The wire that comes from the new control pad and connects to the speaker needs to be longer (you can make the speaker wire itself shorter to compensate). My installers wired the control pad through the back of the instrument panel. In order to do this, they routed the wires up behind the instrument panel, then back down behind the panel where the wires connect into the panel. I was reluctant to route the speaker wire this way, for two reasons:

1. It's hard to attach the speaker to the connector if the connector is behind the dash in a jumble of wires that's difficult to get to
2. If the connector were to become detached for any reason (I accidentally kick/pull the wire), it would be almost impossible to reconnect without removing the instrument panel.

Fortunately, I was able to find an alternate way to route the wires. I found a way to snake the wire through an opening below the instrument panel bezel, such that connecting/reconnecting the speaker wire would require only removing the dash panel below the steering column, and I can even reach up there and reconnect it without removing the panel.