Where to Connect The Amp Remote Wire

Where to Connect Amp Remote Wire

When installing a new car amplifier, many people disregard the amp remote wire thinking it’s not necessary, until they’ve finished the job and realise they have no sound.

The amplifier remote wire does as its name suggests, it turns on the amp from a distance. Just there’s no infrared remote, as it’s a wire of course.

But where should you connect an amp remote wire? I hear you ask. Well, there are a few possible solutions and it depends on your car stereo set up.

Are you installing an aftermarket car amplifier? Are you connecting it to a factory head unit, or an aftermarket head unit?

It all depends on the wiring capabilities of your existing system, but for more information read on…

What Is The Remote Turn On Wire and Why Is It Important?

The amp remote wire, or remote turn on wire, is the wire that outputs a positive 12 volts when the head unit is turned on and basically allows your amp to switch on and off as you start and stop the car engine.

When you switch your engine and car stereo on, the amp remote wire senses the electrical signal and turns on your amplifier. And as you might imagine, it does the opposite as you switch off.

The amp remote wire is generally blue and white and most aftermarket car radios have one in the wiring harness that plugs into the back of the stereo.

But not all stereo systems have the remote turn on wire, so in this case you have to tap into existing wires. If you get this wrong, you may either have no power running to your amplifier, or it may constantly draw power and drain your car battery.

So, with that in mind, let’s look at the best ways to hook up the remote wire for an amp.

Connecting Your Aftermarket Amp to an Aftermarket Car Stereo

Most people looking where to connect remote wire for amp are usually wanting to install an aftermarket amplifier to an aftermarket car stereo.

This is by far the easiest way, because you should get the wire in your amp wiring kit, and your aftermarket car stereo should have a blue and white remote turn on wire to connect to.

For this you simply need to get a good connection from the blue and white wire in your harness and crimp it to the long remote wire that will run to your amplifier.

Then run the length of remote wire to amplifier and connect it securely to the remote wire input connector in the back of the amplifier. It’s really that simple.

But if it’s that easy, why do so many people want to know how to do it? Well, not everyone has those wires and devices in place and in these cases, you need to connect to other existing wires.

Other Ways To Connect The Remote Wire For Amplifier

If your car stereo doesn’t have a blue and white remote turn on wire to connect to, you can hook up the remote wire to a 12V wire.

Your car will have 3 circuits: the Accessory, Ignition, and Always-on circuit, which maintains a constant electrical circuit going. This is for the customised settings in the car such as the clock so it doesn’t reset every time you switch off. You don’t want to connect to this circuit.

The ignition circuit powers up when you trigger the ignition and switches everything on when you have the engine on.

The Accessory circuit is used for things like the car radio, wipers, and other devices. It’s only powered when the key is in the accessory position, but should cut off when the engine is cranking and the Ignition Circuit takes over. This is what you should connect the amp remote wire to.

It’s always a good idea to get a wiring diagram for your car so you can know which wires are which, but for an explanation for how to connect the amp remote wire in other ways, read on…

Connect The Amp Remote Wire by Tapping Into The Fuse Box

The best way to connect your amp remote wire with no blue and wire wiring harness connection is to tap into a car fuse box.

Your car fuse box will have plenty of fuses for a new connection, so simply locate the box and find a fuse that allows you to tap into either the Accessory or Ignition circuit.

First you need to locate the car fuse box, which should be somewhere near the driver’s seat. Then look at your car manual and see the fuse diagram so you have an understanding of where you want to tap into.

You can connect it to any fused output terminal that connects to your Accessory or Ignition circuit.

For a full explanation on how to tap into your car fuse box check this article out, but basically you need a voltmeter to ensure you have the right circuit.

To do this, you need to connect your black probe to a good grounding, and your red probe can connect to the fuse you think you’d like to connect it to.

If your voltmeter reads 12-volts when the ignition is on and nothing when you turn the engine off, you can connect the amp remote wire to that fuse, via a fuse tap.

It will depend which type of fuse tap your fuse box needs, but basically you connect the amp remote wire to the fuse tap, which will hold both the fuse for the remote turn on wire and the fuse for the connection you’re tapping into.

This will give you the best and most secure connection for the rem wire for amp, and should be your first choice.

Tap Into The Accessory Wire

If tapping into the fuse box seems a bit overwhelming, you can connect the amp remote wire direct to the accessory wire.

The easiest way to do this is to get a T-tap connector, and simply clamp the T-tap connector on your accessory wire. Then you need the male quick connector crimped onto your amplifier wire. Then simply slide in the male connector to the T-tap junction.

This way your amplifier will turn on any time your car stereo is switched on. If for some reason you don’t want your amplifier switching on every time your car stereo turns on, you could connect a toggle switch into the amp remote wire.

Adding one of these will give you more control and allow you to stop the 12V current if you ever don’t need the amplifier as well as the car stereo.

Connecting Your Remote Wire for Amplifier

You should connect the amplifier remote turn on wire with one of the above ways. The easiest and most direct way is to connect the rem wire for amp to the back of the car stereo wiring harness.

If this isn’t possible, look into connecting to your fuse box or directly to the Accessory wire. Either of these will give you a good connection and will ensure your amplifier turns on and off as expected.

There are other ways to connect your amplifier remote wire, such as connecting to any other 12V switched source. You may also tap into the antenna wire but this isn’t ideal and should be avoided if you can do any of the above.

Whichever way you decide on, make sure you get a good solid connection, using the right connectors and tools.