General Car Audio FAQs

i would never cut the oem wire. buy the speaker wire connector adapters.


but otherwise, your wiring method is correct.

 

Thank ya. And damn. Now I have to wait for the correct connectors from crutchfield. They sent me the wrong ones. Which is unlike them.

 

@soundman98 I read that with a powered sub amp. You either run rca’s or high voltage speaker inputs but never both. Right now I’m using the speaker wire feed. (It also turns on the amp when peaked). But I’m going to run an accessory remote wire and rca’s instead. Hence my question. Also. Do you have a favorite fuse to use for an add a fuse install for this application?
Thanks in advance.

 

i don't like the wording of the statement. you can absolutely run speaker and rca cables to a powered sub amp. but one will not be used, so it will be a waste of time, labor, and material. to put another way--you can't connect both to the amp at the same time. it would be like having 2 people attempting to drive the same vehicle-- it's going to end up with some unexpected noises!

generally, if you're tying into the factory system, and have an auto-on capable sub amp, the benefit of just running off the speakers is that you can set the amp to auto turn on, and it keeps the install simple. this used to be more true of older cars where install shops would just grab one of the rear parcel shelf 6x9 signals to run to the sub in the trunk-- 6ft of wire, and 15 minutes! though this scenario doesn't really apply to this truck, as the rear speaker signal is heavily altered, and we can't get the most out of a sub setup due to that filtering. so we need to be pulling the speaker signal off the front speakers, or off the head unit itself.

the preference is always to use rca/low level inputs to an amp, as speaker level inputs require other filtering and conversions that can 'muddy' the sound. but rca cables generally require more labor/time to install.

there is a middle ground of installing a line output converter to convert the speaker signal to an rca signal. it does do the same job as the amp does with the speaker level input, the benefit of separating the amp from the conversion process is potential troubleshooting issues later or, if you get bored and/or burn out gear like me, the minimal extra cost allows for alternate experimentation and easy replacement. though any sound quality concerns from the level conversion are going to stay the same as before.

if you're running wire off the dash/head unit area, i do highly recommend running the remote wire. the majority of the time, the auto turn on's work fine, but edge cases crop up really quickly sometimes, and usually when least desired. a remote +12v trigger removes all those considerations and will work much more reliably.



i've never used add-a-fuses. i've always ran wire straight off the battery. so i don't have any suggestions for the best brand of them. my assumption with vehicle wiring is that it was sourced from the lowest bidder, and therefore is only just adequate for the oem equipment connected to it. i don't trust adding anything more an 1-2A to the factory wiring, and only use what i must for signal triggering and system integration. i really prefer to run my own new wire for new higher-draw devices so i can more easily verify that the power path is good. too often, jumping off existing fuse locations can introduce resistance and restrictions that result in hums and pops from other vehicle systems that weren't initially identified as part of that fusing system. i also tend to avoid oem grounding locations for the same reason. i'll ground components next to the oem grounds, but i won't use the same ground bolt.

of note-- once you're running rca's the length of a vehicle, you're already pulling the door sills, dash panels, and trims around the amp. pulling a brand new fused wire off the battery, guaranteed to be more than adequate for the new install, is going to be adding only minimal extra time and labor to what already needs to be done. even the extra cost wouldn't be significantly more for a quality oxygen-free amp kit.

 

So the only question I have now is What is a good source for my remote wire? I have line out and rca cables that will be easy. But the remote needs an accessory source for the amp to turn on an off with the key. And finally thank you very much for your reply! It helped a lot.

 

if you're running rca's, it's probably safe to assume you've got an aftermarket radio. i always use/recommend the adapter harness for the radio as a sacrificial connection for the purpose.

 

No I have oem radio and I do use a T harness from Amazon for my specific truck.
I’m pretty sure the sub amp I have is a pos
The harness came with a remote lead. I made sure that lead has power withe accessory on.

 

I’ll be doing the Rockville install on Saturday. Hopefully jason can sort out the audiotek unit.

 

for the remote turn-on only, i'd be ok with running a fuse tap on a switched accessory circuit, and then

That's really all you need. If I had no aftermarket integration options to cut into, I'd use a fuse tap on an accessory circuit with a 0.5-1A fuse if possible

 

Well we’ll see on Saturday. When I used the rear speakers for a high level input. It was a matter of convenience along with the auto start. So with the lack of sound only a few burps from the unit I used the rca’s. With a remote lead. Then I got better burps out of the unit. So with all the speakers working with the T harness installed. And still only getting burps from the sub amp. It stands to reason the unit is in question here. I disconnected the high level input when I did this along with the switching the auto start button to off. Moving the settings around did nothing. I do have the T harnes set at 1 volt. The lowest setting. But I doubt that has anything to do with my results

 

if you've got a 3.5mm-to-rca cable, you can connect a phone directly to the sub to check it's functionality.

set the input to around 1/2, and keep a thumb on the phone volume control

 

No shit?! That’s amazing!!

 

yep! the trick is just to not to tell the sub what audio signal is going into it!

generally headphone outputs are somewhat close to the same level as car audio 'low level' audio outputs. well within spitting distance at least.

 

Also, a lot of noise is picked up, on RCA Amp cables, if you have replaced your headlights/fog lights with L.E D. Bulbs.
I found this one out the hard way, after having replaced the rca cables 2x.
I just happen to notice the headlights were on, when I turned them off, Bam, the noise was gone.

 

sometimes you can shift the routing of the cables to eliminate the noise as well

 

Dont skimp on RCAs - knuknonceptz

 

ok iknow ive posted this here before and now cant find the info. I have a 2017 SR5 with the downgraded head unit, i have a friend with a 16 sport that upgraded his head unit and gave me his old one. i know to use it, it is all plug and play but i need the bigger bezzle piece. i just talked to my local dealer ship and i think he may have been confused on what i was asking for and quoted me $450. i found this below but having a hard time confirm that this is the correct part number. Anyone have any insight on this?
https://www.ebay.com/itm/2850422313...5-CXBBO0aZ5AEJf20r98Z72zcPrK32ZhoC9ugQAvD_BwE

Edit; found the part number. Looking for 5540504120c5 if anyone has this! cant really decide if its actually worth spending $250 on

 

So I have a question.. / questionS.
I was looking at Crutchfield, and liked the Rockford Fosgate P1692 for the front.
https://www.crutchfield.com/p_575P16922/Rockford-Fosgate-P1692.html?tp=105

The rear doors would be Rockford Fosgate R1675x2
https://www.crutchfield.com/p_575R1675X2/Rockford-Fosgate-R1675X2.html?tp=105

The tweeters I like the Rockford Fosgate Punch P1T-s
https://www.crutchfield.com/p_575P1TS/Rockford-Fosgate-Punch-P1T-S.html?tp=105
but for those, I'm not 100% clear on how to connect those if I get them. (I'm not sure about the passive crossover and how to wire those in.
For the tweeter install, I was looking at buying these and finding a way to mount them to the brackets.

$8 X AUTOHAUX 2 Pcs Black Plastic Car Tweeter Speaker Mounting Adapter Bracket Rings for Toyota for Subaru for Lexus

https://www.amazon.com/AUTOHAUX-Pla...eywords=tacoma+tweeter&qid=1678927881&sr=8-14

Later on down the road, I was looking at the OEM audio sub and amp setup, since it's plug and play.
https://oemaudioplus.com/product/toyota-tacoma-dbl-cab-system-500q/

Any advice, criticisms or whatever would be greatly appreciated. Last time I messed with anything "audio" related was back in the 80's on my 1968 Charger.

 

So, for your fronts I wouldn't recommend that set up because you will end up having two tweeters on that same channel (in my opinion that can make the sound stage worse than stock), but in any case, if that's what you want to go for, Crutchfield will supply the free Tweeter Harness and a universal tweeter mount which you'll need to drill and cut to make it fit (or you can go with the Amazon one). The wiring harness will be plug and play to the OEM tweeter that comes from the stereo. At the other end of that harness it'll have two pig tail wires that goes into the tweeter's passive crossover which then outputs to the Tweeter itself.

Since RF doesn't make a 6x9 component setup, and if you want to stick with the Punch series, then i'd recommend getting the Rockford Fosgate P165-SE (make sure it's the SE and not the S). The SE comes with separate Crossover where you can hideaway under the dash. Crutchfield will supply you the 6.5 to 6x9 adapter.

DO NOT get the S version as that one has the crossover built into the woofer and require you to run another wire from the door to the tweeter.

This is a great thread regarding how to wire up the crossover from a component setup >> Hope this helps anyone installing | Tacoma World