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2 amps install and crossover questions


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stevdart 
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Joined: January 24, 2004
Location: Pennsylvania, United States
Posted: December 30, 2004 at 9:00 PM / IP Logged  
It would.  You'll have a nice setup there with all the crossovers and filters you'll need to fine tune the sound of the system.  Now take your time and do a super clean install and you've got a system that will perform comfortably for years.  Cheers.
dj002 
Member - Posts: 11
Member spacespace
Joined: December 26, 2004
Location: Canada
Posted: January 01, 2005 at 6:25 PM / IP Logged  
Well I am glad that I waited as the amp was on sale =). Now that I have the equipment that I need hopefully you will not mind some questions on the wires.
I acquired some 1/0 awg wire from a friend along with some 4 awg phoenix gold wire so I was planning on using the 1/0 to run from the battery under the truck and up through the floor of the cab to a distribution block which will break it down to three 4awg wires which will then run to each amp. Now if the power wire is fused just off the battery and the amps are all fused is there any advantage to using a fused distribution block or would a regular one be fine? Do you think a 1F cap might be needed with the extra amp?
For the ground I have seen a nice unused bolt hole in the frame of the truck just below where the amps will be so a little grinding down and a stainless bolt with the 1/0 wire to a distribution block. The battery in the truck used what look to be 8awg for a ground so I scored a nice pre-made 3/0 ground cable (from a tow motor) and replaced it. I would have used the 3/0 for everything but I didn’t have much luck finding nice ends and fuse holders for it, all the car audio stuff seems to max out at 1/0.
Now some more crossover questions, the deck has a built in crossover for front/rear/subs with RCA outs for each so should I turn the filters off on the amps or set them also? I was planning on using one KAC7201 for the 6.5s in stereo at 4ohm another KAC7201 in stereo at 4ohms for the 4x6s and the KAC8101D to the subs in parallel at 2ohms. Any recommendations on wire size for the speakers? What is the thickest size that I could reasonable use?
Happy New Year, and many thanks for the help!
stevdart 
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Joined: January 24, 2004
Location: Pennsylvania, United States
Posted: January 01, 2005 at 11:34 PM / IP Logged  

I was planning on using the 1/0 to run from the battery under the truck and up through the floor of the cab

You MUST run the wiring through the firewall...out of the vehicle is a big no-no.

distribution block which will break it down to three 4awg wires

8 gauge will be more than sufficient for any one of those amps, especially using short runs and considering the light loads you will be using.  You'll have far more choices of distro blocks with 8 ga. out.

is there any advantage to using a fused distribution block or would a regular one be fine?

The fuses in the distros are there to protect the outgoing wires, not the amplifiers.  The amps should have their own fuses.  Fuse the wires according to gauge just the way you fuse the main power wire at the battery.

Do you think a 1F cap might be needed with the extra amp?

No, leave that bit of nonsense out of your install.  If you are criticized for omitting a cap, tell the offending party to see me about it  ;)

a nice pre-made 3/0 ground cable

Won't hurt a thing, as long as you have the means to securely crimp a ring terminal to wire that big.  I have an old (100 years!) pair of bolt cutters.  The jaws are all gnarled and pitted and the thing isn't much good for cutting bolts anymore.  But it makes one hell of a crimper for the fat stuff!

should I turn the filters off on the amps or set them also?

I would use the amp settings and leave the deck settings on flat.  You could do either, and as you get this set up you will be able to decide which would work best.  The settings, though, aren't such that you would want to (or allow another driver or passenger to) change them after the system is set up.  You are setting limits to frequencies sent to each pair of speakers and will fine tune them to the Hz.  Someone (or you) fiddles with the deck controls and you have to go back to the beginning.  Set them at the amps and chances are they will remain set.  But keep in mind that only one or the other deck or amp filters should be used, not both.

wire size for the speakers

16 guage will be suitable for all your applications.  The thickest wire you could use would be that which would fit nicely onto or into the speaker terminals.  You don't want to use a fat wire and end up with only 3/4 of it squeezed into a terminal. 

Good luck with it. 

dj002 
Member - Posts: 11
Member spacespace
Joined: December 26, 2004
Location: Canada
Posted: January 03, 2005 at 1:36 PM / IP Logged  
lol, forgive me for rambling on there... and if it was a test you passed with flying colours.
If you are criticized for omitting a cap, tell the offending party to see me about it ;)
That went over very well..lol. Glad to see you have a good sense of humor, eh! If you ever make it up to Toronto be sure to drop a line and maybe I can help you out as your posts have saved me many headaches...
So after taking a big deep breath I will talk about only 1 wire, the power. Seeing that 40’ of 1/0 awg & 20’ of 4awg was dropped off for free today I plan to use that. The 3 amps have a total of 160a in fuses so I was planning to use a 150a fuse just off the battery and running the 1/0 to the back of the truck through the firewall and under the door sills (just wondering the logic behind not running it under the truck?) and using a 1/0 to 4 distribution block. The 4awg is rated at 150a so the fuse under the hood should be enough to protect all the wires up to the amps right?
Before I started this I actually though I knew what I was doing…
stevdart 
Platinum - Posts: 5,816
Platinum spaceThis member has made a donation to the12volt.com. Click here for more info.spaceThis member has been recognized as an authority in Mobile Audio and Video. Click here for more info.spaceThis member consistently provides reliable informationspace
Joined: January 24, 2004
Location: Pennsylvania, United States
Posted: January 03, 2005 at 9:56 PM / IP Logged  

I will surely do that if I ever get up that way, dj!  You hit the lottery with all that valuable wire dropping in, too.  The 150 amp fuse at the battery will be sufficient to allow power to the amps and protects the main power wire.  But when the wire size is reduced (at the distro block), separate fuses must be installed in the smaller wires at the block.  (If you have a fused distro block the fuses you place in the block are for this purpose.)  These fuses protect the individual amp feed wires.  Their purpose is separate from the fuses in the amps themselves.  See http://www.bcae1.com/fuses.htm for a detailed pictorial explanation of why all the power wires have to be fused. 

And that will also explain why it is dangerous to run a car audio system power wire on the outside of the vehicle.  It's just that you want to protect the wire as well as you can and so you wouldn't run it in locations that the engineers of the vehicle would not run high amperage power wiring if they were designing it.  They wouldn't allow such a wire to be exposed to the outside for fear of the possibility of snagging, bruising, etc.  Considering safety of vehicle occupants as priority, route the wire where it will get no contact, rubbing, dangling loops, and all that.  If run under the truck, it should be through a  metal conduit that is clamped to the body securely in several places.

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