Which rear speaker wires to tap into for LOC/amp install - rear speaker has 4 wires?

[ClearEyes]

I am trying to install an amp. I am using the kicker LOC and planned on tapping into the rear speakers. I found the wiring diagram that says blue is + and white is - for RL speaker but when I checked, mine had 2 blue and 2 white wires in the harness connected to my RL speaker. Which one do I tap into? I planned on using quick splices.

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[Redraider]

I am trying to install an amp. I am using the kicker LOC and planned on tapping into the rear speakers. I found the wiring diagram that says blue is + and white is - for RL speaker but when I checked, mine had 2 blue and 2 white wires in the harness connected to my RL speaker. Which one do I tap into? I planned on using quick splices.

Where is the connection you're looking to splice into? What car do you have? 4 door or 5 ? It makes a difference.

 

[ClearEyes]

Where is the connection you're looking to splice into? What car do you have? 4 door or 5 ? It makes a difference.

I have a 4 door 2017 EX T Sedan. I was looking into splicing into the wires coming out of the harness that is directly connected to the Rear Left speaker. Mine shows 4 wires, 2 blue and 2 white, coming out of that harness. I thought it was supposed to be just 1 blue and 1 white for +/-.

 

[Redraider]

I have a 4 door 2017 EX T Sedan. I was looking into splicing into the wires coming out of the harness that is directly connected to the Rear Left speaker. Mine shows 4 wires, 2 blue and 2 white, coming out of that harness. I thought it was supposed to be just 1 blue and 1 white for +/-.

What you are seeing are the wires for the mid and tweeter speakers. The blue is the speaker positive and the white is the speaker negative. Unfortunately both speaker have blue positive wires. You'll have to determine which one is which. The wire harness for the speakers run to a connection that is under the center console. Attached are a couple of screenshots of the harness connector location and the pinout if you need it.

 

[ClearEyes]

What you are seeing are the wires for the mid and tweeter speakers. The blue is the speaker positive and the white is the speaker negative. Unfortunately both speaker have blue positive wires. You'll have to determine which one is which. The wire harness for the speakers run to a connection that is under the center console. Attached are a couple of screenshots of the harness connector location and the pinout if you need it.

I really appreciate your help. I took some photos and have attached them here so you can get a better picture of what im talking about. These are photos of the harnesses coming from the rear left of the car. As you can see from the first photo, there seem to be two harnesses, on going to the rear tweeter and one to the rear speaker. The one going to the rear tweeter (left harness in first photo) has one blue and one white wire. The one going to the rear speaker (right harness in first photo) has 2 blue and 2 white wires. The other two photos are close up photos of the harness going to the rear speaker, again it can be seen that there are 4 wires, 2 blue, 2 white. I want to tap into the rear speakers with my kicker LOC for my amp powering a subwoofer, which blue and white wire do I tap into? Is the only way to tap into each and see which combination works? Any ideas?

 

[Redraider]

I really appreciate your help. I took some photos and have attached them here so you can get a better picture of what im talking about. These are photos of the harnesses coming from the rear left of the car. As you can see from the first photo, there seem to be two harnesses, on going to the rear tweeter and one to the rear speaker. The one going to the rear tweeter (left harness in first photo) has one blue and one white wire. The one going to the rear speaker (right harness in first photo) has 2 blue and 2 white wires. The other two photos are close up photos of the harness going to the rear speaker, again it can be seen that there are 4 wires, 2 blue, 2 white. I want to tap into the rear speakers with my kicker LOC for my amp powering a subwoofer, which blue and white wire do I tap into? Is the only way to tap into each and see which combination works? Any ideas?

From what I can see from the Honda service manual, there is a tweeter and mid speaker each with a blue and white wire for each speaker. Although what I see is that there is a connector for each, so I'm abit confused. Attached is the wiring from the service manual. What is clear is that at the connector I sent earlier, there is only one positive and one negative for each rear speaker. If you noticed in the wiring diagram I just attached there is a splice from that connector to each of the speakers. Therefore, they both get the same signal and it does not matter which one you tap into.

Hope this helps.

It is certain that the blue is a positive speaker wire

 

[ClearEyes]

From what I can see from the Honda service manual, there is a tweeter and mid speaker each with a blue and white wire for each speaker. Although what I see is that there is a connector for each, so I'm abit confused. Attached is the wiring from the service manual. What is clear is that at the connector I sent earlier, there is only one positive and one negative for each rear speaker. If you noticed in the wiring diagram I just attached there is a splice from that connector to each of the speakers. Therefore, they both get the same signal and it does not matter which one you tap into.

Hope this helps.

It is certain that the blue is a positive speaker wire

Thank you Redraider, that is very helpful. I will tap into a blue/white wire from the rear speaker and see how that sounds. I appreciate your help, it gave me a better understanding of the wires and a good plan to proceed. I will post again here with the results in case anyone in the future comes across the same problem.

 

[BrandonSmith]

I would highly urge you to tap the front door speakers. The rear speaker signal lacks so much bass it is embarrassing.

 

[bikejog]

I would highly urge you to tap the front door speakers. The rear speaker signal lacks so much bass it is embarrassing.

Is the Non-Premium system lacks bass in the rear too? I haven't seen any measurements for that system.

 

[ClearEyes]

I would highly urge you to tap the front door speakers. The rear speaker signal lacks so much bass it is embarrassing.

Ive also read that. I currently have a cheap LOC from my old system. I think what I may do is hook up that one to the rear for now, as I dont have a lot of time to go into the dash, and later when I get the kicker LOC i ordered and some free time, I will open up the dash and connect it to the front speakers. Is it easy to take out the head unit? and also, I saw some people had to reset their head unit after taking it out and spicing into it, did that occur for you?

 

[ClearEyes]

Is the Non-Premium system lacks bass in the rear too? I haven't seen any measurements for that system.

How do you know if you have a premium sound system? I have a 2017 EX T with 8 speakers but no factory amp or subwoofer.

 

[bikejog]

How do you know if you have a premium sound system? I have a 2017 EX T with 8 speakers but no factory amp or subwoofer.

Only the Premium system has a center speaker on the dash. If you don't have the center speaker, then you don't have the Premium System. For coupe/sedan, I think only the Touring and Si has the Premium System. The Premium System has an external surround sound amplifier. The Non-Premium System's amp is built-into the head unit so the sound processing might be different.

 

[Redraider]

Is the Non-Premium system lacks bass in the rear too? I haven't seen any measurements for that system.

According to the electrical wiring diagrams, the audio signals all come from the head unit. There is no amplifier. If you look at the attached dwgs I posted, all the speakers receive the same signals, for instance the rear mid and tweeter both get the same signal without any frequency separation for each speaker (notice the splice after the connector). Same holds true with the front speakers. There is not an equalizer in the head unit where you can separate frequencies going to each speaker. So pick a wire, they all get the same signal.

 

[bikejog]

According to the electrical wiring diagrams, the audio signals all come from the head unit. There is no amplifier. If you look at the attached dwgs I posted, all the speakers receive the same signals, for instance the rear mid and tweeter both get the same signal without any frequency separation for each speaker (notice the splice after the connector). Same holds true with the front speakers. There is not an equalizer in the head unit where you can separate frequencies going to each speaker. So pick a wire, they all get the same signal.

You might just be correct.

But of course there's an amp in the Non-Premium System too. It's inside the head unit.

And how do you know the fronts and rears both receive the exact same signal without knowing how the system is designed or performing a measurement? We all know that on a Premium System, the rear receives a slimed down signal.

Personally, I think you're probably correct, but without knowing the actual design or seeing a measurement, it's just you talking and I'm kinda agreeing with you.

 

[BrandonSmith]

According to the electrical wiring diagrams, the audio signals all come from the head unit. There is no amplifier. If you look at the attached dwgs I posted, all the speakers receive the same signals, for instance the rear mid and tweeter both get the same signal without any frequency separation for each speaker (notice the splice after the connector). Same holds true with the front speakers. There is not an equalizer in the head unit where you can separate frequencies going to each speaker. So pick a wire, they all get the same signal.

This is wrong. There is a DSP within the head unit. Many threads on this with actual evidence.

OP, I did not open the dash to splice my wires, I spliced into the wires at the connections under the dash where the wires connect to the door above the kick panels.

The wires go from the head unit to a connector above the kick panel on both sides of the vehicle. Very easy access.

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