whats the proper way to run 2 amps ??

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whats the proper way to run 2 amps ??

June 30, 2005, 12:23:59 AM

one for the doors and deck and the other just for 2 10 inch pioneer woofers. every time i hook up the bok with my bigger watt amp. (1000w) i get the wine in the speakers. but when it is off nothing. but when i put a surpressor on the big amp it's all good. but takes away from the subs. and the switch on the amp that i have to run the subs on without the surpessor it sounds like the cars s in the speakers box only.

could it be the way i have the power wire run over the coil? or that the remote wire runs to the small amp and back to the big amp? so i ask what is the proper way to hook these two amps up and be happy. also i have the power wires on one side. the rca's on the otherside. and the remote down the middle. do i need to run beter rca'sor insalate my power? any ideas or help.

Erik

Re: whats the proper way to run 2 amps ??

Reply #1 – June 30, 2005, 12:48:13 AM

power wire to the trunk, into a distrib block, then off to the amps.. either take some sort of 12 volt wire and loop it on each amp, from power in to the REM, or have a toggle switch inside the car. ( wire from power in on amp, to the switch, and one from the switch to the REM) on both amps

Re: whats the proper way to run 2 amps ??

Reply #2 – June 30, 2005, 01:36:29 PM

youll have to run a 1 or 0 gauge wire to the trunk, where the distribution box is, unless you run a pair of power wires, then you can use whicher gauge wire your amp requires

Re: whats the proper way to run 2 amps ??

Reply #3 – June 30, 2005, 05:22:27 PM

i was gonna run 4 gauge. but i never had this problem in my cougar. only my mustang. but then again i only ran my big amp in the cougar. thanks for the help. where can i get a distribtion block ?

Re: whats the proper way to run 2 amps ??

Reply #4 – June 30, 2005, 07:04:21 PM

most amp kits have them.. as extra parts for whatever ... Uh you could buy a nice new amp kit, or go to a local speaker shop and they should have em. Try murrarys auto also if u haver any of them around

Re: whats the proper way to run 2 amps ??

Reply #5 – July 01, 2005, 11:59:21 AM

i was checking some of them out all they do is split the power right like one 4ga. to two 8 ga. wires. i dont think thats my problem. but i dont know could it be that my cougar had more insilation. and the mustang doesnt which then the power wires could be picking up signals from the wire harness in the car ??? just an idea

Re: whats the proper way to run 2 amps ??

Reply #6 – July 01, 2005, 10:27:06 PM

I had this same problem and it turned out to be my Head Unit. The most common problem has been the ground however. The ground need to be attached to bare metal. I have a hole drilled in my trunk for mine. Make sure there is no paint where your ground is. The next most popular culprit is the rca wires. If they have been pinched or bent too much, they could "go bad" I would run a new set of rca's inside the car with the motor off to see if that is the problem. If it makes noise with the engine off, it is the deck or the amp having problems. Next run the car with new rac's installed just laying on the seat or outside the car. If you only get noise when the car is running it is probably your ground. both amps should be ground at the same location. and yes you can bump the turn-on from one amp to trhe other. I had three amps, never a problem.
Rockford sells a great dual amp kit with distro block included. cost about 150 but it's goot stuff. BTW you can get that amp kit for half that price on ebay.

Re: whats the proper way to run 2 amps ??

Reply #7 – July 01, 2005, 10:46:21 PM

I would go with 0 or 1 gauge wire with 1000watt amp. You will get slightly more power out of it even if thats not your problem. I'll bet it is a ground somewhere or pinched rca wires like stated above.

Re: whats the proper way to run 2 amps ??

Reply #8 – July 05, 2005, 07:20:18 PM

Quote

I would run a new set of rca's inside the car with the motor off to see if that is the problem. If it makes noise with the engine off, it is the deck or the amp having problems.

not what i wanted to hear. i have this problem sounds like the amp is picking up the cd player spinning. im going to try shorter Rca's i can stand like 3 feet from the hatch with rca's in my hand and still more upfront. i hear this is bad also creates a magnettic feild or something like that . ands the 1000watt amp isnt a true 1000 it's like 500 true to the speakers

Re: whats the proper way to run 2 amps ??

Reply #9 – July 06, 2005, 09:31:28 AM

The easiest thing to try, I think would be moving the power wire away from the coil. You are probably hearing a "swishing sound" which can come form the engine ignition system. Try firing up the car and stereo and have someone move the power wire across the coil while it is running. Go back and forth and turn the cable across the long axis of the coil. By doing that you will change the E-M field that the cable is running through. If the static you are getting changes at all, the coil is probably your problem. In general, any wires for your audio system should be as far as possilbe from any turning, oscillating electrical part of the car. Wiper motors, turn signals, etc. should also be avoided.

Re: whats the proper way to run 2 amps ??

Reply #10 – July 06, 2005, 11:47:59 PM

If you can hear the workings of your cd player through your amp iether the amp gain control is set to high or the deck you have is very noisy. The best way to set you gain on the amp would be to turn up the head unit until it alomost clips the signal. then turn the gain in the amp up until you can hear the sound clip/destort. then your amp gain shouyld be tuned to the head unit output. Most think that the amp gain is a volume when it is really made to adjust the amp input senseitiveity. This would be my first step. you would never believe that amount of noise a unproperly set gain can make. If this fails try moving the rca routing. I hope this helps it has worked for me many times.

Re: whats the proper way to run 2 amps ??

Reply #11 – July 11, 2005, 11:53:44 AM

i have found out that the amp is starving for power so im going to run a differant bigger power wire. 4 gauge. what size fuse should i run with 4 gauge wire ?

Re: whats the proper way to run 2 amps ??

Reply #12 – July 12, 2005, 01:33:38 AM

You should try to match the fuse rating of your amp with the fuse inlinr near your battery. Too low and you will snap that fuse; too high, you may let too much current pas through to burn your amp up. In other words check what size fuse the amp has itself and match it.

Re: whats the proper way to run 2 amps ??

Reply #13 – July 13, 2005, 12:39:27 AM

WTF are you talking about blackcatdaddy? Actually you should use a bigger fuse in the power line than in the amp. There is now way that to much current will pass to the amp and cause it to fry. The amp runns off the power so it sucks the power to it. ALso the reason you should use a bigger fuse than what is in the amp is the ine in the amp is so it won't let anymore than that amount into the amp right at the amp. When you are running long lenghts of cable there is the resistance factor. This means the longer the cable the harder it is to draw the current through it. So if you are sucking up 40amps at the amp you will see more like 60amps at the power source. This is just a for intance. So if you put the same size as in the amp there is a good chance that it will blow the rule of thumb is to increase the fuse size by 20% for the main power wire.

Re: whats the proper way to run 2 amps ??

Reply #14 – July 13, 2005, 02:35:00 AM

lol ok listen i know what you talking about when you shut your music off there is this stupid whine that is drowned out the louder you turn your music up, i have 3 audiobahn amps in my car n i had rockford amps n 2 diff headunits so far it does it on all of them why exactly i dont know. its not the fuses that get rid of it rewire it as much as you want it wont work. idk if yours is as loud as mine is with your music off but iwth mine at times you can hear the altenator running thats what it is. the faster you go the higher pitched it should get untill you idol. ive talked to guys in stores and they say to buy a radio frequency choke, now exactly what that is and how it works is beyond me cause i dont care enough to do it, it usually comes and goes in my car depending on how often i drive with my system also since i have 3 amps now i can drown it out at 5 volume. the guage of the wire wouldnt have n e thing to do with it that just lets you send more power. you wouldnt want to try n wire all that off a 16g wire. as for whit ipsd said is pretty true because when you suck more juice out of it ull need a bigger amp im draing 1600w which isnt rediculous but i use a 60amp fuse. if you have diodes in your dcar to protect your speakers that could also increase the noise factor for all i know.