Wiring speakers - Help!

[Cuppa]

I am in the middle of replacing the original Nissan door speakers in my ’06 cab chassis with a component system (separate tweeter, woofer & passive crossover) & have hit a small snag. Instructions for fitting the new speakers specify the importance of connecting the positive speaker wire to the positive terminal on the crossover, & the negative wire to the negative terminal. They warn that to do otherwise may result in damage to the speakers.

Problem is I don’t know which of the two speaker wires is which. One is blue, the other black with a white stripe.
Can anyone tell me which is which, or alternatively whether I can test them with a multimeter to determine polarity? If the latter, would I simply connect one probe of the multi meter to the wire & the other to earth on the vehicle? I don’t want to get it wrong & cause damage.

Hoping I can get a speedy & definite response.

Thanks
Cuppa

[Yendor]

Hey mate, Is this the LHS speaker?

Blue is positive

Black with a White stripe is negative

[Yendor]

RHS speaker...... the Brown is the positive and the Black with a Red trace is the negative.

[threedogs]

when its all hooked up can you show the position of the tweeters please

[Cuppa]

Thanks Tony. Have done the LHS & all is working, now for the RHS
Will take a pic & post it for you later TD. Tweeters are in the door about 6” above the woofers & slightly rearward, as recommended by the manufacturer.
Crossovers are behind the kick panels. Apparently lots of people put them inside the doors, but the instructions warned against this because of the posibility of them getting wet.

Cuppa

[threedogs]

thanks, 4OFF is your man on speakers

[oncedisturbed]

Thanks Tony. Have done the LHS & all is working, now for the RHS
Will take a pic & post it for you later TD. Tweeters are in the door about 6” above the woofers & slightly rearward, as recommended by the manufacturer.
Crossovers are behind the kick panels. Apparently lots of people put them inside the doors, but the instructions warned against this because of the posibility of them getting wet.

Cuppa

Kick panels or under dash are the best spot for the splitters.

Twerters also look and sound good when mounted in pillar pods

[macca]

The mods never end Cuppa :groupwave:

[Cuppa]

40309Here ya go TD.

I am now officially an expert door trim remover & refitter, having done each one twice! Omitted to connect the tweeter wires to the speaker on LHS, & then when the RHS was completed, found I could not lock the door with the button. Convinced I had somehow blocked or jammed the locking mechanism off came the door trim again, fiddled around for ages with no joy..........until I discovered that it worked perfectly when the door was shut. It was then I remembered that this is how it is supposed yo work. grrrrr.

End result is is a bit less volume (that's ok), but a much cleaner sound.

New speakers are JL Audio evolution C2 600‘s (http://intl.jlaudio.com/c2-600-car-audio-c2-speaker-systems-99615)

[oncedisturbed]

Drop an amp in and it will clean up more and boost the sound :)

[Cuppa]

Oh & I have also discovered how to tell which is the positive & negative terminal on a speaker if it’s not marked.
Using a AA or AAA battery connect the positive end to one terminal & briefly touch the negative end to the other terminal. If the positive end of the battery is connected to the positive speaker terminal the speaker cone will move forwards. If the positive end of the battery is connected to the negative speaker terminal the speaker cone will move backward.

When there are two different size terminals on the speaker the smaller one is usually negative.

[Clunk]

I can just picture it now, Cuppa cruising down the street, windows open, arm hanging out the window, seat reclined as far as it can go so you just about see over the steering wheel, supping on a Cuppa tea all while DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince is blasting Summertime on the stereo :D

[sil3nt_dr3ams]

best to use a 9v battery out of your multimeter,

[Cuppa]

I can just picture it now, Cuppa cruising down the street, windows open, arm hanging out the window, seat reclined as far as it can go so you just about see over the steering wheel, supping on a Cuppa tea all while DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince is blasting Summertime on the stereo :D

DJ Who? And what’s royalty got to do with it? <tic>

Nah, The Who & ‘Won’t get fooled again’, The Warumpi Band & ‘My Island Home’, maybe a bit of Laurie Anderson some Ras Michael & the Sons of Negus or even a bit of Angelique Kidjo. A long outback road stretching over the horizon. Laid back cruising sounds good as does the cuppa. :)

[threedogs]

I can just picture it now, Cuppa cruising down the street, windows open, arm hanging out the window, seat reclined as far as it can go so you just about see over the steering wheel, supping on a Cuppa tea all while DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince is blasting Summertime on the stereo :D

You forgot wearing his cap backwards lol Doof Doof Doof

[Dave Sutherland]

Looks good Cuppa,

All,
In relation to Yendors advice would it be fair to say that as a rule of thumb all solid base colours are positive and all with a trace are negative for speakers all round. Ive gotta install a new system, Pioneer,amp,speakers cameras,etc. did the same in me 2001gu 13 years ago and stuffed if i can remember. got the gregorys manual for me 2001 but not sure if anythings changed on the 2014 gu

[MEGOMONSTER]

Looks good Cuppa, All, In relation to Yendors advice would it be fair to say that as a rule of thumb all solid base colours are positive and all with a trace are negative for speakers all round. Ive gotta install a new system, Pioneer,amp,speakers cameras,etc. did the same in me 2001gu 13 years ago and stuffed if i can remember. got the gregorys manual for me 2001 but not sure if anythings changed on the 2014 gu

Would you mind heading over to the intro's section and say g'day to everyone, tell us a little about yourself and ya rig.

[Hodge]

Silly question but do you need to remove the whole door trim to get to speakers or just that bottom pocket section.
I'm assuming it's the whole thing ...

Sent from my SM-G900I using Forum Runner

[threedogs]

Yeah the lot it hooks in at the top, not a big job IMO just a bit fiddly

[Covo71]

If you are going to install anything half decent replace the shitty original wiring. It is a PITA but no good spending the extra coin on decent gear and not getting the signal through properly. IMO.

[Hodge]

Cuppa gave me some motivation so I jumped in and replaced my front speakers, the sound is 50 times better even though the new speakers are still driven by the factory unit.
Cannot believe how quick the door trim removal and refit is, I assumed it was a massive job. 4 minutes each side literally 4 screws.
And I agree with Covo! The factory wiring is crap, so a future job on the list to replace that when I upgrade the deck.



4704447045

[threedogs]

Now to Dynamat the doors for an even crisper sound

[Hodge]

Now to Dynamat the doors for an even crisper sound

Now that would be a fun job.
Now I don't mean to crap inside Cuppas thread, but even though I'm getting a nice clean sound, I'm not getting any bass at all out of the speakers.
I've connected it, solid color to solid color and striped to striped. Hmmm.
I got these.
http://store.sony.com/6-1-2-3-way-speakers-zid27-XSGT1638F/cat-27-catid-All-Car-Stereo-Receivers-Speakers

[threedogs]

you need to shoot 4OFF a PM I believe he used to do comps with sound systems,
and knows his stuff

[Winnie]

Now that would be a fun job.
Now I don't mean to crap inside Cuppas thread, but even though I'm getting a nice clean sound, I'm not getting any bass at all out of the speakers.
I've connected it, solid color to solid color and striped to striped. Hmmm.
I got these.
http://store.sony.com/6-1-2-3-way-speakers-zid27-XSGT1638F/cat-27-catid-All-Car-Stereo-Receivers-Speakers

Try the other way around... Usually no bass means you have the polarity the wrong way... It's easy to try it anyway.
Could be a setting on the head unit has been changed?