Herokight
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Posts posted by Herokight
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Honestly man, I might be willing to send you some 4gauge Knu for dirt cheap. Just depends if I figure out this whole shipping thing :l
There's two car audio shops right down the road from my house, pretty much literally. I think I'm gonna stop by there after school one day next week and see what they'd charge for some wire. Problem is, one of them is one of those places that'll wanna do it for me and charge me for it. I hate going in there. Some of those guys are pretty cool and just like to talk about stuff, show you what you could do, give you ideas and whatnot. The rest of them always seem like they're trying to pressure you into buying something and letting them do an install for you. Don't get me wrong, I've seen them do some pretty damn sweet installs, but $125 and up for a 5 channel amp seems a little steep to me.
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I'm trying to figure out what you mean by "even when the radio is not on"
What I am saying is you will have voltage drop even if the radio is off. If you take a multimeter and test your voltage at the battery then take the multimeter and test your voltage at the amp there will be some voltage drop. you could be for instance 13.8 volts at the battery and only 13.5 volts at the amp. Now when you turn the car on and turn your radio on and you test the same two points you will have more voltage drop
I see what you mean now. I'll get to checking that too. It'll probably be a bit before I can upgrade my power wire. Just gotta take it easy til I can.
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Thanks guys! Gotta hold in there til May 6th. After that, I'm working 30-40hrs a week til August. That's over twice what it takes for me to live on my average weekly budget, so I can put more money back! I pick the most expensive damn hobbies...
I'll get my hands on some 4awg as soon as I can. Might just have to keep it low for now. And, out of curiosity, should 14awg speaker wire be sufficient?
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Also check your local hardware or electronics stores for a Multimeter you can pick one up for about 10.00 that will do the job. Test the voltage at the battery while the car is running then test the voltage at the amp with the car running. Then while the car is running idle turn the volume just below the point where the amp protects and test the voltage again at the battery then at the amp. You will notice you will have voltage drop even when the radio is not on. Then when you play your radio your voltage drop will be more significant.
I'm trying to figure out what you mean by "even when the radio is not on"
*EDIT*
Ok. I got you now. I'll do that too.
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goodluck with work and your financial situation man. it does take time to build up when money is tight. a lot of guys like me buy the stuff pieces at a time till its all done. hard work makes it even more exciting at the end. im a full time student, on the track team, so only tine to work is breaks and summer. but save up and it will all ocme together. i would recommend upgrading to 4 ga power and ground and see if that solves yojur problems.
Probably gonna end up doing that. ESPECIALLY considering that parts of what I want are on clearance and dirt cheap. I'll get those first. Hee heh.
4awg here I come. I'll try that first, and see what I can do about a big 3 too. I just realized that the specs of my amp say to use 4awg power wire. How silly of me to overlook my amps booklet and go with a wiring kit the can handle "systems up to 1000 watts".
Classic novice, right here.
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You should be running 4ga power wire from Front battery back. Part of your problem is 8ga wire is not rated for the power your running if the amp is in the trunk.
I'm a little naive to this stuff in case anyone hasn't noticed. I thought about using 4awg, again after I had finished the install. I fell into the newbie trap of amp kits, what they SAY they can do, and what they CAN do.
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I have no clue how old the battery is up front. It's got pretty bad corrosion, and I thought it looked like it needed replacing when I was doing the install but I kinda (foolishly) ignored it. The positive is run from the battery, and the ground is bolted to some bare metal in the back. A friend suggested bolting straight to the frame, but I haven't tried it yet.
High school student, working at Mcdonalds at 8 bucks an hour.. not impossible. Applied for financial aid? Got a buddy in college is able to pay for college and audio with it. Just got to learn to budget broski.
I live at home and my dad's been outta work for a couple of years, so I end up spending all but the $50 I can put back every two weeks on my own gas and food to lighten his load. Didn't say it was impossible, just said it was hard.
Haha. Funny you mention financial aid. It's partly how I could afford the system I have now. That and the fact that my previous car was hit and totalled in December and I got most of that while my dad got the rest, and used that and more to buy me a new car for Christmas out of the money he had put back. Had to have a way to get to college and work. Problem now is that mine and my dad's savings are low because that was used for living expenses... They cut my hours, so I had some short pay checks....
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what ohm are you svc subs?
4ohm. I'm running them both into the dedicated sub portion of my amp wired to 2ohms.
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Hopefully you had a shop set your gains with an Oscope.
I set my gains by ear. I don't have a DD-1 yet, but I'm getting one. I have them set looooow though. Like, the subs are at about 4, fronts are at about 5, and rears are at 4. The subs really barely move. I though I was maxing it, so I turned it way down. Same problem when the bass hits hard.
You'll always want bigger and better after awhile.. just comes with the hobby. You can get a Mechman alt, HUGE XS batteries ect plenty of ways to power it man, just takes time, and money.
True that. Seeing my friends start their walls of four 15s makes me so damn jealous. Next set up I'm going for is 8 6.5" components, 8 tweeters, 2 8" midbass, and 2 15s. It'll be 2400w RMS overall. Problem with that is it's pretty hard to save up that much money when you're a college student working part time at a fast food place for $7.25 an hour.
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Alright. I'll give that a shot. Man, I'm already having to do more research. Just finished this system, and it's cool and all. It's really great for my first full system and has great SQ, but I hate this feeling of "What now?" Got some wicked ideas for the next one, but it'll probably be about a year or so before I have everything to put it together. Problem is, if I'm power problems now, I have no clue how I'll push the wattage I want to push in my next install.
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I need to get one. Money's been tight, so it took me forever just to get everything it took to get it all in. Next time I get s sufficient pay check I'll do that. The battery looks pretty old. It's got some corrosion on the terminals, and I think it might be time to give that a shot as well.
New battery, clean terminals, big three, and possibly a SMALL secondary battery and a H/O alt have been all the diagnoses I've come to from what I've read. I just wanted a second opinion. My stock alt only puts out 102 amps.
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I just finished my set up a couple of weeks ago. I'm running a Rockford Fosgate Prime series 5 channel for everything, and it keeps going into protect mode. I've checked everything and can't figure out why. Checked for speakers having bad connections and shorting out and it all looks good. It's rms is 675w, and I'm running 8awg power and ground wire. Stock alt, stock battery (can't remember brand or anything, but it's little). It does fine at high volume when I'm cruising, 50-60mph, but when I stop or slow down (below 30) it goes into protect mode, when it was fine a few seconds before. I've been setting my gains by ear, but I plan on getting a dd-1 soon to set them correctly, However, I turned it down so low that my subs are barely bumpin' because I thought that I was just maxing it out. It does feel pretty hot after 30 minutes of listening though, and it does it a little worse after long periods of time.
Anyone have any suggestions?
If it helps, heres a rundown of all my speakers and such:
2 4x6 Rockford Fosgate Power 45w rms
2 6x9 RF Prime 60w rms
2 12" RF Prime SVC 150w rms, dual sealed enclosure, 1 cubic foot for each sub.
It's my first "big" setup. We all gotta start somewhere.
Amp and Possible Power Problems
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I can't wait for my next setup. I'll have no trunk space though. It's the only place I can put my subs, and an 8 cu. ft. box will take up all my space in there along with the amp rack and any power cells. I'd take out my back seat and use it instead, but I'm just not ready for that. I transport alot of people and stuff.