Installing a stereo system in a Magnum

[robbyho]

This outlines how I installed my system in my Magnum.

First task is to choose the components of your system. My goal was to have great sound quality. I wanted a strong upfront sound stage and midbass that will blend into the subbass very smoothly. To do this I chose to do an active 2 way system with a subwoofer in the rear.

My Components:

Head Unit - Pioneer P9300
Tweeters - Dayton RS28
Midwoofers - Dayton RS180
Subwoofer - JL 10W7 in H.O. box
Crossover - Alpine 3656
Mid/Hi amp - Soundstream Rub600-4
Sub amp - Audiobahn 8002T

Wiring:
Power - (2) 5' Knukonceptz EKO 4 gauge
Ground - (2) 5' Knukonceptz EKO 4 gauge
Terminals - (2)Parts express P3 tri-oval battery terminal, Street Wires RTS4
Signal Wire - (3) 21' Home Made RCA pairs: Belden Cable, PE gold RCA superplug, Grey Tech Flex, Heat shrink.
Speaker Wire - 4 pairs of different lengths 14 Gauge, 50-75' total.
Remote Wire - 21' 18 gauge.

I did this install in two seperate days. The first day was to run all the wires, the second day was to install the speakers, amps, and crossover. There is no reason why one couldn't do it all in one day, I just broke it up for convenience. Overall I would guess it took about 4-5 hours total.

If you can strip wires, turn a screw driver, and have some patience, the install is easy. Patience is the key to any install.

The first thing I did was to code the signal wires on both ends. I marked them F, R, and S. And the Speaker wires 1, 2, 3, 4.


Next, I removed the Radio Bezel. It is held in by clips and needs a slight tug to remove it. I grabbed it from the cig lighter and pulled. There's a couple wiring harnesses that need to be unclipped from the A/C controls.

To run the wires, I removed the door sill trim. It is only clipped in and requires a pry with a flat head screwdriver and a tug. Work it up from the rear of the car, then pull back on it.

Next, i removed the plastic trim piece that is between the front and rear seat. There are 4 screws to remove. One on each side (below). Note that there are two types of screws, big and small. So when you replace them, make sure you put them back how they came off.

And these are up by the seatbelt.

There is a screw on the backseat side as well. I pulled up the rear trim, whih is clipped in and screwed on the back side by the seat. I didn't remove that entirely, because I could just slide the wires under the seat cusion.

At this point, you can run the RCA pairs and the remote turn on to the rear. I start at the Head Unit and leave a foot of slack, so I can easily connect my HU. I snaked the wires from behind the HU, under the carpet to the kickpanel, then just tucked them under the carpet all the way to the back seat, as in the above pic. Next I pulled up the seat cusion, it is only a single clip on the front. Run the wires under the seat and into the back. Make sure you don't get kinked up anywhere, like near the seatbelt.

So next up is the speaker wire. First I removed the A-pillar trim. They simply slide out with some force. The clip on the top kinda gets stuck and I found the best way to remove it was to pry out the femal part of the clip and then put it back in before reinstalling the trim.

After the A-pllar trim is off, it si time to remove the trim above the dash speakers. It is all one piece and pops off with a little force. So now remove the dash mids (if you have the 6 speaker system). I couldn't find a stubby screwdriver, so I used a phillips drill bit. If you have weak hands, you can use a pair of plyers to turn the screw, but it turns easy enough without it.

[robbyho]

Here's the tweeter next to the old mid.

I dropped the speaker wire from the woofer hole and caught it by the kick panel. For this part, it helps having small hands reach up in there, so if you have kids, they can help. After running the speaker wire to the rear, I soldered the tweeter's terminals.

The tweeter doesn't fit flush in the opening, since it is 4 1/4" . I used a piece of foam that I had to place between it and the dash to reduce any rattles. I actually only secured it with one screw, since I have no idea how to get a drill to fit in that opening. The next thing I did was run the wire for the other tweeter. Dropped from above, grabbed from below then snaked across the back of the radio and into the carpet with a heading for the back.

Next up is the door woofers. The first thing I did was remove the door panels. I made sure the window was up. There are 3 clips and 5 or 6 screws that need to be removed. To remove the clips, push in on the center and they will pop out. the black clip on the hinge side doesn't need to be removed. After all the screws are removed, work it off from the bottom and break apart the inner clips on the top. These break easily and you may have to get some replacements, even if you are careful.

Once the panel is loose, I unplugged the wiring harnesses and disconnected the metal lever that goes to the handle. To do that, simply twist the plasic and pull it off.


Now that the door panel is off, The 6"x9" speakers of my BA6 system were removed. They use torx screws. To install my 7" mid in the 6"x9" opening, I fabricated a baffle from 1/2" MDF in the shape of the 6"x9", then cut a hole for my mid to mount. I have a template, so If anyone needs a baffle like this, send me a PM and I'd be happy to make you a pair.

Then I ran speaker wire into the doors. This is the toughest part of the install. I removed the boot of the wiring harness that goes into the door. Luckily there was a blank spot that looks like another wiring harness woould plug in there.

The next obstacle was to get the wire into the car. I dropped the wire into the hole and prayed I could find it on the inside. I found this hole on the interior after I pryed away a rubber piece.

There is a plastic film over the hole that I pushed through in order to get the wire through. I had run the wire to the kickpanel already, so I taped this wire to the first wire and pulled it through. Then I cut a slit in the rubber piece and ran the wire up under the steering wheel (steering clear of moving parts), and behind the radio.

I then snaked the wire through the boot and into the door panel. Putting the boot back on is the tough part, and is where the patience will come in handy.


I then taped the speaker wire to the factory wire to keep it away from the power window. I mounted my mid in the baffle and soldered the wires.

Then I mounted it in the factory baffle.

Same on the other side.

Here's the original and aftermarket mids next to each other.

Now that all the speakers are installed, it is time to install the amp and crossover. Here's all the wires into the trunk.

I started with the battery terminals. First I cut the factory wires. A 1/0 gauge and an 8 gauge. Also an 8 gauge ground.

Then I connected the wires into the terminals and connected the terminals to the battery post. I also connected the Stinger terminals to the battery terminals.

[robbyho]

I connected another wire to the battery terminals for the sub amp. Unfortunately two terminals are too thick for the screw supplied, so I bought a cheap crimp terminal and it fit.Now I ran the wires into the trunk floor. Of course, both wires are fused just when the get above the floor. I cut a small slit in the floor to allow the wires to fit through.


Now all the wires are run, it is time for the amp and crossover to be mounted. Look at that mess of wires. It can be cleaned up, but all of those wires are required.


With the amp and crossover mounted, I can access the controls by folding up the floor one board.


Next I Hooked up the Head Unit and tested the system. First I had to get a +12V constant, a ground, and a +12V acc wire. To do this, I tapped into the radio harness. You can get an adapter to do this, if you are unsure of cutting wires. You should remove the fuse, or disconnect the battery when cutting these wires. I believe it was pin 11 and 22 that I used for +12V and ground. They were both green. The +12V had a red stripe, I think and the ground had a brown or black stripe. Don't quote me on that.


I tapped into the cigarette lighter for the +12V acc wire. I opened up the ashtray drawer and undid the harness on the back. Push in, then push in the clip on the side. Then I stripped the wire and spliced in an extension.


The Head Unit only requires 3 wires to turn on. Besides those 3, I hooked up the remote turn on, and the RCA's. Unfortunately I didn't take any pics of the HU install, but it is straightforward. Just place it in the dash kit and install it exactly where the old radio came out.



After setting the gains and crossover settings, I installed the Subwoofer. the Amp is mounted to the box and is straightforward.



And here are some more pics of the equipment used.



I am extremely happy with my system so far. I want to make some kickpanels and run an active three way up front. I know what you're thinking "You make custom sub enclosures and you are using a J.L. H.O. box?" Well, the reason is that I always test out the enclosures in my car and it would be a pain to remove my enclosures everytime I wanted to test them out. Plus, I have the H.O. box lying around and it sounds great.

Hope this tutorial helps you all out. If anything needs clearing up, let me know.

For some more pics, check out here.

Rob
AON

[BigShowGOMANGO!]

u bypass the factory amp with a harness.......or just ran all new speaker wires?

[Fondy]

how come in this photo i dont see the speaker in the cubby hole you have it just in the back did you decide not to use it??

[robbyho]

I didn't use any factory wires. I cut the factory radio harness to get a +12V and ground, and used the cigarette lighter for the switched 12V.

The enclosures in the side pockets were ones that I was building at the time for a customer. I am using the H.O. box b/c 1. I had it, 2. I test fit all the enclosures I build, and it would be a pain to remove my enclosures all the time.

Rob

[rufwon]

Looks very good, Nice clean install.
For future, regarding your tweets in the dash, just make a template like you did with the 6x9's to 7" mid, even using a small thin piece of aluminum for easy cutting, this works very well, or even some small L-clips.

Great job, and awsome write up!

[robbyho]

Actually for me that wasn't the problem. The problem was that the tweeter flange covered the screw hole and I didn't want to screw another hole in the dash. I don't plan on leaving that tweeter there for too much longer, since I will be making kickpanels for them and a mid soon.

Rob

Looks very good, Nice clean install.
For future, regarding your tweets in the dash, just make a template like you did with the 6x9's to 7" mid, even using a small thin piece of aluminum for easy cutting, this works very well, or even some small L-clips.

Great job, and awsome write up!

[nick_danger]

Hmm, could you tap the rear cargo-area lighter for the remote turn-on? I'm assuming it acts the same as the front unit...

[ASU_Magnum]

Hmm, could you tap the rear cargo-area lighter for the remote turn-on? I'm assuming it acts the same as the front unit...

i am pretty sure that the one in the back is always on; just like the one in the center console.

[robbyho]

The rear cig lighter is always on, so no. You can tap into the fuse box pretty easily though.

Rob

[RobAGD]

You should be able to flip the rear accessory plug to Ignition on by flipping the fuse to one side or the other, just like the front cig lighter.

Ill be finding out when I get all my goodies in for the sub.

-R

[xWCDx]

^ that would be interesting, I would like to know if this works, without actually going out and doing it. haha I'm lazy, these over 100 degree days need to STOP!!!

[lawdog2k]

I am posting everywhere. IS there a way to remove the trouble codes from the computer when you install an aftermarket head unit. I installed an AVIC-N2 a while back and now I want to have my computer flashed for the a/c problem discussed elsewhere. Anyways, the dealer wont flash because the trouble codes, such as a/c lost contact with audio and such. As soon as they are cleared they pop up again.

[outlawchico151]

dude JL's W7 line is a VERY VERY good speaker how does it sound thats what im thinking on switching from my solobarics to 2 13.5s