Amp Wiring - Do I Have This Right?

[XanRules]

Hi folks,

I've gone through the old threads and just want to make sure I fundamentally understand the process here as I have never wired an amp up in a car. The amp in question is a Kicker KEY 4-channel amp which I will be putting under one of the seats. The manual is here.

So, I run the power wire from the amp with the fuse in-line under the hood. The manual shows to ground to the battery, which should be grounded to bare metal. Assuming my battery is already grounded to bare metal, I do not need to run another ground wire at this time. Yes?

I then run the power wire into the cabin and route it to the power supply of the amp. I will likely need to use some sort of adapter or find another clever way to connect the 10G power wire to the 14G wire of the wiring harness. I then ground the amp to a bare chassis ground. Still correct so far?

I then tap into the speaker wires in the body, matching the colors on the wiring harness to these colors in this thread. I can get to these either from pulling out the stock head unit as shown in @Fiestig 's post here, or I can hunt around in the B-Pillar for the rears and the footwells for the fronts. Still correct?

If all of the above is correct, my last question is, where do I tap into for the "Remote Turn-On?"

Cheers!

 

[Grsemky]

I installed the line out converter behind the head unit and grabbed the keyed power source, for remote, from the same stereo harness... As far as the power cable, you can use the screw posts on the battery to attach your fuse and send power to the amp.

 

[XanRules]

Howdy!

I am not installing an LOC as this accepts high-level inputs and therefore doesn't require an LOC (per the folks at Crutchfield).

Understood on the power wire, I'm just going to do a step-down butt connector on the 14g wire connected to the amp. My question is what to do with the ground wire connected to the amp - just stick a ring terminal on it and stick it on a bare metal bolt somewhere?

Which wire did you splice into for the remote turn on, like, do you remember which color?

 

[Grsemky]

Howdy!

I am not installing an LOC as this accepts high-level inputs and therefore doesn't require an LOC (per the folks at Crutchfield).

Understood on the power wire, I'm just going to do a step-down butt connector on the 14g wire connected to the amp. My question is what to do with the ground wire connected to the amp - just stick a ring terminal on it and stick it on a bare metal bolt somewhere?

Which wire did you splice into for the remote turn on, like, do you remember which color?

I would run the power cable straight from the battery, the amp draw will heat the 14g wire and lead to more problems, not to mention that harness will be fused at a much lower level... The ground is fine to stick a a ring terminal on, that's what I did...

I highly recommend using a separate loc, the signal will be clearer and you won't have to worry about the digital signal processing our factory systems use!

 

[XanRules]

Sorry, I might not be explaining this correctly. There’s a 14g wire hard-wired into the amp’s wiring harness for power, and it’s like a foot long. I am going to run a 10 gauge wire from the battery to that 14g wire and connect them.

as far as the DSP, I’ve got it turned off via ForScan and this amp has an LOC built in. Both Kicker and the folks at Crutchfield have said it’s unnecessary with this amp. Just trying to figure out which wire to splice into for the remote turn on.

 

[Grsemky]

I think it was black but not positive 🤷🏼‍♂️ I used a multimeter and cycled the ignition to verify it's only active with key on, I can pop the cowl tomorrow and check if you want, but any keyed 12v will suffice, there's quite a few throughout the loom....

 

[SteveS]

For ground it says this:

Make the ground wire short, 24” (60cm) or less, and connect it to a paint-and-corrosion-free, solid, metal area of the vehicle’s chassis. Adding an additional ground wire of this same gauge (or larger) between the battery’s negative post and the vehicle chassis is recommended.

I interpret this to mean that the amp should be grounded to the chassis nearby with a short wire.

It is not necessary, but they recommend adding an additional ground from the battery to the chassis of the same or larger gauge wire. Probably just in case the factory battery ground isn't big enough.

 

[XanRules]

I think it was black but not positive 🤷🏼‍♂️ I used a multimeter and cycled the ignition to verify it's only active with key on, I can pop the cowl tomorrow and check if you want, but any keyed 12v will suffice, there's quite a few throughout the loom....

Perfect, "any keyed 12v" is good enough. Thank you!

For ground it says this:


I interpret this to mean that the amp should be grounded to the chassis nearby with a short wire.

It is not necessary, but they recommend adding an additional ground from the battery to the chassis of the same or larger gauge wire. Probably just in case the factory battery ground isn't big enough.

Great, that's what I thought it meant too but I wanted to make sure.

Thanks dudes. Sounds like I've got everything under control unless anyone else sees any glaring issues in the original post.

 

[Intuit]

Open the driver door and pull the lower-left kick-panel on the inside and you'll find a convenient spot for running the power wire. Don't have to fool with finding a spot on the firewall, (salt) water-weeping seals, noise leakage.

More details about where to get the turn-on signal for your setup. (syncs with radio as opposed to ignition - no pun intended)
https://www.fiestastforum.com/threads/guide-amp-remote-turn-on-relay-12v-outlets.29095/


.

 

[XanRules]

Open the driver door and pull the lower-left kick-panel on the inside and you'll find a convenient spot for running the power wire. Don't have to fool with finding a spot on the firewall, (salt) water-weeping seals, noise leakage.

More details about where to get the turn-on signal for your setup. (syncs with radio as opposed to ignition - no pun intended)
https://www.fiestastforum.com/threads/guide-amp-remote-turn-on-relay-12v-outlets.29095/

Word, thanks. I was planning on just running the wire through the little grommet above the clutch pedal but am going to be disassembling everything to put in soundproofing anyway, plus I'm in the process of running wires for a backup camera, so that kick panel was coming off soon anyway. I'll take a look. Thanks! If nothing else maybe I can re-run my boost gauge hose/wiring through there instead of the spot in the fender where it's been living for the last couple years.