I will be mounting my Pioneer 6200F 4ch amplifier in a 1999 Honda Civic 2dr coupe

I have been considering mounting it in two places: Under the passenger seat and to the rear seats in the trunk.

I am a little worried about mounting the amp under the seat for safety factors. I feel it is too much in the open and would possibly be kicked or have something spilt on it when passengers are in the back seats. If I mount this in the back it will be much further away and safer, but also seems to be harder to run wiring. Would heat be a factor in any of these places as well?

Now...for the mounting itself. I don't really want to screw anything into my car so I was thinking I would screw the amp onto a piece of wood and then mount the wood....but how would I get the wood to stay mounted to the car?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks a lot.

 

I would screw/bolt the wood to the car. Its good to use a piece of wood as an insulator so you don't create a possible ground loop by mounting directly to the car. If the amp rack is big enough or form-fit, you may be able to get away with it just laying flat.

 

Any benefits to mounting it in one spot apposed to another?

 

Under the seat has a lot of advantages, main one being shorter leads, RCAs, power, and ground path, but it must fit without interfering with seats movement.

If you are concerned with back seat pass. don't have them, or mount the amp to the back of the back seat.

Yes, mount the amp to wood, use sub floor adhesive to mount the wood. 94

 

like fcm said you can put it under the seats to have shorter leads of wiring to run but i've found that under the seat should only be done if there is no other place to put it...like in a standard cab pickup truck if there is no room behind the seats. i've put amps under seats before because that's where the owner had their heart set for placement and i've had those same people (not all of them) come back to have it relocated to the trunk cuz backseat passenger's constantly kick the ends and it messes with the settings or ends up snapping off RCAs in the amp itself just put it in the trunk...it will have more room overall to "breathe".

try this...find a piece of plywood or MDF at least 3/4" thick that is larger all the way around the amps mounting "footprint". if the amp is 12"X12" then try to get a piece of wood about 14"X14"...catch my drift???
clean off the surface of the wood...spray one side of the piece of wood with some spray adhesivebut not too much, allow it to tack up a little bit...3M super 77 works pretty good...wrap that piece of wood in as close to matching trunk material as the stock trunkliner...i've found you can go to a junkyard and take the entire trunkliner piece for less money than a stereo shop will charge for a smaller non-matching piece of box-carpet. sometimes if you know the guy there...they will let you have it for free...especially if most of it is stained to hell...remember you only need a little bit, just enough to cover the wood. now that you have a matching panel to mount your amp to...you can mount it to the back of the backseat with just a few screws...however, the backseat frame has quite a few holes in it so if you try to shoot a screw through you might just hit seat-foam instead of seat-frame-metal and end up with a wobbly mount for your amp. try to feel through the trunkliner to see where the holes are and position your carpeted wood accordingly. if you use about 4 or 5 regular coarse thread drywall or self-tapping sheet metal screws (usually about 1.5" to 1.75" long...remember you have to go through the carpeted wood and through the seatback metal to have it secure) one near each corner and one in the middle the wood will be mounted solidly! and most of the time the screws are either grey or black so the grey screws tend to blend in with the trunkliner material and you won't even notice them unless you look real hard or feel the surface itself. and if you ever decide to remove this panel...you will barely be able to tell where the screws even were at all! as long as you press firmly as you screw them in, it will not grab the material and clump up. also make sure to not over-tighten them cuz the screwhole can strip and then you have to screw in a different spot.

now screw the amp to your color-matched wood and wire it up and go blow out your eardrums

 

Thanks for the advice...I will let you know how it goes, come this weekend.

 

I have never had an amp mounted under a seat come back for any reason relating to it being under the seat, but then again I would never mount it so controls or terminals are facing the rear for obvious reasons, and I am talking literally 100s of amps. 94

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by fcm &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I have never had an amp mounted under a seat come back for any reason relating to it being under the seat, but then again I would never mount it so controls or terminals are facing the rear for obvious reasons, and I am talking literally 100s of amps. 94</TD></TR></TABLE>

some people have the equipment before they even walked in the door,
and you KNOW FOR A FACTthat the customer is always right
****...most of the customers i've seen know more about car stereos than me..they've never even replaced the battery in their alarm remote for themselves before but they're telling me what's going to work and what's not going to work. it's happened to me a couple of times. someone would have this big-*** amp and have his mind totally set on having it under the seat even though the only way it would fit in there would be to have the connections sticking out at one end or another. i would try to talk them out of it and told them that if they changed their mind on placement, they would have to pay for a whole new installation service. but after realizing there was no reasoning with them...i did as i was told and just put the thing in. sure enough about a week later he came back cuz his **** stopped working cuz the RCAs snapped off when his son stepped on them.
i've only been doing installs for over 13 years and even went to training for it...but i have NO IDEA what i'm talking about
i did try to warn him.
some people

 

Obviously if an amp will not fit under a seat I don't put it there, also if it can not be oriented in such a manner that controls or terminals are not facing the rear, then again I would not put it there, mounting an amp under a seat has to be an advantage not a hindrance.

You are right, "the customer is always right" and if he/she wants the amp mounter to the roof of their car then that's where I will mount it, if they want it under the seat then that's where it will go.

Here is some advice from someone who has been installing for about 35 years.

The customer may be right, but if he/she changes their mind, it will cost them.

I have been lucky, I have been able to talk people out of mounting an amp under the seat if I didn't think it was practical, yes even the ones that insist that that's where they want it, as with anything else they want installed where I do not think is practical, here's the advice, tell them there is no warranty, and when they change their mind it will cost them and explain how much, it's worked for me for 30+ years.

The customer may always be right, but they also have the right to change their mind, as long as what they want is not dangerous I will do it, if I know they are wrong I will try and explain the reasons why, and again if they change their mind, then it's just more money in my pocket. 94

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by fcm &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">The customer may always be right, but they also have the right to change their mind, as long as what they want is not dangerous I will do it, if I know they are wrong I will try and explain the reasons why, and again if they change their mind, then it's just more money in my pocket. 94 </TD></TR></TABLE>

exactly! it's pretty funny how the customer wants to talk to the actual person who's gonna be putting their hands on their baby for a little while while modifications or repairs are happening...yet they refuse to listen to said person when it comes to advice and speaking from experience...i just don't get it.