New To Audio

[bry509]

First off wanted to introduce myself, just got into audio. I'm sure these types of threads are common so I'll try to keep it short. Been reading the forums for a couple months after watching some of Meade's crazy videos on youtube. I had a small 8" sub in my car and now I'm upgrading to two twelves and waiting on my new amp and wire kit and I CAN'T wait to get all this up and running. I have some questions I hope you guys wont mind answering. Here's my set up:

-2 generic 12" subs (selenium bass 200w rms 400w max 4 ohm svc)

-Large ported box that holds two twelves (picked up for $15 and rebuilt it)

-The amp I got is Kenwood KAC-8104D (one channel 500w rms at 2 ohms)

-4g wire kit from ebay 80 amp fuse

-12g copper wire for the subs to the amp

First, I was wondering since the amp is going to be pushing 500w rms and I'm wiring the subs in parallel, is it ok to continously power the subs at 250 watts and 2ohm? Does it matter what ohm the subs are rated at?

Also, I've been looking over some of your guy's builds and I see people hooking up small batteries and caps to their amp, for the set up I have now would you recommend I hook up another bat? If so how are these wired up I couldnt find any info after searching.

I also just wanted to get some opinions on my equipment, you know wire size, what you think of the amp I chose, etc... All constructive compliments are welcome (I know what I said) The big thing about my build is that I was trying to keep it under budget so keep that in mind and I'm pretty new to car audio but already an addict. Thanks for taking the time to read my post and/or responding. Keep on bumpin'.

[DGold]

Do you have a link to the exact sub, assuming their of decent quality 50 watts of clean RMS over shouldnt be too much.. the ohms of the subs are just for wiring options running 2 4 ohm svc subs in parallel gives you 2 ohm presented to the amp so it should be fine, i ran a class A/B amp at 200w RMS and tho it does tend to get hot it handled daily abuse so that amp should be fine.

I ran a similiar build wattage wise with stock battery/alt and no big 3 upgrade so you should be ok as far as that goes.

Im by no means an expert so if i said something wrong please let me know.

Edited June 26, 2009 by DGold

[Guest]

you can just tune the gains to 400rms, no need to run all 500rms.

if your voltage is dropping excessively, a battery is the way to go.

[Darksideofsound]

I have run 2 12's that were 400wrms a piece and 1000wrms amp, stock electrical with no problems. all that on a 70 amp honda alt.

[bry509]

Do you have a link to the exact sub, assuming their of decent quality 50 watts of clean RMS over shouldnt be too much.. the ohms of the subs are just for wiring options running 2 4 ohm svc subs in parallel gives you 2 ohm presented to the amp so it should be fine, i ran a class A/B amp at 200w RMS and tho it does tend to get hot it handled daily abuse so that amp should be fine.

I ran a similiar build wattage wise with stock battery/alt and no big 3 upgrade so you should be ok as far as that goes.

Im by no means an expert so if i said something wrong please let me know.

No link, I picked them up off a friend for $25 for both. They both work and pounded from a little 100w amp in a sealed box so I cant wait to get 250w to each one in a ported box. Thanks for the info, it gives me more confidence for my set up.

you can just tune the gains to 400rms, no need to run all 500rms.

if your voltage is dropping excessively, a battery is the way to go.

I had no idea the gain control actually controlled the power output, good to know. I'm going to run all 500 if I can though good thing I finally installed my voltmeter gauge.

I have run 2 12's that were 400wrms a piece and 1000wrms amp, stock electrical with no problems. all that on a 70 amp honda alt.

Alright that gives me a lot more confidence. I'm not even sure what the mitsubishi '02 galants alt is rated at but I'm not worried with what I have.

Edited June 26, 2009 by bry509

[Torres]

your stock electrical should be ok. you probably wont need to add another battery, but i'd upgrade the main battery you have. it'll help, and being an addict, you'll eventually get to that point anyways where you'll need to upgrade so better not to strain on it now.

the amp is a pretty decent amp. my friend had a kenwood amp a lil ways back, and not sure if it was the placement of it, but i think it was prone to some overheating. still performed nicely tho

4 gauge wire will be fine for the power you're using.

and welcome to the site

[bry509]

your stock electrical should be ok. you probably wont need to add another battery, but i'd upgrade the main battery you have. it'll help, and being an addict, you'll eventually get to that point anyways where you'll need to upgrade so better not to strain on it now.

the amp is a pretty decent amp. my friend had a kenwood amp a lil ways back, and not sure if it was the placement of it, but i think it was prone to some overheating. still performed nicely tho

4 gauge wire will be fine for the power you're using.

and welcome to the site

Thank you very much. A new battery is next on the list. About the kenwoods over heating, I did do a lot of research on a few amps and people did say it over heated. Knock on wood I wont have trouble but I could always fab something up with computer fans.

[Torres]

yeah. very easy to do too. trunk car? or hatchback? try to keep it out of direct sunlight and that'll help a lot

[shainemcconnell]

Thank you very much. A new battery is next on the list. About the kenwoods over heating, I did do a lot of research on a few amps and people did say it over heated. Knock on wood I wont have trouble but I could always fab something up with computer fans.

to save later work though you might want to run a larger power wire..wish I would have done that to begin with.

[bry509]

to save later work though you might want to run a larger power wire..wish I would have done that to begin with.

Bro, I too learned the hard way. I installed the 8" sub on my own and decided to go really cheap and bought a wal mart wire kit for like $15 and the wire I believe is a 16g. It was only a week after that I decided I wanted to go bigger and got those two twelves. I just got done pulling the wires and I left the moldings off and carpet pulled up in anticipation of getting my new wires. Hopefully I wont want to go any bigger for a long time, this shit is expensive. I need to find a cheap hobby.