ok so i have 2 kicker 12" cvx's...i have them in 2 separate sealed boxes that are unfortunately tiny as hell so my subs just beat and don't put out much bass...but im getting 2 better boxes built..but anyway, i have them wired to my zx 1500.1 amp...they are 2 ohm subs and i am giving them 750 watts a piece from my amp....the problem is, when i turn my volume up to a certain amount or my gain, my subs stop playing but the amp stays on. i don't have a blown voice coil or anything and the wiring is fine. i used 4 gauge wire and have a 150 amp anl fuse. the speakers still cut out when i turn my gain and bass knob down really low so its not my gain being too high. and it seems like on this amp that the bass knob is kinda a gain knob as well im not really sure... but anyway, would getting a capacitor help this problem out or should i get a yellow top optima? i wanna be able to turn my gain up to even a fourth of the way and pound cuz these subs are supposed to... it just sucks that i spent about a grand so far and my system is @!#$ty!!!! my alternator is fairly new and im pretty sure is a high performance although i dont know the specs... the battery is fairly new also although its nothing great...what should i do??? do i just need bigger boxes cuz i had to get trim rings just so the sub would fit in the box....and i can smell the subs getting hot sometimes i guess from lack of air space...i dont wanna cram the tiny boxes with poly fill though....what is most likely my problem if my gain isn't set high??

Ok, first of all, 4 gauge is a bit small for 1500 WRMS. That is not your whole problem, but it may be part. If you can smell the subs, then chances are you're clipping your signal. Turn the EQ on your HU off and any other sub levels as well. Than follow the instructions in the sticky at the top of this forum to tune your subs. Check the impedences of your subs, check your wiring, and tune your amp properly.


There's a thin line to be crossed, when the upgrades to your vehicle increase your chance to get tickets by an amount exponential enough to stop worrying and build the fastest, loudest car you can.

yea i knew i should have gone with 0 gauge....and my HU is a piece of crap and doesn't have an EQ...i think what im smelling though is just the normal smell of a sub playing but i can only smell it cuz there is a small leak in one of my trim rings where enough air escapes to release the smell inside the box....so you dont recommend a cap or battery and you dont just think my boxes are too small either???

I am no expert but I have never heard of or smelled a sub playing, I doubt it is that "new sub smell" either.

Is there a chance that you've wired your subs out of phase?

That sounds curious to me. If the subs are cutting off at high volumes and the amp isn't in protect then it's either a loose tinsel lead or some other connection between the box and amp.

Yeah, your sub should never smell bad lol. That smell is the audiogod's little warning that something is wrong. If your HU doesn't have an eq, that's a problem. Deffinetly put them in a bigger box, make sure that the polarity is right, and follow brad's advice and check the phase. Also, that leak could be part of your problem. Try putting some electricians tape or rope caulk under the sub where it leaks and see if that helps. Bottom line, you don't wanna be smelling these subs.


There's a thin line to be crossed, when the upgrades to your vehicle increase your chance to get tickets by an amount exponential enough to stop worrying and build the fastest, loudest car you can.

yea well i only smell it out of the sub thats leaking...i think honestly the smell is heat building in the box...cuz they are tiny as hell..and i have checked for cross ups in the wiring...but having a weak battery wouldnt cause the subs to cut off? the amp doesnt go into protect or cut off at all...i see the battery meter go way down and then they cut off, then it goes back up they start playing again and will keep cutting off till i turn down the HU..the HU is a piece of crap pyle flip up nothing nice at all...but nobody has said anything about cap or new battery so i guess im just screwed haha

Oh the voltage is dipping low? I didn't read that before.
That's definitely your problem, most amps will cut off under 10.7volts

oh ok..yea i thought that the battery power had to be some of the problem cuz thats only when they cut off is during really low long bass notes or if it hits too hard...so cap first of yellow top?? which one would be more sufficient for my problem???

Ok, capacitor 101 lol. A capacitor is there to prevent your amp from overdrawing the supply of power that your battery provides. With that said, if your system is shutting off than you need a better battery. Putting a cap on your system would be like putting a bandaid on a cut that needs stiches, it's better than nothing, but not sufficient. As a rule of thumb, do the big three upgrade (see above sticky) and get a better battery before you get a cap. I'm running 1500WRMS (closer to 1600 tho) with my big three done with 2AWG and dual 5AWG power cables on a stock battery and alternator with no cap. And my system rarely shuts off. Only on bass tests if ever. Hope this helps


There's a thin line to be crossed, when the upgrades to your vehicle increase your chance to get tickets by an amount exponential enough to stop worrying and build the fastest, loudest car you can.

Capacitor 102

1 Farad capacitors provide a buffer of 1A per second with a voltage of 12V
Considering the zx1500 has a 150A fuse, let's say it draws 100 amps under a heavy load.

so that's..... .01 seconds of extra power before it starts dipping. (well, maybe .03, but still...)

Yeah, that was worth $150.

Here's the list of things to do. Weighted by price vs. effort.

#1 - Big three/optimise grounds at amp
#2 - Power Cells (Equal to more than 100 capacitors, help a lot more.) The ones my store sells are called "Kinetik", I know there are others.
#3 - Deep Cell battery (Yellow top, others)
#4 - Alternator

lets say i do the big 3 and get a yellow top..should that most likely end my problem???

Do it and see where it gets you first, that's a definite though. Stay away from capacitors. Look into Kinetiks, and/or a Battcap.

I have no cap on a Yellow Top running 4 gauge Big 3 at 1k watts now and I do get a hell of a lot of dimming on the headlights but it will rarely shut off like before. The battery is doing way more for my system than the cap did before.

I'll keep an update for you guys, I'm going to purchase the Sundown 1500d, and hope my electrical will hold up somewhat until I can get another battery

ok well i guess im going to go ahead with the yellow top and do the big 3 and see what happens

bradsk88 wrote:Capacitor 102

1 Farad capacitors provide a buffer of 1A per second with a voltage of 12V
Considering the zx1500 has a 150A fuse, let's say it draws 100 amps under a heavy load.

so that's..... .01 seconds of extra power before it starts dipping. (well, maybe .03, but still...)

Yeah, that was worth $150.

Here's the list of things to do. Weighted by price vs. effort.

#1 - Big three/optimise grounds at amp
#2 - Power Cells (Equal to more than 100 capacitors, help a lot more.) The ones my store sells are called "Kinetik", I know there are others.
#3 - Deep Cell battery (Yellow top, others)
#4 - Alternator

Capacitor 103

Capacitors, if used in a car that has an ample charging system and batteries, cleans up the peaks and valleys in the sine wave, giving a cleaner signal and cleaner sound.

The capacitor 101 teacher got fired. He didn't read his book.

Hey now, Cap 101 never lied, he just didn't get that in depth. Don't fire him, he's not tenured yet


There's a thin line to be crossed, when the upgrades to your vehicle increase your chance to get tickets by an amount exponential enough to stop worrying and build the fastest, loudest car you can.

98_JB-OvERT wrote:Hey now, Cap 101 never lied, he just didn't get that in depth. Don't fire him, he's not tenured yet

lol





first thing i'd do is get bigger properly sized power wire then get bigger properly sized boxes. i have a kicker zx 500 and it requires 4 gauge wire. that 1500 should require allot bigger wire.


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Can anyone say alternator upgrade? The biggest part of your electrical system, when it comes to car audio is your alt. If you have a stock alt, it will probably be rated at 105-115amps...SO. All you have to do is the math. Take the number of amps of your alternator and multiply it by the volts your battery runs at....so lets say, if you are running a stock battery and a stock alt:

115 x13(just an estimate if your battery is good)=1495 watts

1495 is the MAXIMUM amount of watts you should be running with your stock setup..and usually even this much is way too much. You will notice a lot of dimming if you dont have any upgrades...DIMMING IS BAD

Now lets say you get a custom built Iraggi alternator made, they run at about 250 amps, for a decently priced one...and lets say you get a yellowtop as well...

250x15(kinda rounding up here, but it all depends if you have the big 3 done, etc)=3750! watts

That is quite a difference. With a High Output Alternator and a Yellowtop (Kinetik and Battcap are a bit better for car audio), and have the big three done, then you will have no problems at all.

Caps are never, and i mean never, a solution to dimming. They are used more to clean the sound of a system up. I personally hate how they make subs sound. Subs are meant to be deep, and throaty, but a cap makes them sound almost like a really low mid-range.

Iraggi alts(only thing i have ever gone with) can get a little spendy, but you are getting what you pay for.

Good stand up Krause!

only thing wrong i think is the Alt is rated 95amps

I think he means at 3k RPMs. Its like 85 or 90 at idle.

ok so im getting a new battery, big 3, my alt. is new so i dont wanna buy another one they are not cheap...im probably getting it rewired and bigger boxes..no cap cuz ppl seem to hate them lol...does that sound good?? should i just go ahead with 0 gauge???

Sounds peachy.

would getting a new HU help at all..mine is cheap and dont even have a EQ?????