720s component. I know everyone hates Sony (I'm not a fan) but I was able to get both for $120 shipped. I read up on them and they've got great reviews and was told they are the top of the line and are pretty decent. So I hook them all up and I still get a crackling sound every once in awhile whether I play them through the deck or the amp just like the factory speakers. I've checked to make sure I don't have any wires backwards and I've hooked up a line directly from amp to rear speakers and still get the same noise. What am I missing or doing wrong? Could it be the deck itself? Thanks for any help.

[demond0d5]

I was gonna try and find my after shot but here is how NOT to run your wires. the 2 in the bottom right are in an ok spot iirc but def don't run them like this picture!


it is a bit of a PITA to get any decent sized wire ran up there though FYI...the angles are all wrong and you cant really drill (easily and straight) but if you have a dremel that will help a lot! I usually have better luck coming from the engine side instead of the interior section too

you can ground at the seats no problem, if you don't want to remove paint you could probably get away with going between the bolt head and washers, idk though. would check resistance with a dvom first...

as far as the crackling noise is it high or low volume? if its high then my guess is you are just pushing the speakers too hard, sony isn't a "high end" competitor IMO...and if you want high volume and good sound its gonna cost way more than $120 for a set...more like $120/ea

[ViewAskew]

Thanks demon0d5. I got the power wire run fine and its just this crackling noise that I'm dealing with now. I'd agree with what you said about Sony, I was just convinced after all the reviews I'd read that I'd be okay. Both sets were originally $300 a piece that's why I say top of the line. I got to have a friend who was an installer for 10 years take a look at it last night and he thinks its either the head unit needs to be ground to the frame instead of its self or that the iPod or cord is faulty. As far as the ground, I went right next to the back rest bolt but it doesn't matter now because I'm getting an old school "Alpine 3566" 6 channel amp so everything is coming out the back and after a trip to the junkyard to get that seat rest cover for the trunk new holes will be drilled and wires ran. If you got any other ideas I'm all ears though and thanks.

Edit- the speakers do it at any volume level. We turned on all the filters and adjusted everything and no matter what they crackel. The speakers did sound good when really pushed. But it does it whether the speakers are run off the deck or amp, new speakers or the factory speakers.

[demond0d5]

Easiest way I can think of to isolate your problem:

Play something from a CD (radio would work but could still get interference, cd would be best) if there is still crackling then it is something from the head unit to the speakers (I.e. Head unit itself, wiring, speakers, etc)

That will confirm if it is or is not the phone


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[ViewAskew]

Thanks again for the reply. Its an iPod only deck and I can't get a decent signal with the radio anywhere. I think I've eliminated the wiring as I hooked only the rears directly to the amp not going through any of the factory wiring. I'm going to get a flash drive tonight and try it as opposed to the iPod. I wish I wouldn't have gotten rid of my old decks now so I could swap them out. Oh well, eventually I will get it figured out.

[demond0d5]

Are the door speakers amped? If so your amp could be bad too...

And what did you mean:

he thinks its either the head unit needs to be ground to the frame instead of its self .

Head unit should be grounded via the wiring harness that plugs into it. Should splice that one into the OE harness and have a redundantly grounded wire (usually black) that disappears under the dash to wonderland


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[demond0d5]

Wait nvm, you said you tried it without the amp too...mb

I assume the factory speakers didn't crackle like what you're describing? If they didn't crackle with the same head unit it's the speakers no doubt FYI


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[ViewAskew]

Yes stock speakers did the same thing. And as far as the ground, it comes out the back of the deck harness and turns and is attached to the back of the deck. Its about an inch long. When I redid the harness because all the wires were just twisted together I didn't even notice a ground wire anywhere. When I pull it back out I dig around and try to find it.

[demond0d5]

A wire like that is normally (in my experience) more something like a REM wire (amp turn on)

The ground has to be connected externally somehow, end of story. Otherwise it doesn't get back to te battery to complete the circuit


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[oakrdrs187]

It can if the bracket is screwed down, but its still best to ground direct to metal.

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[demond0d5]

That could be such an intermittent connection I figure he would have noticed it shutting off completely with bumps or hard braking...but yes, very possible. May go see how mine is grounded in a bit too, almost positive it's in the harness though


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[oakrdrs187]

The 8G stock radio grounds through the metal bracket via security screw in back, mitsu harnesses do not have a ground on them. When an aftermarket deck is connected it will ground with the brackets so alot of installers ground the wire to the bracket, remember any stereo outer cage/frame is grounded

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[demond0d5]

Been so long since I messed with anything stock on my galant audio system lol XD

Seems like the last several head units it put in the cage was screwed into plastic bezels and stuff to hold em in place, not necessarily bolted to something grounded


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[ViewAskew]

Thanks again for all the knowledge. So if I understand correctly, I should get like an 18 gauge wire, put a round connector on both ends and hook it up to the screw on the back of the deck with the other ground then run it back to the security screw at the back of the cge that holds it in place? Or disconnect the ground from the deck and solder it to the new wire and run it down to the security screw? Thanks for the patience with me, I enjoy doing this stuff and would like to get to the point it looks like I know what I'm doing.

[oakrdrs187]

Been so long since I messed with anything stock on my galant audio system lol XD

Seems like the last several head units it put in the cage was screwed into plastic bezels and stuff to hold em in place, not necessarily bolted to something grounded


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I don't mean the cage or sleeve that you bend pins outwards so it will stay in the dash kit, theres no way plastic will ground out, what I mean is the frame of the actual deck uses its metal case to ground as well, sort of like a car, you can install your amp and power it from the battery, you could also run another heavy gauge wire to the negative post but it would be ridiculous, more money and overkill so most just ground to metal on the car. So remember the only time its ok to use the bracket is if the bracket is metal and its gonna bolt/screw to metal on the car not just rest on it.


I had to troubleshoot an interference issue once on a 99 maxima. It had a double din size stock radio that used metal brackets to ground out, had they bought a double din deck it woukd have been fine but it got replaced with a single din and it called for a plastic dash kit, the cage was used and they grounded to the nissan harness adapter. When the car would shut off there was a humm in the subs for a few seconds. At first I couldn't get why, I check the sub connections, rca's. Removed their amp thinking it was the problem and put another in, routed an rca of my own just thrown over the seats to test it and still a humm. He had a pioneer deck and I had a spare one there that would plug in to the harness so I did a quick swap and still the annoying humm, it wasn't until I swapped another stereo, Alpine I think, I was doing the harness connections that's when I realized the nissan plug didn't have a wire where the adapter harness did have the black wire, I was like how the hell is this thing on then? Unplugged the antenna and it shut off, I saw the plastic kit so I grounded to metal directly and the interference was gone! Thats when I realized that radios will ground through their frame because the stock radio was on metal brackets since the stock connecter didn't have a ground pin.

Thanks again for all the knowledge. So if I understand correctly, I should get like an 18 gauge wire, put a round connector on both ends and hook it up to the screw on the back of the deck with the other ground then run it back to the security screw at the back of the cge that holds it in place? Or disconnect the ground from the deck and solder it to the new wire and run it down to the security screw? Thanks for the patience with me, I enjoy doing this stuff and would like to get to the point it looks like I know what I'm doing.

Simplest way is to use the black wire that is on the stereo harness and ground to metal.

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