Wiring an Amp

[TheOG]

I bought my 98 firebird with a monsoon soundsystem and the owner told me it was already wired for a new sub. I looked around and under the passenger seat I found 1 grey cable that is tied to the bolt that keeps the seatbelt in, 2 blue cables labeled as battery cables coming out from the plastic by the door, and 2 more cables coming from the same place that each end in 2 male plugs that look like they fit into the L/R input plug of the amp. I assumed that he must have been running 2 subs, and hooked the grey cable into my amp as the ground, one blue one as the battery and plugged in a left and a right input. When I started the car back up, the power light did not go on in the amp. I switched battery cables, etc. Nothing worked. Is it possible that he was running only one sub? And there is an a plug in the back of the amp for "REM" and I have no idea what that is. Help, please.

[TheOG]

Re: Wiring an Amp

I just popped the hood to take a look and it isn't attached to the battery. I know the plug attaches the positive terminal of the battery. How do I do it? Do I unscrew the positive terminal then screw it back in with the plug sandwiched there, or is it fine to wrap the terminal of the plug around the bolt for the positive terminal of the battery?

[96firebird311]

Re: Wiring an Amp

REM stands for Remote. It's a small +12V signal sent to the amp to tell the amp to turn on. Lack of that +12V on the REM would cause the amp to turn off. If you still have the stock headunit, tap into the pink wire on the headunit to use for a remote wire. Its the power antenna turn on lead. Does the same thing. Oh and to just test the amp real quick.... you can jumper a wire from the +12V main power wire to the REM terminal on the amp. Just to see if it'll turn on. But do not leave it like this because you're amp will never turn off. lol

As for what wires go to what.... it's hard for anyone to tell without being there. Wire colors mean nothing. As for connecting the main power to the battery, you should use one of these:

Most any install shop will have them for a few bucks. They will have two versions. A regular or short version and then a long version. You need the shorter one. Make sure you install an in-line fuse as well.

Thats all for now...... tired...

[TheOG]

Re: Wiring an Amp

I took out the headunit and saw that there are 2 cables like the two in the backseat that each end in 2 male RCA connectors, and a narrow blue one about the width of all the other wires back there, including the pink radio one, and it too has a matching counterpart in the backseat. The cable ends just in a stripped wire. I assume that that's the remote wire. I don't know where to plug that into in the back of the headunit, or the RCA connectors. I was thinking I could yank out the pink wire and put blue one into it because my car doesn't have an antannae, the original owner removed it. But I am concerned that if I tap into the power antannae wire, the speaker will only turn on when I'm listening to the radio and not cd's.

[TheOG]

Re: Wiring an Amp

Ok, my main problem is where the hell the RCA cables go. I can't figure it out for the life of me and I desperately need help

[96firebird311]

Re: Wiring an Amp

Ok. We need to clear some things up. Please answer each numbered question with a yes or no.

1) Are you still using the factory CD player?
2)You say the previous owner removed the antenna.... so you don't have an antenna at all? How do you intend to listen to the radio?
3)And all the wiring for the antenna is still in the rear of the vehicle? Just bare wires hanging there?

It sounds to me like the previous owner had an aftermarket CD player in there. Then he took it out and put the stock unit back in there before he sold it to you. The factory player does not have connections for RCA cables. (the two male end you are referring to) You can either buy an aftermarket CD player or buy a Line Output Converter (converts from speaker leads into RCA). I highly recommend sucking it up and spending the money on an aftermarket CD player. Doesn't have to be anything crazy. Just something with an RCA sub out.

If you decide to get an aftermarket headunit, it will have a real remote turn-on lead to connect to the "thin blue wire" in the dash now. If you decide to go with the LOC, just connect the pink wire at the REAR of the vehicle to your amp's REM terminal. It will remain on even while a CD is playing. Tapping into the pink wire at the rear prevents you from hacking up the stock harness.

Yes the RCAs plug into the line in terminal on the amp. Do you have a test light or a multimeter? Test some wires to find out which is connected to the battery and which is ground. Also, with bare wires laying around, you're bound to have already/will soon blow a fuse. Watch what you're doing.