How to: Audio

Running Speaker Wire Into Doors

   

The speaker wire that comes from the factory is far to thin and crappy for a decent sounding stereo so before you go getting massive amps, this is a good place to start.
Some people just drill holes in the door, this can be done but I found it was easier to run the wires through the factory wiring loom. You have to be careful removing it and drilling the holes because you don't want to damage the sections of it that you need for power mirrors, windows and central locking.
I found it difficult to drill so I ended up using a soldering iron to melt through, that worked pretty well. Once you have run it through, replace the connector and make sure you have plenty of wire inside the door to reach your speaker.
Now you have to try to run the other end through inside the car, there's no easy way to explain, just poke it through and try using a stiff piece of wire to pull it from the inside.

Amp Wiring and Mounting

It's really not that difficult, just make sure you have everything you need before you start, it's a pain in the ass to have to put the interior back in just to go and get something.
First you need to decide where to mount the amp, if it fits under the seat than I've found that to be a pretty good place but the boot is ok as well, just as long as the amp has enough space for air to circulate. Also, mounting it under the seat reduces the length of power cable and RCA's so it'll save you a bit of money. Just make sure it fit's before you do anything drastic.
To remove the seats you need to undo four 12mm bolts, one on each corner, the back bolts have plastic covers that you need to remove with a flathead screwdriver
Power cable can be pretty expensive, even up to $30 per meter for 4 gauge. I got mine for $8 per meter from Dick Smith Electronics. The size of wire will depend on the power of your amp(s), 8 awg (American Wire Gauge) should be fine for a basic one amp setup but there's no danger from going over size.
Whether you decide to use a fuse or a circuit breaker (I'd recommend a circuit breaker) you need to put it within 25cm of your battery, make sure it's secured down properly and leave it disconnected while you wire the amp. A 50 amp fuse should do. There's a small hole on the firewall where you can run it down inside the car, you might need some fence wire to pull it down, the hole is about a foot down and is down below and to the left of the fuel filter.

Your power is only as good as it's weakest point, so your earth cable should be at least the same size as the power cable and should be as short as possible, in my Xsi I found the best grounding point was on the metal ridge that runs across under the front of the seats. Spend a long time filing the paint off and make sure you bolt it firmly to bare metal.
The RCA's and speaker wire should be as far away from the power cable as possible to prevent interference, electric motors are pretty bad for causing interference as well. Check out you amp manual to find out if it is able to be run in bridged mode before connecting your speaker wire. 
The last thing to do would be to run a remote wire to you head unit to tell your amp when to turn on. If your head unit doesn't have a remote wire output you'll need to rig up a switched 12 volt wire to your amp or it'll stay on constantly  and run your battery flat.
Double check EVERYTHING before you reconnect your power cable and test the amp, you don't want to blow something now. If it runs fine, put your seats back in and you're all set.

Capacitor Install

If you find your lights are always dimming when you crank your system, you probably need a capacitor, it stores charge for use when you hit low bass notes, you'll also get better bass from having a cap installed. I put mine under the seat however there isn't much room so you might want to try and find a better place.
As a general rule a 1000 milli Farad (1 farad) capacitor is needed for every 1000 watts RMS, I found a 1 farad Rockford Fosgate Cap at Cash converters and it was cheap since no-one there knew what it was.
Most caps come with a small resistor for charging it, you need to connect it over the terminals and the other two wires to the + and - wires on your battery, if not you can just use a test light or a light bulb and connect it in series with the positive terminal. When the light goes dim the cap is charged.
Once charged, you can go ahead and install it,  it connects in parallel so the power wire from your battery connects to the + terminal on your cap then to the + terminal on the amp. the earth cable goes from cap to a point on the chassis.
Make sure it's secured firmly and as close to the amp as possible, if it comes loose you're in for a few sparks

 

 

This website has been gradually growing since I started it in early 2002. Originally I was simply documenting modifications and repairs to my car but I decided to publish it when I began to discover others were interested in the information. If you need help or have a how-to relating to Honda B series VTEC engines, or DA or DC2R Integras you can
email me.

While all care is taken to provide correct information, mistakes are occasionally made and I cannot be responsible for any damage that occurs to readers vehicles.