Installing new speakers, new deck, subs and an amp, would like some help please

[atmalan]

Aight, I'm putting 4 new 6.5"s in, 2 10" subs, a 750watt amp, and I'm not sure what deck yet. What do I need to know about doing this?? The wiring of it, for the deck;speakers;and amp. How to change out the speakers. Anything special I need to know about? Is the wattage of everything important. I just don't want to blow anything or whatever. Thanks a lot. 2001 SC2

[sierrap615]

first, the stock 6.5" speakers are a little oversized, closer to 6.75", expect a little custom work to mount them. second, the stock stereo gets the Batt+ power from a 5 amp fuse shared with the chime module. aftermarket stereos tend to blow this fuse, you may want to find another Batt+ source(cigerette lighter or straght from the battery). for more info, try saturnfans.com and saturnspot.com

[sickcallawayc12]

Originally Posted by atmalan

Aight, I'm putting 4 new 6.5"s in, 2 10" subs, a 750watt amp, and I'm not sure what deck yet. What do I need to know about doing this?? The wiring of it, for the deck;speakers;and amp. How to change out the speakers. Anything special I need to know about? Is the wattage of everything important. I just don't want to blow anything or whatever. Thanks a lot. 2001 SC2

Some 6.5" will fit fine, but not all. I don't know what will and what won't. I have pioneer 6.5 that fit all right. I don't know what stuff you have either but I can explain based from what i have on my 97 sl2 (pioneer deck, pioneer amp, pioneer speakers, and 2 12" kenwood subs). For the deck, I recommend pioneer or panasonic; both are very good "bang for the buck" recievers. Clarion and Alpine are good expensive receivers. The lesser sony decks (at least the ones i've seen) tend to suck, the upper models like the active black panel are good. For installation, just get a kit for your car with a harness and such. I recommend two sources. One, crutchfield.com. They are more expensive than everyone else, but they give you everything you need plus instructions, for free, and they ship quick. Two, best buy just cuz i bought my deck from there and have good prices plus good warranties, sell kits for your car cheaper than other places, and will install it for free most of the time if you are REALLY lazy and don't want to do it yourself. Speakers are kind of a pain to install on the front, especially if you have power door locks. If you don't remove the door panel enitely, like i did, try no to lose the metal bar connecting to the lock if you have this feature. rear deck is easy, pull off screws, then trim, and unscrew speakers. One cool thing i did to the back is cut out the stock cloth grilles so the speakers are exposed. I think it looks cool (then again that's just me). I don't know how the battery is set up on your car either. if the termials are on the side and not on top, like mine, you will probably need to replace the terminal for the positive side. Mine, i had to buy another terminal to replace the original with a bolt sticking out so i could hook my amp to the battery, cost 5 bucks at napa. Use a wire coat hanger and tape the cables to it, very easy way to get through the firewall. I just have the wires running under the plastic trim on the driver side and through the seat crack to the trunk. The wiring harness hooks to the factory harness and just buy a roll of electrical tape and wire according to color. The system remote goes to the amp so it comes on when the deck is on. The stock battery/alternator should handle it if you aren't running any neon kits or refrigerators on your car. Actually check saturnfans.com. There is a certain amount of amperage the alternator will handle but i can't remember the number. Also, get a set of connectors for wires if not included with the amp kit. Make sure the amp wiring kit can handle your amp too. If you haven't done this before, it is very easy to do and you will feel like a genius after you do it once. If you need more info, let us know.

[carguy83]

ok. since i always have input. i have 4 6.5" pioneer 4 ways WHICH fit perfectly. ALSO i have a panasonic deck which has its OWN fuse as most aftermarket decks do. so it wont blow the other fuse. i have a 350w amp running the speakers and a 1000w running my 2 600w kenwood subs all with the rockford 4g wire. as well as a 1.3 cap to top it off i have the 160amp alternator and a optima yellow top batt.

everything runs great now

just match colors... a trained monkey could do it

[atmalan]

Ok, I called the Saturn dealership in Austin today, they said that my alt. has a peak of 135watts??? So what exactly does that mean? The amp that I have is 750watt I believe, maybe 780. Can it handle that? Is that too big? I don't have my speakers running off an amp, they are just going to be hooked up like the stock speakers were. Does any of that make a difference? I just don't wanna mess my car up. Thanks

[carguy83]

you might want to buy a capacitor

[sierrap615]

if you have a good cap, good battery, and good cables. your alternator should do just fine. 750 watts is alot, but people have done more watts many times before.

[emailer33]

Originally Posted by atmalan

Ok, I called the Saturn dealership in Austin today, they said that my alt. has a peak of 135watts??? So what exactly does that mean? The amp that I have is 750watt I believe, maybe 780. Can it handle that? Is that too big? I don't have my speakers running off an amp, they are just going to be hooked up like the stock speakers were. Does any of that make a difference? I just don't wanna mess my car up. Thanks

definitely buy a cap. i have a 100w amp powering just the front two spekaers and everything dims, including my audio, when i come to an idle. you will probably end up needing at least a 2 farad cap due to how many amps you're going to need.

my car is a 93 saturn sl2 btw.

[sickcallawayc12]

Originally Posted by carguy83

ALSO i have a panasonic deck which has its OWN fuse as most aftermarket decks do.

Yes. Most aftermarket decks have their own fuse, surprised i didn't remember that. so there should be no problem. And the Saturn alternator is pretty awesome. I wouldn't worry too much. Maybe buy a voltmeter gauge so you know what's going on.