i have a 2002 honda accord ex (2door) with a stock stereo and speak config.

i recently bought 2 12" subs, a box, all the cables and wires i need but I have not yet purchased an amp because I am not quite sure exactly what Ill be needing. So far, it seems i need a standard 2 channel amp at about 600 watts, but I need to get some kind of wiring diagrams for the setup. as far as installing it goes, its gonna be a DIY job, ill be doing it myself so id appreciate any info on what to do, what NOT to do and how to avoid blowing my subs or myself up.

basically, i just need to know what im going to have to do as far as speakers are concerned. as far as i know, i was just going to connect the amp and subs along with the 2 rear speakers (above back seats), the 2 door speakers, and the two tweeters on the dash. I just need to know if this is possible to do or whether or not its best to replace all 6 speakers with new ones, get a fancy 4 channel amp and wire it all to the one amp. id really liek to avoid the last option as im running low on cash and i just want to do the easiest install possible.

If anyone can help me here, id really appreciate it.

 

tip #1 for any car audio fan ... swap your stock radio first. The without an adjustable crossover on the head unit, you can only achieve so much with the stock "bass" knob. Remember, you cannot seperate the bass signal, when you crank the stock bass, you raise that level for the interior speakers and sub. You won't get that extremely low thump you're looking for and you run the risk of blowing out your speakers.

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If you swap your radio, wiring the amp is extremely easy. Most aftermarket radios come with an RCA Sub out ... so run the red and white cables to the amp. After, run one more wire known as the "remote" (aka, the blue wire) to the amp.

The RCA's carry the sound signal, the "remote" tells the sub when the radio is acutally on.

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If you DON'T swap your radio, the install gets a bit more complicated.

You need to get a sound signal to your amp somehow. 2 options here ...

1. You might be able to patch into your rear speakers and grab a signal. Some amps have this feature, some don't.

(note ... the lower amp and the green boxed area, that's what you need)

2. If you have an amp that doesn't have the speaker input, you'll have to wire an RCA converter.

(note ... this is the only stock photo I could find. The model you need will have the exact same # of thinner wires, but only one set of female RCAs)

After you get your RCA issue resolved, you need to hook up a "remote" wire. The problem is, you don't have one on your stock radio. A "power antenna" wire from the stock wire harness can be tapped as a replacement ... unfortunately, I'm not sure if the wires are colored or not ... you'll need to locate a diagram of sorts.

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Either method above will allow you to have a sub with your factory speakers.

You don not need an 4 channel amp for stock speakers. You'll blow them the second you turn them on. Also, if you do swap your interior speakers, be sure to watch the mounting depth. Don't buy whatever sounds good, you have to make sure it fits first.

The biggest mistake any car audio fan makes is adding a sub first ... subs should be done last. The head unit should be what your system is built around, not the trunk.

 

thanks for all the advice. the reason i dont want to swap my head unit is mainly because it has both a 6 cd changer and cassette, and i happen to like that alot, as i use my ipod with it. eventually, probably in a month or so, I will end up swapping it out and then replacing all my speakers.

Either way, i still bought a 4 channel RCA patch, so whether i use the high level inputs, or just patch the rear speakers to RCA, ill have some flexibility, and hopefully i can do away with it with the purchase of a new head unit.

the amp i have has both an rca (front and rear) input and a high level inout, which probably has a connection for both front and rear speakers rather then jsut left and right channels.

as far as the remote cable issue, i have the diagrams for the accord ex 2002 wiring, and have located the connection needed so that the key turned in the ignition to the first position will cause the amp to turn on.

the only thing i really wanted is to see a basic wiring setup for a sub configuration like mine. ive drawn up my own but just to be sure i wanted to see where it is recomended to route the cables to the battery, and where best to ground the amp. lastly i anted to ask how to go about sealing the firewall once i have routed the power cable from the amp to the battery.

 

What "e3NiNe" said is true and accurate.
But the bottom line is it's best to get an aftermarket radio. The less wires and connections the better. Also, if you're gonna run subs & midrange speakers, It's best to use two different amps. You can use one for the subs and one for the midrange & tweeters. That way you can tune the mids separately from the subs.

 

well im not planning on changing the mids or the tweeters as of right now, i simply dont have the money or the time, since im moving to a new state in 1 month. it seems imminent that im goign ot have to change the head unit so i guess for now ill just run the amp off of the rear speakers, and once i come up with another $300 ill just purchase a new head unit and work towards some decent mids and tweeters.

 

If you only have one amp, what I would suggest is running the six speakers on that one amp. (2 rear deck/2 door/2 front tweeters) It will sound much better. Then when you get the aftermarket radio, you can run it the same way

 

Im in the same situation as retroshark I dont want to loose my 6 disc changer and cassette but just want to change the speakers and have a amp run the speakers.

 

You should be able to run an amp to power the speakers withoug losing the changer.

Since I didn't have a changer, it was an easy decision for me

 

Wiring the amp:
use the exact same setup as posted above.

Wiring the speakers:
wrap the old speaker wire harness in electrical tape
run the wire from the amp to the aftermarket speakers

the end.

When purchasing an amp, look for something 4 ch, 1 ch for each speaker.

 

You can get better sound quality out of the Ipod by swapping your head unit out for an aftermarket HU with a line-in. The Alpine in my old car has an external input that I used for both my Nomad and the SkyFi. That's exactly what I'm going to do with the new Accord. $200 will get you a suitable unit from Alpine, and other brands might be cheaper. (Or you can spend a little more and get something with more power and/or features.)

For the best end result, that's my recommendation.