I'm gonna be installing 4 new speakers and probably disconnecting the "tweeters" and leaving them in place, while I'm at it I wanted to run better speaker wire. I'm having a real hard time finding a tutorial for ANY car so I came here. My only problem is I can't imagine how to terminate the speaker wire at the dash, do I keep the stock Ford connector?
Can anyone post a quick rundown on running new speaker wire?
- Thread starter seanklsc
- Start date
seanklsc said:
If your just replacing speakers, you dont - You need to terminate it at the amp. If your not installing a head unit, you dont need to go into the dash.
EconomySpeedNStyle
Active LVC Member
Are you reusing the stock amp setup?
Are you buying a new head unit?
If you're going to run a full set of new speaker wires without external amps and a new head unit, just snake them under the dash. Just splice the power wires for the head unit into the existing power wires on the original harness (use a voltmeter to make sure you have the proper power and ground wires) and leave it in place. Then connect the head unit's speaker outputs to the new wires you ran under the dash. Just be sure and tape up the wires so they don't accidentally hang down where people might see them. Try wrapping the wires around existing wiring to minimize that possibility.
The real trick will be getting the wires out of the passenger compartment and into the doors. I'm sure if you remove the kick panels, you can find the entrance to the wiring that leads into the doors. Either shove the new wiring into the hole using a piece of coat hanger wire with a loop at the end, or simply splice it into the existing speaker wires as they leave the hole. Just look at the colors of the wires (remove the door panels) and find the proper ones that exit behind the kick panel. The rear speakers will likely require removal of the rear side panels. You might be able to simply snake the wires behind the panels without removing them using the coat hanger wire again to save the hassle.
If you're using Monster Cable (or similar fat wires), it's going to be a real challenge getting them to fit. That, and using Monster Cable on a headunit's speaker outputs is overkill.
Are you buying a new head unit?
If you're going to run a full set of new speaker wires without external amps and a new head unit, just snake them under the dash. Just splice the power wires for the head unit into the existing power wires on the original harness (use a voltmeter to make sure you have the proper power and ground wires) and leave it in place. Then connect the head unit's speaker outputs to the new wires you ran under the dash. Just be sure and tape up the wires so they don't accidentally hang down where people might see them. Try wrapping the wires around existing wiring to minimize that possibility.
The real trick will be getting the wires out of the passenger compartment and into the doors. I'm sure if you remove the kick panels, you can find the entrance to the wiring that leads into the doors. Either shove the new wiring into the hole using a piece of coat hanger wire with a loop at the end, or simply splice it into the existing speaker wires as they leave the hole. Just look at the colors of the wires (remove the door panels) and find the proper ones that exit behind the kick panel. The rear speakers will likely require removal of the rear side panels. You might be able to simply snake the wires behind the panels without removing them using the coat hanger wire again to save the hassle.
If you're using Monster Cable (or similar fat wires), it's going to be a real challenge getting them to fit. That, and using Monster Cable on a headunit's speaker outputs is overkill.
Yes I will be installing a new headunit, I'm going to skip the amp. The 50x4 from the headunit should be good enough. Thanks for the tips. Now I understand, I just run the speaker wire into the dash and splice it into the wiring harness the headunit manufacturer supplies me in the box. The only thing is, it's gonna be a pain to de-install it when I sell the car... I guess I'll keep the factory wiring harness handy just in case.
Jibit
Dearly Departed Friend
seanklsc said:
if you are running new wires just keep the exisiting factory wires in and you won't have to worry about it (including the harness in the dash because it actually goes to the factory amp so you shouldn't be splicing into it anyway).
Jibit said:
You think the factory speaker wire will be able to handle some decent aftermarket speakers? I actually want to bypass the factory amp. My Pioneer headunit's power, when combined with the factory amp, makes my speakers sound like crap and blew one of my rear's. I just want a single power amp, and this is only possible when running new wire, am I right?
circuit city sells a harness that bypasses the amp. you just go in the trunk and disconnect both ends and join them with the harness. that way you dont have to run speaker wire. factory wire should be able to take the power. when we do 4 channel amps it runs through the factory wire. the harness is metra 70-5513, the harness behind the radio metra 80-5600
My experience is that the factory wires are more than capable of handling the output of a 200watt peak output head unit. I replaced everything other than the wires and it sounds great inside that car.
95tbirdv8 said:
In my old Lincoln, the 1991 VII with Premium audio, this was possible. Not in a Mark VIII though.. if memory serves me correctly its because there are crossovers that filter out highs and send them to the tweeters (which I won't be using) so the whole thing has to be redone.
rmac694203
Dedicated LVC Member
Just leave all the factory wiring alone, but don't use it. Run your new wire right next to the old stuff so when it comes time to reinstall the factory crap, its right there and is easy to get everything hooked back up. I got one of the adapters for the wiring harness to the head unit but only used the connections for the power, ground, etc. and not the ones for the speakers. Then I just connected the new wire from the back of the new head unit right to each speaker.