Powering Three Amps

[wb131988]

Hi,
I now have three amps- two 1200w Sony Xplod Amps and 1 Kenwood 800w to power two Alpine R types and a JBL GT4-12.

What is the best way to provide these with sufficient power, RCA cables, and whehter I would need a power capacitor or such like?

Many Thanks

[Google]

[FroGGer]

I don't know a whole lot about this stuff. But I have a 600 W amp in my car and when the bass gets intense my lights dim. My guess would be that you would either have to get another battery. but then you would have to connect it to the alternator and make sure the alternator can provide that much power. I would recommend getting a capacitor for when the extra power is needed since you have 3 amps.
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[ToggleHead]

with three amps....yes...a big cap would be fantastic for quality and for voltage drain regulation......you will need some THICK like 2 or 0 gague wire.....

where are they mounted.....?

two in trunk one under front seat?
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[wb131988]

What I mean is do I need to connect each using separate 2 gauge amp wiring kits, or would it be possible to use something such as a distribution block so that I dont have loads of thick wires running from front to back of the car. Then would it even be possible to use distribution blocks for the RCA cables aswel?

What size power cap would you recommend?

I have two amps mounted on top of a custom made enclosure, and one amp mounted on a custom made MDF parcel shelf above the enclosure. Not bad for a little hatchback hey??? (Mark 1 Renault Clio) lol

[wb131988]

So If I run 2 awg wire to the distribution block, then from there to the three amps using 4 awg wire, would that work good? Also would I therefore have to use 2awg earth wire for the amps?

Cheerz

[wb131988]

O yer forget the question about the RCA cables I have found THROUGH OUT terminals on my amps

[Sally]

hmm, well, to do this right, you should have 0GA wire running to the back of the car with some ridiculously sized fuse (120A ??). Then you will have a distribution block. You should also note that a cap is by no means a cure-all, ESPECIALLY in this case. All that a capacitor does is give spurts of current as needed for short sequences of greater load. The draw from four amps and four subs would not be adequetly subdued by most capacitors. Assuming that you do have a large capacitor that would accomodate this, then you would also need a larger or even a second alternator to keep power flowing to "recharge" the capacitor. My advice is that if you insist upon using the jumble of mismatched equipment that you have in its entirety, run the 0GA wire kit out to the amps and start from there. The next move then would be to replace the vehicle's power cables from the alternator to the battery, battery to starter and to OEM distribution block (fuse block) if possible. Talk to "Sandness" about this as he is a bit more fluent than even I. That's my 4.5 cents.
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[JayDubya]

[ToggleHead]

ok ok for all you"do the job right the first time" people out there yes i would agree with you.

but for an example......i had a 91 escort.....containg:
pioneer 9200 head unit
5 1/4' MB quart components in the front doors
Pioneer external 3-ways where the seatbelt should be, behind my head
polk audio dbx 3-way 6x9's in the rear
all powered (ceot for the pioneers, which ran off the head unit) by a 600w under the seat

1 rockford punch 10" in a band pass powered by a 400w kicker
and a visonik 15" in a sealed box powered by a logic 800w

all running from the battery with no cap and a home made 8g wire out of two halfs held together with E tape...no fuse

3 years...not a ONE problem with it


but in all reality they are right......you should take every precaution you can....my take:

run some 0 from under the hood.....big fuse....distro block by the amps.....use thick earthing, yes...and you should only need 4g from the distro to the amps....

as for the RCA question i would need to know exactly what the amps are powering.....and where they are located....and what head unit you have for the output abilities......

there are many different tastes and methods of wiring a car stereo.....but we can figure it out......=].
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[sandness]

Ok, here comes my 2¢.

Wire: I believe your Sony amps are rated at about 500rms and the Kenwood is about 400rms - thus 1400rms total (the rms rating is what is important, not the max). Now, an average amp is about 65% efficient. So, in order to get 1400w output, you'd need 2154w input. With the car running, you're voltage should be about 13.8v. Manipulating the power equation gives us I=P/V. That means that you'll have roughly 156A passing through this wire. I'd say a 150A fuse should do the job. This chart will tell you that 2ga will suffice if you're running 13ft or less, otherwise you need 0ga.



Capacitor: For most people, these are utterly useless. It is like putting a BandAid on a broken arm- it might cover up the problem for a short period, but it will not help the problem. With your three amps pulling 150+ amps, you'll wear down your battery and overstress your stock alternator. A capacitor is just another load on the circuit. Sure, it will provide current for a short burst, but it will also draw current to charge itself. Here are better alternatives to invest your money in (in this order):

[1] Upgrade factory power wiring. Since you're pulling 150+ amps through your 0ga power cable, you will have a bottleneck under your hood with the factory's 8ga cables. You should upgrade the battery to alternator wire (FUSE it!), the battery to ground wire, and the engine block to ground wire. They should be at least 2ga for these shorter lengths (but might as well go 0ga while you're buying it).

[2] Get a High Output alternator or a rewound alternator. Since you could potentially be drawing 150+ amps, stock alternator will be pushed to the max trying to keep up and will have a shortened lifespan. Typically, cars have 60-90A alternators and trucks/vans usually have 90-140A alternators. Since they are already supplying current to other parts of the vehicle and you don't drive around in high rpm's (where they put out their higest rated current), you will probably have roughly 60% or less of it's rated output available- this is assuming you are not running gobs of other electrical accessories too. There are a lot of places online to look for a HO alternator and rewound alternators.

[3] Second battery. This is a bit more useful than a capacitor, but will cost the most for a small improvement- thus it is not a must. First, to properly run a dual battery system, you need an isolator . This prevents the batteries from creating their own charge/discharge cycle for one another when the vehicle is off, due to slight voltage differences. Then, for a second battery, I'd recommend getting a deep cyle battery, as they take full discharges more often than your standard auto battery. It should also be a gel cell battery, as you'll probably have to put it in the cabin/trunk of your vehicle (don't want to suffocate on noxious fumes). The main purpose of multiple battery setups is to run longer with the vehicle off (i.e. SPL competitions). You won't gain too much performance while the vehicle is on as the alternator provides the bulk of the current . Current will be coming from the alternator until it has maxed out, and the batteries pick up the deficit. If the batteries are constantly supplying current, this is bad. The alternator obviously cannot keep up and thus has no extra power to keep up with charing the batteries that are draining too (dead battery). Thus this setup is not always a good choice.

[4] Capacitor. It has its uses when used in a system that has a beefed up charging system (i.e. 1 & 2 above). If you open up almost any high end amp, you'll be greeted by multiple, large capacitors on the circuit board. Having an external large capacitor can provide that extra short burst of power as needed to keep up with the dynamics of the music. Since the battery generates current via a chemical reaction, it takes some time to provide current - it is not instant like that of a capacitor. The capacitor helps eliminate some of the muddiness that you may get when music peaks. Other than that, they can also be used as a distribution block and often a voltmeter- which at least looks cool.


I hope I covered everything for you.

[Sally]

Yeah, I knew he'd have something to say
So with that, we are lead to the true heart of the issue: low-efficiency amplifiers in tandem with relatively low output subwoofers will not perform as well as higher efficiency amplifiers with higher quality (preferably matched) subwoofers. You would, in general, use both your power and money more efficiently with a SINGLE high-power amplifier and perhaps two subwoofers.

As it seems that you have already obtained the components, our story changes some . Using your JBL sub and Kenwood amp is adding undue stress on your electrical system. By removing these from the setup, you only draw 112A normally and could probably get by with either 2 or 4 GA wire...depending upon length. This would also lessen the load on all that which was listed in the previous post.
Given what you have right now, that seems to be the best plan of action, along with the suggestions above.

[sandness]

[wb131988]

So If I got a 5 farad power cap and replaced the battery to alternator wires with 2awg, would this do the job?

Do you say remove the JBL because they are not worth the power, or because the battery cannot provide it with sufficient power?

I have to say many thanks for the effort and detail provided by everyone here :)

[wb131988]

O yer about the RCA cables......

I'm sure you know the sony amps can be connected together in terms of RCA cabling, instead of running separate cables to the 3 preout Alpine CDA-9830 head unit I have.

Any ideas?? Much Appreciated

[ToggleHead]

[wb131988]

My headunit is powering:
two 120w kenwood door speakers
two 200w kenwood 6x9's in back shelf

My Sony Xplod 1200w XM-2200GTX (bridged into one channel) is powering:
one 1000w JBL GT4-12 subwoofer 4 ohm
one 160w Sony Xplod 6x9

O yer I now have a 2000w Lanzar Vibe 268 2 channel amp (bridged) which I would like to power:
two 1000w Alpine SWR-1241 subwoofers in parallel 4 ohm DVC

I currently have a 2awg kit providing the Sony amp at the moment with a 300A fuse and 8awg RCA cables running from the amp to the headunit. Stock battery and alternator.

Hope this is sufficient detail for you Togglehead

[wb131988]

P.S. the amps are located right next to each other on the top of my custom enclosure both with RCA inputs and outputs to connect one to the other from the headunit.

[[TN] Nathan]

What kind of amp is the Kenwood, what is the model number?
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[wb131988]

Sorry Nathan I dont have the Kenwood Amp any more- my final list of equipment is given above. :)

[[TN] Nathan]

[Hoedizzy]

[ToggleHead]

no youre not....but to each their own
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[wb131988]

What do you mean? Do you think I shud take the Sony Xplod 6x9 out?

[wb131988]

Whats the best sounding setup you have in mind here then Togglehead?

[Hoedizzy]