How to Install a Car Audio System

Learn to install a car audio system yourself and you'll be able to get great sound in your vehicle without spending extra for installation. Each car and audio system has a unique installation process and how complicated that process is varies. Because of this, the best way to learn how to install your sound system is to check the instructions the components came with. If you're considering learning how to install a car audio system in the future, though, here's an overview of what you'll be doing.

Choose the speaker placement

Depending on how your car is built, you can install your speakers in the dash, doors, or rear deck. Where the speakers are located is critical to quality audio, though, so give it some thought. Most importantly, try to make sure there's as little distance as possible between the left and right speakers. Also, plan where the wires and cables will go before you start installing them. Measure the distances between where each component will be mounted and the other components they'll be connected to so you can see how much wire you'll need and where the wires will go.

Prepare the car

Before you start doing anything with the car, disconnect the negative cable from your battery. Never work on a car when that cable is connected. When you're ready to start the actual installation, disassemble everything in the area where you plan to install the car audio system. Over all, you'll save time on the installation if you first pull out the seats, panels, and carpeting where you're going to work so you can see what you're doing.

Vibration damping

Once you've decided where to put the speakers, you can install Dynamat or a similar material to stop vibration. This material really does affect sound quality. Without it, the metal panels of your car act like a tuning fork and conduct noise, reducing the sound purity.

Wiring

After the vibration damping material is in, you're ready to run the wires. In most cases, you'll start with the power wire and then run the RCA cables, which carry the sound signal from the amplifier to the head unit. Then put in the interface and remote turn-on wires. Carefully secure all the wires using zip ties in several places. Skip securing them and you run the risk of wires coming loose, then breaking or wearing thin and causing short circuits. Also, make sure the wires aren't pulled too tight and aren't close to moving parts that might rub against them.

Head unit and amplifier

When you've got the wires and cables installed, you can hook up the head unit (the cassette/CD player that sits in the dash) and amplifiers. This process may take a few hours. Good sound requires correct installation, so don't rush. First, install the head unit and, if you have one, the CD changer. With car stereos that come with quality factory audio, you won't need to add anything extra. If you doubt the quality, though, you may want to make a separate circuit for the head unit. Next, run the wiring for the amplifier and secure the amplifier in place. If you're planning to use filters from the head unit to the amplifiers, you can install them now. When you've got this done, reconnect the car's negative cable and hook one of the speakers up to an amplifier to check if it works.

Speakers

The next step is to install the speakers. To install car speakers in the door or dash, you'll need to remove the grilles first. If you can't remove the grilles, you'll probably have to take off the dash pads or door panels. To install car speakers in the rear deck, the method depends on whether you're working with top-mounted or bottom-mounted speakers. For bottom-mounted speakers, you'll need to reach into the trunk in order to get at the screws holding the speakers. Otherwise, in each case the installation process is similar.

After you remove the grille or panel, you can take out the screws holding the existing speaker and disconnect the speaker harness that was attached to that speaker. After this, connect the speaker harness to the new speaker and plug the speaker harness (now connected to the new speaker) into the harness in the car. Finally, set the speaker into the opening and reinstall with the screws. Then put the grilles or panels back in place.

Enclosure

When the speakers are in place, you're ready to build an enclosure for them. Keep in mind that there's no one perfect type of enclosure. The right enclosure for you depends on the type of sound you want. Different sizes and shapes (long, short, etc.) will produce different sounds. The enclosure is important for sound quality, though. A badly designed enclosure can ruin the sound quality of even the best speakers. If you're not sure how to build an enclosure for the sound you want, the staff at a car audio store will probably be able to help you.

After the enclosure is in, finishing the job is just a matter of clean-up and painting or upholstering the renovated parts of the car the way you want.

Learn how to install a car audio system yourself and you can not only get top quality sound, but save money, too. Keep in mind, though, that installation methods can vary depending on the make and model of car and the type of audio system. The instructions that came with your sound system components will give you the most accurate explanation of how to install a car audio system in your car.