I'm trying to figure out which wire to input into my new crossovers. can i take either the wires going to the tweeters OR the wires going to the speakers? or do I have to go deeper and find some other wire?

in other words, are the wires going to the tweeters and the wires going to the speakers carrying the exact same signal?

 

If you have new crossovers don't you also have new component speakers? If you have high-end components I wouldn't recommend using either wire. Instead run a higher gauge (16g)wire to the crossover and split it out to the new tweeter and mid-range. Regarding the original thin wires in the doors, I would guess they both have a full spectrum signal as the tweeter has a capacitor hardwired to itself, at least on the base model.

 

i wouldn't say high end components...they're infinity reference 6000cs speakers. they're a decent component with a high efficiency rating so i can power them with my alpine 9831 receiver.

hmm..so how would i go about rewiring from the reciever to the doors? i saw the how-to about running wire through the door hinge, but how would i get the wire behind the dash and to the reciever?

do you think it will make that much of a difference if i use the stock wire for a non-high end component WITHOUT an amplifier?

 

Well I can tell you my personal experience with wiring this car. I switched the stock components out with mid-grade stuff like you have. I probably could have used the stock wiring since I was only putting about 30W per channel, but instead I re-wired everything with 18g wire from the amps through the door, to the speakers.

This worked pretty well, even after I upgraded the amps. But then I decided to get some higher-end components. During installation it became obvious that the 18g wasn't going to cut it. The connectors on the mid-ranges and cross-overs were designed to hld larger cable, my thin cable actually came loose a few times since it couldn't clamp down well. So I re-wired everything again with 16 gauge Stinger wire.

I'm not an electrician so I can't say for sure what would happen if you go smaller or stock, but everything I've read says bigger is better, to a point. One thing I would suggest though is that you do it right the first time, because you will probably be bit by the upgrade bug and want something nicer down the road.

 

Regarding wiring to the head unit. Are you using an after-market, stock base or Bose? If you are using stock HU then worry about rewiring after you get amps. If you are intending on amplifying from the head unit (suggested), then you need to remove the HU, id the speaker out wires, and splice into them. You will need to insert LOC to convert the signal to RCA input and then run the new wires from the amps, down the shift hump and behind the radio. There you can split them to run to each door, dremel out the door connector and have fun pulling the new cable into the doors. Same thing goes for after-market HU, except no needed LOC's.