What is this wire and what do I do with it? New head unit install (1 Viewer)

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Just to clarify for the folks who aren't intuitive with wiring/electronics ....

In order to eliminate the common ground, you'll need to run 8 wires copper stranded wires from the HU and splice them into the output of the amplifier, bypassing the amp. 1 pair each for the FL., FR., RL, RR door speaker combinations.

This means you'll need to remove the speaker connections between the HU and any wiring harness you received to connect to your OEM wiring going to the amp. You'll run 8 wires (or 4 pairs, which is more common) down to the location of your amp, meaning you'll probably want 5+ feet of wire extensions (40ft. total if you're running individual wires). Consult your EWD diagram as to the color combos to connect the appropriate wiring color combos between the head unit and speakers to ensure you don't reverse polarity. I'm sure the color combos can be found in various threads in this forum using the search function.
 
If you choose to bypass the amp for speakers, it may be wise to elect to bypass the amp for ground, +12V, and ACC signals as well. You can then cut the amp completely out of the entire circuit.

The only thing I would be unclear about is the power antenna, if you have one. My guess would be that you'd want to activate the power antenna when the head unit gets turned on. I'm not positive of how the power antenna lead of your HU operates. An alternative to this is to get behind your glovebox and modify the power antenna relay module such that you simply move the antenna up and down via the switch on the dash as you see fit. It involves cutting one of the hard leads and soldering two jumper wires internally on the relay board. The picture is below, and it can also be found in a thread on here for further directions. This is on my to-do list since it is annoying to me when my power antenna automatically raises to the stubby position when the HU gets power, which is useless since I never use the radio.



View attachment 2551179
I cant remember the last time I listened to the radio.
Just to clarify for the folks who aren't intuitive with wiring/electronics ....

In order to eliminate the common ground, you'll need to run 8 wires copper stranded wires from the HU and splice them into the output of the amplifier, bypassing the amp. 1 pair each for the FL., FR., RL, RR door speaker combinations.

This means you'll need to remove the speaker connections between the HU and any wiring harness you received to connect to your OEM wiring going to the amp. You'll run 8 wires (or 4 pairs, which is more common) down to the location of your amp, meaning you'll probably want 5+ feet of wire extensions (40ft. total if you're running individual wires). Consult your EWD diagram as to the color combos to connect the appropriate wiring color combos between the head unit and speakers to ensure you don't reverse polarity. I'm sure the color combos can be found in various threads in this forum using the search function.
So if this is coming from the back of the head unit to the wires for speakers going to the amp that means the HU is essentially wired right to the speakers without having to run all the wires? So joining the wires for speaker from the output of the factory amp to speaker wires coming to the input of the amp is doable but doesnt eliminate the common ground? Is that the deal? This latter bit being what someone earlier called "Jumping over the amp"
 
So if this is coming from the back of the head unit to the wires for speakers going to the amp that means the HU is essentially wired right to the speakers without having to run all the wires? So joining the wires for speaker from the output of the factory amp to speaker wires coming to the input of the amp is doable but doesnt eliminate the common ground? Is that the deal? This latter bit being what someone earlier called "Jumping over the amp"
You are kind of correct. Jumping over the amp (my understanding) means directly connecting the speaker leads (all 8 of them) from the HU to the output wires from the amp to the speakers. You eliminate the common ground by doing this, and more often than not that annoying hiss/buzz. If you want to make it almost OEM and more easily "undoable" for later down the road, you can buy the same connector that is the output on the amp and the appropriate pins to connect your 8 speaker leads directly to the OEM wiring connector which then goes to your speakers. If my memory hasn't gone to $hit, I believe @suprarx7nut actually made a Youtube video on this process, or something very similar.

Metra does sell a kit, and I actually bought it but never used it. I ended up replacing the whole OEM stereo and ran aftermarket speaker wires in the end.
 
Forgive my ignorance, but by bypassing the factory amp do you loose power to the front kick speakers and sub? I'm about to start my install but I consider those kind of crucial to the quality of sound.
 

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