Amp install..2004 Mercury Stable. Stock Radio!

Okay - I'm not sure what you are confused on, so I'll try to cover the basics and you can ask anything that is not clear.

First off:

Did you buy one or two pairs of the Alpine speakers?  What is the model and impedance of the Rockford sub?

demert858

I know I will have to bridge it down to 2 Channels (Amp will Power Sub and Front Speakers......)

Negative - you will want to use the front channels of the amp for the main speakers and probably bridge the rear channels to the sub - that is a 3-channel setup.

Wait - scratch that - I was thinking it was a 4-channel amp.  You can't really do what you want.  The amp would power a single sub bridged or the front speakers unbridged.  It WILL NOT effectively power front speakers and a sub - you need at least a 4-channel amp for that.

(You COULD wire the sub to the left channel and the front speakers in parallel to the right channel, but you will lose all stereo separation and I can't recommend it to you).

Sable Wiring - You have the infamous "Trunk Tuner" - somewhat convenient in this case, but not the best beginner project.

Amp manual here - The amp uses two 20A fuses and should do the rated 300W RMS total.  It also has both speaker-level inputs and RCA outputs which are nice features in an amp like this.

You need a different amp, but let's cover the basics so you know what you can do:

Let's break this down into power wiring, signal wiring, and speaker wiring.

Power Wiring - You will want to run an 8-gauge wiring kit and maybe two pairs of RCA cables.  You will need to run the power wire from the battery through the firewall to the trunk - that is the hardest part of the install.   The ground wire connects to bare metal in the trunk (assuming the amp is trunk mounted).  The stereo doesn't have a remote turn-on lead, so you would probably want to run a wire from a 12V ACC circuit in the fuse box using a fuse tap or add-a-circuit.

Speaker wiring - If it were me - I would probably use this for a main amp, you could run both front and rear speakers in parallel off each channel, but you will lose fader control.  You could then use the RCA outputs to a subwoofer amplifier.  (Actually, if it were me, I would buy a 4-channel amp with speaker-level inputs and RCA outputs and use your LA amp for a subwoofer, but ...)

Signal wiring - The amp shipped with a couple of Molex Plugs for speaker-level inputs.  If you still have them, you can use them.  If not, you would need to get a LOC.  The head unit does not have a subwoofer level control or output, so you would have to use your front or rear speakers to feed the subwoofer amp - or use the RCA outputs.

Hope This Helps!!!

Anyone else have suggestions?

 

I'm confused now...

It is a 4 Channel Amp (Mode is actually B2.300.4...4 Channel Version..Oops .

When it was last installed, the Amp powered my front speakers and the Sub.

 

I bought 2 sets of those speakers.....

I want to power the front speakers and the sub with the amp. The last speakers it powered were Infinity's 

The Sub is a RF Punch 2 Sub:

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-I2uGSwOkobU/p_575P210D2/Rockford-Fosgate-P210D2.html <Mod Edit: Linked to Crutchfield. Please link to Crutchfield's Item Page or manufacturer's website. Thanks.>

I bought the sub from Crutchfield but it's no longer available to see the specs.....

So, I want to hook it up like it was in my last car.....This time I'm using a stock radio.

 

I appreciate all of the help!!

 

[edited by: TigerHeli at 9:35 AM (GMT -5) on Tue, Jul 17 2012] http://www.amazon.com/Rockford-Fosgate-P210D2-Punch-subwoofer/dp/B0012KHTRO

B2.300.4 is a completely different animal than the B2.300.2 - 4-channel amp and it uses two 25A fuses instead of two 20A fuses, so it is not twice the power.  That last bit is irrelevant and the manual link I posted still works, but a lot of my reply was based on it being a two-channel amp.

Okay - first off, you have three ways you can connect this up:

• What you are describing is running the front speakers off the amp (50W RMS) and the sub off the bridged rear channels (150W).  The rear speakers would be run off the head unit.  You would use the rear speaker outputs from the HU to feed the subwoofer.  If you leave the rear speakers connected, you can't really use the fader control b/c changing the fader will change the output of the subwoofer.  There are ways to work around this, but it's complicated.
• Alternately, you could disconnect the rear speakers and only use fronts and the sub and the fader control essentially becomes a subwoofer level control, but you have one set of unused speakers.
• Alternately, you can wire the front and rear speakers on each side to the amp front channels in parallel.  Each speaker gets 37W RMS - you can't fade from front to rear, but you can use the fader as a subwoofer level control and you would get more overall output from the system.

Now - once you decide on an option above:

The power wiring really isn't affected by this.

The signal wiring really isn't either - you need the LOC if you don't have the molex plugs, you don't if you do have them.

If you are still confused, post back on what you are lost on.

Hope This Helps!!!

Anyone else have suggestions?

That's a lot of great info

I'm thinking that I will run the Front Speakers/Sub off of the amp and have the back speakers go off of the Factory Stereo.

 

Just reading all of this, I feel like it's out of my league

I understand the process for the most part....I;m not so confident though!

Edit:

Is there a Watered down, step by step place where I can see how an install like this would go?

[edited by: demert858 at 6:16 PM (GMT -5) on Tue, Jul 17 2012]

this might help -

http://www.crutchfield.com/learn/learningcenter/car/amplifier_installation_guide.html?g=710&tp=539

http://www.crutchfield.com/learn/learningcenter/car/amplifiers_movie.html?g=710&tp=539

http://www.crutchfield.com/learn/learningcenter/car/amplifiers_wiring.html?g=710&tp=539

 

demert858

I'm thinking that I will run the Front Speakers/Sub off of the amp and have the back speakers go off of the Factory Stereo.

That will work fine, but you will lose fader control (but you do with MOST of the other options that keep the rear speakers also.)  In this case, you would want to CUT the front speaker wires to feed the amp and splice into the rear speaker wires to feed the subwoofer.

demert858

Is there a Watered down, step by step place where I can see how an install like this would go?

We can walk you through most of it, but let's answer a couple of questions first:

• Do you have the speaker-level adapters for the amp?  (There's no point explaining how to wire in a LOC if you don't need one, or how to wire those up if you don't have them at all!)
• How competent are you mechanically?  I know you said you haven't worked on cars at all, and I'm not looking for engine building skills, but if you bought a bicycle in the store or boxed-to-assemble furniture, could you put it together or do you usually pay someone else to do it?

Anyone else have suggestions?

I do not have any adapters for the amp........

As far as as my skill level....I've put together all of my furniture...Bikes etc. I'm good with Home Electronics. I'm decent with Computers. I tinker with my RC Cars....

I THINK I can handle the install.....Just don't want to screw anything up. When I installed the Speakers, I was a bit stressed lol....

and that was super simple

 

If you could install the speakers, we can walk you through the amp install.

Do you know where you want to put the amp - trunk or under the seat are typical locations?

Do you care about keeping the fader (front to rear)?

I can explain how to do that with Y-adapters, but if you don't care either way, it's easier to wire it without that capability.

I do not care about having the fading or not....

Since the Front Speakers are going to be powered by the Amp, the back speakers are going to be more to balance the sub out!!!

Another question....

Let's say I want to go Front/Sub powered by the amp but it underwhelms me because it's not a hatchback.....Can I go back and switch it to power all 4 speakers?

Again you guys are great!

I could have misunderstood what you are saying, but I don't think I did, and I think you are missing some important concepts, but anyway ...

demert858

the back speakers are going to be more to balance the sub out!!!

The back speakers are going to be getting maybe 10W RMS from the factory head unit.  They aren't going to be balancing the front speakers out, much less the subwoofer - in fact, I'm not sure there's much point connecting them at all, but I haven't had enough experience with amped front non-amped rear speakers to say that conclusively.

demert858

Let's say I want to go Front/Sub powered by the amp but it underwhelms me because it's not a hatchback.....Can I go back and switch it to power all 4 speakers?

The hatchback comment confused me, but I am assuming you mean the sub underwhelms you b/c it has to play through the back seat.

You would have a couple of options:

• You could always go back and wire the rear speakers in parallel with the front speakers so they were both powered by the front channels of the amp.  You not only lose fader but you lose the ability to send more power to the front speakers than the rear speakers this way, but you gain overall volume.
• You could also re-wire the amp so it powered your front and rear speakers (gaining fader control again) and then wire in a larger subwoofer and subwoofer amp using the RCA outputs on the 4-channel (but you might need a larger or additional power wire on your main amp to do this).

Without being too much of a wise-***, you can go back and do anything, including wiring in a carputer and 17-inch monitor in the dash and four 12-inch subs in the trunk - but it's always best to decide what you want and do it correctly the first time than re-do it later - if you can figure that out.

Hope This Helps!!!

Anyone else have suggestions?

I used to have this gear in a 5 dr hatchback and it was plenty loud....

Taking this gear into a sedan I'm not sure how the sub will do....

Maybe I should just wire it for the 4 Speakers....Add the sub later!!!

 

Thoughts?

It would probably work fine the way you planned to do it - but there's no real reason you can't try it both ways.

If it were my car:

• Go ahead and run 4-gauge wire instead of 8-gauge - this way you can add a larger amp for a sub later if you really want to.
• Connect the LOC behind the OEM HU - this way if you want to upgrade the head unit (HU) later, the RCA's are already there.
• Maybe run a third RCA, and some dead-headed (not connected) speaker wire from the HU to the amp location (for later upgrades - not connected).
• Cut the front speaker wires and connect them to the LOC front inputs.  Splice the rear speaker wires to the LOC rear inputs.
• Run the RCA's to your amp and power the front speakers off it and the sub off the rear channels.  (You can run the front outputs from the amp up to the HU and connect them to the factory wiring there.)
• Before you put panels back - you might want to listen to the system with the amp powering the front speakers and the HU powering the rear speakers and the sub not connected - this gives you an idea of what you can expect from the main speakers and might help you decide how you ultimately want to go with the system.
• If you want more bass or for later upgrades - you can connect the rear speakers to the amp - disconnect the sub and connect the dead-head speaker wires to the amp, pull the OEM HU and cut the OEM speaker wires after the LOC and splice the dead-head speaker wire to them to power the rear speakers.
• Now you have your fader available again and you can connect whatever subwoofer amp you want using the RCA pre-outs on the LA amp.

Hope This Helps!!!

Anyone else have suggestions?