Hey Jesse, if you reverse some of the leads you will make the speakers out
of phase, leading to bad sound. Positive to positive, negative to negative.
Its a good habit!

And the suggestion to run your own wires was a good one, especially with the
amp a long way from the speakers. I ran all neww wires and hugely improved
the sound in Dixie.

Have fun

On 10/25/06, Jesse Reynolds <jesse@reynolds.name> wrote:
>
> Thanks for the help... I was able to do some further investigating
>
> tonight and have it largely figured out. The large black cable with all
> the wires in it goes to the right and connects to what appears to be an
> amplifier under the passenger side dash. Its a metal box with heat
> sinks, powered by a hot and a ground. The cable connects via a strange
> plug, sort of like an S-video plug. The box's output is to four pairs of
> speaker wire. Each pair of wires is initially brown, and brown with a
> red stripe. Soon each pair connects to other colors.
>
> I assumed that the read stripes mean positive. But, my understanding of
> audio electronics is that if the polarity of all the speakers is
> switched, the sound is the same. So, with that assumption, for the
> record and archives, my colors are:
>
> Front right: Red + / Brown -
> Front left: Blue + / Brown -
>
> Rear right: Red + / Grey -
> Rear left: Blue + / Grey -
>
> Now, my problem is that it appears the rear left speaker has been
> disconnected, and I can't find the wires. But that is a different story...
>
> Thanks again,
> - Jesse
>
>
> On Oct 24, 2006, at 11:15 AM, Jesse Reynolds wrote:
>
> > Hi folks,
> >
> > I am new to the list, and new to the water-cooled VW vans. (I owned a 76
> > for years.)  I recently got an 1986 Westy, and I am upgrading the
> > stereo. I can't figure out the speaker wiring, partially because I am
> > not 100% sure that all the speakers work.
> >
> > Does anyone have knowledge of the speaker wire colors? The speakers
> > don't seem to be on the Bentley book's wiring diagram. I do know that on
> > most 80's vans, the rear speakers shared a common negative, and that
> > needs to be re-wired for most after market stereos.
> >
> > A cable wrapped in black comes off the original stereo. Inside it is a
> > twist of copper strands, a red wire, a brown wire, and two cables with
> > still more wires inside: there is a gray cable with a twist of aluminum
> > strands, a blue wire, and a green wire, and there is a  white cable with
> > a twist of aluminum strands, a white wire, and a yellow wire.
> >
> > What stumps me is this: 4 speakers = 8 wires. If the rear uses a common
> > ground, that is 7 wires. But there are 6 wires not including the loose
> > strands, and 9 if they are included.
> >
> > Any help is appreciated - thanks in advance!
> >
> > - Jesse
>

--
Jake
1984 Vanagon GL
1986 Westy Weekender "Dixie"
www.crescentbeachguitar.com