Cutlass Supreme Stereo Wiring

[CrazyDemon]

So I got myself a 94 Olds Cutlass Supreme. If anyone has one of these, you will probably know of the half assed job GM has done with their speaker wiring. What confuses the hell out of me is how the rear speakers are wired.

Aparently, one of the 6x9's coils in the back is hooked connected with the power antena to slowly fade the volume in as the antena goes up. What I can't figure out is how the signal from the deck is being split up before it finally arries in two pairs of wires: one for each voice coil.

Simply hooking up the new deck with a wiring harness produces a loud distortion sound when there is no signal coming from the deck, however, they work fine once something starts playing. This did not happen with the stock deck in place.

I've been trying to figure this out the whole day, but all of the wires dissaprear somewhere in the body where I can't get to it.

If anyone has had any experience with this, or perhaps has a schematic, I would greatly apreciate the info..

Another problem is the steering wheel fan / temperature controlls which seem to be somehow connected with the stock deck and stopped working since putting in the new one.

Thanks in advance.

[crtolds]

Hi Crazy Demon.
I'd recommend hitting your local auto parts and springing for an olds manual.

I had a problem with my blower circuit and found the wiring diagram most useful. I didn't acutally purchase the manual though, because what I needed to know was simple enough that I could remember it and I'm preparing to sell this car and didn't see the value in purchasing the manual.

Maybe you could just look in the manual at the store as I did and figure out what you need as well. However, it sounds like your issues may be complex enough that having the manual on hand will really help. I think the manual was 15 bucks.

Just curious, does your car have factory power amps/cross overs that are actually mounted on those rear speakers? I put a system in a truck this summer and the factory Infinity system had powered speakers that initially gave me some problems.

Regards, crtolds.

[Dan88LXI]

I would suggest the same as above and if that fails
run your own set of wires back speaker wire is thin enough to hide away with little problems..New speakers would also be a good idea since most GM us 8-16 Ohlm speakers and car audio in a whole is rated at 4-2 Ohlms

[korrupt1]

Im having same issue more or less.....just replaced the factory deck speakers in a 96...got em working o enough...but they sound like crap......and should be hitting a lot harder I would think as a 4 ohm 6x9 usually pounds decent enough...these wont even shake the mirrors....all factory otherwise. I would really like to not have to run new wires and would prefer keeping the stock deck for my own personal reasons. any ideas? I think I am using the brn/yel and lght blu/blu sets right now....I would have to run outside to confirm that but wanted to get a insiders thought first. this bothers me as I have put in a million systems before and this little POS....grrrrr

[CrazyDemon]

korrupt1, it's now been about two years since I've had this car and made that post, and I've gotten to know the car pretty well since then.
Unfortunately, I never looked into the speaker wiring issue, as my car's does not seem to have been described in any repair manuals. What I CAN tell you is the following:

There is an amp somewhere in the car which poweres (all or some of the speakers) There are also components in the front, so if you are replacing your front speakers you have to go around the crossovers and everything that they used. At this point, it does not seems like you will be able to easily replace the front speakers as they are not powered direcly off the desk.

Since in my car, I upgraded the entire audio system, I gave this little thought. I ran new components in the front, with seperate amps, wiring and deck. Rears speakers are gone with no rear fill so I dont have to worry about that anymore. And of course a sub in the trunk to make up the low end.

Sorry I can't be of more help.
http://crazydemon.no-ip.com/photo

[korrupt1]

CrazyDemon: Thanks for the reply....I managed to get it to sound "ok" not great but better than it was...I musta had a wire crossed somewhere.......it seems to be doing better so far.....I added a set of caps on the rear speaks to limit them to 400 and above...........and for the fronts I went straight through the doors and added to main wiring I found a set of caps limiting them to 800 and above.....and am currently installing a sub in the trunk with seperate amp and a pre amp EQ so i can upgrade to multi amp later when I get around to it. 500 watts rms should be enough to get the lows forward right? LOL.


Yea...the wiring in this car sucks if you just want to do a simple upgrade...even worse I found a crossover set I had laying around from some Orion seperates so I am thinking I may try those out and see how I sound as they are for the multi wire set and go into a single set up.


Ill let ya know