installing aftermarket speakers in 89 mark vii

[PuffNTuff]

can i just splice the old factory wires and solder them on to aftermarket speakers? i have an alpine head unit with supposed "60x4" watt output, are the old factory wires sufficient to handle this wattage?

[Nick]

60x4 is probably a peak output. RMS is much more indicative of the power level of the head unit. I wouldn't solder the factory leads to the speaker. You have to take them out of the doors whenever you want to take the door panels off. Instead, I would solder leads or use female crimp connectors to connect the speakers to either the factory leads or another piece of wire with a second set of insulated crimp connectors. The second set of connectors would connect to the factory leads. You might also want to idiot proof the connections by wiring the connectors so they can only be connected one way. The easiest solution would be to get wiring harnesses for the car from a stereo shop or Crutchfield. The harness has a factory style connector to plug into the one on the stock harness. Thus, whichever method you choose, you can unplug the speakers to gain access to the doors. The stock wiring should be OK. What is the RMS? 27 watts?

[PuffNTuff]

Yes, I believe the RMS is around 27 watts.

[Nick]

That sounds like the head unit I want. I love my Alpine head unit in my Continental. The styling isn't obscene like others on the market. I forgot these head units need an 10 AWG amp wiring kit. You can just save money and get the wire and connectors separately from a hardware store. The stock wiring should still be able to handle the power and when I looked at Crutchfield's site, they didn't mention you needed to run new wires to the speakers.

[SQ_LSC]

yes, I highly recommend solder for your door connections. Stab on females tend to vibrate off in time. If you have the factory plug on yet and want to keep it you can solder a harness onto the speaker and use that to connect to the factory plug. The factory wiring is plenty sufficient for your leads. Speaker signals are a/c voltage and you'd be hard pressed to push 10amps to them with a Head Unit.