Printer Friendly Forum Posts - my new car stereo setup suggestions?

Hi there all! Its been years since I posted last here. I finally got around to installing my new Car Stereo Setup, but had a few questions and concerns:

Headunit: Pioneer Premier DEH-P690UB

Front and Rear Drivers: Infinity Referece 6000cs Components

Sub: 12" Infinity Kappa DVC 124.7w

Sub Amp: Alpine MRP-M350 Mono Block

Front & Rear Speaker AMP: Power Acoustik LT-720/4 (4-channel)

Suplimental Power: American Accessories POWERCAP47V - High Performance 1.5 Farad Stiffening Capacitor (Powering both AMPS)

Main Power: Optima Yellow Top Spiral Gel Battery.

I ran 2 gauge to the rear of the car (fused 150AMP ANL Monster Fuse) then distro'd it down to 4 gauge. The Alpine was powered and grounded using 8 gauge and the Power Acoutsik Powered and Grounded using 4 Gauge. I'm using Monster 400 Series RCA's for everything.

I have added 2 Creative xmods that are running through the RCA's for the front and rear (so you can get an idea...RCA's from Headunit into an Xmod and then back out to the amp. it acts like a filter). It sounds great by the way! I'm just using it for the X-Fi Crystalization which makes everything sound awesome! I turned off the 3d sound enhancement as it made everything sound echoy.

Well, I got everything working great. I tuned the AMPS the way I like them (Gain are just a little over half way on both amps) and set the crossovers to the way I like them. Turned off Bass Boost on the Sub AMP. The Headunit also has crossovers which I use to fine tune.

I have minor ground loop noise (alternator wine). I moved the ground of the headunit to the rear of the car where all of the amps and Cap are grounded and that seemed to cut it down. Besides when you are jamming out you barely notice it.

Things were working fine for like 4 days until yesterday when mu sub simply would cut out on me. The sub amp is not turning off when this happens (it properly turns on and off with the relay just like the 4-channel amp). The amp also is not going into "Protect" mode when this is occuring. The amp is warm to the touch but not hot at all (the 4-channel amp seems hotter to me). The fuses aren't blown. When it started the the sub would work for like 5 mins, then cut out.

So I went home and tested the sub on my 4-channel amp just to see if it was the AMP and not the sub. My results were I got little sound out the sub and then at higher volumes the sub would cut out. I think I blown the sub.

Sorry for posting such a long message, but I wanted to be as informative as possible. I have searched the forum and looked at others with similar problems and looks like they all are right. Everyone said that the Sub most likely is blown.

The big question is how or why did the sub blow out? The Sub AMP is rated at 350W RMS @ 2-ohms and the Sub is also rated @ 350W RMS @ 2-Ohms. My gains weren't too high. I didn't seem to think I overpowered the sub.

My Power and Grounds are good. Wiring is clean (most connections are screw downs or soldered or both).

Secondly, now that I determined that, I'm looking for a replacement Sub. I have come up with this option:

Pioneer Premier TS-W1207D4

For the price and the specs, it looks to be a good choice. Also the reviews seem to back it up.

Will the Pioneer Sub replacement be good with my setup? Am I underpowering the sub since I'm only running 350W RMS? I chose to go with a slightly higher RMS sub to match the best as I can with the AMP, but also able to handle anything I give it without running into the same problem as I did with the Infinity.

Lastly, is the 1.5 Farad cap I'm using enough for both amps I'm pushing? The Digital Top says I'm inbetween 13 and 14.4V all of the time (with the engine on).

Thank you all very much!!