Read Through the nOOb sites and still have a few vehicle specific questions (Corolla)

[jacketfan89]

I just bought an 05 Toyota Corolla, but now that the holidays have come around I am totally ready to upgrade the audio system. I've replaced a head unit and front and back speakers in an older civic, but the HU in that car was already after-market so the install was much simpler.

Today, although I haven't purchased anything, I still went out to the car and "explored." I removed all of the panels (door panels, kick panels, sill panels) to make sure I had a clear route for the wires to the trunk. Since I do want to install two amps (one monochannel to power my sub and one 4 channel to power my speakers) I know that I am going to have to run a power wire through the car to the trunk where my amps are going to be mounted.

Is anyone familiar with a predrilled hole in the firewall on an 05 corolla that I could run my main power cable through?? I looked for one today and I noticed that most of the firewall is insulated. I did find one perforated part of the foam insulation under the steering wheel, but I couldn't tell where it would come out under the hood.

Now, once I get the main power cable run with the fuse attached, I know I have to ground the amp. Where is the best place to do this in a corolla?

I finally figured out how to removed the HU and it looks like I'm going to need an adapter for the new HU to fit in the factory slot. Now, when I run my RCA cables back to the amp, I know I should do this on the opposite side of the power wire.

How am I supposed to get the wires behind the dash and down to the kick panel where I could run them back to the trunk?

I also know that I am going to have to run new speaker wire from the amp to the front and rear speakers on the car. Do I just run the new wires through the trunk under the carpet beside the doors up through the kick panel and then through the grommet in the door? What keeps the wires from pulling when the door is opened?

Lastly, since I AM installing two amps I know that I am going to have to get a distribution box. Does this go in the trunk also?

Thanks a ton for any replies. I would take it to best buy and have them do it, but they want $60.00 for the HU and $42.00 for each pair of speakers. Then they want $70.00 for the monochannel amp and $100.00 for the 4 channel amp. Then of course they want another $80.00 to install the 10" sub. So basically, by me doing this myself I save almost $400.00.

[MrSo0h0o]

I just bought an 05 Toyota Corolla, but now that the holidays have come around I am totally ready to upgrade the audio system. I've replaced a head unit and front and back speakers in an older civic, but the HU in that car was already after-market so the install was much simpler.

Today, although I haven't purchased anything, I still went out to the car and "explored." I removed all of the panels (door panels, kick panels, sill panels) to make sure I had a clear route for the wires to the trunk. Since I do want to install two amps (one monochannel to power my sub and one 4 channel to power my speakers) I know that I am going to have to run a power wire through the car to the trunk where my amps are going to be mounted.

its definitely good that you removed all your panels.. the install will go that much faster if you know what you are doing

Is anyone familiar with a predrilled hole in the firewall on an 05 corolla that I could run my main power cable through?? I looked for one today and I noticed that most of the firewall is insulated. I did find one perforated part of the foam insulation under the steering wheel, but I couldn't tell where it would come out under the hood.

look where the steering column comes through the firewall. have a friend with a flashlight in the engine bay. there should be a grommet near the steering column. use a screwdriver to move the grommet aside while you are under the dash inside looking for the light.

Now, once I get the main power cable run with the fuse attached, I know I have to ground the amp. Where is the best place to do this in a corolla?

make sure you fuse your power wire within 12" of the battery. any bare metal part of the chassis will do. in my camry, i use a bolt that is behind the rear seat side bolsters.

I finally figured out how to removed the HU and it looks like I'm going to need an adapter for the new HU to fit in the factory slot. Now, when I run my RCA cables back to the amp, I know I should do this on the opposite side of the power wire.

yes when you install an aftermarket HU, you will need a dash kit. you can pick this up at BB or CC. Running your RCA's on the opposite side of the power wire is a misconception. If you get quality wires, they will be shielded and not produce noise. Putting them on the opposite side of the car is the natural layout of the wiring anyway(i will explain that later)

How am I supposed to get the wires behind the dash and down to the kick panel where I could run them back to the trunk?

run your RCA's on the passenger side. Route them behind the glove box, down to the door sills and into the trunk.You will most likely need to remove the glove box to make things easier. I believe its just a couple of bolts and screws to remove it.

I also know that I am going to have to run new speaker wire from the amp to the front and rear speakers on the car. Do I just run the new wires through the trunk under the carpet beside the doors up through the kick panel and then through the grommet in the door? What keeps the wires from pulling when the door is opened?

I would start from the kick panels. Route enough wiring into the doors so that it has some slack. Then just route the rest towards the rear of the car along the door sills.

Lastly, since I AM installing two amps I know that I am going to have to get a distribution box. Does this go in the trunk also?

yes put the power distribution block in your trunk. it makes things easier if/when you need to do maintenance.

Thanks a ton for any replies. I would take it to best buy and have them do it, but they want $60.00 for the HU and $42.00 for each pair of speakers. Then they want $70.00 for the monochannel amp and $100.00 for the 4 channel amp. Then of course they want another $80.00 to install the 10" sub. So basically, by me doing this myself I save almost $400.00.

doing it yourself is satisfying, but at the same time can be frustrating. You are the sole person to troubleshoot your system if anything ever goes wrong. Thats whats going on with me right now. I have an electrical gremlin in my car that is causing static and alt whine, and i cant figure out whats wrong. im going to have to remove everything and rewire.

update us when you finish your install and also take pics! good luck!

[jacketfan89]

This is the best reply I've ever received on a forum. If you don't mind, I've outlined what equipment I want to purchase. I was just wondering what you guys thought, and if the system would be decent. :-D. P.S, I am not a HUGE bass person, but I'll admit that some nice deep bass would be nice even with the type of music I listen to.

Alpine HU (Integrated with Ipod) Model CDA-9883 : Only 18W RMS x 4 (shouldn't matter b/c of amp) : 3 Preamps

SPEAKERS

Alpine 2way component speakers (it says 110 RMS) but I don't know if that is really 55 x2

Infinity 6x9 3 way speakers (100 RMS) but once again probably 50x2

SUB

Alpine 12" Dual Voice Coil Sub 500 W RMS

AMPS

Alpine FRP-250 4 channel Only 40 w RMS x 4 (The speakers are 50 and 55, should I get a stronger amp???)

Alpine 400 W Class D Monochannel (Same thing: Subwoofer is 500 W RMS the amp only pushes 300W

Like I said, I need more bass than the speakers will give me, but I don't need as much as some people who listen to alot of rap. I listen to mostly older rock and some newer stuff, but I just wanted enough bass to shake the car a little. Is 300 w behind a 500 w subwoofer alot?

[touringcamry]

Could you post some model numbers or the product line? For example Type-R or SPR-17S.

If you get a good set of components and subwoofer, you can forgo the rear 6x9s. The imaging is better without the rear fills. This is a very personal matter though, so try and see what you like.

You could bridge the 4 channel amp to drive the components up front to see how you like it without the rear fills before getting them. You can use the HU to drive the stock rear speakers for comparison.

[jacketfan89]

I've heard this about the rear speakers many times. I do drive with passengers often in the car, so I want it to also sound good in the back. My biggest issues with my system now are that I can turn it all the way up and the bass sounds horrible, but its still not loud enough for my preference.

Is this new system going to solve that problem??

The only reason I want to drive the rear speakers with the amp is that even with my aftermarket speakers in my civic when I turn the aftermarket HU up, the rear speakers still distort. This may be caused by the small speaker size(civics can only have 5 1/4 rear speakers). As far as model numbers and product lines here we go:

Alpine - Apple® iPod™/Satellite Radio/HD-Radio-Ready CD Deck

Model: CDA-9883 | SKU: 8222568

Alpine - 6-1/2" 2-Way 330W Component Car Speakers

Model: SPR-17S | SKU: 8222318

Infinity - 6" x 9" 3-Way Car Speakers with Plus One Cones (Pair)

Model: REF9623I | SKU: 8210982

Alpine - 12" Dual-Voice-Coil 4-Ohm Subwoofer

Model: SWR-1242D | SKU: 7057383

Alpine - V-Power 75W MOSFET Multichannel Amplifier with Adjustable Crossover

Model: MRP-F250 | SKU: 7652426

Alpine - V-Power 400W Class D Bridgeable Mono MOSFET Amplifier with Adjustable Crossover

Model: MRP-M450 | SKU: 7652444

[MrSo0h0o]

the issue with the rear speakers: if you have a good front component setup, your listeners in the back seat will enjoy it just as good as you up in front

[jacketfan89]

So are the components I've chosen good or is there something better to get a better bang for my buck??

[MrSo0h0o]

it looks like they are the alpine type R's.. those are a good component set from a reputable company. to be honest, i would try and go listen to them yourself. everyone's speaker preference is subjective. this is the best way to know if it is good for you or not

[touringcamry]

Like Mr Soho said, see if you can find some place to test them out to see how you like them. If the street price is actually $280 like Alpine's website...I think I might go with Arc Audio 6000 or Focal K2 that are in about the same price range. I think MB Quartz QSD are around there too.

Speakers are very personal. For example MB Quartz QSD are supposedly very good speakers, however, to me, and many others, the tweeters are just way too sharp or harsh. Some people like that kind of sound and some don't.

[jacketfan89]

Yes, I had installed some infinity component speakers in my civic and on the crossover there was an option for +3 dB trebble and -3...I chose the +3 and the treble was horrible. I had to keep it all the way down. Then I switched to the -3 and it was still almost unbearable.

Don't get me wrong, I love to hear the cymbals and what not, but those were ridiculous. I went back and read the reviews for those speakers and everyone had the same opinion. I made sure to read the reviews on these particular alpines first.

Quick question, when running the remote turn-on wire from the back of the stereo, do I Just splice a same-size wire to the one from the back of the stereo and then run back to the amp? I bought my wire harness today and it has a place to hook the turn on lead into the factory harness. Where exactly doe the wire that goes to the amp start at and if I have more than one amp, where do I get the second wire from? Can I just Splice two wires in with the one from the HU and then run the other two to the amps?

[touringcamry]

Are you certain that's a remote wire and not a power antenna wire? The power antenna wire often will shut off when the radio is off, for example when playing a CD. You definitely do not want this because your amps will shut off too.

Are you using an after market or factory HU? Factory HU doesn't usually have remote wire. For after market HU, you don't connect the remote wire to the harness that connects into the car. You attach an 18 AWG wire to it and run that to the amp in the back. Personally, I use insulated quick disconnects so I don't have to cut the wire every time I want to take the thing out (which isn't often, but it's more convenient that way). If you use quick disconnects, ensure you get the connectors that are insulated all around both the male and female parts because you don't want that thing shorting to ground (the chassis) because it could damage the HU.

If you have multiple amps, you have two options:
1. You can run the remote wire to the two amps in parallel by connecting two wires to the one remote wire from the HU. You could probably get a butt connector and put two 18 AWG wires in one side and one wire from the HU in the other side. You could also connect the remote wire to one amp and then use another wire to connect the two remote connections on the amps together. However you do it, this is called a parallel connection.
2. The way that I would do it would be to use the remote wire to trigger a relay that connects the +12V from the battery to the remote connections on the amp. The reason I would use this method is because the remote connection on most HUs are not designed to put out a lot of current. If you connect the remote to two amps in parallel it will lower the resistance and increase the current that must be put out. You can use a common Bosch type automotive relay or RadioShack has a couple good ones, pn 275-248 or 275-241. I like the RS ones because they are a smaller than the Bosch types.

[MrSo0h0o]

for the remote turn on wire, i would wire it together with your +12v switched. run it along the power wire(just to be safe) and wire it to your amp. i just piggybacked another piece of wire from the first amp to the second amp and i have had no problems powering up.

[jacketfan89]

So basically:

Wire the +12v switched from the head unit harness,the +12v switched on the wiring harness for the factory radio, and a third wire which will be my remote lead and either heat shrink the connection or use one of the twisty things. Then I can run that wire to one of the amps and then run a wire between that amp and the second. Awesome.

Now, I had a brain fart and realized that my HU in my civic is practically new and I may want to use that instead of buying a whole new one. It's like 17x4 RMS (sony), but that doesn't really matter because I AM going to be using the amps.

My question is this:

It has two RCA preouts. 1 is for front and 1 is for rear/sub. Since I am going to use a four channel amp for my interior four speakers and a monochannel amp for my subwoofer, will this work or do I need one RCA preout for each different "set" of speakers???

Edit: After doing some research it looks like the best bet is to get a HU with 3 preouts. That way I have 2 RCAs for the front and rear speakers on the four channel amp. Then, one more RCA for the monochannel amp.

Opinions?

[MrSo0h0o]

Originally Posted by jacketfan89

So basically:

Wire the +12v switched from the head unit harness,the +12v switched on the wiring harness for the factory radio, and a third wire which will be my remote lead and either heat shrink the connection or use one of the twisty things. Then I can run that wire to one of the amps and then run a wire between that amp and the second. Awesome.

Now, I had a brain fart and realized that my HU in my civic is practically new and I may want to use that instead of buying a whole new one. It's like 17x4 RMS (sony), but that doesn't really matter because I AM going to be using the amps.

My question is this:

It has two RCA preouts. 1 is for front and 1 is for rear/sub. Since I am going to use a four channel amp for my interior four speakers and a monochannel amp for my subwoofer, will this work or do I need one RCA preout for each different "set" of speakers???

Edit: After doing some research it looks like the best bet is to get a HU with 3 preouts. That way I have 2 RCAs for the front and rear speakers on the four channel amp. Then, one more RCA for the monochannel amp.

Opinions?

yes just put a wire from the harness you bought on the +12v switched, run it to one of your amps' remote turn on post and then use another piece of wire from that amp to your second amps remote turn on post.

as for the HU, yes if u want to run front and rear speakers plus the sub, i would look for a HU with 3 preouts.

[touringcamry]

You could also use a Y-cable to connect the front RCAs to the four channels on the amp. You will no longer be able to use fader though.