Hi,
I should have started here first.

I wanted to upgrade my base radio. I'm not an audiophile I just
wanted to make it as good as the radio in my 1987 CRX.
So I ordered 6 boston accousic speakers I forget the model numbers.
They are not the best model and were not that expensive for 6.
But, I got my wife some of these in her last car and the sound was
really good.

I wanted to get an amp. Knowing that the MINI radio is alpine, and that
my CRX still has the amp in it I got in 1987, and still sounds great, I want
to stay with alpine. Sure.

I looked on ebay for what I thought I needed.
I ordered the MRV-F545. I am pretty sure I looked up the wrong
specs/size/whatever. I was looking for something more modestly
powered than what I guess I got.

So anyway, this thing comes in the box, it looks like a power supply
for the space shuttle. Maybe 16 x 20 inches, 10 pounds.
I also think it is too powerful for my speakers. I'm sure it is too
powerful for my ears. I suspect it uses too much electricity for
my poor MINI.

What am I to do?

THANKS

 

return it and get an Alpine PDX-4 or PDX-5

 

It was (gently) used touching black no take back.

I have to find another use for it, make it fit, trade it, or
sell it.

 

That is a fantastic amp. I have it's little brother, MRV-F345, in two of my other vehicles. If you can make it fit, I would keep it. Seriously.

 

Im useing the stock head unit and a JL HD 600 to power my JL sub and Hertz speaker. I also have a Alpine ImPrint processor.

this set up works great.

 

Funny. My sidekick (at work) is both an audiophile and an electrical genious from way way back. He read the manual and looked up my speakers and was like, dude, this thing is awesome. You need to make it work out. (asked me about potential places) and said, just put it in your trunk turn the gain down and you'll be OK. This thing is totally awesome. Make it work out.

So, I've decided to make it work out. I'm not running ridiculous wiring though. Maybe 12 guage from the battery with a fuse. I'm only planning to use 10% of the power anyway and i'm not worried about a fire.

Next question, does anybody know the name or number of the molex? plug where the speakers plug in under the dash? I don't like to splice in. I've done the speaker swap way back. I'd prefer to just get the correct plug and tap in. I've also thought I read some place on this site where there is a radio power wire already installed in the rear fender well? Any advice on this is appreciated. I'd like to use that one if I could. The wires under my dash are already many and complicated. I'd like to just run the main power and ground back, and the speakers front. Although I guess I would already be there for one more wire.

I'll see if it fits under the driver seat but right now I'm thinking no way.

I guess that name or number of the connector would really be handy.

 

http://us.element-14.com/molex/43025..._C_Molex_Molex

Is that our connector?

 

That amp can draw a ton of power. And you will be using it, with BA speakers, trust me... you need 4ga wire, minimum. 2ga wouldn't hurt.

 

You will be better off trying to fit the amp under the passenger seat instead, but I have a feeling it will probably be going in the trunk. Remove seat, remove black panel underneath, and remove styrofoam. Disconnect battery and remove key from car while doing this to prevent an airbag warning light. Reason for this is the battery is on the passenger side anyway... and you don't want to run power in the same vicinity as your signal wires. Best to keep them on opposite sides of the car to avoid any potential for noise.

X9331 is the name of the harness between the head unit and speakers. Part numbers are as follows:

 

Will check the connectors in a second. OK! Your warning is heeded. Without waving arms I might have disregarded it. I will get the fat wires. It's kinda a pita to run fat wires from the battery......

 

Not really much difference between taking the time to run 12ga wire and 4ga wire, the 4ga wire is just stiffer. And 500x safer.

 

Thanks to all. I'll see if I can get it under the seat. Is there a place in the firewall to run the wires? The power wires I mean.

Also, I have two bags of little molex pins sitting right here. Are they all the same? Because their price for those seems kinda high.

I'll do some searching on the site. In all honesty, I didn't plan to install an amp, just speakers. So now my sidekick telling me wow man put this in, I'm caught a bit short on knowledge. The last time I messed with an amp was 1987. Alpine about 12 x per channel, and it used regular sized wires. It still sounds great.

 

Generic molex pins should work fine. I got some at Radio Shack that I cannibalized from their generic male/female connectors. It was much cheaper. However, I didn't use the x9331 harness connector--just plugged each individual wire/pin into the connector and heat shrunk it all together. Not sure if generic molex pins will fit into that x9331 connector.

 

That was a great idea. I'm going to order the little connector but not the pins and see how it works out. I'm weeks away from doing this amp anyway. Unless the speakers sound super terrific then I'll step up the timetable.

My plan is to swap out the door speakers first. I have a lot of open projects right now. The big one is finishing off my garage, so any car projects I have to do on the driveway right now. And that's the smallest of my open projects.

 

Changed out the door speakers. Sounds a lot better.

Is there a place in the firewall on the passenger side to run
the power wires through it for the amp?