What Do I Need To Bring To A Car Audio Installation Shop??

[Music6 10+ year member]

Hey guys,

I'm upgrading my car's audio system this week and was wondering what do I need to bring to the installation place? I'm buying my HU, speakers, and amp online. Is it fine if I just show up to the shop with the stuff I bought online? Do I need to buy any extra wiring for the HU or speakers or amp?

And I would do the installation myself, however I have looked up the process and I don't think it's within my capabilities //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

Also if it matters the things I'm buying:

Alpine CDE123 Head Unit

Polk MM6501 component speakers

Jl Audio J2 360-2 amplifier

(All from Amazon)

Thanks in advance!

Click to read more...

 

[Dirtrider4eva 10+ year member]

first and forth most,

hello,

people will probably bash you, but heres to start.

One, you will saving hundreds doing it yourself, its true, shops will over charge you, and it isnt worth the money, in most places. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/crazy.gif.c13912c32de98515d3142759a824dae7.gif

two, if you are going to the shop, you will probably buy a wiring kit from them for way over priced...

heres a good kit to get for what your running,

simply go to walmart if you only going to run that amp

Scosche 680W 8-Gauge Wiring Kit - Walmart.com this is what i used for my first amp back in the day,

it gets the job done great. the wire that came with it when i bought it was actually six gauge some how.

if youd buy that from a shop, expect double cost.

 

[Music6 10+ year member]

first and forth most, hello,

people will probably bash you, but heres to start.

One, you will saving hundreds doing it yourself, its true, shops will over charge you, and it isnt worth the money, in most places. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/crazy.gif.c13912c32de98515d3142759a824dae7.gif

two, if you are going to the shop, you will probably buy a wiring kit from them for way over priced...

heres a good kit to get for what your running,

simply go to walmart if you only going to run that amp

Scosche 680W 8-Gauge Wiring Kit - Walmart.com this is what i used for my first amp back in the day,

it gets the job done great. the wire that came with it when i bought it was actually six gauge some how.

if youd buy that from a shop, expect double cost.

Hey thanks,

and I dunno..my friend who knows a fair amount about car audio got part of his system installed by a shop and it only cost him 80 bucks. If I'm only payin a hundred or so its worth it to me lol but ill look into trying to do it myself.

I'll check into that wiring kit, see if it's good or whatever thanks

 

[Dirtrider4eva 10+ year member]

for that price, id say go for it. quotes by me were once incredible. $250 for a box, $150 for sub install, way over, but for 80, thats a fair shot then sir.

 

[ChevyRidinLow]

first and forth most, hello,

people will probably bash you, but heres to start.

One, you will saving hundreds doing it yourself, its true, shops will over charge you, and it isnt worth the money, in most places. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/crazy.gif.c13912c32de98515d3142759a824dae7.gif

Two, if you are going to the shop, you will probably buy a wiring kit from them for way over priced...

Heres a good kit to get for what your running,

simply go to walmart if you only going to run that amp

scosche 680w 8-gauge wiring kit - walmart.com this is what i used for my first amp back in the day,

it gets the job done great. The wire that came with it when i bought it was actually six gauge some how.

If youd buy that from a shop, expect double cost.

hahaha

 

[d77543020 10+ year member]

first and forth most, hello,

people will probably bash you, but heres to start.

One, you will saving hundreds doing it yourself, its true, shops will over charge you, and it isnt worth the money, in most places. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/crazy.gif.c13912c32de98515d3142759a824dae7.gif

two, if you are going to the shop, you will probably buy a wiring kit from them for way over priced...

heres a good kit to get for what your running,

simply go to walmart if you only going to run that amp

Scosche 680W 8-Gauge Wiring Kit - Walmart.com this is what i used for my first amp back in the day,

it gets the job done great. the wire that came with it when i bought it was actually six gauge some how.

if youd buy that from a shop, expect double cost.

I agree doing it your self would save you money but if you really don't know what your doing it could cost you more money it takes a while and lots of trial and error to really get car audio down even experts are still learning I'm not a mechanic so when the car breaks down I take it to a shop car electronics are getting just as complicated

 

[Music6 10+ year member]

Ya I agree it's complicated haha. But I haven't decided whether I'll do it myself or go to a shop, I'll just go try getting some quotes from shops and see what I'm lookin at.

But can someone help me with this: in my 08 camry SE the frickin factory head unit is like big? Like an aftermarket HU looks like it would take up the space but have like 2 inches of dead space.. That would look horrible and I imagine would make the aftermarket HU not fit optimally.. **** that's frustrating unless I'm missing something

 

[THATpurpleKUSH 5,000+ posts]

Sounds like your factory headunit is double din sized or bigger. You'll need an adapter plate for the dash to get the new headunit to fit in. If you have premium sound, you will need a bypass harness. There are lots of hidden costs when you install aftermarket audio gear, the markup on the additional products you'll need will be more at a shop vs online, thats part of what runs the cost up so much when you take it to a shop.

 

[Music6 10+ year member]

Sounds like your factory headunit is double din sized or bigger. You'll need an adapter plate for the dash to get the new headunit to fit in. If you have premium sound, you will need a bypass harness. There are lots of hidden costs when you install aftermarket audio gear, the markup on the additional products you'll need will be more at a shop vs online, thats part of what runs the cost up so much when you take it to a shop.

Ohh ok. Great lol. What do you mean if I have premium sound? Do you mean if I want premium sound? I'll look up what a bypass harness is now and try to figure out why I need it, thanks. Ugh this is more expensive than I thought it'd be.. Might have to learn to install it myself I guess.

Edit: so do you think if I showed up to an installation shop with my HU,speakers,amp, and the 8 gauge wiring suggested above, and an adapter plate to fit my HU is that all they'd need for the installation?

If they can install it all for 125 or under I'd definitely do it, anything over I'll try it myself most likely lol

 

[THATpurpleKUSH 5,000+ posts]

If your car has a premium sound option from the factory most likely it will have a separate amplifier. You want to bypass this amp so you aren't amplifying an already amplified signal. The shop should have the dash kit, but those items usually carry a huge markup, so the more parts you can furnish yourself, the more money you will save.

 

[winkychevelle 10+ year member]

wire harnesses and dash kits together normally run me 35 bucks at the local shop unless it is a specialty harness or kit. radio install is normally 60 buck and the amp is 80 and the door are 80 a pair. an eight gauge amp kit normally runs me 40 bucks add all this up and you might decide its worth sitting back on here and asking questions and slowly do it yourself. personally i say take it slow and learn how to do it all. lots of guys on here can help including me and there are lots of online resources as well. peronnally i cannot justify 250 bucks in labor for something so easy to do. so when i reach the edge of my abilities i ask questions to build up my abilities.

 

[TheUnderFighter 10+ year member]

If you can get it all installed for under $100 bucks that's not bad, as long as they do it all properly without cutting any corners. If they do a ****** job, it's not even worth 10 bucks. Honestly, it's daunting at first, but as soon as you do it, it's cake. If you ever played with legos as a kid it'll be no problem.

Go here: Metra Online | Welcome to Metra Auto Parts Online Warehouse to figure out the parts you need for your car, (dash kit, wiring harness, antennae adapter, etc) and then I type in the part number in google and it'll bring it up on Amazon or Crutchfield or Sonicelectronics.

 

[imbored408 10+ year member]

I would just do it yourself. The only hard part for me was getting speaker wire through the door grommet things. Cut my hands up and took about 20 mins trying to actually get it through for each side. There is a guide on how to install a headunit into almost every car out there. Some site has them. I used that for my car and it was simple.

After that it is just screwing the wires in the amp and stuff.

 

[gpgtp]

I dunno if youve bought the stuff already, if not look at crutchfield for the head unit (i know cf is retail pricing.. But they do come with warranty AND the needed wiring harness and dash install kit. Installing is very simple once you get the hang of it...

 

[Dirtrider4eva 10+ year member]

Metra Part # 99-8218 | Toyota Camry Dash kit | Metra Online

im assuming you need this ^^