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wiring two amps....help

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=9966
Printed Date: July 05, 2025 at 4:26 PM


Topic: wiring two amps....help

Posted By: prelude99
Subject: wiring two amps....help
Date Posted: February 23, 2003 at 6:23 PM

Can anyone send me a wire diagram for wiring two amps to two subs(each subs gets one amp).  The thing is when I change settings from my head unit I want everthing to happen equally and not all screwed up.  Do I need two amp wiring kits? Can I just fuse the two remote leads from both amps into ONE to the head unit, PLEASE HELP.  A nice detailed diagram would help id anyone has it including remote lead, power, ground, rca Cables(2), and wires that go to speakers.



Replies:

Posted By: esmith69
Date Posted: February 23, 2003 at 7:03 PM

We need to know some more specifics to give you the best answer.  Such as: what speakers, amp, and head unit do you have?

Both amps can use the same remote turn on wire, so either run one wire from the head unit to the amps and then split the wire, or run two separate wires from the amps and connect them to the same spot on the head unit.

Depending on how powerful each amplifier is, you can probably just run one 2 or 4-gauge  power cable from the battery, then once you get to the amps use a distribution block to send the power to each amp.  Some say it's best to ground the amps both at the same point, others say to separate the two grounding points by a few inches...either way will work.  If you want to simplify things just ground both amps to the same spot.  Another option is to use a 2nd distribution block for the grounding wires, and then you'll just have one grounding point on the vehicle.

Since these are subs you probably don't care about fading or anything like that so you can get by with just running one RCA cable from your head unit to the amps, then using 2 y-adaptors to split the signal to each amp.  Alternatively, if one of the amps has preamp outputs, you can just run the RCA from the head unit to this amp, then use another short RCA to go from the amp's outputs to the other amp's inputs.

The easiest way to do all of this is to get a dual-amp kit that includes everything you need, and sometimes they even give you diagrams and instructions.

Let us know what kind of components you have (model numbers of amps, subs, head unit) and we can probably give you a more specific and thorough explanation of how to do all this.  And hopefully you're using 2 identical amps and 2 identical subs....





Posted By: prelude99
Date Posted: February 24, 2003 at 11:01 AM

Heres the components

Panasonic "Ghost" Head unit model #CQ-HX1083U, (older version, NOT new one with 3DDM)

2 Rockford Fosgate Amplifiers model # Punch 500S                                           Each amp::::   500 W X 1 @ 4 Ohms Bridged RMS

and two Rockford subs model # RFD2112     Each sub::RMS 500 WAtts @ 2 ohms

Let me no what i can do for most POWER (i get lost in "ohms", confuses me) and how I can wire it (include the kits i need) and please some diagrams even if drawn up and scanned into computer email it to me   JTM842@aol.com if needed





Posted By: esmith69
Date Posted: February 24, 2003 at 1:23 PM

Dios mio I don't know where to start with this.  Maybe first I'll suggest you read this great page about speaker impedence and parallel/series wiring.  https://www.eatel.net/~amptech/elecdisc/spkrmlti.htm

Okay now the problem with your subs is that they are DVC but they have 4-ohm voice coils.  Most people would just have one amp and therefore this would not be a problem.  But you have two amps.  If you powered one with each amp, you'd have to connect each voice coil to a separate channel, and the amp would only see a 4 ohm stereo load, so you'd only get about half of the power from your amp.  In that case you might as well power both subs with one amp, wiring each sub's two voice coils in parallel, and then one sub goes to each amp channel;  the amp would see a 2-ohm stereo load, which will better use the amp's power.

If you keep all the gear you listed, you'll only be getting 250 watts RMS to each sub(half of what your amp is capable of putting out).  Or return/sell one amp and you'll get the same power output but with just one amp.  Or get different subs and possibly use all 500 watts RMS  from each amp, for each sub.  Sorry if this is confusing but I dunno how else to explain it.  Just let us know what your situation is (i.e. whether or not you've already purchased anything and/or if it's returnable/exchangeable) and I'll work from there.  I started to do a diagram but realized that I really need to find out this info from you first or else this will take me all day longposted_image 





Posted By: esmith69
Date Posted: February 25, 2003 at 1:55 PM
yes i'm a moron I read the wrong model number




Posted By: esmith69
Date Posted: February 25, 2003 at 3:29 PM

Just sent you a powerpoint document with a couple diagrams on it that I made, to that address you listed above.  Let us know how it all turns out, and if u have any more questions.






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