ok, here are things i'm curious about and yet hoping there is someone out there willing to waste part of their time to answer some of my questions, or at least tell which method you used and what works the best with you.
Lets start with power, cables and grounding.
Power: adding another batt in parallel gives xtra source of power. I connected positive terminals of batts and negative to chassis of a car. did i do it good? i ask cuz i experience probs like killin the xtra battery and amps shuttin off n on.
how thick cables should i use for grounding? the thicker, the better? i drive an '82 VW. what is the best grounding method you used?
for 2 amps, do i need a distribution block, or is it better to connect em directly to the batt? (fused ofc)
my HU has 3 sets of RCA jacks but my amps require 10. do i lose signal quality with splitters? do i need to use all input jacks on amps to get the best performance or i could get away with only few?
There will be more questions later.
TIA
Lets start with power, cables and grounding.
Power: adding another batt in parallel gives xtra source of power. I connected positive terminals of batts and negative to chassis of a car. did i do it good? i ask cuz i experience probs like killin the xtra battery and amps shuttin off n on.
how thick cables should i use for grounding? the thicker, the better? i drive an '82 VW. what is the best grounding method you used?
for 2 amps, do i need a distribution block, or is it better to connect em directly to the batt? (fused ofc)
my HU has 3 sets of RCA jacks but my amps require 10. do i lose signal quality with splitters? do i need to use all input jacks on amps to get the best performance or i could get away with only few?
There will be more questions later.
TIA
You can directly connect the second battery in parallel like you mentioned. Be sure to ground to a sturdy piece of metal on the chassis/frame. You are better off running the ground wire directly back to the front battery to ensure a proper connection, if you have the ability.
Make sure your current ground is touching bare metal, any paint/dirt with hurt the connection and you could experience problems like you mentioned. And use the biggest wire you can get. 4gauge should be sufficient for up to 1000 watts and 0gauge should be used for any more.
No need for a distribution block, just connect directly to the battery and save some money. You may need to invest in a larger alternator to keep your batts fully charged.
You can use splitters, but I can't imagine why you would need 10 sets of RCA's for a newbie system. What type of set up are you running?
Make sure your current ground is touching bare metal, any paint/dirt with hurt the connection and you could experience problems like you mentioned. And use the biggest wire you can get. 4gauge should be sufficient for up to 1000 watts and 0gauge should be used for any more.
No need for a distribution block, just connect directly to the battery and save some money. You may need to invest in a larger alternator to keep your batts fully charged.
You can use splitters, but I can't imagine why you would need 10 sets of RCA's for a newbie system. What type of set up are you running?
As a general rule, we crimp onto unsoldered wires and solder stranded wire where it goes into screw terminals.
This is a bit pedantic, it's common to simply twist and perhaps refold stranded wires in e.g. mains plugs. The main thing is to have a mechanically reliable contact that will survive in time and not flake off bits of wire which can potentially cause shorts. If the wire is sublect to movement some form of strain relief, usually a loop, should be included.
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This is a bit pedantic, it's common to simply twist and perhaps refold stranded wires in e.g. mains plugs. The main thing is to have a mechanically reliable contact that will survive in time and not flake off bits of wire which can potentially cause shorts. If the wire is sublect to movement some form of strain relief, usually a loop, should be included.
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lol, i simply twist em and put some isolating tape... put this time i want to make it right to the very bits... thats why i asked.
lrunner my system isnt newbie, my questions are aparently :S
Still i didnt get the answer to my question about RCA jacks for signal.
System: HU Kenwood Z838W cd player powering 4 3-way speakers,
Amp1: Kenwood KAC-846 4chann amp (i'll probably use it bridged in parallel to power 2 12" subs)
Amp2: Pyle QA5500 5chann amp(the one that i blamed for defect when i had grounding problem aparently) that i'll use to power rest of speakers (tweeters, fullrange 12" and maybe even a pair of 3way speakers to ease the load on HU).
As for alternator, i upgraded it from stock 60A to 90A one from VW MK3 series. thats about the biggest i could find here (for a reasonable price)
I'm not that much into power and clipping anymore, but into sound quality. (as much as i could get from current equipment as i broke my budget lol)
lrunner my system isnt newbie, my questions are aparently :S
Still i didnt get the answer to my question about RCA jacks for signal.
System: HU Kenwood Z838W cd player powering 4 3-way speakers,
Amp1: Kenwood KAC-846 4chann amp (i'll probably use it bridged in parallel to power 2 12" subs)
Amp2: Pyle QA5500 5chann amp(the one that i blamed for defect when i had grounding problem aparently) that i'll use to power rest of speakers (tweeters, fullrange 12" and maybe even a pair of 3way speakers to ease the load on HU).
As for alternator, i upgraded it from stock 60A to 90A one from VW MK3 series. thats about the biggest i could find here (for a reasonable price)
I'm not that much into power and clipping anymore, but into sound quality. (as much as i could get from current equipment as i broke my budget lol)
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The signal won't be degraded by the splitters themselves but if the output impedance of the head unit is too high and the input impedance of the amps is low, the signal may be degraded due to the head unit's high output impedance.
If you're inserting a wire into a terminal block designed for bare wire (round hole with set screw), don't apply solder to the end of the wire. It's better to have tinned wire but it's not possible to tin un-tinned wire and keep the strands as individual strands. The blocks are designed to work best with loose strands of wire.
If you're inserting a wire into a terminal block designed for bare wire (round hole with set screw), don't apply solder to the end of the wire. It's better to have tinned wire but it's not possible to tin un-tinned wire and keep the strands as individual strands. The blocks are designed to work best with loose strands of wire.
If you want sound quality I'd tell you to run no more than fronts and rears and sub, all amplified. Swap those until it sounds better and better. Run nothing off the HU. Unless you want other stuff to run when out of the car. But you can try different things. Usually multiple tweeters will screw up the stage, you should hear one set in front or mostly one set.
This may sound silly but i avoid having amplifiers run every time i turn on my HU, so i cut the remote and put a switch on it.
And yes, i want to listen to the music while my engine is off for at least few hours, so i need at least door speakers run on HU to ensure i dont get my battery drained while doing so (those speakers are rated about 35W max or so, HU is rated about 20Wrms).
And yes, i want to listen to the music while my engine is off for at least few hours, so i need at least door speakers run on HU to ensure i dont get my battery drained while doing so (those speakers are rated about 35W max or so, HU is rated about 20Wrms).
I see... i'll hook it up to remote on HU later (seem my amp was draining alot from remote and i disconnected it cuz it was dimming the display on HU)
i'll fuse it (0.5A fuse as you reccommended)
I'm still having the shutting on and off problem on my amps and i did the grounding by the book.
any ideas? do i have the reason to suspect the outputs are malfunctioning?
both amps play fine to some level then starts going off and on. (were playing well beyond that level before)
i'll fuse it (0.5A fuse as you reccommended)
I'm still having the shutting on and off problem on my amps and i did the grounding by the book.
any ideas? do i have the reason to suspect the outputs are malfunctioning?
both amps play fine to some level then starts going off and on. (were playing well beyond that level before)
Simple answer is: "Nope!"
When you turn the HU on, it's the same thing....an electric switch to tell the amp to power on. It still has to be 12v though...........
You might want to make sure your HU is turned down before flipping the switch to turn on the amps though. And make sure your 'switch' is fused.
Scott (fuse everything) B
hmm.. i'm having yet anoter problem.
Resolved grounding issues (as suggested here)
Installed kac846 amp (was working fine, left chann is fixed)
Installed back Pyle qa5500 and it starts shutting on and off again (only sub chann and after 10-15minutes play while engine running)
Assuming amp isnt defective, what is best grounding point for it? Chassis of a car? Or the second batt? (second batt is in the trunk and very close to amps)
Regards
Resolved grounding issues (as suggested here)
Installed kac846 amp (was working fine, left chann is fixed)
Installed back Pyle qa5500 and it starts shutting on and off again (only sub chann and after 10-15minutes play while engine running)
Assuming amp isnt defective, what is best grounding point for it? Chassis of a car? Or the second batt? (second batt is in the trunk and very close to amps)
Regards
For most vehicles, the floorpan is the best ground point.
It may not be a wiring problem. Measure the DC voltage directly across the B+ and ground terminals of the amp. Does the DC voltage drop to below ~11v when the amp is playing at high volume? If the voltage is remaining above 12v with the engine running, the wiring isn't likely to be the problem.
Is the amp getting hot?
Do you have the speakers connected so that they are a safe load for the amp?
It may not be a wiring problem. Measure the DC voltage directly across the B+ and ground terminals of the amp. Does the DC voltage drop to below ~11v when the amp is playing at high volume? If the voltage is remaining above 12v with the engine running, the wiring isn't likely to be the problem.
Is the amp getting hot?
Do you have the speakers connected so that they are a safe load for the amp?
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