Hey everyone,

Now that I have income, I have a desire to get to work on my car audio system in the Trans Am. I am going to get an Alpine CDA-9833 MP3/CD Player and I already have a JL Audio PowerWedge box with 2 10 inch subwoofers in it along with a JL Audio 250 watt amp. I bought the box and amp from my cousin who had it in his 2002 Camaro SS. It came with all the wiring too, including power and others that I can not identify simply because I lack the knowledge.
I know the amp (which powers the subs) will need to be connected to the battery, all it is right now is just a simple and big power wire, so what do I need and how do I safely connect this to my head unit? Also, I have heard something about an adapter for our cars that plugs into the wiring harness that is for aftermarket radios, anyone know anything about this? Or an antenna adapter? If possible, I would also like my power antenna to only go up when I am actually listening to the radio and not a CD, is there a way to do this? I also heard something about a factory amp... would this need to be removed or disabled?

Another note, I assume that one of the wires coming from the amp hooks into the back of the headunit so that I may control the levels of the subs, although where I do not know. On Crutchfield they said that the Alpine head unit I am looking at needs to be connected to the battery using 10 gauge wire, is this really necessary? And if so, how do I connect both the subs and the headunit to the battery? Like what hardware?

One last thing, my front door speakers are blown. Now I know this is a component setup that my doors has, but for now I was simply going to put in some 6.5 coaxial speakers in the door until I find good components and have money for them. Will this work? And which ones would you guys recommend?

I apologize for the long post, alas, I do not know much about car audio, and wish to do this myself instead of taking it to a shop, and I wish to do it right.

Thanks,

Hack

 

1st: Remove all the stock junk because stock sucks!!

2nd: the power antenna lead from the deck will need to be connected in your application

3rd: Yes, get an install kit so you don't have to cut factory wiring for the deck.

4th: Normally you don't have to run a special wire to the battery for a deck but some high power decks need it. I would recommend against high power decks. IMO, it would be better to get a deck with no amp at all and hook up external amps. Deck amps generally suck because of space limitations.

5th: The best bang for the buck on 6.5's is the pioneer REV coax (yellow cones). You can get them online for about $100 and they sound as good or better than speakers costing much more.

6th: I don't think you should install this yourself since you seem to have no experience.

 

I just want to make sure I didn't offend you with item #6. It's just that you should realize some professionals that have been doing installs for years are still NOT doing it right. I see it all the time. People spend $3-5K frequently for a system that sounds terrible. They end up ripping it out and starting all over, spending even more and still not getting it right. You can do a real nice sounding system for under $1K but you have to know what you are doing. The chances of anyone getting it right the first time are slim to none. If you want to try to save some money you could either read a lot from people who have done it right and wrong or find someone who's done a few successful, good sounding installs and see if he is willing to help guide you. There is a LOT to it. I can provide you some good parts to get but if it isn't installed right then the end result will be no good. I have very high end taste and I'm happy with my under $1k system. I have a basic deck and a basic sattellite/subwoofer setup. It's good to keep it simple. I can't say I'm real fond of JL stuff. They have always been overrated IMO even 20 years ago. There is much better out there and even for less money.

 

No offense taken, I am in complete agreeance. I just wanted to get all the parts needed for the install and get an idea as far as what would and would not need to be done.

At this time I can not afford to rip out the whole stock audio system which is why I am getting that Alpine deck with the internal amplifier, but later down the road that is what I will do.

Clarification: So I will need the GM antenna adapter?

And since I won't be ripping out any of the other speakers or wiring does the stock amp stay or does it need to be removed since my HU will have an internal amp?

 

I don't think an adapter is needed but I'm not 100% sure.

My 95 Z had the bose speaker system and was totally wack. I couldn't get it working so I just ripped it all out and ran my own wiring from the deck to the speakers. A good stereo shop may have another option but that's what I did. BTW Bose SUCKS!!