how to connect speakers to an amp : Wiring your speakers and amp can be a huge undertaking, especially if you don’t have a lot of electrical experience. While it’s always best to leave complex projects to the pros, there are few ways you can connect your speakers to an amp from the comfort of your own home. The process may be a bit painstaking, but with a few speaker wires, terminal connectors, and a soldering iron, you can hook up your speakers to your amp.
Hooking up Car Speakers
Install an amp in your vehicle. Find a large area in the back luggage section of your car that can fit an amp. For more compact cars, like a sedan, find a space behind, beneath, or between your back passenger seats to fit the device. As you set up your amp, you’ll need 3 leads, or long wires, to connect the device to your car speakers.
- If you’re having trouble installing an amp on your own, talk to an audio electrician for assistance.
- You can find the supplies you’ll need at an auto parts store.
Connect the RCA, speaker, and remote turn-on leads to your amp. Feed the RCA cable along the bottom of the doors, then plug it into the back of the amp. Once you’ve done this, plug the speaker and remote turn-on leads into the back of the amp.
- These wires may be different colors, depending on the manufacturer.
- If your stereo is in the front of the car, you can run the wires along the floor, or near the bottom of the car doors.
- These leads connect your car’s stereo/receiver to your amp.
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Cut out at least 4 sections of speaker wire that can fit in your car. Visit a hardware store or other shop that sells wiring supplies. Purchase several lengths of speaker wire, as these will connect your car speakers to the newly installed amp. Speaker wires consist of 2 separate wires, which connect to the positive and negative terminals on your amp.
- These 2 small and thin wires are surrounded with black insulation.
- Car speakers and amps rely on negative and positive terminals, or power sources, to produce sound.
Remove 1 cm (0.39 in) of wire coating from 1 end of the wires. Use wire cutters or pliers to remove a small section of outer black insulation, then pull off a small segment of plastic coating from the ends of each black and red wire. Repeat this process on the opposite end of the speaker wire. Discard the leftover plastic once you’ve removed it from the wire, and make sure that an even amount of bare wire is exposed on both ends.
- You’ll need to remove the outer black insulation as well as the plastic coating on the 2 inner wires.
- The red goes with the positive terminal, while the black wire goes with the negative.
Attach heat shrink tubing to the wires. Visit a hardware store and pick up some heat shrink tubing, which essentially looks like a plastic sheath or cover for your wires. Cut a small, 1 in (2.5 cm) section of tubing and slide it over the exposed section of the wires, which helps make them more secure. To secure the tubing to the wire, hover a heat gun at least 3 in (7.6 cm) away from the surface.
- The base of the heat shrink tubing fits over both wires before splitting and covering each individual wire.
- If you’re unsure about how to use heat shrink tubing, ask a professional for help.
- Don’t touch or handle the tip of the heat gun when it’s turned on, or you could burn yourself.
Solder metal terminals to the end of your speaker wires. Slide a metal terminal clip onto the end of each exposed wire. Power up your soldering gun, then press the tip of the tool where the clip meets the wire. Repeat this process to add terminals to all the exposed ends of your speaker wire.
- You’ll need to do this at least 8 times, so there’s a terminal on the end of each exposed wire.
- If you aren’t experienced in soldering, try practicing with some scrap wire beforehand.
- Check online or in a hardware store to see if you can buy wires with the terminals already attached.
Connect 4 speaker wires to right and left inputs on the amp. Search along the back of the amp for multiple sets of terminals. Use a screwdriver to loosen the screw attached to each amp terminal, then slide the wire connector into place. Be sure to connect the red wires to the positive terminal, and the black wires to the negative terminal. Once all the wires are in place, use a screwdriver to tighten the terminals and speaker wires in place.
- Check the back of the amp for plus and minus signs, which correspond to the different terminals.
- Some speaker systems may be arranged differently, depending on the car you have.
- Keep track of which speakers the wires correspond to. For instance, 1 terminal will power the right front speaker, while another may power the left.
Attach the other ends of the wire to a standalone speaker. Remove at least 1⁄2 in (1.3 cm) of insulation from the positive and negative ends of the speaker wire with a pair of pliers or wire cutters. Thread both sections of wire through the corresponding positive and negative terminals. Use your hands to bend and twist the exposed wire around the terminals, which secures it to the speaker.
- You can also use small strips of electrical tape to help secure the wire to your speakers.
Attach the other ends of the wire to a standalone speaker. Remove at least 1⁄2 in (1.3 cm) of insulation from the positive and negative ends of the speaker wire with a pair of pliers or wire cutters. Thread both sections of wire through the corresponding positive and negative terminals. Use your hands to bend and twist the exposed wire around the terminals, which secures it to the speaker.
- You can also use small strips of electrical tape to help secure the wire to your speakers.