Sub and Amp Question
 

Im looking for and affordable but still quality amp and sub for my 2004 accord lx (no nav, xm ect.) Does anyone have any recommendations? Also can someone tell me (or show me) how they wired the amp. Can you run the amp to the factory stereo or would you need an aftermarket head unit?

u run ur grnd wire to any metal in the car power cable should run to ur battery with a fuse n the remote wire should hook up to the blue wire on ur cars wiring well thats how i did mines i never really done factory but i can see if my bro gives me sum info he has the same car n did it on factory 03 accord radio which should be like urs.. if i get any help ill get back to u if not ill look it up

to hook it up to a factor radio you have to buy this box to that hooks into you rear speakers to get the input...hope that made since go to best buy and ask them what you need to hook up your sub to a factor head unit without rca outlet on the back of the radio they will give you this lil box (cost 15-25)
the lil blue wire is the wire that tells the amp when to be on you basically you can hook it up to your power antenna well that how i did my supra but i don't think your accord has that other option is to hook it up to the positive battery cable and then running a switch (in the middle of the wire) to turn it on and off (preferably one that has a light it really helps you remember to turn off your amp) i bet there is other ways to hook it up but idk
positive hooks up to positive battery terminal, negative grounds out to the frame of the car (on both my mazda and supra i hooked to a bolt used for the rear seat belt, although this did give me stress on my supra my amp would not work and i finally figured out it was a bad ground once fixed it worked like a pro)
hope that helps

what type of supra u got i had and mk3 but its gone now i miss it

Thanks for the help but does anyone have suggestions for a sub and an amp?

i have a mk2 83 to be exact but i have to sell her since i bought my accord

Come on guys, we can do better than this.

Your factory head unit does not have a remote turn on available, the wire is missing from the harness. You can buy two wire harnesses to access the wire:
Metra 71-1721 goes into the factory radio to give you access to wiring without cutting any wires,
Metra 70-1721 goes into the vehicle harness. You will need to connect the two wiring adapters together, but you can access speaker wiring easily here.

Speaker wires from the head unit feed a signal to the aftermarket amp. You can get an amp with high level inputs. Then you just run speaker wires from the head unit to the amp. If you get an amp wihtout high level inputs you need a Line Outout Converter (LOC) To convert the speaker level signal to low level RCA's. David Navone Engineering makes the best LOC's, I highly recommend them.
Feed the subs off the front speaker wires if you keep rear speakers so you can fade to front. If you remove rear speakers to let more bass into the cabin, you an feed the amp from the rear speaker wires,

If you want to avoid the need to get the mating harnesses you can get an amp with auto turn-on so you don't need a remote. Don't just tap the ignition wire for remote. Kicker, JL Audio, and Phoenix Gold make amps with high level inputs and auto turn-on that are ideal for you, a remote bass knob is also handy,

FYI - if you upgrade the speakers later, The front door speaker wires mate in a molex plug making new wiring difficult, rear speakers are easily accessible as are dash tweeters.

Which amp depends on your budget. Powerbass, Alpine, Kenwood, Pioneer, MTX, Boston Acoustics, JL Audio, Focal, Hybrid Audio Technologies, Phoenix Gold etc. I like matching amps and speakers/subs but that isn't required.

Affordable is relative. We need numbers. Recognize you need an enclosure and amp wiring kit which will be at least $100-150.

Or you can buy used. I currently have speakers and amps and subs for sale, i could do a Kenwood eXcleon amp and sub for $150 shipped. Currently listed on SoundDomain and CarAudio forums. PM for more info, Used is the best way to get quality on a budget.

Thanks your awesome as always. But do you think a lot of this hassel could be avoided by using an aftermarket head unit or will it be roughly the same amount of work?

depends if your climate control is integrated. if it is, then you're stuck with the OEM.

those head units are known for failure and issues. so it's only a matter of time. if it was me, and replacing the head unit was an option, i would replace it first. you can always add one in the lower pocket