Speaker Selection and Lack of Harness and Amps oh my...

nikitis

1994 International 3800 - Thomas, T444E 165HP
Joined
Jun 17, 2023
Posts
2,605
Location
South Carolina
So question. I'm only now realizing that My Bus, and likely many other older 90's buses have never had a Speaker System put into them.

Therefore there is no "Factory Harness" to plug into. I've never installed a Stereo system on my own before, but I do know it's mostly positive and grounds for the speakers themselves. A power line, a main ground line, a wire for headlight detection to dim the Deck, and another wire for steering wheel controls (with a required interface card to work). So I have an understanding intellectually on how this all works but with zero experience which is usually how all of my projects start out. I research the **** out of it to the ends of the earth before I attempt it.

This post is a part of that research. Since there's no factory harness, I obviously have to find and make my own wiring from the batteries and my own grounds. and harness them together to even plug in a stereo pre-fabbed harness, Or I can just skip the Harness and wire direct.

Now that the backstory is out of the way, My three questions are:
1.) For the headlight/deck dimmer wire from the deck stereo, I have an older pull switch for headlights in my bus. Do I just tie this wire to one of the wires on the headlight switch? Like a positive wire? T off of it and that's all it needs? Or am I missing something?

2.) Speaker selection. (And placement). I'm sure I just want to do all Ceiling placement, but is there a preferred placement for tweeters vs louder bass type of speakers?

3.) Amp. For a Bus, to overcome loud engine noise and potentially body rattle, what size amp should I go for. I don't mind going deaf, I just want to hear it over the buses operational noise.
 
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