Rewiring standard speakers help!

Dec

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Hi Guys,

I have a 2004 A3 8P for reference.

Basically what I am trying to do is rewire my rear speakers direct to the headunit rather than have them go through the standard amp (aftermarket headunit + rear amped speakers and sub = crackle at the moment)

What is the best way of doing this?

I was thinking of trying to buy some of the standard clips minus cables so that I can clip them onto the standard speakers and get a good connection, but I have no idea where I would get them from (unless audi do just the clips?)

What alternative could I do? I do not want to cut the original wiring in the car as I will take the head unit out when I come to selling the car in the future, so would rather cut the wiring loom for the head unit and add new ends to the new cables so the original head unit will still be plug and play.

Thanks,

Dec
 
They are probably crackling because you've used the wrong adapter, you should be using the PC9-404 adapter which runs off the rear RCA's on the aftermarket HU. If you are using the PC9-401 speaker input adapter then this is why you are getting interference.
The easiest way to link up the rears is to just pick up the wiring at the rear amp, which is inside the tupperware sub. However if you wish to continue using the sub then you will need to connect direct to the speakers. The downside to rewiring them and continuing to use the stock sub is that the sub will be barely audible as you will now have twice the power going to the cabin speakers but still the puny 1x50w going to the sub. At least if you carry on with the rears amped you can fade to rear to boost the sub/rears. If you do rewire them then ensure you reconnect the sub to the sub pre-out on the aftermarket HU (if it has one) that way you can whack up the sub level to compensate a little.
The rears are just standard spade terminals aren't they?
They will be different to the ones you get on car audio speaker cables but should be easily available from Maplins or Halfords. To avoid having to butcher the loom you can also buy a standard male/female speaker ISO loom, £2.99 from Maplins. This will allow you to plug in both the stock fronts and the new rear wiring.
http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=99499
 
They are probably crackling because you've used the wrong adapter, you should be using the PC9-404 adapter which runs off the rear RCA's on the aftermarket HU. If you are using the PC9-401 speaker input adapter then this is why you are getting interference.
The easiest way to link up the rears is to just pick up the wiring at the rear amp, which is inside the tupperware sub. However if you wish to continue using the sub then you will need to connect direct to the speakers. The downside to rewiring them and continuing to use the stock sub is that the sub will be barely audible as you will now have twice the power going to the cabin speakers but still the puny 1x50w going to the sub. At least if you carry on with the rears amped you can fade to rear to boost the sub/rears. If you do rewire them then ensure you reconnect the sub to the sub pre-out on the aftermarket HU (if it has one) that way you can whack up the sub level to compensate a little.
The rears are just standard spade terminals aren't they?
They will be different to the ones you get on car audio speaker cables but should be easily available from Maplins or Halfords. To avoid having to butcher the loom you can also buy a standard male/female speaker ISO loom, £2.99 from Maplins. This will allow you to plug in both the stock fronts and the new rear wiring.
http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=99499
 
Thanks bud, I should have mentioned that I already have an aftermarket sub connected to the rear/sub RCA output on the rear hence not using the other adapter.

http://www.pioneer.co.uk/uk/products/archive/AVH-P5000DVD/index.html

That is the head unit that I have currently.

So I have two options..

Either take the wires for the sub box in the boot, or take straight from the speakers themselves? Doesnt seem to bad either way, and I don't need the sub in the boot anyway! Guess I will just strip everything out at the weekend and see what looks easier once its all out in the open!

Thanks again :)
 
Less work to pick it up from the sub connector, as you don't have to remove any panels.
Here is the pinout for the connector:
Non Bose (17, 18, 20 & 21 are the only ones you need to tap), but you'll need to try them to see which is left & right.
1 yellow – Right Rear Pre-out
2 purple - Screen
3 green – Left Rear Pre-out
9 white – Remote on
17 yellow/red (rear speaker out)
18 yellow/brown (speaker out)
19
20 black/white (speaker out)
21 black/blue (speaker out)
22 brown (earth)
23 red/blue (power)
 
Ah thanks mate, so all I would have to do in theory is rewire them in the boot? No need to run cables to the head unit at all then as they are already there just running through the sub rather than direct (which they would after)?
 
No you pick up the connection to the speakers from the connection at the sub, you still then have to run this connection back to the HU
 
Thanks for the help AndyMac, possibly did it the harder way in the end, however the improvement is so worth it!

I took the rear door cars off enough to get to the connectors, plugged new connectors onto the bottoms of the speakers, then wired them into the aftermarket loom that I have behind the stereo anyway. Didn't take too long and im really impressed with the sound quality! Sounds better than when I had the standard cd player in there :)

Also added an aerial adapter so that I can get radio reception with the digital aerial too :)