I am in the process of planning a new car stereo for my 2001 A4. It currently has the symphony stereo with the non-bose speakers. My plan is to purchase an aftermarket head-unit (probably pioneer or Alpine) and aftermarket speakers for the stock locations. My A4 has speakers in the front door and on the rear deck – seems pretty standard unless you have the bose speaker system.

It is my understanding that the rear speakers have an amplifier (mounted to the rear drivers-side speaker) which powers the rears. I think this complicates the wiring process during the installation and I’d like to hear how to approach this situation. From what I've read, it looks like one straight forward approach is to run new wires for the rear speakers. This might also make sense given that I'm planning to install a subwoofer in the truck which will require power and other wires. This brings me to my primary question...

What is the best way to run wires from the head unit to the back of the car? Is it through the center of the car and under the carpet where possible? I found a link on A4Mods which shows this process, although I don't fully understand how you route the wires based on this write-up. Has anyone seen a different tech article or writeup? What's the best way to go when routing the wires?

Thanks

 

I don't know specifically for that car where the easiest places are to run the wires, but I can offer some general advice. Run your power for the amp(s) down one side (usually the side with the battery) and the signal wires (RCA) on the opposite side. If you have to cross these wires, do it at a 90 degree angle (perpindicular) to keep interference to a minimum. Ideally, you would run the speaker wires down the center of the car, but it's probably gonna be a pain in the ***. In a pinch you can run speaker wires with power or signal wires, the main concern is keeping power and signal seperated.

 

The best way to run them is down the sides, alongthe edge of the interior;taking into consideration what Bamf mentioned about keeping the power and RCA separate.

This can be accomplished by removing the lower side molding along the edge of the carpet. The molding is held in by clips and it will take a little force to get them off. Get your fingers underneath the molding and pull straight up on them until they pop out. It'll feel like they're going to break, but they will come off. You may or may not break one or two clips, but not to worry, they will go back down just fine.

That's how i ran mine and it's a good way to do a clean install.