Is there a better way then cutting the speaker out wires? Does someone make a wire tap and if so where could I buy it?

 

You might as well cut them. You're going to run new wires to the speakers anyway and you want a decent connection.

 

If you don't want to cut wires, buy a set of the plastic adapters that fit into the head unit and then allow attachment to the factory harness. Also, I prefer using a line level converter to drive the amp with a low level signal rather than using the high level of the speaker outs.

 

Even if the amp has "speaker level inputs." The Alpine MRV-T407 that I'm considering does have speaker level inputs.

Do you know where to order the plastic adapters? Did you stick with stock speaker wire or rewire the speakers with higher gauge?

Barry

 

I've learned that there are many people in this forum far more knowledgeable than I, but it is fun all learning together. So here is my advise FWIW.

I purchased my Honda adapters through Circuit City. Unfortunately, the pin-outs were not correct for the S2000 and I had to re-construct them. I don't know a source, but I think that correct S2000-compliant adapters are available, just be sure you check first. What I did was to connect one adapter to the back of the factory head unit, cross connecting everything but the speaker leads to a second adapter that connected to the car's wiring harness. This allows me to remove the installation and return everything to stock very easily. The speaker outputs from the first connector were fed to the line level converter. The line converter then connected to the power amp via RCA cables. The speaker outputs from the amp were routed to the speaker connecters in a second adapter that connects to the wiring harness in the car. I solder and insulate all of my connections. Does all of this make sense?

That means that I'm using factory gauge wiring from the second harness to the speakers. They're a little thin, but it doesn't seem to be a problem. If you want to use larger gauge wires, that means that you simply run the amp speaker output wiring directly to your speakers.

From what I've been told, the use of line level converters results in less distortion at the speakers than if you run high level (speaker) output to the high level input on the amp. The downside to this is the additional cost of the converter itself (~$30) and good quality RCA cables (~$20-30).

If you opt for an aftermarket head unit, the line level converter won't be needed as most any high quality head unit will have low level RCA outputs.

 

You mention your amp has speaker level inputs. Basically, it has a built in line level adaptor. So you don't need another one.

 

I found these wiring harnesses that will do the trick.
One plugs into the stereo, and the other into the factory harness.

Go to this webpage:
http://www.wholesaleaudio.com

Choose Metra and car harness.

You probably can get them from any car stereo store.

Look for part# 70-1721 and 71-1721