Radio is distorting. Found these cut wires in the trunk. Please help

[EddieExplorerXLS]

Hi All. I am new to these forums. I just purchased a 2005 Ford Explorer XLS. It has an aftermarket stereo in the car. Everything with the stereo seems to work fine, but when you try to turn it up past 12 Volume, the sound starts clipping and distorting. I found these cut wires in the rear where the jack for the spare is. Can you please tell me what these should be connected to?

Thanks

 

[Ritsui]

I wouldn't assume anything without tracing them to their source + continuity tests, but it looks like aftermarket powered sub wiring. By most standards, red = positive battery, clear = ground, thin blue = remote power on signal from head unit to amp. If installed even remotely correctly, the heavy power wire should run to an aux fuse box somewhere.

 

[EddieExplorerXLS]

yes, there is a wiring that is running to the fuse box. Do you think any of those wires are for an amp? Would a disconnected sub cause the radio to clip at high volume? That seems more like an amp problem to me.

 

[TechGuru]

HU amps are very weak, around 15-25 watts RMS. Also, what door speakers are installed? The factory ones are single cone junk...

If you want solid sound from door speakers you need a 100W RMS x 4 amp (and door speakers that can handle 100W RMS, I'd recommend JBL Stadium series) JBL Stadium GTO860