Lee3333

I have not seen this posted (yet) but need to know what the color of the speaker wires coming from the amplifier in the back of the HHR are. I have the 7 speaker premium system. I want to use the amp in my replacement head unit, so I have to connect the speaker out put wires to the speakers in the 4 doors.

I think they may be:

Left front: Tan + Grey -
Right front: Light Green + Dark Green -
Left tweeter: Tan + Grey -
Right tweeter: Light Green + Dark Green -
Left rear: Brown + Yellow -
Right rear: Dark Blue + Light Blue -
Sub: Dark Blue/White + Light Green/Black -
Sub: Dark Green + Light Blue/Black -

Also, I believe that the preamp wires are:

Left front: Tan + Light Green -
Right front: Light Green/White + Light Green -
Left rear: Brown/White + En -
Right rear: Dark Blue + Tan -

So perhaps I could attach the radio speaker wires to them, then at the amp connect them directly to the speaker wires (and avoid running any new lines).

My only concern is keeping my OnStar, phone, and chimes working.

SoCalHHR

Hi Lee! Here are the wiring diagrams for the 3 Amp connectors. I posted them at 800x600 so you could read the wiring colors. Better grab them quick before someone resizes them! Hope it helps!

Lee3333

Many thanks, Mike. You are the greatest!

Kaladon

I want to hook up my Sub-Woofer setup from my old car. It is a MTX amp and a Pair of 10" Rockford Subs.
I have the premium 7-speaker system in my HHR.

I have been looking for the best way to hook in the subs amp. Seeing how hard it is to get to the amp in the back I was not sure if it would be worth while pulling the panel to get to the wiring there. But looking at this wiring diagram it should be worth it after all if I am reading it right.

I want to keep the existing system in place and working. (I may upgrade the door speakers later) I just want to be able to drive my sub setup with the minimum of effect on the existing system.

Please correct me if I am wrong here.

Most of the connections I need are on the C3 (UQ3) connector.

Pin 8 - Radio on - (This would be the remote amp on I think)
Pin 9, 10, 11 and 12 - Low level Audio Signal +/- (These would be the Low level input to my amp, where the RCA plugs go now)


And on C1, I would use the ground to keep the ground loop down.

Does this seem like it would work?

DaJoker

Or, grab the PDF and keep it handy..
http://n8zcc.com/pics/HHR/Audio_Connectors.pdf

SoCalHHR

Just a note from someone with experience in this on an HHR; your sub setup will quickly overpower the stock system. The "Premium" system is only 260-watts "peak" - not RMS. An aftermarket head unit is the best way to get good sound at louder volumes.

Best of luck with your setup!

Kaladon

Thanks, I will need all the luck I can get.

I will just keep the gain and boost turned down for now, or like you say, it will overpower the "stock" system I am sure. Once I know I have the amp figured out (and save a bit more coin) I plan on replacing the door speakers and the system amp with better components. I like the existing HU, and it fits with the rest of the dash controls, so I am going to try real hard to keep it and just boost the power levels. I have done this in the past and with the right amp and speaker setup you can get a real nice sound with a "stock" HU as long as it produces a clean preamp level output. I still have most of the gear from my old car so can use the crossover and a pair of speakers from that. I need a new amp for the door speakers as my old one was just that... OLD!

My main goal right now is just put a bit of PUNCH in the bottom end, that stock sub is rather lacking in that department. Even at max it cannot even cause my mirror to quiver let alone shake!

I just dread having to tear apart the entire back interior just to get to that little amp.

I hope to get the amp and subs in this weekend, I will let you know how it went and try to take a couple of pictures.

Kal

Kaladon

Just a quick update, I got everything installed and it all worked just great. I think I will start a new thread with all the details of this install. I did in a way I have not seen mentioned here and this may be of interest to others that just want to add a amp/sub combo and not change anything about the stock radio. I tapped into the input side of the stock amp and ran RCA's to the low level input on the amp. Works great and leaves the rest of the system alone.

I got everything to balance out fine, bass is just perfect for what I wanted. I used my old MTX RT2200 amp (50 watts RMS @ 4 ohms x 2 channels) instead of my MXA4002 (100 watts @ 4 ohms x 2 channels). The 50 watts drives the two Rockford 10" 4 ohm, 100 watts speakers just fine, but does not overpower the rest of the system. Still makes the mirror shake, and sounds really nice, but remains balanced throughout the entire volume range. I have the gain and boost at minimum btw.

SoCalHHR

Good job!

Glad it worked out for you.

Lee3333

I am running a P 80 Pioneer head with the factory amp and a 240 amp in mono driving 1 ten inch sub in a nice ported enclosure. The radio has eq and sub level-that has to be set at negative 2 to keep everything balanced. The factory amp is WEAK. I am looking forward to switching to my head amp after I run new wires to the 4 door speakers.