JBurt09

This is mostly just for a thread bump, BUT, I almost want to just buy them all up from you even when I have no use for them so that I can help support you to get your baby done and I can see the kind of damage it is going to wreak on the Ocean Center this year

No I understand that.I was asking if fuses were mainly intended to protect the wire it is connected to or the amp that it delivers power to.For instance, if I have an amp that is only meant to draw 50 amps max and I am running 4 gauge wire that can easily take 150 amps, would you recommend a 50 amp fuse or the 150 amp fuse?That's pretty much my question.

It's the client that's paying for it, not me, but if it were mine I would much rather pay for a fuse than to have to pay for a new amp. A lot of people that I have seen like to look at the amperage of the fuses in the side of the amp to get a general idea of what kind of current the amp will pull and put out.Is this in any form a reliable way to get a guesstimate or just an old myth? And the last thing, for now, is do you agree that fuses/fuse blocks are only used for protecting the wire?I mean sure you don't want to throw a 300 amp ANL fuse on a piece of 10 gauge wire, but I always thought the fuses were mostly for the amps, hence why they make such a wide variety of sizes and ratings.

Hahahaha that's so reassuring. Not to sound cocky or arrogant but I think I install well enough for the power wire to not fall out of the amp So was I wrong in what I did in fusing amps in that scenario pictured above by fusing a fused amp?Obviously the fact that the amp is "fused" doesn't really matter, as you stated, but am I just adding resistance and fuses where they don't belong?From what you said, I seem to be right, but do you know why he would feel the way he does about not fusing them?He owns a pretty reputable shop and does nice quality work, I just didn't know why he would think the wrong way about something that should be so basic and well understood.

Thanks for the reply man.I know it was a decent little bit to read through.So, in this instance with the Kicker and Hifonics amp, where the Kicker amp is already fused on the amp with two 20 amp fuses, but the Hifonics amp is not fused, would I only need to technically fuse the Hifonics amp after the distribution block?Technically the 300 amp fuse in the front would still allow almost 500 amps to surge through it, but wouldn't the fuses in the amp blow first, leaving the power to go nowhere else since there is no draw? I've never seen a car in person that has completely burned to the ground from an audio install gone wrong, but I've seen a few people come in who's "friend" installed their system with fuse blocks that have completely melted down and amps that have gone up in smoke with the internal circuitry totally fried.

You should be fine.I've ran that amp in a truck with a 140 amp alternator and an upgraded battery in the stock location and the lights dim pretty bad, but the voltage never dips below 12 volts starting from 14.

Alright so I used work at a shop that was huge on fusing.Fuse here, fuse there, fuse everywhere.Not excessively, but fuse where deems appropriate.So that's what I've always done when building.However I have another buddy that owns a very reputable shop that does great quality work that says fusing in certain places is completely unnecessary, such as in this scenario: I have 0 gauge running from the front battery, fused within a foot of the battery, and ran to the back to a distribution block where the 0 gauge comes back out to an amp, and 4 gauge comes out the other side to another amp.Like this build for instance: Now, according to the shop I work at, they say to fuse before all amps after any distribution block because where one amp may take 250 amps, the other may only take 50 and you want to have a way to make sure all that extra power doesn't find it's way to that smaller amp during a surge of some sort or something.So fuse before the amp after a distribution block. However, according to my buddy with the other shop, he says fusing after the distribution block is completely unnecessary in all cases UNLESS the amp is not fused, like a lot of Rockford amps, but other than that you don't need to fuse for many reasons such as it is just adding more resistance, the fuse is only for protecting the wire and not the amp, and it makes no sense to "double-fuse". The Kicker amp is externally fuse with two 20 amp fuses.The Hifonics amp is not.So according to my buddy, there is no reason to fuse the Kicker amp, but should fuse the Hifonics.According to the guys at my shop, fuse both.Some one please clear this particular scenario up for me, and if possible, tell me a few general rules of thumb to remember for these situations on fusing.Thanks ahead of time.

2000Lade seems to be all over it.I like the one he threw up there.I'd rock one for sure.

Honestly the way that has worked best for me the past few years for almost every amp install I do for bass is a volume control knob from PAC-Audio (Product Model LC1).It has an input and output that you run into from the headunit and out of to go to the amp.You set your gains on your amp and headunit and check for clipping from the headunit, then turn the bass knob up to the volume just before clipping and tune the amp accordingly.I've had amps that I've used from certain companies that come with a bass knob included that plugs into the amp through the jack but have had problems with early clipping from some of them.With the bass knob it just changes the level of the signal going into the amp through the RCA jacks.Also the LC1 is a lot better cosmetically because you can disassemble it and mount it behind a panel and only have the knob showing, which is a lot more stylish than a big box that is hard to stash away somewhere.Feel free to PM me about disassembling the LC1 and hooking it up.Pretty simple though.

Haha Derrick's inbox is full.Now what?

I know it's kind of off topic, but that unit is INCREDIBLE.I can't wait to see how the DEX-P99RS performs compared to this one.

Most of the Premier models have high voltage pre-outs, include the iPod cable, and have a longer warranty.The warranty along is worth the extra $20 to me.

Go for XS.You'll never turn back.You really get what you pay for.I've seen numerous competitors make a direct swap from the Kinetiks to equal sized XS batteries and gain from .8 to a full dB in the lanes.As far as the iBar kit, it depends what you are looking at as far as terminals and connections.What all are you hooking up to your battery?

Yeah you're friend is definitely wrong.As you'll find out on this site, a lot of people like to give their input on things that they have absolutely no clue about.And as far as that amp, I'm not saying don't get Hifonics, but don't get that model.Those subs will take every bit of 800 watts RMS each.You will only get about 12-1300 out of that amp.The BXi2010D will be closer to what you want at about 1750 watts at 14.0 volts and you can find them pretty cheap on ebay if you absolutely must have Hifonics.

The idea of 4 15's is good if it's moving more air that you want.You will gain about 30% more cone area with 4 15s over 2 18s.I would suggest trying other things first though.As stated before I would try doing a different design with the box first and see how your setup takes to it.As N8 said, the port on the top has got to be killing you.At the same time, you said you would hate to rebuild the box and only gain 1 db.You have to understand that where you are probably at, the difference in gaining one db is going to become a lot harder than you realize. I would rebuild the box first.You have all the help you need on this site and could get plenty of help.See what your results are, and then go from there.Best of luck to you.

This is a dumb debate.Just listen to people's advice, take it, don't argue it, build your box, and test it out after.The whole "My 15 will hit harder than your 12s" thing is a totally ridiculous statement if you aren't even going to mention the specifics.Honestly I'd sell the JL and get something that is actually worth the money that it lists for.If you're looking for nice numbers on the TL or whatever meter you have been using, you're looking in the wrong place.

Well in the email they sent out they did state that the prices have been rising for a while now and they are forced to increase costs to keep up, so I think what you said about holding off for as long as they could is correct.Oh well.Who needs Dynamat when you have SecondSkin anyways Thanks Ant.

Hey not to threadjack, just a quick question on the side: I saw you have an '02 Tahoe.When you upgraded your alternator charge wire, did you run it to the factory distribution location with the little red cover or did you run it straight to the battery? That's 106 pounds of pure sexyness.......just like my girlfriend

How many floors up can you FEEL it, I'd be interested to know :hairtrick:

Haha man that's crazy.It's insane how loud the bass is and how hard it's distorting the mic from so far away.How many power supplies do ya'll have hooked up in the front?Best of luck to having a lot of great exposure and an awesome trip.

Wait a bigger amp or bigger alternator?

This is quite possibly one of the best, most well explained and correct, educating comments on this entire site.Well said.

Something tells me that Nathan is going to have his phone getting BLOWN UP on Monday with orders and questions and that we will easily reach out 15% mark

I recently saw an email from Dynamat stating that all their prices would increase for 2010 due to the rising prices of the raw materials used to produce the Dynamat line of products, specifically the Dynamat Xtreme, which is seeing a 10% increase in cost (as if Dynamat in general isn't already expensive enough).I was just curious what Ant had to say about these "rising prices of raw materials" and if SecondSkin would be changing any of their prices?

Nathan just stated in the post before yours that yes all the kits will fit the 3100.And in the original post he also stated that the group buy would NOT apply to any of the accessories.That means whether we had 5% or 15%, you would pay the same price for the I-Bar kits, VCM module, billet trays, etc.