The Finished Install

[PerfectCreature]

So, I spent about 5 hours putting together ideas, and finally coming together with one that works. I did not bother to carpet though I wish I had, it would have looked so much nicer....but who is going to be seeing my trunk anyway?
So, I screwed the board into the metal by my rear speakers, tucked the board in between the seats. I grounded my amps where the spare tire was, still have ground noise no matter where I tried....I am thinking of getting some better quality cables RCAs...maybe that will help.
Anyway, the amps are all screwed in, and speakers all done up. Re calibrated and I hid every wire under my trunk carpet and it looks so much better than it did before. Well worth the effort.
Not as elaborate or decorative as most others but it is simple and does the job well.
I do plan on swapping out my sub-woofer amp and sub-woofers in a few weeks. The guy who plans on buying them will be picking them up within the end of this month.
What do we all think?



Capacitor (Not that it is really needed, but it serves as my distribution block for my power wires.)


Subwoofers


Kenwood Sub Amp 500watt Mono 8104D (With a little wire management, speaker level inputs)



Kicker 4 way ZX 200.4 (35x4) (I will be getting some more cable ties, to tie the speaker wires to the trunk a bit so they do not dangle)



Both of them mounted on the board. All in all this project cost me $4.10 and about 2.5 hours.

[DSkip]

Is it alternator whine that you are hearing?

[PerfectCreature]

Yep. I was told it is because I am using a splitter that the volts from my already (2volt pioneer with one rca preamp) is being halved into just 1 volt to each channel on my 4 amp.
Also, that I most likley have a ground loop. I was told I can get two ground loop isolators and it will take care of the problem, or I could buy a new stereo and it may work.

[KaosTsoc]

Looks good.

Suggestion though, I would have put the cap closer to amps, which would shorten your wire run's, and would also try to put all your grounds at one point (should help with the loop.. or it did for me), and make the run as short as possible, but still pick a good grounding point. Another suggestion is try running your power wire from your batter, and cap on the other side, and or away from your speaker wires. The power wire is always (when amps on) emitting a power field "noise" around it, which if your speaker wire is close to it; it will pick up that noise as well. I ran my stuff away from each other, and that helped me alot. Also could be due to voltage drop as well. Just my thought though.

Also for wire management try using wire flums as well. I use them, and they are a life saver. Also could use them for you ground, and power wire as well which would add a little insulation, not much, but some.

Look into getting good rca's as well, JL makes good ones. They will be a bit pricey (depending on where you get them from) and make sure that they are insulated as well.

Other than that looks good.

Thanks.

[PerfectCreature]

I bought a ground loop isolator....music sound so much better, it may have decreased some of the voltage from my radio though, not sure. I may put one by the stereo, and then one by my amps and see if that will help get it all.
Don't know yet. Aside from grounding my HU with my amps....that is the only way I can think of....
I will give it a shot tomorrow morning and see if it help at all.
If not next step, Is to buy a new RCA....Kicker makes some decently insulated ones....

[KaosTsoc]

I bought a ground loop isolator....music sound so much better, it may have decreased some of the voltage from my radio though, not sure. I may put one by the stereo, and then one by my amps and see if that will help get it all.
Don't know yet. Aside from grounding my HU with my amps....that is the only way I can think of....
I will give it a shot tomorrow morning and see if it help at all.
If not next step, Is to buy a new RCA....Kicker makes some decently insulated ones....

Yes. Kicker makes some good ones. JL audio, Kicker, R.F., Monster, Stinger, Phoenix Gold. There are so many companies that make RCA's it just crazy. Shop around to find the best deal that is easy on the wallet.

As for gounding you HU with your amps. Man you would have to run a super long wire to back to the trunk. Not sure if it would be worth it... It might be give it a try, and let us know what happens. As for me I have never grounded my amps, and HU in the same area, mainly do to the amps always being far away, and just did not enought wire lenght.

Thanks.

[PerfectCreature]

I grounded my HU with my amps. Got rid of the static sound....
I called Crutchfield and between them tlaking with my one of my local shops we figured out that while grounding my HU with my amps help, it was not nessicary.
The reason why I am having the issue is because my HU gives one 2v preamp. I am running a regular RCA with a splitter so that in turn cuts the signal to two 1v signals to my front and to my rear. The signal is so weak that it cannot overpower the ground noise.

So I am looking at getting this one. http://www.crutchfield.com/s_105KDA6...l-KD-A615.html

JVC Arsenal KD-A615. I will but some 4 channel RCAs and that should take car of the problem.
But for now the issue is manageable and I can now enjoy that majority of the fruits of my labour. ha.

[KaosTsoc]

I grounded my HU with my amps. Got rid of the static sound....
I called Crutchfield and between them tlaking with my one of my local shops we figured out that while grounding my HU with my amps help, it was not nessicary.
The reason why I am having the issue is because my HU gives one 2v preamp. I am running a regular RCA with a splitter so that in turn cuts the signal to two 1v signals to my front and to my rear. The signal is so weak that it cannot overpower the ground noise.

So I am looking at getting this one. http://www.crutchfield.com/s_105KDA6...l-KD-A615.html

JVC Arsenal KD-A615. I will but some 4 channel RCAs and that should take car of the problem.
But for now the issue is manageable and I can now enjoy that majority of the fruits of my labour. ha.

Nice selection. If I may, are you going to be running speakers in the front, and back, along with a sub??

If this is how you are going to do it, then the HU you selected is nice, but will not take care of your needs correctly. You want to get a HU that has 6 channels, 1 set for the front, 1 set for the rear, and 1 set for the sub. It will help keep all your channels seperate, and makes it so you dont have to have a spliter, and thus preventing the drop in voltage. You would need a total of (if you did this speratly) 3 rca's one for each channel. However if you wanted to get a set of RCA's that are a paired togother, then you would only need two.

This is what I mean by a set paired together (4 Channel) :

http://www.crutchfield.com/g_719/RCA...pe%7c4-Channel

Also JVC also makes a HU that has more channels, with the same voltage. There is also Clarion, Kenwood, Pioneer, JVC. There are alot more brands, but this would be a good starting point. Hope this helps.

Thanks.

[PerfectCreature]

Nah, I am all set with the arsenal. I have talked with some people and they said that this would do fine for me. I would just run the fronts and rear of the 5 volt preamp, then use the speaker level inputs to do up the sub-woofers. Since my amps are side by side it will be fairly easy to do.
The only other one I was looking at was the Clarion CZ500....but by the time I get the money it will be 199.99 most likely. It gives 6 channel at 4 volts....
I have not decided 100% yet....It depends one the money factor and time...
like I said, I have car troubles that need to be resolved like brake work and inspection time...as is my car is already almost 2 months out of inspection.

[KaosTsoc]

Nah, I am all set with the arsenal. I have talked with some people and they said that this would do fine for me. I would just run the fronts and rear of the 5 volt preamp, then use the speaker level inputs to do up the sub-woofers. Since my amps are side by side it will be fairly easy to do.
The only other one I was looking at was the Clarion CZ500....but by the time I get the money it will be 199.99 most likely. It gives 6 channel at 4 volts....
I have not decided 100% yet....It depends one the money factor and time...
like I said, I have car troubles that need to be resolved like brake work and inspection time...as is my car is already almost 2 months out of inspection.

I have the CZ500, and I am happy with it for the most part. The only thing I do not like about it is that it does not have the BBE, and 24 bit D/A on it, but other than that I completely like it. I got it for like $160.00 shipped via amazon. So, if you shop around you can find it a good price.


Thanks

[PerfectCreature]

Yeah, amazon has it for 159. Crutchfield has it for 149...they said they have about 1500 left in stock, and will probably drop the sale when they hit about 500 or so....so maybe I can get it....would be nice.
I guess I can only wait.
SO you have had no issues with it?

[KaosTsoc]

Yeah, amazon has it for 159. Crutchfield has it for 149...they said they have about 1500 left in stock, and will probably drop the sale when they hit about 500 or so....so maybe I can get it....would be nice.
I guess I can only wait.
SO you have had no issues with it?

No issues with it as of yet. I like the features that it offers (aside from not haveing the BBE, or the 24 bit D/A). The bluetooth on it (which was one of the main reasons I bought it) is the best that I have had so far. Everybody I talk to on it says that it sounds better than the Sony BT2600 that I have. Plus it has the usb cord in the back, (which was a big plus) which is really long, gives you plenty of options of where you could put it. It also has several other options that it is ready for as well, like satelite radio, steering wheel controlls etc. So, all you would have to do if you added these things is run the cable accordingly, pull out the HU, an plug, and play.

The USB feature is really good, and pretty easy to use. Me.. I just place it on random, and let her do her thing.

I will tell you this though, it will take some time to get use to it though. If you have had anything like Sony, pioneer, or kenwood entery level HU's it is completely different. Kind of confusing at first, but after reading the manual, and messing with it I finally got her figured out. Plus the remote it comes with is really nice all slim, and feels really nice in you hand.

It does come with a case for carrying the face plate (which is detachable), and it is also really nice. So, yeah I like it.

However for me I have to get yet another HU that has the BBE, and 24 bit D/A on it. I will more than likley get Clarions FZ709. Which is what I was going to get, but at the time it was like $200.00-$300.00, now I can find it for the same price as the one I have now. Sigh......

Thanks.

[PerfectCreature]

Well, yeah. I mean, I do not have high quality enough speakers to be needing the 24 bit or anything of that nature.
I am more concerned about the voltage rating and preamps and so forth.
Curious on what you will do with the CZ500 when you get your new one...I could be interested in getting yours from you if it is anytime soon.
ANd yes, mine is an entry level Pioneer. Very strait forward. Nothing special.

[KaosTsoc]

Well, yeah. I mean, I do not have high quality enough speakers to be needing the 24 bit or anything of that nature.
I am more concerned about the voltage rating and preamps and so forth.
Curious on what you will do with the CZ500 when you get your new one...I could be interested in getting yours from you if it is anytime soon.
ANd yes, mine is an entry level Pioneer. Very strait forward. Nothing special.

Well the voltage on the CZ500 is 4v with 6 channels on the back. I am still looking to see which hu I will get next, I have to look. Once I do get a new hu I will be trying to sell the CZ500. So, if I do happen to get a new hu here soon, I can let you know, and we can work out a deal.

Thanks.

[PerfectCreature]

Yeah, that wouldn't be to bad. ANdI know about the 4 volts to each...
Hopefully I will be able to get this stuff soon. My hours have been dropped to about 20 a week no for some reason....not sure...
Oh wells.

[KaosTsoc]

Yeah, that wouldn't be to bad. ANdI know about the 4 volts to each...
Hopefully I will be able to get this stuff soon. My hours have been dropped to about 20 a week no for some reason....not sure...
Oh wells.

If I do get a chance to get another soon, I will keep you in mind. The other big reason I got this HU is because, the RCA's in the back were actual cables that extened out. Since the space were the HU goes is so cramped, and I dont like haveing my cables all bent up, and jacked. I got this one, but should have done more research. Sigh..... Such is life. Oh well live and learn. At any rate I do plan on getting another one, just dont know as of yet still looking to see what I can find. The 4V was also a big plus, considering most HU that offer 4V start to get pretty expensive, and Im no high roller.

20 Hr is not good at all. Man you should move to Texas. There are plent of jobs here, that have normal hours. However it is hot as all.... well..... haties. So, if you dont mind pure hot then you would be fine. The winter's here are no where near what they are up their, but hey just a thought.

Thanks.

[PerfectCreature]

I know. I am not sure if I will go withe the Arsenal or not....I am leaning towards that one though because of the added features.... and I do believe the arsenal has extended ones as well, and I know all about limited space behind my stereo ha.

Now I just need to figure out the subwoofer I want. I can work with 400 watts...
Any subwoofer and amp combo I should look at or?

[KaosTsoc]

I know. I am not sure if I will go withe the Arsenal or not....I am leaning towards that one though because of the added features.... and I do believe the arsenal has extended ones as well, and I know all about limited space behind my stereo ha.

Now I just need to figure out the subwoofer I want. I can work with 400 watts...
Any subwoofer and amp combo I should look at or?

Yeah tell me about it. The small space is such a pain, but that is ok. If I need to cut something out, then I will.

As for subs. That all really depends on what kind of sound you are going for. Are you wanting to be plain out loud (which diminishes the sound quality), or do you want quality (which will diminishes the loud part). Also are you wanting to go sealed or ported?? Are want one, two, or three woofers?? Do you want 10", 12", or 15" speaker??. How much space do you have, and what is your price rang?? These are questions that might need to ask yourself.

Not to be rude, and I apologize ahead of time. (note: I am straight forward person, I will give my honest thought, and opinion if you as for it. I can be a little brash, but disrespect indended.)

Are you wanting to have this system for a while?? Just wondering, because there are so many choices out there it is crazy.

Thanks.

[PerfectCreature]

I do plan on keeping this install for awhile, at least through the rest of my college. I have 2 more years roughly, then once I get settles down, I plan to really go all out. I would probably get a couple Polk SRs.
But, since the Polk SRs are not in the best regards for my cars health I am left with a sub that can take 300 watts or 400 watts.
I have been looking around, and would probably go with the 2 for 1 Kicker combo on Crutchfield but if I miss that I was looking at getting either one of these.
Alpine SWR-1042D -Give it 400 watts....
Infinity 1260w-Give it the full 300 watts
Polk Audio db1240DVC-Give it 400 watts
JBL GTO1214D-Give it 400 watts

Or do this Kicker 10C124 and give them 300 watts....

All depends on how smoothly my car goes through inspection, but after that I can go and get whichever you guys think would be the best one...
Or if you have other recommendations....slide them along.
As for the way I like my bass. I like it loud and accurate.

[KaosTsoc]

I do plan on keeping this install for awhile, at least through the rest of my college. I have 2 more years roughly, then once I get settles down, I plan to really go all out. I would probably get a couple Polk SRs.
But, since the Polk SRs are not in the best regards for my cars health I am left with a sub that can take 300 watts or 400 watts.
I have been looking around, and would probably go with the 2 for 1 Kicker combo on Crutchfield but if I miss that I was looking at getting either one of these.
Alpine SWR-1042D -Give it 400 watts....
Infinity 1260w-Give it the full 300 watts
Polk Audio db1240DVC-Give it 400 watts
JBL GTO1214D-Give it 400 watts

Or do this Kicker 10C124 and give them 300 watts....

All depends on how smoothly my car goes through inspection, but after that I can go and get whichever you guys think would be the best one...
Or if you have other recommendations....slide them along.
As for the way I like my bass. I like it loud and accurate.

You know... I am in the market as well for some new subs as well. So, I am still thinking, and looking. I can tell you however, that two of the subs listed here I am thinking about as well, and they are the Polk's, and the JBL (which I have 3 CS 10's sealed). Also I can tell you that Infinity, and JBL are owned by the same person, and that is Harmen. (like Harman Kardon, the home audio pros. Look up the name it will make sense.) So, JBL and infity products come from the same warehouse, and I think one is a higher line than the other or something like that. As for alpine, not really to sure about them I have never owned a pair. On that same note, I have never bought anything from alpine at all. So, I dont know to much about them sorry. I would suggest posting a new thread for sub questions, so that you can get other thoughts.

As for JBL, I lean toward them a little more just cause I have experiance with them so far. Now the CS 10's that I have now are by no means compairable to any of the subs listed, but I can tell you that I have had them for about 4 years now, and had them in a ported box which sounded really good, and now they are in a sealed box, and the hit really good that way as well. They a pretty durable as well. I can say that with confidence. I have played the ever living heck out of mine, and in fact thought I blew one, but turns out that I was heating up the VC's (VC= Voice Coil) to the point where I am about to fry them. I have done this several times, and (knock on wood, Knock Knock) have not blown them yet. For $89.99 buy one get one free from cartoys, they are not at all half bad....


Thanks.

[PerfectCreature]

Yeah my receiver is from HK.
I wish my car had the alternator for the SR Sub....I would love to have one of those...
Its between the Infinity and the polk sub at the moment....
I am leaning more toward the infinity just because I can pick it up for about 60 new. I will be looking into buying this amp in a few days if I can play my money right. JBL GTO3501. It looks like it will be pretty solid. For my needs I think it will do just fine.

And I am upgrading the head unit to the Kenwood Excelon X494. It looks really nice and for the price, it seems a really good deal.
If I can catch the deal on the Clarion CZ500 I will do that instead, but am thinking I won't have the money in time.

[KaosTsoc]

Yeah my receiver is from HK.
I wish my car had the alternator for the SR Sub....I would love to have one of those...
Its between the Infinity and the polk sub at the moment....
I am leaning more toward the infinity just because I can pick it up for about 60 new. I will be looking into buying this amp in a few days if I can play my money right. JBL GTO3501. It looks like it will be pretty solid. For my needs I think it will do just fine.

And I am upgrading the head unit to the Kenwood Excelon X494. It looks really nice and for the price, it seems a really good deal.
If I can catch the deal on the Clarion CZ500 I will do that instead, but am thinking I won't have the money in time.

Well if you did one SR, that would probably do just fine, and you alt should be ok. The rule of thumb for upgrading your big 3 is, if you are running a 1,000 watts or more then you will need to upgrade. If you are only doing like 500 watts for the sub, and door speakers, then you should be fine. There is a way to calculate the amount of amps that you would be drawing from your alt. I cant remeber off hand how it goes, but its something like take the watts, divided by volts gives you amps or something like that. If I find out where I found the equation I will post here for you. Usually most alt's are set at a standard 12 Volts, and so are the batteries as well.

So, if you want to make sure that you alt could handle it, I would look at the owner maunal, and see how many amps you current electrical system requires (not including the amps, speakers, sub's etc).

So, like in my situation I have an 80 amp stock alt. The new system that I plan on running will total about (Including subs, and speakers) will total about 1,800-2,000 watts. So, in order for my alt to charge my battery, and to keep up with the demand I have to have a alt that will produce no less then 140 amps or more. So, if you take 1800 (watts)/12 (volts) = 150 amps needed in order to just take care of the speakers. Or I could do 1800 w/14.4 v = 125 amps. That does not include the A/C or heater, head light, dash light etc. So, as you can see my stock alt would be toast if I tried to ask for that much power out of my stock alt. Now in regards the alt there are two things. 1. is you can get a new what they call a High Output alt that would charge you battery, and 12 volts which is pretty standard. or 2. you can get a new H.O. alt (H.O. = high output) that will charge your battery at 14.4 volts. Which is higher than the norm. Now depending on your needs would determine if you needed an alt that charges at 12 volts, or 14.4 volts. This also determines how fast your alt can replace the spent power that your system is pulling. the higher volts, and amps the more power that can be replaced to your battery.

In all it takes a little time to figure it out, but I would say that for you needs you should be just fine with at least one of any of the selected sub brands you listed.

As for my HU, at the moment everything is on hold, and waiting to see what my next one will be. Still researching to make sure that I buy the correct one this time. So, you know it may be at least a month befor I make a choice. I kind of hit a rough patch in my saving money, and had to move my mom in with me for health reasons. So, that took alot of the money that I already had saved up. sigh..... how like life to throw in a rench in things, or well got to keep ridin. So, yeah if you want to hold off until I get my stuff in order I can so sell the HU to you. Lets see I paid $160.00 for it... I would safly say that $80.00 sound pretty fair considering it is slightly used. Like I said, once I get everything back on track, I can take pictures, and send them your way. Sound like a plan?? Also let me know if you do decide to get a new HU so, that I can make note, and not waste anyones time.



Thanks.

[PerfectCreature]

The headunit would not be for a little bit anyway. Not until the end of this month, or mid next month.
As for the amp, I picked up the JBL GTO3501 Grand Touring 360 Watts Mono Subwoofer Amplifier for $87.83 using a coupon code I had and some store credit that has just been sitting there.
Here I will post the code.
B7W2OG5Y
The code it good for only JBL, Infinity products sold by amazon ONLY
The code is good until the 21st of this month
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=pe_69560...=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Anyway, this coupon cuts the price almost in half...
Enjoy.

Now I just need to figure out which sub will give me the best output and clarity.....
Thanks.

And my alternator is refurbished and is only 60amps....the people before me skimped....lights dim with the 500watts....

[KaosTsoc]

The headunit would not be for a little bit anyway. Not until the end of this month, or mid next month.
As for the amp, I picked up the JBL GTO3501 Grand Touring 360 Watts Mono Subwoofer Amplifier for $87.83 using a coupon code I had and some store credit that has just been sitting there.
Here I will post the code.
B7W2OG5Y
The code it good for only JBL, Infinity products sold by amazon ONLY
The code is good until the 21st of this month
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=pe_69560...=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Anyway, this coupon cuts the price almost in half...
Enjoy.

Now I just need to figure out which sub will give me the best output and clarity.....
Thanks.

And my alternator is refurbished and is only 60amps....the people before me skimped....lights dim with the 500watts....

Nice. See you got yourself a good deal on that. Congrats.

As far as the subs go. It all comes down really to the box designe more than anything. If you want tight, accurate, clean bass, then sealed would be best. If you want boomy bass, and little less tight, and accurate bass then ported is good. Also alot of it has to do with how much room you have in your truck that you are willing to take up.?

As for the alt, man you are right that is pretty weak alt. Let me ask you this, how long do you plan on keeping this car??

Thanks.

[PerfectCreature]

Pfft. End of winter. It is being sold. For now the alternator I am hoping should hold up...I just don't turn it up much anymore. I did get the amp today it looks really nice. Feels fairly sturdy. I will be taking my old subwoofers out tomorrow and the amp as well, the guy will be picking them up the end of this week early next and I'll get about 250 for all of it. My new amps hopefully will be better than my last in terms of clarity and footprint but I doubt that since it is AB class. It gives 360RMS at 2 ohms...so that opens up some options for sure. I could power up to a 400 watt sub with ease.
Anyway, after winter hits and ends...usually around april/may it goes away....I should have a new car by then....I plan on getting that cars alternator tested and the battery upgraded to a deep cell. As for grounds...not sure how to upgrade those....
I will pick up a new amp kit...going to have to step up to at least 0/1 gauge so that I can run a few amps...
Student loans will let me get about 1500 that I can use as a baseboard to save up on...want to get at least 4k to buy a decent used car. Hoping to get that by the end of winter...I will have to control the audio spending habits haha. I was looking at getting kind of a sporty car that looks better than my old granny car. I mean, come on...it is just not right for my 95 Buick Skylark to be thumping and blaring music next to like a mustang with a crap stereo.
Anyway. Yep. Hoping next week or the week after to get the sub.

[KaosTsoc]

Pfft. End of winter. It is being sold. For now the alternator I am hoping should hold up...I just don't turn it up much anymore. I did get the amp today it looks really nice. Feels fairly sturdy. I will be taking my old subwoofers out tomorrow and the amp as well, the guy will be picking them up the end of this week early next and I'll get about 250 for all of it. My new amps hopefully will be better than my last in terms of clarity and footprint but I doubt that since it is AB class. It gives 360RMS at 2 ohms...so that opens up some options for sure. I could power up to a 400 watt sub with ease.
Anyway, after winter hits and ends...usually around april/may it goes away....I should have a new car by then....I plan on getting that cars alternator tested and the battery upgraded to a deep cell. As for grounds...not sure how to upgrade those....
I will pick up a new amp kit...going to have to step up to at least 0/1 gauge so that I can run a few amps...
Student loans will let me get about 1500 that I can use as a baseboard to save up on...want to get at least 4k to buy a decent used car. Hoping to get that by the end of winter...I will have to control the audio spending habits haha. I was looking at getting kind of a sporty car that looks better than my old granny car. I mean, come on...it is just not right for my 95 Buick Skylark to be thumping and blaring music next to like a mustang with a crap stereo.
Anyway. Yep. Hoping next week or the week after to get the sub.

Yeah I would get the alt tested to see what it is producing so that you have a good idea of how much power you can afford. Also playing the music at a lower level than what you want will help as well.

Getting a deep cycle battery is only part of the equation. The alt (as you may already know) is what charges your battery when the car is running, and the battery is only really used to start the car. After the car is started most of you stock electrical parts for the most part run off the alt. You also want to make sure that your alt can recharge that new deep cycle battery as well. You might run into the problem where you got a deep cycle battery, and your system is sucking so much power that your alt can not keep up, and then you just wasted money on a battery that just got sucked dry, and your alt can not keep up.

A good suggestion would be to listen to your system, and lower level, and every so often do not run your system for a day, and give your alt, and battery some time to recharge. You know you can always give a guy dave a call from kinetic batteries, and he can tell you all about how that works in alot more detail. Go to the website, and their number is listed there.

As for upgrading the ground, that is not too hard. What you need to do is find the gound on your battery, and trace that big 8 awg wire to either the engine block, or to the chassie. you have two option here, one you can completely replace this ground wire with a thicker 4 awg, or 0 awg (4 awg is a minimum), or you can keep the stock ground wire, and just place a 4 awg wire on tops of this, and basically run the new thicker wire along side the stock one, and bolt it down to where the stock placement is.. So, that is how that works. If you need an actual visual, then you would want to look up the BIG 3 upgrade, and that would show you pictures, videos, etc of how to do the upgrade. If your lucky you might find that someone out there has done this to their car that is your excat make, and modle of car. So, search around, and you will find it.

Ok. So, the next thing you also need to do is use no less than 4 awg wire when you run you power wire back to your amp, also use 4 awg for your gound for you amp as well. Basicall you want to use the same gauge wire for both your power, and ground. Also need to make sure you run an fuse block, or inline fuse no less than 18" away from your battery. This will help prevent you amp from getting fried if there is a surge or something. The fuse will blow first, and then your amp will power down, because the connection that your fuse was supply has been cut, and thus no power getting to the amp.


Thanks.

[PerfectCreature]

Wow, after reading that dark screen and going to the white screen so quickly my eyes are all tweaking out.
Anyway, those kinetik batteries...I have seen them places, and may just pick one of those up. I suppose I can just keep bringing it along as I change cars....ha.
Looking at one of those chargers to...could come in handy....I sent that dave guy an email.
Anyhow.
I figured it was something along those lines, my current battery ground? It is 8 gauge wire grounded to the drivers side chassis, corroded....by the way.
In line fuse? I have a kicker 05pk4 and the inline fuse is installed 6 inches from the battery.
I have a cap as my distribution block. Wiring as follows.
Battery-4 gauge wire-100 amp fuse-4 gauge wire-capacitor (4 gauge ground+power) two 8 gauge wires from the power side- to each amp, then those amps have 8 gauge ground wires. Stereo, and both amps are grounded in same area. Cap is grounded on drivers side wheel well.
When I get my new car, I will buy proper distribution blocks and use the cap just for the mono amp. For now tho, it works for me.

The new car will get a 0/1 gauge power and ground, and I will use the kicker 4 gauge wire to my amps. The alternator I may just upgrade or get rebuilt...I can only tell when I get the new car...which, luck on my side won't have to be until next summer.

So depending on the car, I will get some high quality speakers, my 4 channel can push about 40-45 watts RMS to each channel....
I was thinking polk or JBL...

As for the stereo, I still do not know what I am doing...money like you is a bit tight....

[KaosTsoc]

Wow, after reading that dark screen and going to the white screen so quickly my eyes are all tweaking out.
Anyway, those kinetik batteries...I have seen them places, and may just pick one of those up. I suppose I can just keep bringing it along as I change cars....ha.
Looking at one of those chargers to...could come in handy....I sent that dave guy an email.
Anyhow.
I figured it was something along those lines, my current battery ground? It is 8 gauge wire grounded to the drivers side chassis, corroded....by the way.
In line fuse? I have a kicker 05pk4 and the inline fuse is installed 6 inches from the battery.
I have a cap as my distribution block. Wiring as follows.
Battery-4 gauge wire-100 amp fuse-4 gauge wire-capacitor (4 gauge ground+power) two 8 gauge wires from the power side- to each amp, then those amps have 8 gauge ground wires. Stereo, and both amps are grounded in same area. Cap is grounded on drivers side wheel well.
When I get my new car, I will buy proper distribution blocks and use the cap just for the mono amp. For now tho, it works for me.

The new car will get a 0/1 gauge power and ground, and I will use the kicker 4 gauge wire to my amps. The alternator I may just upgrade or get rebuilt...I can only tell when I get the new car...which, luck on my side won't have to be until next summer.

So depending on the car, I will get some high quality speakers, my 4 channel can push about 40-45 watts RMS to each channel....
I was thinking polk or JBL...

As for the stereo, I still do not know what I am doing...money like you is a bit tight....

Sounds good, sounds good. I personally am not a fan of cap's, but to each his own. And yes I would most definitely get a proper distribution block for sure.

As for the kicker 05pk4, that is what I was talking about, sorry I dont do the greates job of explaining things sometimes.

That sucks that the ground from your batter to your driver side chassie is corroded, and if at all possible you may want to at least replace the stock wire to make a proper ground for the battery. And then if you want add a 4 awg wire to trace the stock wire, or completely replace the stock wire with 4 awg, and call it even.

With the kinetik battery that would make sense me LOL. I mean you spend that kind of money on a car that you are not keeping anyway, I would make sure I took it with me as well. Along with the kicker wire kit as well, but I have a feeling you already thought about it. I can tell you that David will more than likely tell you to run two batteries, and get a battery isolator. Or if you have the room under the hood for a fairly big battery you could do one battery. Also he will tell you to do the big 3 upgrade as well so that you dont fry any of the stock wiring. Nothing would be worse than to fry the stock wiring, and have to trace all that wire, or better yet have to replace the whole wiring system, which would mean that you would need to get a new harness etc etc etc. And from what I hear that is a real pain.

Thanks.

[PerfectCreature]

Yep, very true. As for two batteries. It would not matter to me if I had one in the trunk or not. The new car will only tell, so I have time to look around and scope stuff out.
As for the Big 3. That seems like a pain in the ass, but from what I read it yields amazing results almost instantly.
I will upgrade the alternator to at lease 120-140 Amp....just because alternators can put out up to 40% without choking to death and dying. And I am running roughly 500 watts and would like the option of upgrading my system so that is in the area of 90 amps....so my car should be more than safe.
I have even been thinking about getting a truck...but not sure if the gas usage would make it worth it in the long run....since I commute to college.
As for the Kicker wire, yes it is amazing quality, you can bend it a million ways, even tie it in a knot and it wont break the wires, I think the strand count is something like 2100 or somewhere around there for my 4 gauge wire.
As for a cap...I am not sure it it makes a huge difference, but I bought it at a yard sale a year back for about $30 and it does the job of being a distribution block so I have kept it. Plus, it looks kind of nifty when it tells me the volts of my car....which is a steady 13(ish) volts when my music is playing....not sure if that is good or not but....I like it.
Anyway, I read up on the 12volt website, haven't read the other yet but am going to....some really nice information.

Also considering Dynamating, but there was another brand I read of called ss or something like that that is supposed to be better than dynamat and cheaper as well...
Any particular areas I should look at dynamating first or the most? (Obviously the trunk for sure, the botton of the vehicle and the firewall[no clue how I would do that] but.....)

And I know about replacing wire....I had to replace my spark plugs and wires because they were frayed and the mechanic said I had an angel watching over me for A) it to even start and B) for me not blowing myself up with and electrical flare in the engine bay....
That was about $180....well over $3000 in this car that I drive everyday, and payed 1000 for it a little over a year ago. The downfall is the bottom is rusting out, bad. We can't lift the car anymore with a jack without fear of breaking the frame....I could take pics if you wanted....it really is bad. I swear the owners left it in the pond or something....

[KaosTsoc]

Yep, very true. As for two batteries. It would not matter to me if I had one in the trunk or not. The new car will only tell, so I have time to look around and scope stuff out.
As for the Big 3. That seems like a pain in the ass, but from what I read it yields amazing results almost instantly.
I will upgrade the alternator to at lease 120-140 Amp....just because alternators can put out up to 40% without choking to death and dying. And I am running roughly 500 watts and would like the option of upgrading my system so that is in the area of 90 amps....so my car should be more than safe.
I have even been thinking about getting a truck...but not sure if the gas usage would make it worth it in the long run....since I commute to college.
As for the Kicker wire, yes it is amazing quality, you can bend it a million ways, even tie it in a knot and it wont break the wires, I think the strand count is something like 2100 or somewhere around there for my 4 gauge wire.
As for a cap...I am not sure it it makes a huge difference, but I bought it at a yard sale a year back for about $30 and it does the job of being a distribution block so I have kept it. Plus, it looks kind of nifty when it tells me the volts of my car....which is a steady 13(ish) volts when my music is playing....not sure if that is good or not but....I like it.
Anyway, I read up on the 12volt website, haven't read the other yet but am going to....some really nice information.

Also considering Dynamating, but there was another brand I read of called ss or something like that that is supposed to be better than dynamat and cheaper as well...
Any particular areas I should look at dynamating first or the most? (Obviously the trunk for sure, the botton of the vehicle and the firewall[no clue how I would do that] but.....)

And I know about replacing wire....I had to replace my spark plugs and wires because they were frayed and the mechanic said I had an angel watching over me for A) it to even start and B) for me not blowing myself up with and electrical flare in the engine bay....
That was about $180....well over $3000 in this car that I drive everyday, and payed 1000 for it a little over a year ago. The downfall is the bottom is rusting out, bad. We can't lift the car anymore with a jack without fear of breaking the frame....I could take pics if you wanted....it really is bad. I swear the owners left it in the pond or something....

Ok. I was being lazy over the weekend, I took Thursday, and Friday off of work, had 4 day weekend, and was being straight up lazy....lol. So, I did not on the forum.

At anyrate. If you are going to go with two batteries, then you might want to look into getting a battery isolator. If you dont know what this is, or does, it basically charges both batteries off the alt, and then when you turn off the car, the isloator will help prevent the back battery from discharging the front, which you would use to start the car, and the back battery for your audio system. I have heard this helps with a two battery setup, and to be honest I am still looking and weighing the options, but might just go with one big battery, still thinking. Also if your is currently produceing 13 ish volts that is about average. So, that is good. You really want to try to get to around 14 volts, since alot of car audio spec are tested at 14.4 volts.

Now going to your alt, you need to make sure that you have enought power to keep the battery(s) charged, and also have enough power to power your head lights, dash & interior lights, A/C, Heater, power windows, and locks, along with any other electrical demand. So when you get the new car I would start with the stock alt, and stock audio system. I would then find a way to test the new alt to see how much power it produces with out any electrical demand, it also may say it in the owner manual as well from what I have heard. So, if you stock alt produces 90 amps, and then your electrical demand uses let's say 30 amps. You then have about 10-15 amps you can play with befor you burn it up. Also keep in mind that for every 1,000 watts you want to add 70 amps I believe.

Any sound deading is highly suggested if you want to keep you panels from viberating, plus helps out with bring the sound out more. I would start with the trunk, and front doors. So, yeah look into this for sure. As for you new car I would say start with the deading of the interior as you replace the speakers. It will take alot of time to do, patience, rubbing alcohol, and or degreaser. Oh yeah if you dont mind your hand, and knuckles getting beat up from the sheet metal then you will be just fine. There are alot of different brands out there. There is dynamate (which the reviews of this is very mixed. Some swear by some dont, also expensive). There is also Rammat as well, (good reviews on this stuff, and cheeper then dynamte) do some research, and ask plenty of questions.

The car sounds really unsafe, and very questionable. Man.... you might just want to sell that if you can, and get a better or newer car. As for truck over car, and vise versa. That is really up to you. Look at what you do on a daily basis. Do you need a truck?? Do you haul stuff all the time like TV's, Trailers, bed's etc. If so, then yeah a truck is nice since it gives you that option to put heavy, and big stuff in the bed. However if you get a mid sized truck, and want to put a system in the back, then you lose out on passanger space. Now, if you ride around with people in your car all the time, and dont haul anything then a car is just the thing. As for fuel consuption... Man with all the technology out there that they put into vehicle's in general they sometimes are about the same.

Thanks.