[rcruz2525]

Hi everyone, this will be my first amp installation and I don't know what Im doing but with some help I think I can manage. All I want to do is to install an amp, will use original speakers for now. I just got an Alpine MRP-F240, I think is ok for what I want.
OK, Please correct me if am wrong since Im not sure of that Im doing. I figure out that the amp needs 3 thing to work 1. Power from battery, 2. Ground from the frame of the car and 3. A remote cable coming from the radio.
Question, where can I find the remote cable and what color is it? It will be nice If I don't have to take off the radio.
Next, I think I need to input the speakers wires from the radio to the amp and from the amp to the speakers.
Question, in the speakers input (amp) I have white, grey, green and purple. What are they? What is LF, LR RF and RR?
and how do I know the positive and negative coming out of the radio and is there a way I can get the speaker wires with out taking out the radio?
Do I need to use new wires from the amp to the speaker? Can I just use the existing wire that goes now to the speakers?
I have a ch1/2 filter position { off, hp, lp } what is that for? and for ch3/4 same filter positions and Bass EQ { 0db to +12db}??
I know this may be simple for some of you but Im just trying to learn, and if there is any thing I should do just let me know, Thanks...

 

[kckid]

Dont do it man. It just aint worth it. Put the amp down and step away.

Just kidding thats alot of questions and I dont know the all the answers so I will let Alpman or someone else have this one. Thats alot of questions. You will have to take the radio out for the best results but its real easy check some of the other threads. As far as amping the stock speakers, I dont think that they can take much more than they have now. You will need a FM modualator for the inputs. I think some of the other threads go over the speaker wire color. You can use any ignition powered wire for the remote but it wont turn off with the radio.

Your best bet is to find someone who knows how to do this and have them do it for you while explaining it to you. tc's are nice cars and if you dont do it right you take the chance at really messing up the wlwctrical system. I would wait till you buy new speakers and then have a freind or a shop do it while you have it all torn apart. Whatever you do I hope this helped and good luck.

 

[rcruz2525]

Alpman, sudjested to get the male (radio side) and female (vehicle side) wiring harnesses, to make all connections to the amps and speakers without cutting the factory harness.

But where can I get the male (radio side) and female (vehicle side) wiring harnesses?

 

[wolo]

I definitely leave it to the experts when it comes to the car's audio.

I'm good at a lot of things, but this area is not one of them.

 

[serleba1]

some answers for you...

1. you have to take the stereo out whether you tap into the existing wires or plug into the harness

2. to run the amp, you need a power cable, a ground wire to a metal surface, remote cable from the stereo (typically blue) so that the amp knows to turn itself on when the stereo is turned on, AND signal outputs from the stereo to the amp so that it knows what music to pump to the speakers. you can either tap into the speaker wires coming off the stereo and wire them into the speaker inputs on the amp... what the amp will do if you wire it that way is it will drop the amplification from the stereo and re-amplify the signal before pushing it to your speaker... OR, you can get a line converter... this also taps into the speaker wires coming off the stereo, but has a built in converter to drop the stereo's amplification BEFORE it gets to your new amp... this is a preferred method because the line converter plugs directly into your amp via RCA Cables, and the sound quality is a little better. But... either way will work (i just tapped into the speaker wires without the line converter. if you have a GOOD amp, then it should have a good converter built into it).

2. LF = Left Front Speaker; LR = Left Rear Speaker; RF = Right Front Speaker; RR = Right Rear Speaker

3. You will have to run new wires from the amp to the speakers... speaker wires from the stereo go into the amp, and then new wires need to be run from the amp to the speakers.

4. "I have a ch1/2 filter position { off, hp, lp } what is that for? and for ch3/4 same filter positions and Bass EQ { 0db to +12db}??" First off... you have a 4 channel amp... each channel runs 1 speaker. Next, there are filters for both sets of channels. The filter has 2 settings - hp = high pass, and lp = low pass or you can turn it off. if you choose high pass, then the amp will cut out all the bass to the speakers. if you choose low pass, the amp will cut all the mids and highs to the speakers. if you are using subwoofers, then they would be on low pass as they can't reproduce highs and mids and it would be a waste of power to send those signals to them. same for speakers... 6 1/2 speakers are not good at producing lows, so you would put them on the high pass filter... BUT if you don't have a sub, you don't have much of a choice, and i would leave the filters turned off so that your speakers still sound full, othersise with the high pass turned on and no sub in the car, you will have no bass at all. The Bass EQ would be the level of bass running to the speakers. So, if you have the low pass filter turned on, you could turn up the bass EQ and it bangs your speakers harder. 0db to + 12db means 0 decibels to 12 decibels = that is the amplification level of the bass EQ... it could push up to 12 decibels of more bass to the speaks/subs.

5. Have a professional install it! It is SO worth the $70somthing dollars. The questions you asked were pretty basic... if you didn't know the answers to those questions, then you definitely shouldn't be installing the amp on your own. There could be some consequences you wouldn't want to deal with ranging from annoying to dangerous. Annoying = If you don't know how to run wires properly, you could get a hum and engine noise in your speakers. Dangerous = you could potentially damage the car or even start a fire.

 

[rcruz2525]

serleba1, Thanks for all your help but I decide to install the amp last night by myself. I connected the power from the battery, 8 awg with a 60 amp fuse. Remove the radio, tap into the radio wires, and replace the speaker wires. I also mounted the amp in the rear back panel were the RR speaker goes. It all came out pretty good, everything works!! I will need to get better speakers now and play with the hp and lp settings depending on what speakers I get. The only problem I have is that the passenger’s window does not work with the driver’s control.

I will check this latter today but thank for the info.. I need it that.

 

[Labfish]

Reset the power windows.

 

[rcruz2525]

How do you reset the power windows?

 

[basilisk4]

While the car is on, hold the passenger's side switch DOWN all the way for about 30 seconds, and then pull it up and hold it up for about 5 seconds.

 

[Labfish]

And while you're doing that you might want to reset the moonroof also.

 

[rcruz2525]

I tried that but did not work for the windows and then I found this:

http://www.tctunerz.com/the-news/latest-ne...er-windows.html

 

[basilisk4]

It works 100% of the time. I guarantee it.

 

[Labfish]

Originally posted by rcruz2525@Mar 30 2005, 07:13 AM
serleba1, Thanks for all your help but I decide to install the amp last night by myself. I connected the power from the battery, 8 awg with a 60 amp fuse. Remove the radio, tap into the radio wires, and replace the speaker wires. I also mounted the amp in the rear back panel were the RR speaker goes. It all came out pretty good, everything works!! I will need to get better speakers now and play with the hp and lp settings depending on what speakers I get. The only problem I have is that the passenger’s window does not work with the driver’s control.

I will check this latter today but thank for the info.. I need it that.

I didn't read it carefully enough. I had this problem with my speaker install. Check the lockout button above the window switches. If it's pressed down you won't be able to control the passenger window from the driver's side.
I thought I had a serious problem and thought the windows needed to be reset....after doing the reset procedure (which I did to the moonroof which actually needed it) I pushed the button and it popped up...and voila...passenger window worked.

 

[rcruz2525]

Dude, it was not the lockout button above the window switches. I tried everything and nothing works but after driving the car for about 15 minutes I was able to control the passenger side window drive and the next day the automatic window up and down stat it to work!! Strange.. Anyway I just got the Alpine sps-17a component front speakers and the sps-170a coax for the back, I was able to install the back ones but not the front, There is a difference, I will install the front ones today after work.