Subwoofer Rear speaker wire colour differs from guide - help!!

SebastianHaff · 18th September 2012, 11:32

So I got an InPhase USW10 and went to install it today. The problem is that the wiring I see in my wiring loom doesn't match the one in the guide - for example, I see no brown wire for left rear speaker negative.

In other guides it seems that the twisted pair carries the rear speaker channels down the centre console out to the rear speakers, but I don't want to assume anything.

Here is a link to a picture showing what is in there:

http://www.civinfo.com/forum/members...ss+wiring.html

Any help would be much appreciated

Laney · 18th September 2012, 12:52

Best to use a multimeter

SebastianHaff · 18th September 2012, 22:43

Turns out I was looking in the wrong place, twice. Found another cable run in the rear under the carpet, going horizontally towards the passenger side - this time with blue/orange wires. "Result!" I thought, "In theory, if I cut this blue wire, I should lose the sound out of one of my back speakers."

Snip - still getting sound out of both rears. Bugger. Chocolate-blocked back in until I get a gas-powered soldering iron I can use in the car. Anyone know what that one was?

all the rear signal lights are working at least.

Ended up going into the centre console and taking power from the fag lighter, and the left speaker channel (yellow/brown twisted pair). Found £1.50 in there too, result! Ran cables under the carpet, and used velcro to anchor the sub in the centre underneath the middle of the back seats, on top of the tunnel. Remote went into the armrest cubbyhole. Fag lighter socket doesn't seem to work now though, but i'll look at that tomorrow.

Got the left channel running to both left and right on the sub, but ideally i'd want to take the sound from the right channel, since that's what it's there for, and I want to make sure everything balances/mixes properly. Having said that it sounds pretty good for the size of it, but i'll always be wondering if it'll sound even better with left/right channels both going in.

There's more than one orange/blue cable though, and they aren't twisted!

Laney - I have a multimeter, came in handy when checking what the fag lighter socket was doing with the ignition in various positions, and figuring out a decent ground. What's the best setting to figure out what the speaker is doing, some AC setting I guess? What should I be seeing when the stereo is playing?

Thing is, I don't want to be snipping cables without a better idea of what i'm doing, there's not much play on some of them if you need to strip the ends of the wires and reconnect them, especially those ones in the back (as I found out).

Think someone may have been in there before me though, will post pics tomorrow...

Laney · 19th September 2012, 09:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by SebastianHaff

Laney - I have a multimeter, came in handy when checking what the fag lighter socket was doing with the ignition in various positions, and figuring out a decent ground. What's the best setting to figure out what the speaker is doing, some AC setting I guess? What should I be seeing when the stereo is playing?

12v fag socket is a switched accessory and live when key is in position 1.

Not the best place to take power from really but if you must use it make sure your mini sub isn't taking more than I think 10amps (read the manual for the recommended fuse) as I think thats the max fuse value for the 12v socket.

Not sure what you mean by figuring out what the speaker is doing?

SebastianHaff · 19th September 2012, 13:01

Thanks Laney. I've read a bit further and may try routing the power cable through the grommet on the drivers side into the engine bay, and do it properly.

The power cable and amp have 10 amp fuses, so hopefully it will be OK if I leave it where it is for now (chucking it down at the minute). Now that i've started unscrewing the centre console etc, it's not quite as scary!

What I mean by what the speaker is doing, I mean what voltage should I see across the speaker wires when the stereo is playing. Now that I have figured out the left channel location I should be able to figure out that one too. I thought with it being a speaker connection, then the best setting on the multimeter would be AC, but not sure what voltage range it should be set on.

There's a bunch of cables running down the drivers side into the back as well, hoping that will bear fruit trying to find the right rear speaker channel. Been out getting some proper connectors today so will have a go later on.

Laney · 19th September 2012, 13:29

Yeah routing through the engine bay direct from the battery is the best way to take the power I'd say.

Stereo amp will be taking 12v when engine off and up to 14v when engine is on.

You want an oscilliscope not a multimeter if you want to measure audio signal voltage flutuations. And of course these sine waves will vary from song to song.

SebastianHaff · 19th September 2012, 15:46

So here's what's in the wiring conduit under the centre armrest. Not sure which blue/orange wires to tap here, since they weren't twisted together like i've seen in the other guides.

Slightly better shot of the 3 orange wires (2 solid orange, 1 orange/silver)

And here is what is in the back on the driver's side - looks like someone already had something else in here, but looks like its been patched back together before I got it.

Anyone recognise which ones I should be going for?

SebastianHaff · 22nd September 2012, 15:55

Strange - so I snipped the blue wire underneath the centre console to see if the rear right speaker would stop working (and so identify the positive wire), but it didn't.

The Pioneer underseat sub install guide says that the dark blue wire in the trunking underneath the centre console carries the positive signal to the right rear speaker, and the wiki says the same thing - not in my car, it seems.

Think i'll quit before I do anymore damage

Shame, I was considering putting an amp in for some rear speaker upgrades. Would have popped off the rear door card to see what colour the wires are going into the back of the speaker, but it wouldn't shift, and with my luck I would have snapped a clip or something worse.

18th September 2012, 11:32	#1 (permalink)
SebastianHaff Car: 2007 2.2 CTDI ES, Black Join Date: 2nd September 2012 Location: UK Posts: 12 Thanks given: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts iTrader: (0)	Rear speaker wire colour differs from guide - help!! So I got an InPhase USW10 and went to install it today. The problem is that the wiring I see in my wiring loom doesn't match the one in the guide - for example, I see no brown wire for left rear speaker negative. In other guides it seems that the twisted pair carries the rear speaker channels down the centre console out to the rear speakers, but I don't want to assume anything. Here is a link to a picture showing what is in there: http://www.civinfo.com/forum/members...ss+wiring.html Any help would be much appreciated

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18th September 2012, 12:52	#2 (permalink)
Laney 無限 Unlimited Car: 59 Mugenised CTR Join Date: 14th April 2010 Location: London..ish Posts: 2,895 Thanks given: 260 Thanked 389 Times in 364 Posts iTrader: (5)	Best to use a multimeter

18th September 2012, 22:43	#3 (permalink)
SebastianHaff Thread starter Car: 2007 2.2 CTDI ES, Black Join Date: 2nd September 2012 Location: UK Posts: 12 Thanks given: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts iTrader: (0)	Turns out I was looking in the wrong place, twice. Found another cable run in the rear under the carpet, going horizontally towards the passenger side - this time with blue/orange wires. "Result!" I thought, "In theory, if I cut this blue wire, I should lose the sound out of one of my back speakers." Snip - still getting sound out of both rears. Bugger. Chocolate-blocked back in until I get a gas-powered soldering iron I can use in the car. Anyone know what that one was? all the rear signal lights are working at least. Ended up going into the centre console and taking power from the fag lighter, and the left speaker channel (yellow/brown twisted pair). Found £1.50 in there too, result! Ran cables under the carpet, and used velcro to anchor the sub in the centre underneath the middle of the back seats, on top of the tunnel. Remote went into the armrest cubbyhole. Fag lighter socket doesn't seem to work now though, but i'll look at that tomorrow. Got the left channel running to both left and right on the sub, but ideally i'd want to take the sound from the right channel, since that's what it's there for, and I want to make sure everything balances/mixes properly. Having said that it sounds pretty good for the size of it, but i'll always be wondering if it'll sound even better with left/right channels both going in. There's more than one orange/blue cable though, and they aren't twisted! Laney - I have a multimeter, came in handy when checking what the fag lighter socket was doing with the ignition in various positions, and figuring out a decent ground. What's the best setting to figure out what the speaker is doing, some AC setting I guess? What should I be seeing when the stereo is playing? Thing is, I don't want to be snipping cables without a better idea of what i'm doing, there's not much play on some of them if you need to strip the ends of the wires and reconnect them, especially those ones in the back (as I found out). Think someone may have been in there before me though, will post pics tomorrow...

19th September 2012, 13:01	#5 (permalink)
SebastianHaff Thread starter Car: 2007 2.2 CTDI ES, Black Join Date: 2nd September 2012 Location: UK Posts: 12 Thanks given: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts iTrader: (0)	Thanks Laney. I've read a bit further and may try routing the power cable through the grommet on the drivers side into the engine bay, and do it properly. The power cable and amp have 10 amp fuses, so hopefully it will be OK if I leave it where it is for now (chucking it down at the minute). Now that i've started unscrewing the centre console etc, it's not quite as scary! What I mean by what the speaker is doing, I mean what voltage should I see across the speaker wires when the stereo is playing. Now that I have figured out the left channel location I should be able to figure out that one too. I thought with it being a speaker connection, then the best setting on the multimeter would be AC, but not sure what voltage range it should be set on. There's a bunch of cables running down the drivers side into the back as well, hoping that will bear fruit trying to find the right rear speaker channel. Been out getting some proper connectors today so will have a go later on.

19th September 2012, 13:29	#6 (permalink)
Laney 無限 Unlimited Car: 59 Mugenised CTR Join Date: 14th April 2010 Location: London..ish Posts: 2,895 Thanks given: 260 Thanked 389 Times in 364 Posts iTrader: (5)	Yeah routing through the engine bay direct from the battery is the best way to take the power I'd say. Stereo amp will be taking 12v when engine off and up to 14v when engine is on. You want an oscilliscope not a multimeter if you want to measure audio signal voltage flutuations. And of course these sine waves will vary from song to song.

19th September 2012, 15:46	#7 (permalink)
SebastianHaff Thread starter Car: 2007 2.2 CTDI ES, Black Join Date: 2nd September 2012 Location: UK Posts: 12 Thanks given: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts iTrader: (0)	So here's what's in the wiring conduit under the centre armrest. Not sure which blue/orange wires to tap here, since they weren't twisted together like i've seen in the other guides. Slightly better shot of the 3 orange wires (2 solid orange, 1 orange/silver) And here is what is in the back on the driver's side - looks like someone already had something else in here, but looks like its been patched back together before I got it. Anyone recognise which ones I should be going for?

22nd September 2012, 15:55	#8 (permalink)
SebastianHaff Thread starter Car: 2007 2.2 CTDI ES, Black Join Date: 2nd September 2012 Location: UK Posts: 12 Thanks given: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts iTrader: (0)	Strange - so I snipped the blue wire underneath the centre console to see if the rear right speaker would stop working (and so identify the positive wire), but it didn't. The Pioneer underseat sub install guide says that the dark blue wire in the trunking underneath the centre console carries the positive signal to the right rear speaker, and the wiki says the same thing - not in my car, it seems. Think i'll quit before I do anymore damage Shame, I was considering putting an amp in for some rear speaker upgrades. Would have popped off the rear door card to see what colour the wires are going into the back of the speaker, but it wouldn't shift, and with my luck I would have snapped a clip or something worse.