Okay, as you guys all know, the amp has arrived, and the GT4-12's are happily thumping away (at a low gain) until they break in nicely. Amp is running at around 2/5ths of gain. Will do a Fs run for a couple of hours on the weekend. They won't win any sound offs, but they are fantastic doof for dollar. :D

This leaves me with a problem. Only having one 8ga power wire running down the back, this is now taken by the monoblock. I was running a Sony XM444 with two channels bridged for the sub, the other two running the pioneer 6x9's. The 6x9's are still there, but I am NOT ripping apart my dash to re-connect the speakers to be powered by the head unit. I am also not going to run another 8ga power kit off the battery (2 off the battery is because I'm on a budget, 3 would just be fcuking stupid). The battery is a 13-plate Bosch 520CCA item.

Two choices:
1) Swap the 444 into where the XM222 is now (under the front seat - it has it's own 8ga power wire directly from the battery) and run some more speaker wire from there to the 6X9's (for rear fill)

or

2) enjoy the massive front stage I now have (compared to the 6x9's blasting away in the back) for a while and get FHRX to run 1/0ga through my car to the back, and distro block everything up properly.

Any ideas on this would be appreciated.

PM sent to FHRX.

FULL SYSTEMS SPECS (as it is now): Alpine MDA-7755R MiniDisc head unit, with CDA-5755 CD player/DSP, Sony XM222MKII amp under the passenger seat with 8ga power direct from the battery driving Pioneer TS-G1650 coaxials in the front, a JL Audio 500.1 monoblock with 8ga power direct from the battery feeding 2x JBL GT4-12s in a 60L pre-fab sealed box.
Also in the car is a Sony XM444 amp (on the passenger seat - just sitting there, no wires in or out!) and Pioneer TS-A6955 6x9's in the parcel shelf totally unconnected.

8 ga is way too small... Dont run ur amps with power restrictions. Its the easiest way to fry things.

I suggest upgrading to 2ga. 4ga minimum to the boot.

Best to spend right and do it right the first time.

Peace

Tim

Option 1. would be the easy way to go... Swapping the Amps over 8 Gauge is Big enough as Fronts and rears don't have Much Current Draw when compared to your subs...
Running Speaker wire from the Amp to the Rears would be a relatively easy job that you could even do..
Saving money..


Option 2 Would require Running Power to the Boot, Then sending it Back up towards the Front of the car..
too much Cabling ..
0 Gauge is Really Thick and would need some Fabrication to fit through the firewall...
With 0 Gauge it could be a tad over kill unless you want to compete in a Sound off..


You do Have Option 3...

Upgrading the Mono Block Power Wire to 4 Gauge to ensure it is getting enough power so It can Operate at its full potential..

8 gauge is only really sufficent for around 200 - 300W RMS.. Not enough for a Mono Block..
(I can only Base that on the Installs I have done for friends)

I agree, 0 gauge is a bit much, and bloody expensive, i'm running 2 4gauge cables to my boot, I would have used a single 0 gauge, but i wasn't planning on buying a new amp, so i just run a seperate power cable for that saved me some $$$$.
But i need that much power, 600+RMS for each 4 gauge power cable, is ok, but even that is a bit small really. or well i've spent sh*t loads on cable as it is, it can bloody well stay the same :rant:

I am thinking that I will drop the XM-444 under the passenger seat anyway, the terminals on them are hopeless and you can't fit any bigger than 8ga into them anyway.

I realise that the power cable is a problem to the monoblock, hence going the "big fat cable' route to the back, then split it off via a distro block (and run an 8ga run back to under the passenger seat).

I have other designs for the other two channels of the XM-444 - like installing a set of splits in the front and running them active, or maybe dropping the coaxials into the rear doors and a good quality set of splits in the front.

The XM 222 can run off the distro block too, and just look after the 6x9's....

the trouble with option 3 is that I have to rip out what I already have, If I do that, may as well go the whole hog and go 2ga (or 0ga) directly to the back to a distro block, and split off 8 and 4 guage from there.

Just letting you know that the car will be kept for a while yet, once I want something else (like a PS41), this will be the Missus' car.....so putting 0ga in won't matter. She likes doof too.

EDIT: Also, If I go for another 4ga wire, I will need a new terminal for the battery......

Running 3 wires is a bit ridiculous.... plus the way that I have run them is less than ideal... it needs doing properly.

I know this may sound a tad silly but why not run the 444W in 4ch mode under the front seat? The fronts would be getting the same power as from the 222W but the rears would be hooked up as well, really i wouldnt bother with the rear, bridge the 444W and just run the fronts ( even though the THD rises ).

Sell the 222W amp.

8ga cable is ok up to about 550WRMS apparently but there is no exact power figures that cables will magically stop at. Running the JL off that will be pushing the thickness of the wire since there is actually 600+wrms being made from the amp but you can get away with it.

Ha if you dont want to rip apart you dash etc... pay someone to do it he he lol

I know this may sound a tad silly but why not run the 444W in 4ch mode under the front seat? The fronts would be getting the same power as from the 222W but the rears would be hooked up as well, really i wouldnt bother with the rear, bridge the 444W and just run the fronts ( even though the THD rises ).
If you read my above post, I kinda already came to that conclusion. Will still need to drag the rear RCA's back from the boot to under the front seat, and run some speaker wire (I got enough sitting at home for this). And yes I can do it, I have installed everything in my car myself thus far. Mightn't have done a stellar job of it, but it's in and working!



Sell the 222W amp.
Nah, I will need it one day.......Might use it for a single 12" for the missus' excel until she gets my car....
It's only worth $40-60 secondhand too.....hardly worth it.


8ga cable is ok up to about 550WRMS apparently but there is no exact power figures that cables will magically stop at. Running the JL off that will be pushing the thickness of the wire since there is actually 600+wrms being made from the amp but you can get away with it.
The gains are way down at the moment, and I won't be pushing the amp really hard either. It will do for now.


Ha if you dont want to rip apart you dash etc... pay someone to do it he he lol
I am trying to do it on a budget, there's no reason to even look in the dash. All RCA's (front, rear & sub) are all hooked up. And every time I do it I seem to lose one of those pesky clips in a hard place to fish it out of.... not worth the hassle :confused:

Fair enough dude, it is still a day job though. Ha the amount of girlfriends cars that end up with that amp and a 10inch sub is amazing.

You will not damage your amp if you turned the gains up, it is more when the subs start to give way lol

GTV woodgrain dash's are the hardest. I have only lost 1 clip. yeah!! :D