how to wire up my system, basics

Hey I was wondering if anyone could help me out. I have had a system for a while that my buddy set up for me. He said that he used to work at a visions and set them up all the time but it doesn't sound very good. I have just left it set up like this because I'm not to sure what to do but I finally decided I'm going to try and do it myself. I have a brand new alpine cda-117, a alpine pdx 1.1000 and two 12" pioneer impp subs. I was wondering what the best way to wire this up is? They are wired up in parallel off the two outputs on the amp right now. Also what is the easiest way to tune in your system? I think my buddy set my gains wrong because when the music is quiet there are no subs and to get the subs to kick in you have to turn it up really loud then they start hitting. I am a third year Electricion in the oil field so I have a basic knowledge on what is going on but I don't know much about 12 volt systems. Any help would be awesome. Also does anyone know where I could go to learn te basics of stereo equipment? I would really like to get into it but I need somewhere to start and learn about it. Thanks.

Theres alot of info in the links at the top of the page on this site. I would start by checking the impedance of the subs to ensure they are wired to get the proper ohm load on the amp. A little more info will help guide you as well..whats the impedance of each sub? is the amp stable down to 1 ohm or 2? you would also want to check your crossover  and gain settings on the amp as well

Everything you seek is on this site ,you just need to SEARCH a bit.Everything we need from you is not SEARCHABLE on this site so please post or we can try asking "I am an idiot" who is a member here but i believe his crystal ball is still in the shop for repair For us to better help you please follow posting rules,wich include year make and model of vehicle,any and all specs on any pieces of equipment that your are needing help with that you have available.This is a great site to learn by the way and there are some very knowledgeable people here to guide you through your project,not trying to be a dick ,but like my daddy always said "you get back what you put in"-A vision without a plan is just a hallucination-