Installing speakers in your car

Overall, the process of replacing or adding speakers is relatively straightforward, and if you follow the guide above, you should be able to complete the task successfully. If you want to install additional car speakers next, that is also a simple process. However, if you run into any questions along the way, you can always Ask a Mechanic. Our certified mobile mechanics perform over services, including diagnostics, brakes, oil changes, scheduled mileage maintenances, and will come to you with all necessary parts and tools.

Our certified mobile mechanics make house calls in over 2, U. Fast, free online quotes for your car repair. How to replace car speakers Decide on your purpose for buying new speakers - If it is to replace blown or low-quality speakers, you need to know the exact size of the ones you will be removing. Home Articles. The statements expressed above are only for informational purposes and should be independently verified.

Please see our terms of service for more details. Excellent Auto Repair Ratings. YourMechanic Auto Repair. Related Articles. Experienced Mechanic? Need Help With Your Car? Related articles. Sound deadening allows you to eliminate much of the vibration which comes with higher levels Read more. Laws and regulations for vehicle modifications have been set in New Media to Listen to in the Car Whether you face a long commute every day or are planning a road trip, consider the following recommendations for audio entertainment.

Related questions How do I reset all the display center settings? You can quickly and easily rest all the display center settings to their default setting: 1. Look for high-end materials that are meant to last. To get a great bass response, use stiff, lightweight materials like polypropylene with mica or metal-coated synthetic fabrics.

Installing car speakers is not as hard as it seems. It can be completed within a few hours and does not require any special tools.

Once this has been completed, follow the instructions from the installation guide step-by-step before you start any work on installing your new car speakers. Carefully remove the panels, grilles, and covers on the speakers. You might have to use a screwdriver or other tool depending on the vehicle. Some speakers are hidden in odd places so be ready to look in hard-to-reach spots too. Unscrew and remove the old speaker. Keep track of where the screws go as you work so you can put them back in later.

When replacing the speaker, make sure you connect the wires correctly. If you do add tape, it will make it difficult to open up the speaker assembly in the future. Before installing the speaker, connect the battery and test the sound. Re-installing a speaker is a hassle and more expensive than you think. Test it out first to avoid any problems. The speaker is ready for a test.

Disconnect the battery again and put everything back together, including the speaker cover or trim pieces you removed. If you want more bass, an amplifier may be necessary. Defer to any instructions provided with your new speakers.

Since there's so many different types of speakers available, it's nearly impossible to write a how-to guide that will perfectly cover all of them. The instructions below are highly generalized and may not apply to every single set of speakers on the market. Whenever necessary, defer to the instructions included with your speakers, as these will be specifically suited to your unique product. Part 2. Take any panels or speaker grilles off.

Nearly all speakers in the interior of a car will be covered with some sort of protective paneling or grill. Before the speaker can be modified or replaced, this barrier must be removed. Pry the grill off with a suitable tool, like a flat head screwdriver, removing any bolts or screws that are holding it in place if necessary.

The work you'll have to do to access your car's factory speakers will vary from car to car. In worst case scenarios, for example, you may need to remove seats, crawl into the trunk to access important bolts or wires, or even remove entire door panels to gain access to the speakers.

Remove the factory speaker. Note that the speaker is usually, but not always, attached to a wiring harness, so take care not to rip it out when removing it. If you think you'll need to re-install the factory speakers in the future for instance, if you sell the car , don't forget to save any screws that you remove! Connect the new speaker to the car's electrical system.

Usually, connecting your new speaker is a fairly simple matter of plugging your speaker's wiring harness into the car's wiring harness. However, if your car doesn't have this simple type of connection, you may need to connect your speaker with a soldered or crimped connection.

Make sure you match the polarity of the car and speaker's connections. Test the speaker. Now that you've connected your speaker, it's important to test the connection so that you don't have to waste time later to fix a problem. Re-connect the battery's negative terminal and turn on the car's radio or stereo. Listen for sound coming out of your new speaker or look for visible vibrations at high volumes.

If your speaker won't work, this means that there is a problem with its electrical connection. Secure the new speaker. Once you're confident that your speaker works properly, secure it in its seat in the door or dash. If you're lucky, your new speaker will fit in the factory speaker's housing.

Refer to the instructions included with your speaker. Install and test any subwoofers. Subwoofers are responsible for the ultra-low, "booming" bass sound that some car owners idolize.

If your car came with factory subwoofers, installing new woofers can be as easy as seating them in the existing housing and connecting them to the car's wiring harness. If your car didn't come with factory subwoofers, however, or you'd like to install additional ones, your task may be much harder. You may need expand your stock woofer's existing mounting holes or make significant modifications to the car to house large woofers. For instance, many people who want to add multiple woofers to their car custom-install a panel in the trunk to house the woofers.

Subwoofers often have fairly large power demands and complicated wiring schemes. You may want to buy and install a separate amplifier wiring kit to simplify the process of wiring your subwoofers. If not, you may need to connect the woofer directly to the battery and the car's stereo and ground the woofer manually. Install and test any tweeters. As with woofers, tweeters, which produce high-pitch frequencies, can be easy or difficult to install based on the factory components of your car.

If your car came with tweeters, you may only need to install the new ones in the existing housing and connect them to the existing wiring harness. If, however, there are no spaces to install the tweeters, you may need to make your own or expand existing ones, use a mounting bracket, etc.

Luckily, tweeters are much smaller than woofers, so the adjustments you'll need to make will be minor in comparison. As with woofers, if your car didn't already have any tweeters, you may need connect the tweeter directly to the battery and stereo and ground the tweeter to the car's body.

Replace all panels and speaker grilles. When all the components of your new speaker system have been installed, tested, and securely mounted in the car, you may replace any speaker grills or panels that you had to remove to install the speakers. Make sure you've kept any screws that you had to remove to take the grill or panel off so that you're able to re-secure them properly.