need new wire?

i have a 8guage running to my amp, which is a 12v 300w mono alpine amp. it's running to a apline type r cranking at 300w @ 1 ohm. anyways, it cuts out when i turn it up, so im thinking i just need to go with a 4 guage and be happy. it's also plugged into a .5 farad capacitor. any suggestions?

have you measured for voltage drop?  Does the amp protect light come on or thermal overload?  Is the amp extreamly hot?  Does the sound cut out right away or after some time?

Assuming you're asking about the V12 MRD-M300... I've been wrong on this before, but no where on the Alpine site or in the manual does it say that the V12 MRD-M300 is stable at 1ohm. I'm assuming by your description that you are using one 2ohm Type R DVC to get the 1ohm load. Look on page 18 of your manual for some additional troubleshooting since it has a built in display for that purpose. Upgrading the wire would be a good start since 8AWG is the minimum gauge that alpine recommends for that amp. Turn down the gains if the 1ohm load is putting the amp into protect mode. Unless you upgraded your cars electrical system to 14.4volts I don't think you're quite "cranking at 300w". I hate to be the one to break the news, but on a 12volt system your amp is rated at 200 x 1 @ 2ohms (page 20 of the manual) (like I said earlier Alpine doesn't rate that amp at a 1ohm stable load). Most people don't realize the "Fine Print" on the spec sheets, boxes, or internet blurbs that show the power ratings based on a 14.4volt system, not 12volt. You usually have to look in the manual to find the 12volt specs if it doesn't specifically say "12volt" anywhere else. It's a cheap trick the manufacturer's do to make people think they're getting a great deal (when if fact you're usually losing 50-100 watts).Squirrel

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Like Squirrel said, Alpine does not make an amp that is stable to 1 ohm. Either wire you sub differently or get an amp that is stable at one ohm.Certified Security Specialist

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the way i have it setup is that the positive from the amp goes to both positives (dvc) on the sub. what other way can i wire it since it is only a mono amp? as for the other stuff, i'll figure that out when i get home today. thanks guys!

You're running what's called "independant wiring" to the DVC sub. It's usually not recommended (since the gains need to be damn near exact), but it's safer since you are using a mono amp with only 1 channel. However, you are still running in a parallel configuration which is producing the 1ohm load. Unfortunately you are only left with being able to run at 4ohms safely (unless you got another 2ohm DVC or a 1ohm stable amp). Your amp is rated 100 x 1 @ 4ohms. It's less power then you're getting now, but the amp will be stable. Here's how to wire your sub at 4ohms to your current amp... If you got another 2ohm DVC sub then you would wire them like this into your existing amp at 2ohms... If you got a 1ohm stable amp, then the proper way to wire your existing sub into a 1ohm load is like this... Your last option depends on if you can exchange the sub for the 4ohm DVC version (you never did mention what sub you are using). If you could do that, then you would wire it like this for a stable 2ohm load... Squirrel

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yeah, i had it wired at 4ohms and man did it sound crappy.  i have another 300w amp, it's a Legacy though :-/ im wondering if i can just bridge it (since it's a 2 channel) and run that one to 1 voice coil, and then run the apline amp to the other voice coil. is that suggested at all?

alienated, if you do that you are gonna ruin your sub... chec the 2 or 4 Ohm amp/8 Ohm Sub forum (2 up from this one) where you can find more info/links about it...d148l0

You'll tear that sub apart in a heartbeat if you use 2 different amps, 1 to each voice coil. It's not even recommended doing with 2 seperate channels of the same amp, let alone using 2 different amps. Are any of my other suggestions above viable or possible for you to do/afford?Squirrel

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afford is the big problem. i just spent $1k on all this stuff. im just going to have to wait for a while to see what can happen. ill just run it at 4 ohms since i have a convertable and i have to turn it up really loud just to hear it when the top is off.