Running RCA's

Hitson16

Member
When I had my stuff installed at circuit city a while back they ran the power and the rcas down the same side. I was thinking about re doing it my self and was wondering how much of the das I would have to take apart to get 2 pairs of rcas down the left side of my P5...................thanks
 
you don't need to really take apart your dash. the only things you'd want to take out to make the work easier is the glove box, cover under your steering column, and the corner covers on each side (one's the fuse box and there's and identical one on the pass side). also you'd have to take up the door sills. they just pull up. it's really easy. all you need is a butter knife, 2 preferably. pull up all the door sills. then take out the corner panels, using the butter knives to carefully remove the fastener, then pull it off. the cover under the steering column pulls off at the top, then swing it down and pull it all the way off. the glove box you have to open it, squeeze the top/open edges at the back, swing it down, pull the left side out, and slide it to the left. then either feed the RCA's to the other side of the dash, or take the HU out so you've got more room to work with. don't forget to secure the RCA's under the dash with zip ties;)
 
Yeah...what he said! And to help keep extra noise out of your system, definately run the powere and signal wires on opposite sides of the car away from each other.
 
my first question would be....are you experiencing NOISE in your system because the two are together?

if the answere is NO...leave it alone..

if YES, then reroute them.....
 
Sir Nuke said:
my first question would be....are you experiencing NOISE in your system because the two are together?

if the answere is NO...leave it alone..

if YES, then reroute them.....

damn, i knew i forgot something:D
 
I am not experiencing any noise but circuit city did a real crap job. With 2 sets on rca and power running down the same side he carpet is out to far to tuck it under the door sill. I am aslo planning on upgrading to a 1/0 and dist block to add more power wich will only make more wire to fit under there (Unfortuantely when I had my stuff installed I didn't know much and am trying to learn now, which was probably the wrong order to do things but live and learn). I just want it to be wired correctly and I have a read a lot of lit. saying they shold be ran on opposite sides or at least 18" apart so I was going to try and hook it up. Thanks everyone
 
IMHO it's eaiser to run the RCAs and speaker wire (4ch) down the center, just remove the lower portion of the back seats (4 bolts) and the center console (6 screws) and you can run the wires under the carpet.
 
With only subs the problems with running RCAs and power wire are typicaly noticable.
However run them with an amp doing door speakers and the alternator wine will be LOUD AS HELL.
 
If the problem you are trying to fix is the appearance of the carpet, why not take it back to Circuit City and have them fix it to your satisfaction?

In my city, both Best Buy and Circuit City do crap installs on just about anything. Only thing I'd trust them with is sliding in a new radio and harness - if they didn't have to do any disassembly of the dash.

People frequently complain about things like you've described as well as scratches, broken pieces, etc. The store usually responds, when pressured.

I'd go back, ask to see the store manager, and politely - but firmly - explain the problem. It would help if you explain what you expect to be done to rectify the situation.

I've seem people get their problems fixed, and often a refund of some/all of the installation charges.

You take a risk when you let one of these chains work on your car. I've heard of some good, but mostly bad.

They are, however, big companies that have a chain of command you can follow to get satisfaction. Key is to be calm, polite, and firm.
 
On this one I agree with AYDO 100%....all to often people have bad jobs performed and insted of returning and complaining to get it done right....or at least compensated for...they just say the hell with it and fix it themselves...the only thing this does is it never fixes the problem...and those people keep on doing bad work....and never learn.

Take it back...ask to speak to the manager....SHOW him the install...tell him it didn't look like that when you took it in, and you don't expect it to look like that now....and you expect it to be done right.
 
Yeah I hear where your coming from Aydu, but I would also like to learn how to install the basic car audio equipment. I've already had systems 3 cars and paid to have full set ups installed and for a box or two being made. I'm am tired of paying for installs on to build boxes I can build. I'm only 23, the way I figure I am going to have nice car audio my whole life and have already paid people too much money to do things I now realize I can do.

The other problem is that they ran 2 8 gauge power wire which is technically suffiect to power what I have now but can't really be used in a upgrade, so that would be more money if I want them to run a larger wire. I would never at any point let have circuit city of best buy ever touch anything near my car again. I really don't even want them to fix it, they'll probabay screw something up. I'm gonna give it a try, I've got plenty of time this summer to learn.

The thing that really kills me about cc and bb is that they would save themselves a lot of unhappy customers and time in the long run if they just did things right the first time. I mean its not that hard to run power and rca's on seperate sides, especially while you already have the car all apart. I mean are they really just that stupid in general.

Also now that I think about it I used to have major alt whine on my highs but I fixed that, I properly set the gains on my highs amp. They didn't even bother to do that.
 
Hitson16 said:

The thing that really kills me about cc and bb is that they would save themselves a lot of unhappy customers and time in the long run if they just did things right the first time. I mean its not that hard to run power and rca's on seperate sides, especially while you already have the car all apart. I mean are they really just that stupid in general.

Also now that I think about it I used to have major alt whine on my highs but I fixed that, I properly set the gains on my highs amp. They didn't even bother to do that.

The problem is often the installer has no clue he's doing something wrong.
 
Nuke, I agree that fixing the problems yourself/myself perpetuates CC and BB doing bad jobs but I think that BB and CC should take more responsibility in who they hire and how they train that person. THat would be the best way to raise the quality of their work and installs.
 
If you want to learn and do things yourself, that is a totally different goal. You can get amp install kits real cheap on the net or even at Wal Mart. I know the big chains sell their kits at premium prices and sell you what you need for that install, not down the road.

You can definitely re-run the RCAs and learn something about your car and installing audio. You'll feel good about the job and know it was done right.

Just don't fret about the install money you have spent. You've paid to learn that the big chains don't do any better job than you can do in your own garage.

Best of luck!!
 
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