Upgrading OEM HU + Speakers

[DSee]

Hello,

I'm planning on replacing the OEM Head Unit + Speakers on a 1995 Nissan Altima GXE with a JVC stereo package, similar to the JVC KD-PKR201 (head unit + 4 speakers).

The head unit should be pretty straight forward, only requiring a new wire harness, but what about the speakers?

Few Questions:

1- Would it be ok to use the same OEM Speaker wires, or is it recommended to replace them?

2- Anything else I should be looking for?

This will be my 2nd head unit installation and 1st speaker installation.

Thanks.

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[All_Logix 10+ year member]

Replacing the factory wire is really up to you. If you are going to be putting in a new 4 ch. amp with substantial power it is recomended to go to like a 16 awg or higher. But if you are just going to run the speakers from the internal amplifer in the new HU, its easier just to leave the factory wire. Because this vehicle had a special OEM system I would make sure there isnt a factory amplifer somewhere in there that will make it difficult to put new speakers in. easiest way to test this, is once you have the HU out, put an ohmeter on the + and - of a front speaker, if it says is anything 10 ohms and under, not amplifier... if it is like 10k or something, there is an amplifer. Just to be on the safe side I would test a back speaker too, some older vehicles amplified the rears and not the front

 

[DSee]

The original idea was to run the speakers off the internal amplifier in the new HU, and use the factory wires with the new speakers.

I'll follow your advise and use an ohmmeter to see if there's an amplifier there or not.

Thanks again for the reply, it was a lot more than what I was looking for!