Wicks

Try to switch off all the small switches (loads) before you cut the master. Mechanically switching a high current line will lead to arcing on the contacts which will increase your inline resistance and cause voltage drops. It'll be damn expensive but a solid state DC relay would be a great option.

Very true. I picked up an INA-W900 off eBay. Not impressed so far, lots of issues...even if it's used. I expected more of Alpine.

How did you determine that the cap was "dead"?

$15 for a little tube of dielectric grease with a fancy name? That's retarded Looks small don't it. I thought so when I got some but its actually quite large at 8oz. I was surprised. Probly a 10" tube. Plus its not dielectric grease, its conductive so it actually increases your conductivity plus fights corrosion. Would be a big plus for crimped connectors. ...still retarded?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/NO-OX-ID-A-SPECIAL-ELECTRICAL-GREASE-LUBE-8-OZ-TUBE-FOR-CONNECTORS-ANTENNAS-/260976568247?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cc36a67b7

New school components, old school techniques.....always one step ahead of the game you are! Tuned! Takes me back to reading CA&E in the 90's......

^^agreed. Sounds fishy. Betting the HU is messed up.

May want to pick up a DMM when you get a chance. Very useful debug tool and you can get a decent one for cheap. Doesn't have to be top notch. Have a portable music player with RCA outputs? Try plugging in the portable player in place of the HU. If you get sound then your HU may have issues. If still no sound then your new RCAs may be bad (assuming your amp definitely works).

Have a DMM? remove the new RCA's from the whole system. Use the DMM (ohms) and measure the resistance from end to end to make sure you don't have a broken cable. Center conductor to center conductor. Outside conductor to outside conductor. Also check resistance between the outside and inside in case there's a short.

Disconnect HU from RCA's. Connect a portable music player (iPod) to the RCAs and try that. If you still have noise, its the RCA's or something else downstream. If the noise is gone its the HU. The inline power filter is a good idea. If it works, it would point out that the HU power supply isn't very good.

Gotcha. If the experiment works, a simple low pass capacitor between the line driver and controller should be able to filter out the higher frequencies. An easy 6dB slope should be fine to give you your breakpoint in frequencies. If your ambitious, through an active crossover in between the line driver and controller for adjustable control on the fly. Or buy a line driver with a built in crossover. An LED controller with a mic should also have a sensitivity adjustment that you can fine tune, in case you want to ease into the project?

I got ya! I'm down for an experiment now and then. Yup, run an RCA from the line driver output and keep the level LOW at the start! Be prepared to lose the line driver if the LED controller input shorts and burns out the line driver... I'm guessing if you turn it up, it will blow the controllers input in a hurry. What do you mean 'accurate lighting'? I don't think you'll visually see a difference between the mic and hardwired but hey, try it out and let us know.

The mic IS what I will be using for input, what I'm saying is I will seperate the mic from the wires (cut the mic off) and I'm pretty sure what's left will be like speaker wire, right? I just cut a mic in half and there was two cables. But I will take those two cables and put them where the subs would go on an amplifier, but on their own amplifier. Even though the ev2.200 has selectable voltage and doesn't require a lot of power, the line driver is a great idea!I found this http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_27392_PAC-LD-10.html only thing is, I'm confused on what those red and black cables are, I'm guessing they're power/ground cables. I'm having a hard time finding a line driver that accepts speaker wire for output and the only next cheap thing is to go with the amplifier I posted earlier. No I meant actually use the mic as your input, as the controller was designed. Just let your speakers drive the microphone rather than risk overdriving the controller with a hardwired experiment. A line driver boosts voltage so they'll only have RCAs.

So why not just use the mic for input? An amp boosts voltage and current so it's overkill for a buffer between your HU and LED controller. How about a line driver that just boosts voltage and would have its own "volume" knob?

Depends if it has reverse polarity protection...? Only one way to find out! Wire it correctly and power it up. Be ready to disconnect it if it is bad and starts to overheat or smoke or anything.

"Thank you. At least your response is more than halfway intelligent just kidding. But really, thanks, I didn't know if there was a way..."

Nothing can emulate a speaker since its an electro-mechanical frequency dependent device. You have three choices: Wire 0.5 Ohms Wire 2 Ohms Use an impedance matching transformer but to handle that kind of power, you'd be spending more money than a 1 ohm stable amp.

Stock alts are grounded through the bracket/engine. Make sure you have another run from your front battery ground to the alt bracket/engine.

If you're running a separate ground wire to the rear, then make sure the body of the alternator is well connected to that wire. Or that the alternator has a clean connection to its mounting bracket and then ground your battery to the chassis/engine.

+1! Wayyyy better than the crappy generic ones that usually come with a set of crimp terminals. I've had the same one for about 10 years and it still works great. They also give you more leverage to crimp with on the terminal so you're not all hunched over with both hands squeezing the life out of the crimper.......

+1 for dash mounted meter. Extra equipment in line with power opens the chance for voltage drop if something happens to the connection. You also want a meter with seperate power and sense wires. Power to the amp is constant so if you any have one set of wires for power and sense, the meter will always be on.

What about a couple removable 200A fuses? You really don't want to make or break a switch that large while the current is flowing. It'll arc like crazy and corrode the switch. You'd also be introducing extra resistance in the main current path. Any extra resistance at that current level will heat up and cause a pretty good voltage drop. Not a big deal on a 120Vac circuit which can handle a couple volts of drop, but that adds up quick at 12Vdc.

Amps boost your battery voltage so you don't divide the 2000w by 14v... You need to know the level of the internal voltage rails.

I'm in!

An amp with a regulated power supply will work to supply the amp with a constant and stable supply. If the voltage drops, then the power supply musty draw more current to keep the same power level (V * I = P). The power supply mosfets all have internal resistance so the more current that goes through them, the more they heat up. I^2 * R = P. Power loss through heating increases with current squared so small increases in current will induce a big increase in power loss. To the point....don't let your voltage drop.