Audio guys- Help me install my new amp!!

mrsilent13

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Ok, and how do I go about taking the remote wire and hooking it up to back of Alpine head unit?

the alpine should have a designated wire that is either labeled...or is actually blue or purple...it sends out a voltage which will turn on your amp
 

Black_Dub

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The way i installed my amp in my (LS) was in the side panel in rear behind the fabric( you'll have to unscrew the nuts that hold ur tail light in and there's a pocket behind there with a vent... allows amp to cool and not over heat) then i ran my power and ground underneath fabric to where the spare sits and placed my cap there too right next to the battery... then ran the remote up front on driver side to a (brown) acc. wire right behind your pocket by steering wheel column... hence you can add a switch to activate and or turn off ur amp... and place the switch in the pocket for added stealthiness (lol)i have yet to have any problems with my set up... i even did my own remote start and power locks and alarm .... everythings fairly easy just as long as your familiar or have access to a wiring diagram...
 

newfiedan

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if this was my car i would run the blue wire(remote turn on)to the harness of the radio. looks so much cleaner and well done. i would not put the amp back on the box. doing that could/will hurt your amp. when it hits the wood flexes making the amp do the same. thats not good for the boards in the amp.
The wood does not flex, mdf wood absorbs vibrations which makes it a good candidate for sub boxes, mounting to the the box is fine I usually try to give an amp about 1 to 2 inches of minimum of clearance to allow it some airflow for cooling purposes, same for when I screw it to the box, I use 1/2" thick plastic spacers to give to some airflow room. Now as for the wiring, make sure that you disconnect the negative cable before you start removing wiring, that prevents shock or fuse pops when you are wiring making the job much safer. Next remove the connetions from the current amp and put them on your new amp 1 at a time to avoid mix ups putting them on the proper terminals, red being your +, grey being the -, Crimp on & solder some proper ring terminals to replace that hack job they did on the wiring there & attach it to the amp. I solder all my connections and I will give you a breakdown of how thats done after this. The small blue wire is the remote wire which turns on the amp, basically its just using a small amount of power to activate a larger amount of power and that should be attached to the blue wire with a white stripe on the back of you headunit, its usually marked remote or power antenna. If you want to run that to an accessory activation then please use a proper add a fuse circuit like the one bussman makes like the 1 here in this link http://www.amazon.com/Bussmann-BP-HHH-ATM-Add-A-Fuse/dp/B000GKEXK2 they are the safest means of adding a circuit to your current fuse panel and they don't do any damage to the fuse panel like 90% of the current fuse taps like the 1 you have in the pic that you posted there. Just don't exceed 10 amps for either of the fuses. Lastly reconnect your negative terminal and enjoy the new amp. Now onto soldering.

Check out this link for soldering properly its a skill that will serve you well;
http://www.popularmechanics.com/blogs/automotive_news/4213013.html

If you are wondering about my qualifications I am a certified Journeyman heavy equipment tech with 15 years of automotive experience and well over 5 years of installing and fixing sound systems that ppl have installed in cars. There is a difference between doing it right and doing it to just make it work. I have seen some pretty severe electrical damage to vehicles from bad wiring jobs, take my advice and do it the right way, its not a lot of extra time or money to do it right the first time around and it gives you the peace of mind that its going to last.
 
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Tuner923

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DO NOT mount amp to the back of the box if at all possible.. come one now, think about it that's where the most violent vibrations are. the wire running to your fuse box from the amp is called the "remote" wire it is used to turn on the amp when the ignition is switched to the accessory position or while engine is running. it is usually run to a wire in the back of the head unit. sometimes head units are cheap and are not set up for amps.. so you have to sometimes hard wire to the fuse box.. mine is run to my windshield wiper fuse..

---------- Post added at 06:31 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:27 PM ----------

if you are sitting in the passenger seat and look to the left at about the height of the cup holder there is a fuse box in there(there is in my car anyway). You can just run the remote line under the trim on the passenger side and hook into that fuse box. I will see if I can find any pics online.

i did this
 

newfiedan

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I am not saying that mounting to the box is ideal what I am saying is that any box thats designed halfways decent (made of 3/4" mdf with stiffeners) will not damage an amp. Put your hand on a decently designed box while its pumping, see how much vibration you feel from the wood. Unless there is going to be more than 2 subs and running in excess of 1000 watts in the box then there is a very slim likelyhood of doing damage to the amp. Mounting it to the box though does make it easier for someone to steal if they get into the car all they need to do is cut the wires and pull the whole thing. Mounting the amp to the chassis somewhere is a good idea if you want to remove the box, makes the wiring easier for that purpose. No dispresect tuner93 but I would wager that my experience and knowledge in this area far exceeds the average joe or average installer. If you are totally paranoid about it then there is no reason not to mount it to the chassis, but if you are worried about vibrations you really think that mouting to the chassis is any safer given its proximity to the source of the vibrations? Why do you think the trunk/paneling rattles around like crazy in those cheaply designed vehicles? It vibrates the steel just like the box, rubber mounting would be the best bang for the buck if you are paranoid or worried about the vibrations to the amp.

---------- Post added at 07:57 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:49 PM ----------

FYI if you do opt to mount to the box do it in the middle of the rear portion of the box.
 
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