Looking to upgrade it all, don't know about amp/batteries/alternator

[Sergeant_Skyrim]

Little bit of a back story for this...I started up on the SMD forum probably 5 months ago. Started off by learning the ins and outs of box building and finally put what I learned to the test this past Christmas break. With the help of my dad, we ended up building a ported box for 2 Kicker Comp 12s. After seeing how much louder than before they sounded, I'm already craving something bigger.

This is where the electrical side of things comes into play. I haven't had to upgrade my electrical system so far, but I realize that if I plan on becoming louder I will need to do so. I've been looking around a lot, and been searching for an amp/sub combo I like. I've been looking a lot at DC and am taking an interest in the level 4 12s. These are rated 1k RMS a piece so then I took a look at the 2.0k Watt amp they offer, and it puts out 2k Watts @ 1 Ohm.

Question 1: If I were to get the 2-Ohm level 4 12s, then I'd be able to wire them together to 1-Ohm correct?

Assuming I can do so since I'm pretty sure, they recommend that you have 1 upgraded battery under the hood as well as 1 extra battery in the rear.

Question 2: I've been looking at the XS Power batteries...which ones would do the job? (Really am clueless about this stuff )

They also recommend an upgraded aftermarket alternator...what is this and what does it do?

Thanks to anybody willing to take the time to teach me a bit, I'm always looking to learn more about this sort of stuff

[DTS909]

You can only get .5 or 2 ohm load with dual 2 ohm subs, unless you run one then you can get a 1 ohm load with a dual 2 ohm.

[battlewalrus]

With dual 2 ohms it's either .5 ohms or 2 ohms

Dual 4 ohm VCs can do 1 ohm

With one sub it's different, I was assuming you were gonna get 2 but if it's one then yes a dual 2 can go to 1 ohm

This site is helpful with this stuff: http://www.the12volt.com/caraudio/woofer_configurations.asp

Edited January 16, 2012 by battlewalrus

[DTS909]

With batterys get the biggest one you can fit under the hood.

[Sergeant_Skyrim]

Thanks for the replies so far guys, and I had no clue about the "dual." The 2 Kicker Comps I've got right now don't have that so I thought that the DCs would be the same (what I get for assuming I suppose). So then I could pick the d1 option for both 12s and wire them to 1 Ohm then, correct?

[MrSkippyJ]

You will want D1 subs to get a final 1ohm at the amp. The DC website has the electrical requirements for the amp, check it out there.

[DTS909]

You can look up a alternator for you car on the mechman and dc alternator websites.

[deathcards]

http://www.alternatorparts.com/understanding_alternators.htm

this does a very in depth look on the alternator by upgraded alt they mean a higher amperage alt for me i have 125 amp alt i need about 75amps to keep my amp from starving from voltage drop which is not good for amps or alts at the same time you could burn up your alt, ruin your battery if your voltage drops too much make sure it doesn't go below resting voltage and it should be fine , burn up your amp, or send a clipped signal from the amp to your subs and burn the voice coils up

hope this helps

[Sergeant_Skyrim]

Wow thanks a lot everybody! Was busy reading up on the 12-volt link that walrus gave and didn't notice more posts. I'll definitely have to work in a lot of this reading with my classes over the next few days though, thanks again!

[deathcards]

no problem and ^12-volt^ is also a good site for information

as far as box building i would use the torres box calculator it is very accurate from what i hear that is unless you already have it

Edited January 17, 2012 by deathcards