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Old 09-27-2016, 03:51 PM
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assplay
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Default Remove amp from sound system

First thing I know NOTHING about speaker systems.

I recently bought a car wired for a sub, with an amp in the back, I want to remove the amp and these other weird boxes I don't know what they are/do.

So I took a few pics of what's back there and how it's wired I hope someone can guide me through it a little bit so I completely mess up the wiring. In the process of taking pics I must have wiggled a wire wrong because now the speakers cut in and out when I hit a bump and what not.

The little boxes appear to be wired to the rear speakers and the amp, dont know what they are...
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Old 09-28-2016, 11:56 AM
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fcm
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Default Re: Remove amp from sound system

The small boxes at passive cross-overs, for tweeters and mid range/woofers they will have a pr. of leads, [+/-] from the amp and then a pr. to the tweeter and a pr. to the woofer. for left and right side.

You said, "car wired for a sub, with an amp in the back" but what I see is a 4ch amp running front and rear speakers with the fronts, [most likely] having passive cross-overs.
If you remove the amp you will have to wire the HUs, [head unit] to the speakers, [cross- overs and front speakers].
Feel free to IM me if you have questions. 94
Old 09-29-2016, 09:10 AM
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assplay
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Default Re: Remove amp from sound system

I was really hoping you would stop by in here.


Ok.

So I was wondering if you know of any good information write-ups/DIYs/etc. about stereo wiring so I'm not being completely lost while I do this.


I kinda figured I would not be able to just pull everything out and keep it still working. So what's going to be my first plan of action? ​​​​​tomorrow, I'll get into the finer details of this set up to provide more specific details about the setup. And describe what is wired to what and how.
Old 09-29-2016, 11:21 AM
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Default Re: Remove amp from sound system

As when doing anything electrical on your car, disconnect the batt., [neg. terminal].

#1 pull the HU, [head unit] as you will need to rewire it and unplug the RCAs from it.
#2 disconnect all leads from amp and remove it.
#3 disconnect the speaker leads from the cross-overs.
#4 disconnect the rear speaker leads and connect up the stock speaker leads to them.
#5 remove all amp wiring/RCAs/speaker leads from car.
#6 tell me the MM&Y of your car, make and models of front and rear speakers and make and model of HU, pix of the speakers and HU will help.
You will also have to uninstall the front speakers and the rear speakers depending on MM&Y of car. 94
Old 09-29-2016, 07:26 PM
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assplay
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Default Re: Remove amp from sound system

So I won't be able to just wire the speakers directly to the HU?

Or is it dependant on what HU and speakers?
Old 09-29-2016, 07:37 PM
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Default Re: Remove amp from sound system

Originally Posted by bassplay
So I won't be able to just wire the speakers directly to the HU?

Or is it dependant on what HU and speakers?
its dependent, depending on which speakers you are trying to wire in

generally you will not be able to use a subwoofer without some sort of amplifier. Smaller speakers should be fine depending on the power requirements and how much power your HU can support
Old 09-30-2016, 02:36 AM
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assplay
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Default Re: Remove amp from sound system

Ok well this morning I'll get eyes on the speakers and do some research on my HU.

I'm pretty sure it's a Kenwood echelon. I haven't popped off the speaker guards yet.
Old 09-30-2016, 09:30 AM
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Default Re: Remove amp from sound system

At this point the speakers are wired to the amp, [you want to remove] so you will have to wire the HUs internal 4ch amp to those speakers, [as long as HU has an internal amp] I know of no Kenwood "excelon" HUs that did not have an internal amp.
HU model number should be on the face plate, give me that model# and I can get the specs for it.

Although most aftermarket HU are "high powered" and will drive just about any speaker how efficiently it does that will depend on the speakers you have, pix and or model numbers of the speakers will help.

With that said at least one set of your speakers are "component speakers" a separate tweeter and woofer, with the passive cross-overs between the components and the amplifier, [off board or onboard amp].
It is a good bet you will still need to use the passive cross-overs on the component speakers or another set of cross-overs.

Still need make and model numbers of all the stereo components to better help you on the best way to go about removing and rewiring the system. 94
Old 10-03-2016, 09:15 AM
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assplay
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Default Re: Remove amp from sound system

Ok I'm back sorry but I work nights so sometimes I don't do anything but sleep haha

Components in the car...
Kenwood exelon KDC- x993
Fronts, Sony x- plod xs- v1630a
Rears, auddiobahn ACX- 693

I think I'm reading everything right but lemme double check.

The HU power is 50w x 4
The front speakers are RMS(?) 220w max
And the rear are RMS 225w max

So pretty much there's no way to get out enough power without the amp?
Old 10-03-2016, 11:49 AM
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Default Re: Remove amp from sound system

OK so the HU is 4x22 W RMS
The Sony speakers are 55 W continuous power handling so the HU will drive them just fine,
The Audiobahn speakers are 255W continuous power handling 550 max power and need the off board cross overs they also need more wattage then your HU has to properly drive them, I would replace them with a simple 2 way 6x9 even just a one way, midrange 6x9.94
Old 10-04-2016, 04:39 AM
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assplay
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Default Re: Remove amp from sound system

So what's the wattage I should hunt for with the New rears

If 4x22w HU I can't push anything past 22w right?
Old 10-04-2016, 03:49 PM
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Default Re: Remove amp from sound system

Yes HU will drive any speaker how well it drives a speaker depends on a lot of things one of them is speaker wattage, but speaker efficacy is much more important and a 55 W speaker is much more efficient then a 255 W speaker, [not that your HU would not drive the rears you have now, it would just not sound very good].

It was the wrong way to set that system up in the first place, essentially a rear stage front fill system, like sitting with your back to the band, a system should be front stage rear fill and technically no rear speakers are needed as stereo is two channels, left and right, ideally if rear speakers are used they should be mid-range/mid-bass only, no tweeters, [no highs] and better yet in mono so as not to introduce left/right bias to the front stage, that just screws up imaging.

Now before you go and buy speakers just connect the woofers of the rear speakers up to your HU, don't use the cross overs and see how they sound, they may just add some mid-bass to the system, can't hurt and you already have them. 94
Old 10-10-2016, 09:15 PM
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assplay
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Default Re: Remove amp from sound system

Ok I'm back haha


So I'll try it all with out the amp first my problem is there are two wires coming from the head unit then four going to the rear speakers. Can I just combine the positive and negative pairs coming from the speakers or do I have to pick one set woofer or tweeter?

The way it's currently wired is

Two wires from HU>into amp>out of amp>two wires into crossovers> four wires out of crossovers> into rear speakers.

can I just tie the HU wires into the speakers even though there are extra pairs ?


I have some more detailed pics if needed
Old 10-11-2016, 01:14 PM
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Default Re: Remove amp from sound system

There should only be , 4 RCAs , [2 sets] front and rea] they are the blue cables plugged into the front and rear low level inputs, [these will not be needed/used so remove completely] the only other lead running from the HU is the amp remote turn on lead. [blue] you have two of them, most likely incorporated into the RCA set, [also not needed]

You should also be able to remove all the aftermarket speaker leads everything running from amp and to/from the cross overs.

All Honda/Acura are factory wired for speakers, front and rear even if car came without radio and speakers, [very few exceptions] these are the speaker leads you will use, connecting the HUs speaker outputs, [4 sets of them, L&R front and L&R rears, Pos.+ and Neg.-, [none of these can be connected together, it will blow the HUs internal amp].You will wire the HUs, [power, acc., ground and speaker outputs] to the OEM radio plug, hopefully the previous owner used a radio harness adapter, although not needed it makes the job easier.
Give me the MM&Y and trim level of your car and I will get you an install guide, but here is the wiring... https://www.installdr.com/Harnesses/HA-Wiring.asp.

Once that is done you will connect the stock speaker wiring to the speakers, the speaker plugs will be in close proximity to the stock speaker locations, on most Honda/Acura the metal terminals can be "de-pinned" from the plugs and used for pretty much any speaker, [even the thin neg.- terminal on most speakers] and you would only use the woofer terminal on the rear speakers, eliminating the need for the cross overs.

FYI, the + and - markings do not technically mean Pos. and Neg, a speaker does not have a Pos. and Neg. terminal, it makes no difference what speaker lead you connect to what terminal, all that matters is that both sides, [left and right] are wired the same way, or they will be "out of phase", the fronts and rears may or may not have to be in phase with each other, [wired the same way, but will have to be in phase with each other] it depends on what the read speakers are used for and other factors, in your case I would try them both ways.
The color coded speaker leads and the + and - on the speakers make it easier to do the wiring, but phasing should be checked anyway, very easy to do, ones wired turn on HU best to use a favorite tune, fade to the front speakers and balance all the way from left to right and center a few times, if bass response is better when balanced to the center then when on the left or right you are in phase on the other hand if bass response is better balanced to the left or right then when in the center you are out of phase.

Checking front to rear phase is a little harder but essentially the same but fading front to rear instead of balancing left to right, and the "center" may/will not be in the midpoint of the fader , but the same thin will happen, at a point near the center of fade control bass response will be best, [when in phase] but again try them out of phase also, one or the other will sound best to you with the music you listen to,

If every thing is working properly you should end up with pretty good "staging", [where you perceive the sound coming from], FRONT STAGE, you should not even hear the rear speakers, they are only there as rear fill, 94
Old 10-16-2016, 03:42 PM
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assplay
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Default Re: Remove amp from sound system

So can I just takes these two leads coming from the HU and wire them directly to the rears?
(Take both sets of + and - wires coming from the speaker and pair them up then wire it to the HU leads?)
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Old 10-16-2016, 03:50 PM
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assplay
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Default Re: Remove amp from sound system

Or should I pull all accessory components to the system and then wire up the rears ?


1997 honda civic cx BTW


And I just want to say THANK YOU AGAIN FOR ALL THE HELP AND INFO FCM!!!!!!!!!
Old 10-17-2016, 11:42 AM
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Default Re: Remove amp from sound system

Those are speaker output leads running from the amp to the front speakers, may be connected to the front speaker leads behind the deck.

Remove everything aftermarket and use the stock speaker wiring behind the deck in the stock radio plug. 94

Last edited by fcm; 10-17-2016 at 11:42 AM. Reason: typo
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