Joon525

NOTE: THIS WRITE UP ALREADY ASSUMES 2 THINGS[list=1][*] You already have put the aftermarket 6x9 speakers in[*] You have already removed the AFBS unit from the trunk[/list=a]


OK first of all, this is a partial list of the things you need or at least should have:[list=1][*] Something to cut wires with[*] Speaker wire[*] Wire taps[*] Some sort of connector so that the speaker wire can slide onto the terminals on the new 6x9 speaker[*] Zip ties[*] Electrical tape[*] Helm manual[/list=a]

First what you want to do is cut two different lengths of speaker wire. If you open the trunk and look into it standing in back of the car you'll notice that the AFBS unit is over to the right so obviously one speaker's going to have a shorter wire than the other one. Just take your speaker wire and hold it up putting one end near the AFBS unit on the right side of the car and the other end somewhere near the right speaker...note this distance and cut. Repeat for the other side (Driverside speaker).

Usually speakerwire is two wires connected together in the middle....take a pocket knife or a razorblade and cut up the middle on both ends of both wires so as to "free" each individual wire from each other. Do this to ALL ends of the wires (4 ends altogether). On 1 end of each wire strip the two wires. Connect those connectors in the list above (4th item). I had an aftermarket speaker wiring harness that I cut the ends off of. Mine ended up looking like this.

You can get these slide connectors from a store like Radio Shack or something similar though. When you're done you should have something like this.


Next comes the wiretapping. The wire taps I used are from Radio Shack. The part number (Cat. No.) is 64-3053. They are labeled as "Tap-In Squeeze Connectors" and they are for 22 to 18 gauge wire. It's a package of 7 connectors. You only need 4 though (this should be obvious). They look like the following.


Next you will have to refer to the Helm manual to figure out which wires in the harness for the AFBS are from the headunit. Page 23-156 in the Helm manual will show the layout of the plug for you. That page has the following picture and table.



After some careful examination it should be MORE THAN obvious that B8 and B18 get connected to the right speaker via the shorter wire and B7 and B17 get connected to the longer wire. So grab your tap-in connector and go at it. Double check that the color of the wire you're about to tap is the SAME color as described in that table above. You just slide the connector over the wire coming out of the harness, insert the speaker wire and clamp down. DO this 4 times and be sure that you remember which is negative and which is positive. Next just slide the connectors that are at the other end of the wires to the corresponding speaker terminals. Zip tie the longer one against the wire loom along the top of the opening in the trunk when the back seat is down so that it doesn't sag.
The finished project will look like this.

END

NOTE: Once this is all done you will notice a MAJOR increase in clarity. OvaDaLimiT, ImagePree and myself have discussed this already....all three of us also noted that the imaging moves to the rear of the car a bit when this is done. Of course this is going to depend on the equipment you are running. I have 4 solutions to this "problem"[list=1][*] Buy an outboard amplifier[*] Buy component 6.5's for the front (amp helps too)[*] Fade it to the front[*] Somehow block the treble coming out of the rear 6x9s...I know it may sound funny but I actually thought about stuffing cotton in the tweeters back there so that the staging moved towards the front again[/list=a]
When I say that the stage moved to the rear don't think that it's TERRIBLE....if it was I wouldn't still be running this setup. It actually IS tolerable.

NOTE 2: Remember those tap-in connectors??? If you plan on installing a VAFC......buy another set of those as these are the SAME ONES I'll be using to install it.

bronx99

couldn't you just cut the existing stock connector and tie it to the speaker wire?

bronx99

and when you tap into the original wires, you clamp over the fresh wire w/o stripping it??. and it work?

OvaDaLimiT

Yes, you can cut it and then twist it together with your new speaker wire, but this is so much easier. Plus there's not much slack to play with, so you really don't want to shorten the original wire much. Trust me (and joon). Those red crimp thing's are the easiest way to do this. Not to mention it preserves the stock wiring...if you ever needed to return the car to stock or whatever...this leaves the connector intact and all you would hafta do is tape up where you remove the connector from.

If you look at the picture of the crimper thingy...you'll notice the two grooves in the metal part. They're shaped in a V fashion, so when you squeeze the wire in there and press it, it will automatically "strip" it enough to make a connection. So to answer your question...yes...no stripping needed.

Buckwild

Damn I should have used those orangy thingies to tap into the blinker wires!! Would have made things SOOOOO much easier. Nice FAQ Joon!!

ps: Goto sleep Matt!!!!

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'00 Prelude
Black 5spd

[This message has been edited by Buckwild (edited April 06, 2001).]

Vidgamer

Just a note to say that although I've used the splicers in places, in my CR-V audio wiring, they worked loose after about a year, and were causing the speakers to cut out! I would recommend just using some kind crimp-connectors; there's one in particular that looks like a "cap" and you actually twist the wires together before crimping -- that gives a much better connection.

Using a splicer for a VAFC connection is a really really bad idea, IMHO.

Joon525

Exactly what OvaDaLimiT said. The reason why I didn't cut the stock wiring is because if I sell this car I want to be able to go back to stock form as fast as possible.

Again.....exactly what OvaDaLimiT said...if it didn't work do you think that I would've written this?

Oh yeah bronx99....YOUR WELCOME

Yup, there ARE other/better ways to make a connection.....this is just one example.

OvaDaLimiT

Really? They *shouldn't* come apart unless they weren't clipped together correctly in the first place. I've used these things pleeeenty of times and never had a problem. There's a hook on one of hte ends that clips on to the other, and it holds things pretty well...heck...it's even a ***** to take these things apart after you've used them. I dunno...i've had no probs with them. Just make sure they're on right the first time around...

Joon525

Same here but I wasn't going to say anything...I even f*cked up once when doing this install and had to undo the tap....not a fun thing to have to do. Not impossible though. There ARE better ways of connecting wires though....soldering them together being the best way. This isn't meant to be taken as a flame Vidgamer.

Pete

That was great, Joon. Now I'm gonna go ahead and order those new rear speakers!

BTW, question for mods--why LOCK posts when it's so easy to delete them? I mess up from time to time and delete my own posts--why don't you do the same?