Install Car Speakers

The stock speaker systems that come in many new cars are, to put it simply, are often lousy. Luckily, not only are after-market speakers a relatively cost-effective way to boost your car's audio capabilities, but also are generally easy to install (though the sheer number of speakers available means that some will be more difficult to work with than others). See Step 1 below to start learning how to install a new set of trunk-rattling speakers in your car!

Steps

Preparing to Install New Speakers

Selecting New Speakers

  1. Look at the stereo system you are installing your new speakers on. Some systems are simple stereo audio systems that have limited wattage and two or four channels, so 100 watt speakers, or adding 8 or more just won't make sense. Trying to push too many speakers can, in fact, cause the quality of the audio to be diminished, or even damage the stereo.
  2. Check the dimensions of the existing speakers so minimum modifications will be needed to fit the new ones in. Speakers come in different shapes and sizes, so a planning to mount a replacement speaker, knowing if the original was a 6X9 inch oval rather than a {{safesubst:#invoke:convert|convert}} round one will help choose the best fit.
  3. Consider quality. Speakers with composite or fabric cones are usually noticeably better than those with paper, and ceramic permanent magnet speakers will out-perform wound electromagnetic speakers at the same power level.
  4. Select speakers with trim packages you like. You may find many different styles and colors of trim and covers in a similar price range, so it makes sense to pick the ones that look good, not just sound good.
  5. Look at the electronic characteristics of your speakers. Some have inline resistors to prevent static and crosstalk, some allow wiring in a series circuit configuration to allow you to add woofers and tweeters where you need them, and some can only be wired terminally to maintain the correct system impedance.
  6. Consider the power requirements of your new speakers as it will affect the wiring. High wattage speakers may not be able to perform with the factory wiring, and changing these to a larger size may mean considerable work, since factory wiring is concealed in hard to reach places.

Getting Ready to Install Your Speakers

  1. Gather your tools. As noted in the intro, there are thousands of possibilities available when it comes to after-market speakers. Because of this, any single list of tools is likely to be insufficient for installing some speakers and redundant for others. The tools you'll need to install your new speaker system will probably include most of the following, but are not necessarily limited to these:[1]
    • A variety of screwdrivers (flathead, phillips head, etc.)
    • Wire cutters/strippers
    • Crimping tool
    • Allen wrenches
    • Socket wrenches
    • Hobby knife
    • Soldering iron (and solder)
    • Electric drill
    • File
    • Torx driver
    • "Panel popper" tool
    • Electrical tape
  2. Ensure that the speakers you've chosen fit your car. Many after-market speakers will fit into the spaces for the stock speakers, while others will require minor modifications, like the installation of a mounting bracket, the drilling of new screw holes, etc. Be sure to take this into account when you buy your new speakers - the installation processes for differently-sized or shaped speakers can vary in difficultly.
    • Note that many speaker retailers offer online tools for determining which of their products best "fit" your car.[2]
  3. Prevent electrical damage by disconnecting your car's battery. As with nearly all types of electrical work, it's important to protect yourself and the electrical system before beginning. Disconnecting the battery's negative terminal prevents the risk of injury from electric shock or damage to the car's electronics through short circuiting, so be sure to do so before tampering with any of the car's internal electronics.
  4. Defer to any instructions provided with your new speakers. Since there's so many different types of speakers available, it's nearly impossible to write a how-to guide that will perfectly cover all of them. The instructions below are highly generalized and may not apply to every single set of speakers on the market. Whenever necessary, defer to the instructions included with your speakers, as these will be specifically suited to your unique product.

Installing New Speakers

  1. Take any panels or speaker grilles off. Nearly all speakers in the interior of a car will be covered with some sort of protective paneling or grill. Before the speaker can be modified or replaced, this barrier must be removed. Pry the grill off with a suitable tool, like a flat head screwdriver, removing any bolts or screws that are holding it in place if necessary.
    • The work you'll have to do to access your car's factory speakers will vary from car to car. In worst case scenarios, for example, you may need to remove seats, crawl into the trunk to access important bolts or wires, or even remove entire door panels to gain access to the speakers.
  2. Remove the factory speaker. Note that the speaker is usually, but not always, attached to a wiring harness, so take care not to rip it out when removing it. You may also find that you need to unscrew one or more small bolts and/or chip at any adhesive foam or glue that's holding the speaker in place.
    • If you think you'll need to re-install the factory speakers in the future (for instance, if you sell the car), don't forget to save any screws that you remove!
  3. Connect the new speaker to the car's electrical system. Usually, connecting your new speaker is a fairly simple matter of plugging your speaker's wiring harness into the car's wiring harness. However, if your car doesn't have this simple type of connection, you may need to connect your speaker with a soldered or Crimp (Electronics) connection.
    • Make sure you match the polarity of the car and speaker's connections. Usually, the speaker's positive terminal is the larger of the two and is marked with a "+" or a small dot.[1]
    • Electrical tape can be a risky choice for wire connections, especially in the dashboard, as changes in temperature can weaken the tape and lead to problems down the road.
  4. Test the speaker. Now that you've connected your speaker, it's important to test the connection so that you don't have to waste time later to fix a problem. Re-connect the battery's negative terminal and turn on the car's radio or stereo. Listen for sound coming out of your new speaker or look for visible vibrations at high volumes. If your speaker won't work, this means that there is a problem with its electrical connection.
  5. Secure the new speaker. Once you're confident that your speaker works properly, secure it in its seat in the door or dash. If you're lucky, your new speaker will fit in the factory speaker's housing. However, your speaker may require the installation of a specially mounting bracket (usually included with the speaker itself), drilling new screw holes, and/or using adhesives to hold the speaker in place. Refer to the instructions included with your speaker.
  6. Install and test any subwoofers. Subwoofers are responsible for the ultra-low, "booming" bass sound that some car owners idolize. If your car came with factory subwoofers, installing new woofers can be as easy as seating them in the existing housing and connecting them to the car's wiring harness. If your car didn't come with factory subwoofers, however, or you'd like to install additional ones, your task may be much harder. You may need expand your stock woofer's existing mounting holes or make significant modifications to the car to house large woofers. For instance, many people who want to add multiple woofers to their car custom-install a panel in the trunk to house the woofers.
    • Subwoofers often have fairly large power demands and complicated wiring schemes. You may want to buy and install a separate amplifier wiring kit to simplify the process of wiring your subwoofers.
      • If not, you may need to connect the woofer directly to the battery and the car's stereo and ground the woofer manually.
  7. Install and test any tweeters. As with woofers, tweeters, which produce high-pitch frequencies, can be easy or difficult to install based on the factory components of your car. If your car came with tweeters, you may only need to install the new ones in the existing housing and connect them to the existing wiring harness. If, however, there are no spaces to install the tweeters, you may need to make your own (or expand existing ones, use a mounting bracket, etc. if existing housing is insufficient). Luckily, tweeters are much smaller than woofers, so the adjustments you'll need to make will be minor in comparison.
    • As with woofers, if your car didn't already have any tweeters, you may need connect the tweeter directly to the battery and stereo and ground the tweeter to the car's body.
  8. Replace all panels and speaker grilles. When all the components of your new speaker system have been installed, tested, and securely mounted in the car, you may replace any speaker grills or panels that you had to remove to install the speakers. Make sure you've kept any screws that you had to remove to take the grill or panel off so that you're able to re-secure them properly.
    • Congratulations - your new speaker system is ready to use!

Tips

  • If you find yourself in the situation above, you can do a couple of things. Replacing your radio with an aftermarket one would give those aftermarket speakers more power. Also, if you want to keep your factory radio's appearance, or perhaps, a feature like steering-wheel mounted controls, you can amplify your factory stereo.
  • If you still have your factory OEM radio installed, installing aftermarket speakers may not improve sound quality for you. You may find that your radio lacks the deep bass like it used to have with the original speakers. This is because factory original speakers are generally constructed with paper cones, which require less power to deliver bass.

Warnings

  • Tighten everything securely, as serious vibrations are produced by speakers, especially at high sound levels.
  • Make sure the new speakers are compatible with your car's stereo system. Most are rated at a specific wattage and impedance, for instance, 25w and 8 ohms.

Related Articles

Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 http://www.crutchfield.com/S-o4EUwJDfFr9/learn/learningcenter/car/speakers_install.html
  2. ↑ http://www.crutchfield.com/App/Car/outfitmycar/car.aspx
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