Ok, so here should be the last of my system questions. Got all the wiring done today and all these speakers mounted...ran into some problems.

1) the damn CDT crossovers want like 24 gauge wire or something..they have TINY inputs. Well I ran all 12 gauge speaker wire. SO I crammed the hell out of them and tighten the screws down..they hold. But I like to get things right and would rather not leave them like that. . . (kinda afraid of crosstalk with all the extra wire strands hanging out) what can I do (cant run less them 12 guage with the Avionixx..just aint right). Can I just solder some small *** wire to the end?? (also doesnt seem right)

2) The square type (forgot name) crimp connectors I got for the midbass terminals dont seem to crimp onto the square terminals at all..did I get the wrong kind of connector??? Or do I have to solder these in place?

3) the CDT classics midbass's are too deep for the rear deck!!! I never knew there was fitment issues with the rear deck...damn me. That damn bracing rod for the trunk hits them. . .I made some spacers but then they hit the top of the rtear deck cover. And since they still have almost no clearance I cant make them shallower. Anyway to bend that rod or something? What are my other options? If I dont get rear speakers to work right niow should I just bridge the avionixx and put all its juice into the HD components?

Other then that it looks great, drilled some perfect holes (god I love hole saws) for the new tweets and they came out perfect. Will have pics up when everything is done and put back together. Amp rack isnt near done, but amp is just mounted on some velcro on the trunk floor for now.

Thanks all, hopefully can get this all worked out tomorrow.

Well I don't have all the answer your looking for, but for the crossover you might want to get some ring terminals or small 12 guage terminals to hook up to the it. This worked for my Focal crossover since I'm using 12 guage cable.

Maybe you could try taking that rod out? You may just have to hold your trunk open manually but that would fix your problem.

Originally posted by Phusion
Well I don't have all the answer your looking for, but for the crossover you might want to get some ring terminals or small 12 guage terminals to hook up to the it. This worked for my Focal crossover since I'm using 12 guage cable.

Yea, get some termonals, dont know the name, but they look like a cresent moon, not exactly a ring.

Well, since you bought the CDT HD for the front for me, you can buy my Kappas 63.5i too for the rear. Perfect drop in :)

I would bridge the fronts, yeah. Just be carufull w/ the gains. I had 2x125WRMS going to the CDTs. Some can tell some drop in SQ when bridging, some dont, depents on the quality of the amp too. Try it w/ and without bridging, should not be so time consuming.

*How did my spacers work out? Post some pics!

Found something better then the crescent moon connectors, these things called pin connectors. Basically they just erminate into a thin solid metal piece, perfect! Radioshack sells crimp ones and screw on ones, hopefully they will work (they should) Still havent gotten any answer about the terminals for the midbasses...cant get those things to stay on...

Originally posted by Gandalf
Found something better then the crescent moon connectors, these things called pin connectors. Basically they just erminate into a thin solid metal piece, perfect! Radioshack sells crimp ones and screw on ones, hopefully they will work (they should) Still havent gotten any answer about the terminals for the midbasses...cant get those things to stay on...

They make smaller connectors. I just bent mine when I had these speakers.

Soldering will be fine, actually recommented b/c of humidity inside the door.

Originally posted by evangelos K
They make smaller connectors. I just bent mine when I had these speakers.

Soldering will be fine, actually recommented b/c of humidity inside the door.

When you say soldering should be fine do you mean solder the wire straight to the mid basss terminal or solder the male/female connector to it? I am having trouble installing my midbasses because I also am trying to run 12gauge wire to the speakers but I cant figure out how it works. I am kinda lost on audio install so bear with me here. The female connectors that I have wont enable to wire to pass through them and then crimp them onto the terminals any help?

Originally posted by sixspeednismo
When you say soldering should be fine do you mean solder the wire straight to the mid basss terminal or solder the male/female connector to it? I am having trouble installing my midbasses because I also am trying to run 12gauge wire to the speakers but I cant figure out how it works. I am kinda lost on audio install so bear with me here. The female connectors that I have wont enable to wire to pass through them and then crimp them onto the terminals any help?

Soldering straight to the terminals is just fine, and actually prevents corrosion.

thanks for the reply. How hard is it to do?

Soldering is very simple.

Go to radio shack and buy a soldering iron and a spool of THIN solder. You don't need the huge ****. Also pick up some heat shrink tubing.

Turn on your soldering iron, be careful they get really ****ing hot... like 800 degrees hot and will burn through skin like a fat man on a hot dog. When it gets hot, coat the top of the iron with molten solder. This is called "tinning"

Strip off about 1/8" to 1/4" of insulation from your wire, wrap the wire up with some solder. Melt the solder on to the wire, again this is called "tinning".

Put the tinned wire into the terminal and heat it up again. This may take a bit longer, and be careful. You may want to crimp the terminal down to help hold it in place while you secure it with solder.

Cut off some heat shrink and slip it over the wire (actually this should have been done before you tinned the wire). Cover the solder joint with the heat shrink and use the flame from a lighter to shrink the tubing. Don't be afriad to let the flame actually envolope the tube and wire, but be careful to not let it catch on fire itself.

And keep in mind, even though solder is metal, and when you melt it you're actually melting the metal into the wire, don't be afraid to touch it after it hardens. Solder has a VERY low specific heat, meaning it doesn't retain it's temperature well at all, and only a few Joules of energy cause it to change temperature drastically. Basically this means it melts very fast, and it cools very fast, after only a few seconds it's cool enough to touch with your hands.

and dont buy a $9.95 soldering iron. theyre junk. they barely get warm.

ive had 2. i gotta buy a real one soon.

Mines junk too.... cost like $20, but it came with a stand and can be switched from 20 watts to 40 watts. Just about have to use 40 watt setting on anything over 20 guage wire :P

ya.. mine is radio shack stlye, 15-30W switchable.. it never leaves 30W and still doesnt even get hot enough to melt solder..

the pistol style with dual wires meeting at the point is much much better than the single pin style.