I've got 0ga for power/ground wiring...Hifonics HFi 100.2 2 channel powering my Polk db 6501 comps, my jvc ahd-79 powering my hifonics 6x9s, Hifonics brutus brz1200 mono amp powering a 12" lanzar opti1232d sub in a 2.5 cf vented box tuned at 30hz, have 2 150a ANL fuses for my distribution block, gold duralast battery as my starter battery.
I have been thinking of switching to a kinetik hc1800 down the road, but only if I experience dimming. I've got 35w 6k HIDs and no dimming and I blast my system LOUD!!
I have been thinking of getting a 12" SSA nightshade and upgrading the mono amp, but so far it's loud enough with the sound deadening I have as well
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2009 2.5s with Takeda sri, Stillen front strut brace, 6k HIDs, black matrix depo tails, glossy black roof vinyl, LED drls., Plastidipped oem bumper
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future mods: lowering springs, Racingline or Stillen rear sway bar, 4 channel amp, catback exhaust, 2JR pulley swap
I also have a Duralast Gold, it was new about 2 months ago. I push my system pretty hard, i did use a DMM to set my gain so i think i'm pretty close, if i turn my bass knob down the dimming stops, but so does the hard hitting bass. I am running 4 gauge wire to for a power wire and ground, if it will help i will switch it out for 0 gauge, but wouldn't that pull more from the battery? Like i said before my ground is grounded to the upper deck by the 6x9's, i sanded the paint off before i grounded, i have been told this is a poor place to ground, but could that actually cause voltage drop? I do not have any clipping issues or any other issues, just draining my electrical and dimming the lights. If i'm sitting still, then take off with my system turned way up, it feels like the car cuts out some before it takes off, I could just be feeling the bass or something else. I'm not really sure. I do know that i have not found an HO alternator for a 2011, but i have found them for 2010, and they are around $600. I would like to add a small component amp down the road, but not till i get the dimming fixed.
The size of the wire has nothing to do with "pulling" amperage. The best way I can explain is that the amp needs a minimum size in order to get the amperage it needs to operate as specified. With a wire smaller than recommended the wire actually becomes a source of resistance and creates heat in the wire, which could lead to the wire jacket melting and so on. I cant think of an amp about the size of your amp that needs a 0 ga wire. I too have 0 ga wire run but in my Frontier, it powers both my 1000watt d amp and my 300watt 2 channel AB amp. No dimming, choking or other...lol 4 ga for your amp is plenty, its the source of power that is in question. The alt. Again, the Big 3 will help, so I guess start there, but in the end, you can never have too much power on tap.
I thought 4 gauge was big enough for amps up to 1k. As far as the big 3 goes, is it ok to just run a wire straight from the alternator + to the battery + with a fuse in between and skip the built in fuses and other stuff on the positive wire, i have searched this on here and Google but can find no straight answers.
it's better to have the fuse in between the battery and the alt because it acts as a valve...the fuse will stop any kind of surge to the alternator rendering it damaged or useless.
do you know what pre amp voltage your head unit puts out?? I usually go for head units with at least 4v pre amp outs.
it's better to have the fuse in between the battery and the alt because it acts as a valve...the fuse will stop any kind of surge to the alternator rendering it damaged or useless.
do you know what pre amp voltage your head unit puts out?? I usually go for head units with at least 4v pre amp outs.
That's what i meant, i guess the reason i was asking is because on the factory wire there is a built in fuse, i just want to make sure before i do the big 3 i that fuse doesn't mess anything up. I'm running a 2v pre amp out
hmm, 2v pre amp out is probably why you're clipping and dimming. I tried having the car audio shop do the big 3 but they felt that I wouldn't need it since I'm not running more than 2k or 3k rms watts. They've done the big 3 on other vehicles and they said usually you'd do it on older vehicles where the grounding points are old or corroded or where the factory alternators were less than 100a.
I had a 96 corolla that only had a 70a alt, but luckily I did a 2nd battery with battery isolator that solved my dimming problems.
2v pre out may cause clipping if the gains aren't set correctly but it wont cause anything to dim...... I hear you though, I always go for at least 4v preouts because I detest any background noise in between songs. The higher the voltage the lower you are able to set your gains, thus the higher the overall dynamic headroom is.
I wish i would have know this before i got my head unit, the local car audio shops told me I need to go with 2v when running more than 750 rms, it didn't make any sense to me but i didn't question it. They also say kicker has the best subs ever made, and they tried to talk me into a pioneer slim 10" for my car LOL. I'm running a single din, but plan on switching to a double din in the future.
yeah that doesn't make sense. Most of the double dins with gps navigation at the time were only 2v, so that's why I went with a single din at the time. Now it looks like the double dins with gps navigation have 4v pre amp outputs.
Kicker subs don't hit the lows all that good. I've had cvts and cvrs and they only hig the upper 30's. You should take a look at some of the subs from Sound Solutions Audio like the dcons or Sundown Audio subs. Some hit the low 20's!! Also the inside volume and type of box determines how good your bass is...depends on what kind of music you listen to.
Sundown Audio is amazing, i have never pushed this much power to 1 10" sub, my SA-10 takes it like a champ, and my box is a pre fab! I'm having Ram Designs design my next enclosure, it will be tuned at 34 hz, it should rip! I'm already flexing the headliner, trunk and fenders pretty good. Sound deadener is on the list for sure.
Yeah!! Those Sundown 10" and 12" general models like the sa-10/sa-12's can REALLY take a punch and I've read hundreds of posts that say that they can easily take a lot of power on a daily basis and not burn up! I'm talking about feeding them up to 1500 rms watts and not burn them up. I have read other posts that said that they do burn up after a burp of about 2100 rms watts!
That's a pretty good tuned box! As long as your box is tuned to about 30-34 hz, then it sounds amazing! Usually pre-fab boxes are tuned higher like 38-40hz so even though the sub can produce the low 20's, the box is the bottleneck.
Is your box vented or sealed??
I just love the specs on the 12" SA Nightshade. I'd have to upgrade to a more powerful amp as well if I went that route.
Pricewise for sound deadening, Raamat is cheaper than dynamat and second skin, but I like that second skin has more options for the 2nd and 3rd layers. I bought a few packs of the Ensolite fabric/foam material that you put on top of the Raamat for the inner soundwave resonance.
$99 for Raamat is steal compared to Dynamat's bulk size pak which usually goes for about $150-180. I went with the peel n stick Ensolite. The other Ensolite option, you need that spray on glue which I didn't want to mess with as it would be an extra step of application
The enclosure i'm having designed will be a kerf ported, should sound way better, my prefab is tuned at 42 hz so it's hurting the sound, but yet it still gets loud. I will check into the deadener, i'm going to move my ground to the trunk floor and build an amp rack off of my new enclosure once i build it. I guess i will do the big 3 here pretty soon, i can't throw down $650 on an alternator right now, just not realistic for the power i'm pushing. Ram-Designs has Big 3 kit's for $69 dollars for OFC wire and $49 for CCA wire, i'm going to check on the lengths that i need, thats a good deal.
Last edited by bgballin26; 11-24-2012 at 04:10 PM.
for costwise, I'd also look into replacing your starter battery with a kinetik or shuriken battery, then look into an HO alternator. I think your head unit with 2v is what's causing your dimming as 4DZC thinks you're clipping as well. I thought you might be clipping but then I read that you had set your gains according to a DMM.
I was told that you'd have to upgrade to an HO alternator if you were running more than 2k rms watts daily but I guess it depends on your setup
Wouldn't clipping cause the cd player to shut off and come back on, kind of like amps do when they go into protect mode from clipping? I set my amp to 31.5 volts at a 50 hz note with volume up the loudest right before my highs and mids start destorting, which is around 30 on my volume.
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Also the inside volume and type of box determines how good your bass is...depends on what kind of music you listen to.
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