The longer you’re in the car audio, the more chance you have to install the components yourself. In this basic guide, I’ll walk you through certain tools and components you’ll need to install a car audio amplifier.

Amplifiers can be a bit tricky to install. They require the removal of internal panels and also the routing of cables from the front of the car to the rear or where the car audio amplifier will be mounted.

After purchasing your car audio amplifier, you will need to purchase an amplifier wiring kit. These kits usually contain:

* A power cable (big red cable)

* Inline fuse holder

* RCA set

* a long thin wire (mostly blue in color) called a remote control

* some speaker cables and various cable connectors and cable looms

These kits also come in various sizes or gauges, with 8 and 4 gauge kits being the most common. The smaller the number, the larger the wire. 4 gauge kits will be sufficient to drive amps of approximately 600-1200 watts.

Once you have the car audio amplifier and amplifier wiring kit, now it’s time to look under the hood and locate the battery. Once you’ve located the battery, it’s best to unclip it during installation so you don’t short anything while you work. Look around the firewall area on the side where your battery is located and see if there is any kind of hole leading into the interior of your vehicle where the power cable could run through. If you can’t find an easily accessible hole, you may need to drill one yourself. If you have to drill one yourself, it’s best to drill a small hole at first so you don’t damage any wires in the area. Gradually make the hole larger with some type of step bit. Once you have made the hole, use rubber grommets to ensure that the hole is sealed and that the metal edges do not cut into the power cord.

Now that the power cable is routed through the firewall, it’s time to start removing the internal panels for the entire vehicle cable run. During this process you will connect 3 wires to the car amplifier location. Generally, the amplifier will be in the trunk/hatch area. The first wire will be a red wire (which is the power wire you connected from the vehicle’s battery). Next up will be an RCA set and the final wire will be the thin blue wire we call a remote. In some kits the remote cable can be integrated into the RCAs. The RCAs are what send the sound or signal to the amplifier and then it is amplified through the speakers. A rule of thumb I generally use when routing cables is to separate the power and RCAs by running the power cable through one side and the RCA through the other. If not done correctly, there is a chance that you could generate some motor noise from inside your speakers. The RCAs will connect to the output on the rear of the radio, some CD players will have a set of ‘subwoofer out’ RCA connectors giving you more control over sound quality. Next up is the remote wire (usually the thin blue wire) this is the wire that sends the power signal to the amplifier when the radio is on. This cable clips into the remote cable on the back of the CD player. Don’t worry if the cables are too long during this phase of the process, they can be easily trimmed once you find where you want to place the amp.

Once you’ve run the wires, you can set up your box and amplifier where it will eventually be permanently installed so you have a reference for how much wire will need to be trimmed. You will also be able to set where your terrain will go at this time; usually a ground connection somewhere within a foot of your amp will suffice. Once you’ve located a suitable spot, use some sandpaper to clean the area of ​​any paint so you have a solid connection to the vehicle’s body. Now you can connect all the cables to the amplifier and subwoofers and hide any excess cables to make your installation look more professional.

The final phase is to connect the power cable to the battery and install the inline fuse protector. With everything complete, it’s time to turn on your system and make all the adjustments to the levels you feel are appropriate for the type of sound quality you want.