Car Audio Bros, Help Me Out!

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BrutalB83

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I've never been huge on car audio, so the most I've done is install aftermarket head units and speakers (no amps, subs, etc.).

I bought an old, used Alpine head unit to install in my daily driver Civic. Not intending on upgrading anything else, just want to be able to play CDs and have an AUX port.

My question is...the yellow battery wire (the one that's supposed to have constant power, I assume to keep presets and whatnot?) has a small plastic box with a fuse on it and a note that it needs a constant power source and should probably be connected directly to the battery. I've never had that on a head unit I've installed before (probably because they weren't very powerful ones or weren't internally amplified).

If I'm not going to touch the rest of the system or crank the volume up high, is it really necessary to run it to the battery? Can I just chop that off and run it through the harness? Or maybe keep the fuse box but still just run it through the harness?
 
There should be a wire right there in the dash for you to use.... the oem clock radio keeps the clock up to date when the car is off, right?
 
Actually there is no dash clock. It's a 95 DX Civic. It's the only EG I've ever had, so I don't know if the higher models have dash clocks or not.

But I haven't even pulled the stock tape deck yet, so honestly I don't even know what's back there. I'm just looking at the wires hanging off the back of this Alpine. I guess I should crack the car open and take a look.
 
If it's got the stock stereo then just get the factory harness adapter. The aftermarket radio and the harness adapter will have the same wire colors. Just match the colors and plug everything in.
 
Oh, I already have a plug and play harness to go with it. I'm just wondering if that one yellow constant wire needs to bypass the harness and go directly to the battery in this case because it has this fuse box on it that I'm not familiar with. I think this head unit might have an internal amp and that's why they're recommending the battery or some other stronger source of constant power. It has a little note on it saying don't connect it behind the dash.

Do you guys think it's alright just to run it through the harness anyway? Probably leave that fuse box in there just as a precaution? I sure as Hell don't want to mess with poking a wire through the firewall if it'll be fine through the adapter harness.
 
leave the fuse
run it through the harness adapter
.....
profit
 
All radios have an amp, otherwise there would be no sound :) It's possible this one is 'high powered' or some shit but still, its probably only 20x4 rms like everything else. No need for a larger wire.
 
All radios have an amp, otherwise there would be no sound :) It's possible this one is 'high powered' or some shit but still, its probably only 20x4 rms like everything else. No need for a larger wire.

Yeah, that's what I meant. I think this one might technically be listed as "high powered", hence the fuse and the warning to connect it to a strong power source. I'm guessing the warning note was probably just there to cover their asses if somebody blew their system out pounding shitty music, lol. I was just looking for some confirmation.
 
I've installed tons of stereos and sound systems and never once ran power from the battery straight to a stereo. I've never had any problems.

Edit: I used to work in a professional stereo shop doing installs.
 
I've installed tons of stereos and sound systems and never once ran power from the battery straight to a stereo. I've never had any problems.

Edit: I used to work in a professional stereo shop doing installs.

:concur: on both parts
 
Eighthed or whatever on the "just run it through the harness" bit. I've installed tons of Alpines that had the fuse on the yellow wire, and never had any issues going through the harness. Even the CDA-7998 I have in the truck that's an old school SQ competition head works great and runs clean without going straight to the battery.
 
Eighthed or whatever on the "just run it through the harness" bit. I've installed tons of Alpines that had the fuse on the yellow wire, and never had any issues going through the harness. Even the CDA-7998 I have in the truck that's an old school SQ competition head works great and runs clean without going straight to the battery.

Awesome, good to hear!
 
yeah, that's peak, not rms.
CF has it listed as 27 watts
http://www.crutchfield.com/S-C9zPIdBvPRh/p_500CDA9815/Alpine-CDA-9815.html

it's actually a bit higher than average, most are in the lower 20s.

i wouldn't worry about it.

if you smell electric fire, turn off the car and disconnect the battery :D
Wow 27x4? Never seen one rated that high. I guess it doesn't matter to me though- I always ignore the amplifier in the head unit. I just look for sound quality and preamp output voltage.
 
Update: Installed the thing and it worked just fine through the harness.

Question though, why is it that whenever you replace an old factory unit with something aftermarket, it seems to get better reception? It's not like you swapped out the antennae...
 
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