DIY 1995 Ram 1500 stereo

1995 Ram 1500 Standard Cab

130 Amp Alternator

1000 CCA Deep Cycle Battery

***All Power Ratings Are RMS***

KDC-217 Head Unit (45watts x 4)

DEI 1100d Mono Amp (1100watts @ 1ohm) (800watts @ 2ohm)

DEI 250d Mono Amp (150watts @ 2ohm) (250watts @ 4ohm)

AW1205Q 12" Sub (1000watts)( DVC 2ohm)x3

Tsunami 5.25 Component Speakers ( Sorry No Info)

Stinger 1 Farad Capacitor

Pyramid 3 Way Xover (Replaced)

Boss Audio 3 Way Xover

1100d Power Wire Attached to Battery With A Circuit Breaker

250d Power Wire Attached to Batery With A Inline Fuse

Custom Sealed Box For (3) AW1205Q

Problems

The bass pounding on the 3 way Xover caused them to short I think. When I let the shop that installed the stuff look at it that's what they told me. When you touch the dials it causes the subs to make a loud pop. Sometimes after touching the dials the subs would play until hard hitting bass causes it to pop again and stop playing. When it does pop by touching the dials, the lights dim but no fuses blow or trip. The shop told me they would have to look and see about a sturdier Xover. Also my speaker in the right door stopped working and the shop said the Xover on that side got fried and they fixed it.  I figure since I know a little about electronics I'll just buy the stuff to fix it myself. When I looked at the door speakers they fixed the broken Xover by running the wires from that speaker to the good Xover in the other door. The speaker box is screwed to the cab wall so, haven't gotten a chance to see how the amps and stuff are wired because they are mounted under the box.

Idea

I would like to replace the front and rear speakers (6x9 Front & 5.25 Rear) would it be better to get a 4 channel amp instead of using the 250d?

I found out that both amps have built in Xover, so can I do away with the troublesome 3 way?

Would mounting a fused distro box be better then having both amps running their own power wires off the battery?

Would I need to upgrade my alternator and if so, any suggestions to where I can find one?

I have a small budget and alot of time, so using what I have instead of replacing everything would be great.

Thanks in advance foe taking the time to read this post  :oops:

I would definitely get a 4 channel amp to push your speakers- you can just run them off deck power until you have the money.

A quick search on your deck reveals it only has one set of preouts (rear):  https://shop.store.yahoo.com/discave/kdkencdplay2.html.  That's probably why they used a 3-way crossover- to split the frequencies to feed your amps.  Upgrading your deck would give you more freedom- better ways of hooking everything up properly.  *If you were to get a deck with 3 sets of preouts- front, rear and sub- you could use a 4 channel amp to push your speakers and have control of your fader (front to rear).*  There's nothing wrong with using the crossovers built into your amps- I strongly recommend doing so.

If I were creating a new system, I'd have probably used a distro block, but since the wiring's already there- I wouldn't bother.  The bottom line is it's really up to you- if the wire you have is of sufficient gauge for your current demands, then I say leave it.  Unless you think a distro block would look "pimp".

With your setup, it seems like you like it loud.  I think a high output alternator would compliment your system nicely.  Try one to the tune of around 200A- which will give you more than enough.  You can always just play it at moderate (reasonable) volume levels until you have the money to do so.

Oh yeah, cute sig.

I agree with everything geep said also do they have both sets of power wire run to the capacitor and the out to the amps. What size power wire do you have. Also the cap could serve as you distro block if you just run one 0 gauge wire back. it is alittle over kill for 2 power wires. also instead of 6x9's I would put 6 1/2" components up front and may not even worry about the rears can you even hear them now with the subs in there. just a thought

I found a 200 amp alternator but it isn't cheap, so I was looking to find a set of speakers for the door that can handle the 250d amp. Since I can't replace the head unit how would I go about wireing the amps with the rear preout from the head unit. The power and ground wires are 4 gauge and speakers are 12 and 14 gauge. Thanks for the suggestions so far.