y adapters, batteries, fuses
Printed From: the12volt.com
Forum Name: Car Audio
Forum Discription: Car Stereos, Amplifiers, Crossovers, Processors, Speakers, Subwoofers, etc.
URL: https://www.the12volt.com/installbay/forum_posts.asp?tid=100990
Printed Date: April 29, 2024 at 11:25 AM
Topic: y adapters, batteries, fuses
Posted By: mazzasec
Subject: y adapters, batteries, fuses
Date Posted: January 09, 2008 at 9:43 PM
Well i got a couple questions so here they are
1. When you use a y adapter do you loose any quality and please explain. I just dont understand how you can convert 1 out too 2 without losing any quality or output power. If your confused heres a digram i drew
2. When using another battery do you need to fuse it? or as long as it is fused on the battery in the engine it will be fine.
Replies:
Posted By: tedmond
Date Posted: January 09, 2008 at 9:53 PM
are you splitting it up the signal for an amp or amp(s)? if so no matter what, you will loose some quality but not much. as for the battery, are you adding an additional battery? batteries should always be fues within 8 inches. If you think your lacking power for your audio system, upgrade your alternator.
Posted By: advanced_audio
Date Posted: January 09, 2008 at 10:10 PM
What exactly are you trying to do? What equipment do you have and what are you trying to accomplish? I need to know more information to be able to help you with your problem. If your Hu only has one preout and your trying to use two amps, you will lose fader control but no signal loss that im aware of, if there is some it wouldn't be very noticable.
Posted By: mazzasec
Date Posted: January 09, 2008 at 10:49 PM
I have a six channel amp. I wanna power fronts rears and some 6x9 and im mounting in the way back> My head unit has 3 pre outs front,rear and subs they are all in use. So what i want do to is split the signal with the y adapter to i can input my 5 and 6 channel
Posted By: stevdart
Date Posted: January 09, 2008 at 11:18 PM
From www.bcae1.com : Function:
A y-cable simply provides 2 jacks/plugs from a single input jack/plug. It does NOT send half of the signal to each of the outputs. It sends whatever signal it receives to both of the output connectors. If your 6 channel amp has line out jacks, plug standard RCA's from those to the amp that will power the 6 X 9's (and set your amp to send the rear signal if you have a choice to make). That's known as "daisy chaining" amps. If it doesn't have that common feature, use Y adapters on the RCA's from the head unit's rear preout and send to amp #1 rear and also to the new amp. The only degradation is because of using multiple connectors, if there is any at all. A battery is a power storage device. Any wire that connects to battery positive must be fused close to the battery (source). Even in a case where one battery is in the front and a second battery in the rear and connected with just one hot wire, the wire must be fused at both ends.
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Posted By: mazzasec
Date Posted: January 09, 2008 at 11:43 PM
So if im ussing a y adapter i should use it at the head unit instead of at the amp? Here is what i want to do
Posted By: tedmond
Date Posted: January 10, 2008 at 3:18 PM
ypu can split the source anywhere. it will not make a differance.
Posted By: n2audio
Date Posted: January 10, 2008 at 4:00 PM
generally it's done at the amps to avoid running all the rca's the length of the car. regarding signal loss using y cables -- think of your hu as an amplifier and your amp inputs as speakers -- your hu preamp outputs are very low impedance, usually no more than a few hundred ohms. Your amp inputs are VERY high impedance, usually in the area of 10k ohms. Using y cables on your hu outputs is like running speakers in parallel on an amp. An amp, however can only drive 2 or 3 speakers in parallel before it becomes unstable. Your HU preouts can drive many amp inputs in parallel before it becomes unstable. You'd have to split the signal several times before voltage loss became an issue.
Posted By: i am an idiot
Date Posted: January 10, 2008 at 8:48 PM
What kind of 6 channel amp are you using? A lot of them have a switch on the amp to allow you to use only 1 set of inputs to supply all 6 channels. If we knew what kind of amp it is we would be able to tell you if it has this capability.
Posted By: speakermakers
Date Posted: January 10, 2008 at 10:15 PM
N2audio I like how you explain the source to amplifier impedance relationship and you are correct. Although I think it should be clarified that whether the y adaptors will have any negative effects or not depends largely on the specific equipment that he is using. Most likely this will be fine but if he is running a low voltage deck and or a low gain amplifier there is a very good chance that he will run into a host of problems. These problems include; high noise floor, inducted noise, and diminished dynamic range. I personally have encountered this problem when using a good amp like an Eclipse or Zapco (that has been engineered to accept a high voltage signal) and using a low voltage deck like most clarions. When you start off with a fraction of a volt of signal potential and then proceed to dice that signal up by using y adaptors you are asking for trouble. Like I said this is very much an equipment dependant question.
Posted By: mazzasec
Date Posted: January 10, 2008 at 10:53 PM
its a jl e6450 6 channel amp running off a sony head unit
Posted By: i am an idiot
Date Posted: January 11, 2008 at 5:15 AM
You need to try this. Turn the bass boost switch to the off position. Set the Sum\Descrete switch to the Sum position. Connect RCA cables to the 1, 2, 3 and 4 inputs. See if you have output on the 5th and 6th channels. The Sum\Descrete switch may sum the first 4 channels to give output to 5 and 6. But it may only Sum 5 and 6 and if this is the case you will have to use the Y adaptors.
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