Rewiring all the speakers to an Amp, impossible front?

[accordztech]

plus if they ever want to take out a 4 channel amp its easier to return it to stock if wires wernt run into the door....i can just disconnect a few and reconnect a few and the 4 channel has been bypassed.

[bruno8747]

In all honesty stock wires are good for a alot of power. It can handle 100watts RMS just fine. So I dont know what the big fuss is about. For the people who are saying the stock wires are bad, Do you actually have experiece with using the stock wires?

I have been sending over 100watts RMS to my front speakers for over a year now and I have NOT ONE single problem.

Remember the stock wire from the rear of the deck only travles around 5 feet to the door speakers, so its barely loosing any resistance.

I am planning however to upgrade my wiring, not because the stockers are bad its because I am forced to. I upgraded my front comps and well it demands atleast 200watts RMS(each side).

[Gomez]

if one of you can use electrical theory and explain to me mathmatically how you would burn up those wires i will beleive you. until then your preaching to a preacher. i deal with this kinda shit day in and day out. if your going for a full out high powered audio system with some like 200watt plus components ... ya change your wires... but i have done a lot of audio systems everything from peice of shit cars that dont even hardly run up to cars where the rims alone are worth a 1/2 million... i know wtf im talking about, if your goin from inside the car to the outside, if you are going to do it right and run new wires to all your speakers, then continue doing it right and run them through your grommet, take off your door if you have to.

and like i say to my customers who think they know more than me... theres a reason i get paid for this and you dont

The stock wiring behind a car was ENGINEERED for 15-25 watt speakers(depending on the manufacturer). Sure, in engineering, there is always a safety factor incorporated into the calculations to prevent worst case scenarios. But when using a good set of components ran from an amp, that safety factor now means nothing and the potential for an electrical fire is there when using stock wiring. Im not sayin that a fire WILL happen forsure, it all depends on what your running. As for Mathematical proof of it being hazardous to use stock wiring for high powered componets, yes, with some research on our wiring harnesses and help from my room mate (who has a Degree in Electrical Engineering), we could prove the safe limit of current and power for the stock wiring. In every type of engineering, there is always a safety factor to minimilize the risk of damage or injury. In sayin this, im not telling you how to wire up your car, im just presenting justification for safe action. that is all.


Gomez

[i-07]

get infinitys they rock!!!! i hate my xplods they get too high pitched!!!

[UrDoneSRH]

i understand what your saying.. but even at the highest current at 150-200 watts they are very unlikely to do this there are more factors involved with how high his power is... the rms ratings in a manual have more than just rms, they tests are run at 14.4 volts which is optimal performance, with i think at least a 5v preout (i dont wanna dig out a manual). your wire size effects your current draw, also if you have upgraded all your ground wires in the car, etc. so he may not even be getting anywhere near the rms power. now i know that if your pulling a lot of power yes you should upgrade your wires, im only recommending that this guy only do this the right way, either use wires already going into the door or put your own through... and if you do run your own to do it right... not just leave it exposed. you either do it right or not at all, now everyones stuck on running stock or whatever, but this kids got the wire just sticking out... theres a much better chance of problems that way then running stock wire. now if you spent so much time figuring out what proves me wrong, then figure out the probabilty of problems wit a wire sitting exposed in a hinged area of the car that will be moved constantly everyday.

[accordztech]

i understand what your saying.. but even at the highest current at 150-200 watts they are very unlikely to do this there are more factors involved with how high his power is... the rms ratings in a manual have more than just rms, they tests are run at 14.4 volts which is optimal performance, with i think at least a 5v preout (i dont wanna dig out a manual). your wire size effects your current draw, also if you have upgraded all your ground wires in the car, etc. so he may not even be getting anywhere near the rms power. now i know that if your pulling a lot of power yes you should upgrade your wires, im only recommending that this guy only do this the right way, either use wires already going into the door or put your own through... and if you do run your own to do it right... not just leave it exposed. you either do it right or not at all, now everyones stuck on running stock or whatever, but this kids got the wire just sticking out... theres a much better chance of problems that way then running stock wire. now if you spent so much time figuring out what proves me wrong, then figure out the probabilty of problems wit a wire sitting exposed in a hinged area of the car that will be moved constantly everyday.

yes sir!

[Gomez]

i understand exactly wat ur sayin, and its that if he's using a component system that his stock wiring will more than likely not burn up. However, it is possible, but not probable. Thats the reason it should be done properly, not because its not probable, but because its possible. As for the wires sticking out the door near the hinge, i agree with you 100%, those wires should be run within the grommet of the door, and yes, that is more probable to cause problems.

[JHMCB7]

Totally agree but here's a question for you all, what if your installing a component system and the crossovers won't fit in the door and you dont want to mount them on the door panel? What's the 'proper' way to get access to the factory wire harness that runs to the door? Do we need to take off the fenders for more room?

[accordztech]

Totally agree but here's a question for you all, what if your installing a component system and the crossovers won't fit in the door and you dont want to mount them on the door panel? What's the 'proper' way to get access to the factory wire harness that runs to the door? Do we need to take off the fenders for more room?

i still put em in the door, i make a bracket so that the crossover sits inside a hole.

if not then i mount the crossover in the kick pannel or under the carpet where it cant be seen, then run 2 sets of wires (one for woofer and tweeter) into the door.

basically to get into our loom you need to basically fish it in, takes some time but it works.

[nine_deuce]

What I did in my Accord was behind the stereo, where the stock speaker wires are, find the ones for the door, connect some wire to those, run it to the trunk or where ever your putting your amp, problem solved

[mak]

Most of the replies in this thread are ridiculous.

Any professional installer (you Best Buy/Circuit City guys are not professionals) will tell you the same thing; Do not re-use the stock wiring when using an external amp for your speakers!

While the wiring may be good for up to 50-75W RMS, you need to take into account how long those wires are, where they run (temperature DOES matter!) and how that wire is connected to your speaker(s)/crossover(s)/amp(s), and, more often than not, those stock wires are 20-22AWG, which cannot handle the power that most aftermarket amps reproduce.

When installing a new head unit in a vehicle, if the speakers are aftermarket (not OEM) I generally run new wiring (usually 16AWG) to each speaker, since an aftermarket head unit will generally reproduce more power than a stock (OEM) head unit.

When installing an amp to power speakers, I also run new wiring to each speaker that is getting amped externally, usually 12-16AWG, depending on the application. Anything over 50W RMS gets 16AWG, anything over 100W RMS gets 12AWG. It's better to be safe than have to do it all over again.

For those of you who claim to be 'pushing 100+ Watts for years without a problem on stock wiring' or 'when I install an amp I just cut the wires behind the deck to power the speakers with the amp', you're not getting 100+ Watts RMS, you'd be lucky to be getting half that.. and you'd be lucky if you noticed the difference between 50W RMS and 100W RMS, since the difference is inaudible in most applications.

On a side note: I sure would hate to be the guy that pays the shop that UrDoneSRH installs at to install my equipment.. no offense buddy, but you don't know squat about mobile audio, or you're hiding it real well behind that plethora of BS you just dug up on google. It's methods such as you described that piss a lot of people of, especially those of us who make a real living installing mobile audio & video professionally (again, Best Buy/Circuit City guys - you're 1 week training course doesn't make you a 'pro').

Sorry if this offends anyone, but the truth hasn't been told thus far, and it needed to come out. I don't mean to be rude, I only mean to prove a very valid point.

-mak


PS: To the OP: If you ever decide to re-wire those, the proper way is to remove your fenders (I know, I know.. bare with me) on your cb7, you'll see the plastic flange exposed where the stock wiring resides, you can then pull the kick panels and carpet down inside of the vehicle, and push a 'reach rod' (or metal coat hanger, if you don't have the 'reach rod') carefully through that stock flange, from the outside.. once you see it pop through on the interior of the vehicle, attach your speaker wire to the end of it, and pull it back out.

On the driver's side of your cb7, there are a couple of bolts to take the stock fusebox down so you can get to that opening, just be careful to not unplug any of the wiring from the side/back of the fusebox. Repeat the above steps carefully, and enjoy!

[i-07]

lol so true i had re wire my stereo lots of times lol

[mak]

I just wanted to point out again that I had no intention of offending anyone, only saying what's on my mind and correcting the myths and errors found in this thread so nobody ends up installing their speakers to find out it needs to be re-done because it was done wrong the first time.

-mak

[i-07]

I just wanted to point out again that I had no intention of offending anyone, only saying what's on my mind and correcting the myths and errors found in this thread so nobody ends up installing their speakers to find out it needs to be re-done because it was done wrong the first time.

-mak

thats ok i'm not offended

[sonikaccord]

has anyone noticed that this thread is a year old???
A 50w to a 100w is essentially doubling the power which equals about a 3db gain which is definitely noticeable.
As far as upgrading the stock wiring when installing a new hu, I feel that its overkill because even an aftermarket hu will only put out about 25w per channel and 20awg can easily handle about 50w-60w.
Im not trying to start an argument, just a constructive debate.