ok for anyone that is in my boat who loves sounds but doesn't have the bose system (not sure if bose stock is even all that great)and wants an upgrade. does anyone haveinformation or where on our mazda6's is a great spot tolead a amp power cable from the battery into the car without having to do much cutting or whatever.

i havent tried or even looked for a spot yet but i will be installing soon so i wanted to know what i am up against so that hopefully i can get a heads up on what and wherei should startlooking for it. is their a rubber gromet or something someone has usedbefore that worked well that i can lead this power wirethrough? if so, pictures anyone?anyone who's lead their power cableplease post here where you guysran the wire. i am trying to hook up an amp and sub.

also planning on buying a fckn metra dash kit but it is soooo expensive! ARGH!!! damn mazda just had to make it so difficult to put a aftermarket stereo in. there is no way around it... AND to top it off, i already have a nice *** alpine deck from my old car that is just sitting there collecting dust because i cant afford to install it! the damn dash kit alone is almost as much as my deck! go figure right?

i know people complain about losing the steering wheel control but you know what? there is a thing you can purchase for about $60-70 retail so that you can keep the controls. but honestly the way i see it, after installing my stereo i have a remote already... "technically" not necessary to have both, would be nice, but worth $60-70 to keep both? i think i can go without it. definitely preference though.

 

Well i got my system hooked up but i traced the wire to see how they hooked it up. My amp is mounted on the back of my back seat in the truck. The wire is pushed through the seats and lead down the driver side panels to the firewall. They cut alittle whole probably 2 in wide then just pulled to the battery. Probably an easy way to get the wire to the battery is tape a straightened hanger to the wire and poke it trough. So you lose the steering wheel controls then you buy the metra dash?

 

there is a rubber grommet that all your ecu wires go through under the drivers side dash you can poke a hole in the grommet and feed your power wire through.. becareful not to cut any wires.. it will be easier if you take the battery completely out of the car so you can see what your doing.

 

ahhh thanks daishi! exactly what i wanted to hear. a rubber grommet that pokes through the car with no problems. perfect! would you say its pretty easy to get to that grommet? would you prefer poking andleading the wirefrom outside to in, or inside to out??? and you're stating to be carefuland not cut any wires... why? is cutting necessary to poke through the grommet to begin with? or are you just simply stating to not damage any of the wires? because if thats the case then yeah, i'll definitely make sure i dont.

and and to fluffysheepboy, you dont lose your steering wheel controlswhen installing a metraper say, but i would imagine if anyone is buying a metra dash kit its for 1 reason and 1 reason only... is to install an aftermarket stereo, correct? and in that case if you do install an aftermarket stereo then youwill lose your stock steering wheel controls. but as i stated earlier, their is a product made from PAC i believe that allows anyone to keep their stock controls but there're a few down falls: 1. being that if you install a stereo it has to have a remote or remote capability to begin with (then it obviouslyit goes back to the question, is it necessary or "worth the money " to have a remote control and steering wheel controls??) 2. people reported some lag time from pressing the button to actually having thestereo receive itbecause its a wireless contraption with a sensor. and 3. doesnt work well in sun. when the sun hits it directly on the sensor then the steering wheel control doesnt work... of course it varies for everyone...

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-QFsoPEb...h=pac+steering

 

well its going to be much easier to use a knife to poke through the rubber gromet i was just saying be careful not to slice any wires. it would probably be easier to feed it from the inside and then grab it through your engine bay and pull it through. dont worry about space cuz i fit 0 gauge wire through mine