Im pretty novice at this stuff, but my dad is helping me and he has a little more of an idea. Ill try and explain this as clearly as possible.
First, I have a JVC headunit with one spot for a pair of RCA plugs, which currently runs to my monoblock subwoofer amp. My new 4 channel amp requires two pairs of RCA cables. So basically I have one on my headunit, and I need 3. I have looked into getting a RCA splitter box (http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_18601_Hifonics-HFEQ.html) or using y adapters, but if i figured it out right, I would have to use 4 y adapters, which just doesnt seem plausible. Adapters cut signal, or voltage, so ive heard, so is the RCA box a better idea?
Second, I have one power wire running through the car to the battery, which powers my monoblock amp. Is a power distribution block an alright solution to power all these things (monoblock amp, 4 channel amp, rca splitter box) or do I have to run all these power cables up to the battery? Will the wire that currently runs to the battery be ok to run to the distribution block, or will I need a larger gauge?
My last question is probably a little simpler. I bought the new 6x9s, which are rated at 4 ohms. My stocks are 8 ohms. Can I run the new 6x9s off of the headunit, even though they have less resistance?
I looked about 3 pages back through threads and couldnt find anything similar to this, but if its been answered elsewhere, please feel free to send me a link instead of re-typing everything. I really appreciate anyones help in answering these questions.
More info would help. HU specs, current draw of your amps and wire gauging to start.
Clarifying question:
1. If you're installing a 4-channel amp, why would you run your rears off the HU?
Using that line driver/EQ/XO would be a band-aid. For that $75, consider selling your current HU and combining it to buy a HU with 3 pre-outs.
And you're right, RCA splitters mean halved voltage and therefore increased gains at the amp. Bad news for noise.
As for power/ground cabling, refer to the tables here.
http://www.the12volt.com/info/recwirsz.asp
Example: I have a monoblock doing 500w RMS and a 2-channel at 100w x2 RMS.
700w total puts me between 4 and 2awg on the top table with the distance on our J-bodies.
Add up the amp fusing and I get 80a of max draw. Cross-reference that number with the Mid-left table and we see that my amps' wattage are a bit overrated and I'm drawing only around 500w.
So I conclude that I should be safe with 4awg.
PS: It's refreshing to see another 19 year old that doesn't type like a retard.
Ah, I suppose I should have clarified. I wasnt sure how long it would take me to figure out the whole 4 channel amp situation, so i was just going to hook up the aftermarkets to the head unit for now, until I had a better idea of how to solve the amp problem. Call me a little impatient if you want
So basically if I find another head unit exactly similar to mine, but with 3 RCA pre-outs, I should be alright?
So is a power distribution block something that people with multiple amps usually use, or do you usually just run two amp power wires to the battery?
Depends on the amps and the wire.
If you already have a 4gauge run, and the sub amp requires 4gauge, then you should do another run for the 4channel.
If you, for instance, had 1/O going to the sub amp when it only required 4gauge, then you could probably do a distro block.
I also just learned my sub amp runs 2 30 amp fuses (60amps) and my 4channel says it has a rating of 100amps. My stock alternator only runs 105amps. :/ Whats the cheapest way around this issue? If i dont have to get a new alternator, id rather not.
Research the ad244 swap.
car audio noob since 1984.
My amps are collectively fused for 350A. I'm still on the stock alt and I never experience voltage drop even under
my maximum listening level.
It's rare to actually hit the current cap of an amp.
okay. have you looked at your 4 chanel amp. some amps have an rca out. meaning you rung your headunits rca to the 4 channel amp. and then a rca from the 4 channel amp to your monoblock amp to power the sub. a complete setup from a 1 rca headunit. so look into that. it offers a little bit less adjustability but it also saves costs. i would agree. if a rca splitter costs 75 bucks and you dont have any other options i'd probably put that 75 bucks towards a new headunit. anything now a days that only has 1 rca output is pretty low quality so the money would be better spent upgrading that.
as for the amperage for your two amps im probalby running around the same amperage as that on the stock alternator without any issues. remember that total amperage you have of 160 amps is max power. your realistically going to be running on average half of that. so maybe 80 amps. and at allot of times even less then that.
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