Sub an Amp Questions

theostheone · 13-03-2007, 11:59 PM

hey people...

i recently bought a amp and sub for the fez. I own a wp mk6 fiesta. The amp is a soundstream 2 channel amp and the sub is a soundstream 12 inch, i also have the wiring kit. I was just wondering how to go about instaling the amp. Ive read a bit on how to take the fascia off and get to the back of the stereo but i have some qns:

1- if i get to the back of the stereo, is it easy to run the wires under the carpet or shoud they run somewhere else?

2- is it possible to simply use the wires from the rear speakers instead of getting to the back of the stereo?

3- i was told that i might need to get power to the amp from an ignition switch so that the amp isnt drawing power when the car isnt on... is that necessary?

4- are any capacitors or anything else needed?

my initial thought was to simply run some wires from the back of the stereo to run the amp, and also run the power wire from the battery to the amp... is it more complicated that this. I would like to hear from people that have put a sub and amp in.

ps. the amp i have can take high level inputs so theres no problems with rca converters

tigger68au · 14-03-2007, 08:19 AM

I too have a festiva (WA 1993).
I ran a set of RCA cables (designed for Amps) down the console, under the drivers seat and undr/along the foot panels of the doors. This cable also had a power control cable which turns the amp on and off with the stereo.
For power, I ran a cable direct from the battey (specifically designed for amps with fuse) and followed the RCA cable.
My Amp is screwed to the outside of my Sub box.
You will have to buy an Amp wiring kit.
Works greeat. Hope this helps?

Depending on your stereo, I had a Sony MP3/CD with sub outputs.

MISTA FIESTA · 14-03-2007, 10:04 AM

Hey Theo,

Ill just point out how mine is set up

Used the front speaker wires to give signal to 4 channel amp then to mono bloc for subs. Then from the 4 channel amp ran speaker wires back to all four speakers. All wires are hidden in the door trims/etc which was pretty easy to do. I have the trigger wire connected to a spare accessories fuse in the glove box. which means when igtition is one the amps come on. So you dont really need to get behind the facia.

Tho (dont quote me on this) if you use the rear speakers as signal source wouldnt they not work because the signal is only going to the amp and not back to the rear speakers. or can you just run an extra wire to the amp of the original wires.

Ives · 14-03-2007, 10:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tigger68au

I too have a festiva (WA 1993)....

But theostheone doesnt have a Festiva.

photn · 14-03-2007, 10:20 AM

okie dokie. ill tell yall how myne is set up. i took the facia and the HU out. found which wires where the speaker ones + & - then tapped into them and ran them into a line converter (25bucks). from there into my amp. all speakers work perfectly fine and the sub gets the signal it needs. the AMP should have a Low pass filter which you should switch to so that the sub is only producing bass. for the power i just ran a line from the main amp power source into a switch so that when i dont want the Sub on it isnt. and i can turn it on from the Flick of a switch.

Scareybear · 14-03-2007, 07:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by photn

okie dokie. ill tell yall how myne is set up. i took the facia and the HU out. found which wires where the speaker ones + & - then tapped into them and ran them into a line converter (25bucks). from there into my amp. all speakers work perfectly fine and the sub gets the signal it needs. the AMP should have a Low pass filter which you should switch to so that the sub is only producing bass. for the power i just ran a line from the main amp power source into a switch so that when i dont want the Sub on it isnt. and i can turn it on from the Flick of a switch.

Mines set up very similar to this only I'm running 2 amps, one for the front splits, one for the sub, I found the front speaker wires, ran them to a line converter, then from my small amp back up to the fronts. Not an ideal setup but most of my gear was free, so I made do wtih what I had.

theostheone · 20-03-2007, 12:20 PM

hey people,

i tried taking the HU out but the surrounding fascia didnt really come off because of the climate controls and AC still being hooked up. It also meant that i couldnt pull the fascia out enough for me to get the HU out.

I think i will try running some wires from the rear speakers to the amp, hopefully that will work.

photn · 20-03-2007, 12:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by theostheone

hey people,

i tried taking the HU out but the surrounding fascia didnt really come off because of the climate controls and AC still being hooked up. It also meant that i couldnt pull the fascia out enough for me to get the HU out.

I think i will try running some wires from the rear speakers to the amp, hopefully that will work.

there are 4 screws that are holding in the Air Con. pretty easy to get out if you know what your doing.

MISTA FIESTA · 20-03-2007, 12:24 PM

There is a guide on ukfiestanetwork.com, about taking the facia off.

theostheone · 20-03-2007, 12:28 PM

yeah i found two of them... but i also found that even if i do take the whole fascia off, the HU wasnt coming all the way out because it felt like there were wires holding it in. I could take it about 5-10 cms out but after that it wouldnt come out anymore. I didnt really want to pull it cos i wasnt sure if i was going to break anything so i just put everything back and decided to do it through the rear speakers.

photn · 20-03-2007, 12:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by theostheone

yeah i found two of them... but i also found that even if i do take the whole fascia off, the HU wasnt coming all the way out because it felt like there were wires holding it in. I could take it about 5-10 cms out but after that it wouldnt come out anymore. I didnt really want to pull it cos i wasnt sure if i was going to break anything so i just put everything back and decided to do it through the rear speakers.

cool.

there is a rubber clip on the back holding it in. some sort of Accident security thing.