GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

does anyone here have experience crimping their own RCA cables? in this case i'm talking about using the pre-amp outputs on a head unit. i assume you just use the wires from the harness for the + and - on each channel, but do you need anything special for the crimping? i haven't actually been out to fry's to see what the bare ends look like yet and i'm curious as to how difficult this process is.

Umm...very..often not done that way. You usually buy pre-made RCA cables as the cables you need to use in cars are pretty specially designed. Usually the better ones are twisted cable and shielded to block out noise.RCAs often are not 'crimped' in the way RF connections are. You can get RCA connectors at radio shack that will either screw together, or more than likely, soldier together. But again, unless you do a really good job, you have potential to introduce noise.If you're talking about the stock headunit, there are no RCAs, and no way to just wire RCA plugs up to it without a line-level converter.If it's aftermarket, it just has female RCA jacks on the back. The pre-amp outputs are only for use with an aftermarket amplifier. They do not work with the stock M&T amplifier.

heh, it's (shush...) actually not for a vibe. it's for a friend's old honda. the head unit died, and when they pulled it out, one of the male connectors came off of the existing rca cable. they called me to find out if they could put a new connector on rather than running a new cable. i poked around on google and found both ends that could be soldered on as well as some that could be crimped, but i wasn't sure how the ones that simply crimped on attached. oh well, hopefully it's not a long run to the amp. if nothing else, they've got the old cable to use as a guide for pulling the new one.thanks!

Ahhhhhh... in that case, yeah..you'd have to soldier it on..Usually when RCAs are busted though, it's generally safer to just replace it. Soldiering RCAs can be a little bit of a pain, and as said..could lead to noise issues..But..the connectors are cheap, so you can give it a go first! See if rebuilding it works!