Looking for a little advice based on what I have and what I have on order .

Right now I'm running an eclipse 88120DVC (500w RMS, 1000 peak) off of an Eclipse 33240 amp (200x2 @ 2ohm, 130x2 @ 4ohm). This is wired up with a 10 gauge kit that I picked up which was supposed to be able to hold it (some people are telling me otherwise though so I'm not sure).

I have a pair of JL Audio XR650-CSi (70w RMS) on their way within the next day or two which means I need a new amp.

First option is to leave the eclipse stuff the way it is because it sounds real good and pick up something around 150-200 watts to power the components.

Second and probably better option is to move the eclipse amp over to the components and over power them, then pick up something around 500 watts for the sub to make it thump even harder. Any recommendations? I don't mind ebaying, there are tons of good deals there once I know what i'm looking for.

As far as wiring goes, do you guys recommend I ditch the 10 gauge all together or would I be able to use it still on the one amp if I use an 8 gauge kit off the battery and for the second amp? I'd be running things through a distro block of course.

Last question, where are you guys finding your best deals when picking up wiring?

 

if you are running 2 amps you really need at least 4 gauge or bigger. So yes ditch the 10 gauge all together. Ebay is a good place for power wire kits.

 

That sub can take a lot more power then that eclipse amp...and it's not a mono amp. Get a monoblock amp rated at 500 wrms @ 2 ohms. Wire up your sub for 2 ohms, and use the eclipse for the components.

Put the components in front for now, until you get a 4 ch amp. Or, bridge all 4 speakers off the 200 w amp (if it's 2 ohm stable).

As far as wiring...always use at least 8 gauge, most decent amps require 8. I would suggest putting in 4 gauge for your new amp, any decent amp pushing 500 rms will require at least 4 gauge, and I recommend a 60 or 75amp ANL fuse. Also, you should pickup a 1 farad capacitor on ebay. Don't be dumb and spend $200 because its chrome plated haha, I always laugh at those. I paid $11 for mine, has an LCD screen on the front, never had any issues.

Feel free to ask any questions,

hope that helps

Scott

 

Also, what's your budget? Might be able to recommend something for ya

 

Great, thanks for the info guys. I wasn't sure if I'd be able to get away with running 4 gauge to a distro block, then the 10 to my old amp and 8 to a new amp. As per your recommendations it looks like I'll stick with 4 gauge from battery and 4 or 8 to the amps. I know what you mean about the caps, I saw tons of cheaper ones there too and i'm sure they get the job done just the same .

Is there a special way to wire the sub to force it to run at 2ohms? Right now I think it draws at 3 ohms, or at least that's what I found in the specs on one of the sites it was listed at.

I only plan on running the front stage and sub for now so the 2 channel eclipse should be perfect for the components I'm thinking.

Budget is around 200 give or take but if I can find something less expensive that would still get the job done and be reliable then great. If you come back and tell me I need to spend more then I can live with that too though. Originally the budget was a little bigger but I keep spending more than I plan, i'm sure you guys know how that goes . It looks like wiring for dual amps is going to run me around 100 or so based on what i'm finding, so that knocked a little off of what I had planned for the amp.

 

That's the great thing about car audio...you can NEVER be satisfied hahaha. Always pumping more in.

Yeah, you need to connect the voice coils using some speaker wire, then run your box speaker wire to one of the coils. That should put it at 2 ohms..or 1.5 in your case.

http://www.carreview.com/cat/car-aud...9_1806crx.aspx

Checkout that amp, you SHOULD be able to find that for about $150. I paid 150 canadian..shipped. It pushes 911w @ 2 ohms..plenty of power, very stable.

 

I know what you mean, I'm already looking into replacing my head unit once the rest of the system is finished even though the one I have now is decent for what I spent and gets the job done .

When you say wire the voice coils together, would you mind clarifying? The reason I ask, is that with a DVC sub like mine I know there are several configurations when wiring them up, such as parallel, series, shorting one coil, leaving one coil unwired, etc.

I'll go check out that amp now!

 

I agree with everything about the wiring, 4 guage is a must.

I don't agree on the cap though. Caps are pretty worthless.

 

Would you advise I just wire everything up without a cap first and only add one if I see headlight dimming and other problems? I hear mixed things about caps, some say they have their place and some say don't bother.

What do you guys think of the Kenwood KAC-9102D amp? I couldn't find the one linked, but this one is 850 watts RMS, 1700 peak @ 2 ohm for 160 shipped. Seeing as the sub is 500/1000 would this be a good match? If this thing already hits hard off of the Eclipse amp, I can only imagine what it'll do with more power .

 

Honestly, if you have head light dimming, I would just live with it. The best way to get rid of it is a secondary battery. Before anyone asks, NO, a cap is not a secondary battery.

Here is a post from another thread...
There is a ton of information behind that, consider it the short and sweet version. Save yourself the time and don't hook it up, headlight dim or not

That Kenwood amp is a good amp, budget amp. If you are careful with the gains, you will have no problem. If you have a DMM you can set the gains perfectly. I doubt it actually puts out 850 watts though, so I'm sure you'll be ok.

By the way, you never said if that subwoofer was dual 2 ohm or dual 4 ohm, unless I just missed it. If it is dual 2 ohm you do not need an amp that puts out rated power at 2 ohm, you need 1 ohm or 4 ohm.

 

Specs on the sub can be found here:

http://www.mmxpress.com/eclipse/subwoofers.htm

It is almost at the bottom, the aluminum 88120DVC

What's odd is that on the right hand side it says 3 ohm per coil but near the model number it says 4 ohm + 4 ohm so I'm not exactly sure what i'm working with here.

Your interpretation?

 

Any one on here ever used 4 gauge welding cable for the amp and ground leads?

 

If you really want to know, go to www.bcae1.com, scroll the bar on the right and read number 43.

Looks like that Kenwood will work for that sub.

 

Great info. So if I'm reading this right, then the sub is "rated" at 4 ohm for all intents and purposes but the actual specs are the 3 ohm numbers.

Does this mean that the sub will pull wattage that's between the 4 ohm and 2 ohm rating basically? It seems logical but maybe my assumption is wrong.

In any case, it looks like I'll go with that amp then if you think it'll be a good choice.

As far as wiring up the dual voice coils, any suggestions on the best configuration taking my equipment into account?

 

Caps are worthless if you don't mind risking frying any electrical components in the car, including the alternator. If you're investing in nice stereo equipment, spend $15 and get a cap... Basically a cap stores energy from the alternator upon startup, only it has one cell as oppose to your car battery's 6. Anyway, for sudden power draws (For loud music beats etc) it will pull it from the cap instead of sacrificing power for other electrical devices in the car, A/C, Lights, PWR Windows, etc. The most important thing about the cap, is that it protects all of these devices by being an intermediary between them at the audio equipment that is drawing the cap. I've seen it happen, and spending an extra few bucks and few minutes putting it in is well worth it.

Another piece of advice, put fuses after your cap between it and your amps.

BlackBird, wire them in parallel, then wire one side (or voice coil) to the sub box, as you normally would.

 

So lets say he powers that sub with exactly 500 watts. If he has a 1 farad cap, it stores 98 joules at 14 volts. Our electrical system, however, doesn't operate on all of those 14 volts. If you drop a battery down to 10 volts it will pretty much be dead. Caps, like batteries, don't work at 0-10 volts. 50 of the 98 joules that cap stores are below 10 volts an unusable. So a 1 farad cap really had 48 joules. That means when his 500 watt amp hits, the cap will provide power to the amp for .08 seconds before it is empty and the battery takes over.

How exactly does that provide any form of suport for the electrical system during sudden power draws? 8 thousandths of a second of power?

The discussion gets even more in depth with voltage loss and current loss. If you still don't believe me, I can give you more examples of how worthless they are.

Also, caps and batteries are two different things. You said a cap stores energy in a cell, which is totally wrong. Caps store electrons on a plate and cannot produce electricity. Batteries have chemicals in their cells which can produce electricty, as well as store it.

I forgot to add - as far as protecting your audio equipment, thats what fuses are for. Caps do not act as a fuse and will not stop an amp from burning up.

 

Cool, that's how I have it now so I can leave it. Just wanted to make sure I did it right the first time.

Got the amp and 4 gauge ordered as well as two "T" distribution blocks for power/ground. Can't wait to get this stuff in. I've heard great things about the XR650s and I already know I love my sub so I'll be even more pleased when it's hitting harder on a bigger amp .

Any recommendations on crossover settings? The components go down to 48hz but would it be better to set it around 60 to give them some headroom? That should be the last of my questions for now .

 

I'd start at 80hz and play with it from there. 80hz is a very common crossover point. Sometimes people drop it down to 60hz if the front stage can handle it. Not many people go lower than 60hz.

 

Good to know, I was originally going to start at 80hz because that's also a common crossover in home theater (which I know a little more about) but thought I was being too conservative.

I'll give that a go then .

 

Yes I know it discharges quickly, but subsequent to that it charges again using the alternator.

They cannot produce electricity, but they do store power. They also smooth out the voltage rails that normally sag if the alternator can't keep up with the draw. But if the alt isn't supplying enough that's another problem.

I'm not sure on the exact process behind the protection of electrical components, but I do know it does that. I've spoken with EE's who have designed them, and that is their primary purpose in most scenarios. I'll dig into it, im interested to hear your insight tho so keep responding.