Amp upgrade with JBL system

I finally spent a few hours this weekend working on my amp upgrade. I found some 6-pin Molex connectors at Fry's Electronics which were perfect for connecting the Bazooka BTAH cable to my line-out converter. The red power cable is not connected to anything, and the blue accessory-power is goes to the amps.

I also bought about thirty feet of 3/8" split plastic loom (corrugated plastic tubing) to wrap some of the wiring. I wrapped the entire length of the BTAH cable, from the JBL amp all the way to the Molex connector in the trunk (took more than one piece, as each piece is ten feet long). I also wrapped my speaker cables from the amps to the rear-wheel arch. There isn't enough room under the kick plates for three of these tubes (one each for front speakers, rear speakers, and BTAH), so I figured I covered the important parts.

First picture shows the entire installation. Second picture shows the Molex connectors on the LOC and BTAH cable. Third picture shows the cables coming into the tray. The holes are 3/4" in diameter. The three plastic looms contain the BTAH cable, front speaker, and rear speaker signals (from the MTX amps). The other two holes are for power and ground cables. The last picture shows the mess under the passenger seat - I still haven't wired the 4-channel MTX amp up to the Infinity component speakers yet.

I still plan to build a custom fiberglass subwoofer enclosure to fit in the passenger-side cubby. The Q-Logic enclosure is just temporary.

 

Well uh, yes, I plan to do that. Probably right after I get a flat tire and curse myself for not taking care of details like that.

The board is actually elevated about an inch or so off the base of the cargo box, so I can hide wiring underneath it. I made standoffs out of some 5/16" bolts and fender washers. My camera can't focus close enough to see clearly under the board, but here's a picture of what it looks like.

 

Here's a picture showing the key benefit (IMHO) of using the Bazooka harness to hook up additional amps to the Prius JBL audio system: being able to do surgery on the wiring harness while it's out of the car. I cannot imagine trying to do this on the car's original wiring, under the front passenger seat. Much easier to do it on the work bench or kitchen table.

[Broken External Image]:http://img490.imageshack.us/img490/7948/harmesssmall6ab.th.jpg

What I've done here is moved the taps for the amps from the upper connector (speaker end) to the lower connector (amp end). This was necessary to connect the rear speakers to the new amp. I soldered these connections, and covered them with some heat-shrink tubing. I also crimped some quick disconnects onto the wires feeding the rear speakers (which I had just cut to move the taps). Then I snipped all eight of the front speaker wires right at the amp connector, crimped on some spades, and connected them to the crossovers. All that is needed now is to put this in the car between the existing connectors to the amp, and the amp, and connect the amp outputs to the crossovers and quick disconnects.

 

It's a lot easier than that, you can tap the battery without penetrating the firewall, since the battery is in back, right next to the storage tray. My power cable is barely one foot long. Here's a picture.