How to Hook An Amplifier To A Car Stereo

If you are attempting to hook up a stereo system to your car, you may be a little lost. One piece of the puzzle is hooking up an amplifier to provide power to the larger, after-market speakers.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

1. First decide where you will mount the amplifier. Most amplifiers are mounted in the trunk of the vehicle.

2. Disconnect battery before working with electronics. Now you will need to run power, stereo and a remote cable to the amplifier from the front of the vehicle.

3. You will first need to run a power wire. You can run it straight from the battery, through the firewall, under the carpet and into the trunk. You will need to remove some metal or plastic plates along the door jams to run the cable. You could also use an existing power line to power the amplifier.

4. Now you will need to run the RCA stereo cables from the back of the receiver to the amplifier. This provides the actual sound to the amplifier. Run these cables on the opposite side of the power cable. This helps eliminate sound interference. Invest in a good set of cables, some with a ground wire at the end.

5. Now you will need to run the remote wire from the back the stereo receiver to the amplifier, you can run this along with the power wire. This cable tells the amplifier to come on when the stereo is on. It is USUALLY labeled as a blue wire, but may differ by brand. Now you just need to hook all the cables up to the amplifier, run the speaker wires to the speakers and you are ready to rock.

Tips & Warnings

• Don't skimp when buying an amplifier, you get what you pay for.
• If you are hooking up only one speaker or subwoofer to amplifier, you can "bridge" the amplifier so that more power is sent to the speaker. This is done by using the positive of one channel and the negative of the other channel. Some amps are not bridgeable, see your owners manual to verify.