Hello all you audio nuts....

I turned the wick up a bit on my subs over the weekend, lots of boom but now I am getting the dreaded headlights dimming on each bass hit. It isn't so bad with the fan off, but if I need aircon, it's fairly bad.

For Megatron - the gains are now on the highest setting you had marked....

I have a feeling that my battery terminals are not the best (I'm not even going to post a pic - it's that bad), the power cabling is bolted directly to the stock positive terminal (!).

Do you think that a decent jaycar battery terminal will help things a bit? They are also doing 1-farad caps for like $100 in the new catalog... they can be found here (http://www1.jaycar.com.au/productView.asp?ID=RU6750&CATID=&keywords=capacitor&SPECIAL=&form=KEYWORD&ProdCodeOnly=&Keyword1=&Keyword2=&pageNumber=&priceMin=&priceMax=&SUBCATID=), I know most on here hate capacitors, but hey, it's got fully blinged blue LED voltage display!

I need to get a multimeter and get it going and measure the drop between terminals...... :redface:

I am seeing FHRX this coming Saturday for him to inspect, so I won't expect a reply from you mate....
Will PM shortly to confirm time/location.....

Again, the system for reference: Alpine MDA-7755R MiniDisc head unit, with CDA-5755 CD player/DSP, Sony XM444MKII amp under the passenger seat with 8ga power direct from the battery driving Pioneer TS-G1650 coaxials in the front & Pioneer TS-A6955 6x9's in the parcel shelf, 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.

Here on in things can be expensive to cure the Voltage Drop, an Alternator upgrade, Dual Battery set up and Caps on the Amp feed are looking like a Must..

Power wires may be needed to be upgraded to cope with the excess power...

I don't know much about audio but whould a 1 farad capacitor help? :confused: Cos if it would jaycar have them for $99.

Yeah, the terminals really need a looking at.... I think I should be able to get it to a point where I am happy with it with a decent Gold positive terminal for the battery. I will be going down the big fat power wire road in the future.

You shoulda seen it last night, fan on max, high beams (400w total drain), system turned up.... very noticeable.

Have you looked at those Jaycar caps? Any good you think? Seems like a very reasonable price. I guess the $300 1-farad ones are better, but at that price, they'd bloody wanna be. :confused:

I don't know much about audio but whould a 1 farad capacitor help? :confused: Cos if it would jaycar have them for $99.

Dude, read the original post, please


serial spammer
Really?? You don't say!!

hey dude

I think you DEFINATELY need to get your battery terminals looked at. Cleaned at least lol whats the condition of ur battery like? alternator could be looked at....

while you're at it...u can upgrade ur cabling in the engine bay and get rid of the dental floss 8ga cable. if you dont mind, then yeah, just get a cap and stop worrying about it. hehe

hey spamface :bowrofl:

Yeah, it's settled, big mother of a positive gold terminal for me then!

I will wait for a while on the cabling, will talk to FHRX on Saturday...

hi mate if u are going to FHRX get him to redo the gain setting cause those marking are from my HU

you HU will have a different rca voltage output thus the marking will differ

it tells u how to do it in the manual

i would not bother with a CAP NOT vaule for money

i would upgrade the battery and terminals

Thanks Alan, will do. It was just so you know how hard I am running it.....

It still got a crapload of gain left and I have a quite a bit of headroom left - I was checking it with the multimeter and everything was still hunky-dory at this stage. But If I am going to see the master, I will get him to double check it - and get him to do a full EQ and speaker delay setup.

Mine are 4V pre-outs BTW....

And that's an awesome amp mate, what did you replace it with?
Thanks for the manual too, was quite a suprise to get it too, didn't expect it.

MitsiMonsta: Proudly running Alan's old amp...

I don't know much about audio but whould a 1 farad capacitor help? :confused: Cos if it would jaycar have them for $99.
Hey I was being serious this time. Especially that I don't know much about audio. Would a capacitor make much difference?

A cap is a bandaid solution. And will not solve any problems other than dimming headlights.

The main problem is getting the power to your amps. This is all the battery/wiring/altenator systems responsibility. A cap will not give you anymore db's or any better sound quality.

If you have dimming headlights I would suggest starting with the basic things. Top up ur battery with distilled water. Clean battery terminals, ensure they are kept free from corrosion etc.

Upgrade the amp wires to 4, 2 or 0 gauge. Make sure the amp wire is as large or larger than the power wire and also as short as possible and mounted to bare metal in a spot that has least resistance. Sand back the bare metal and try to make as much contact as possible all the time.
Upgrade battery to Odyssey or Optima, you want a battery with large CCA (Cold cranking amps) over Amp hours. (Amp hours are only relevent if you want to run ur system with the engine off.)
After all of this, upgrade altenator, (this is the only true 'source' of power in ur system, the sound system does not run off the battery the battery just acts as a storage area. When the engine is on the system runs off the altenator and the battery provides the juice for the bigger peaks in output.

Finally u can go dual battery setups, I am positive that no one here (except marty maybe) has the need for a dual battery setup. You can run 5000w rms off one battery with no problems if you do it right

A cap is another source of problems. It is a timebomb waiting to explode and can cause big issues in a car accident and bare posts in the boot can easily be shorted out from stray wires moving around. And arcs can cause damage to your car and electronics.

If you have a cap you NEED a fire extinguisher.

In fact you should all have a fire extinguisher (not water based though)

Peace

Tim

Hey I was being serious this time. Especially that I don't know much about audio. Would a capacitor make much difference?
If you actually *read* the post you would see I actually mentioned the Jaycar capacitor.... here look!


Do you think that a decent jaycar battery terminal will help things a bit? They are also doing 1-farad caps for like $100 in the new catalog... they can be found here, I know most on here hate capacitors, but hey, it's got fully blinged blue LED voltage display!

Read the post properly before you reply!!!! :rant:

MitsiMonsta do you have PMS today :poke:

Ha battery and earth upgrades will be the first on the list if all connection are ok. Maybe an earthing kit.. they look so sexy in the engine bay. :D

A cap is a bandaid solution. And will not solve any problems other than dimming headlights.
I know, I was just asking if anyone had one of the jaycar ones or had any experience with them....


If you have dimming headlights I would suggest starting with the basic things. Top up ur battery with distilled water. Clean battery terminals, ensure they are kept free from corrosion etc.
The battery is top notch, it is still putting out 12.6 volts with everything off. Was 12.8V when I purchased it over 12 months ago. Levels etc are fine in it.... it's the way the power wires are connected to the dodgy OEM terminals I'd say. Time for a nice battery terminal with the amp wires directly into it...


Upgrade the amp wires to 4, 2 or 0 gauge. Make sure the amp wire is as large or larger than the power wire and also as short as possible and mounted to bare metal in a spot that has least resistance.
Yes, the 8 guage isn't quite enough really... I already know that. Looking at 0-guage to the boot....


Finally u can go dual battery setups, I am positive that no one here (except marty maybe) has the need for a dual battery setup. You can run 5000w rms off one battery with no problems if you do it right
Well Marty suggested I get it down there and we have a conference about it, and since I am down that way every couple of months, I will see him Saturday. I know what has to be done, we just have to plan it a bit.


A cap is another source of problems. It is a timebomb waiting to explode and can cause big issues in a car accident and bare posts in the boot can easily be shorted out from stray wires moving around. And arcs can cause damage to your car and electronics.
But blue LED display Tim.... that's bling!! :badgrin: I know, i know.... :doubt:


If you have a cap you NEED a fire extinguisher. In fact you should all have a fire extinguisher (not water based though)
yep, already got one.... soon as the audio went in actually, seen a unfused power wire start fire before. A scary thing. :shock:

To solve your bling factor MitsiMonsta why dont you get a battery terminal with the L.E.D voltage read out or a distro block with the read out.... much better! Do you have any earthing upgrades from the negative side of the battery?

Not PMS... I am just sick of people not reading posts lately.... especially when you mentioned something, ask a question about it, and then they suggest the exact same thing.....
:rant:

If I have done a Lord Seiryu on this one, I apologise, but people, READ THE POSTS PROPERLY!
(Sorry Chris.....)

I've been all over it with the multimeter checking voltage drops & resistance between certain points, especially on the negative side..... that is always a strange place that can sap your voltage from experience. The old Sigma had a grounding strap that wasn't.....

Negative terminal to engine block was negligible (good).... but the positive terminal to the sub amp power wire fuse was nearly 1 volt on the bass hits!!!! That tells me that the problem is the positive terminal to getting the juice down the wire.

Hence a decent gold terminal....

EDIT: as for the bling, yes it probably would be better, but I havent seen any with BLUE LEDs... and the jaycar one is a sick brushed aluminium too!
And I love blue LEDs very much.
In fact, I just love blue....
The car is blue.. steering wheel is blue, gear knob & gaiter is blue.... rims wil end up blue etc etc
You get the idea.... :bowrofl:

Get the stinger battery terminals with display... ~$300 :doubt:

I have no problem with bling... Hell my install is bling...

Just as long as you appreciate that it is all there for show then I'm like a fridge...

:cool:

jaycar ones all the way Tim....

Maybe I will just put a cap in and just do a false wireup to it to make it 'look cool', and wite up the voltage display to only ever read 14.4V :bowrofl:

i have not replaced it as yet i cant decide what to buy and

am thing about eaudio 4000D or DD Z1/Z2 i like a lot of headroom

but the above amps are not aviable as yet

I think i should look into a battery terminal, may be needing it when I.. oops dont speak to soon :bowrofl: rob a bank!!!! :badgrin:

i have not replaced it as yet i cant decide what to buy and

am thing about eaudio 4000D or DD Z1/Z2 i like a lot of headroom

but the above amps are not aviable as yet

Hmm Z1, 3000WRMSx 1 @ 1ohm 12.5V, 5000WRMSx 1 @ 1ohm 16V. Now where would you need that kinda power going to an SQ woofer? What is the impedence of that might stallion that resonates from your boot?

i like headroom i am thinking of upgrading to 2 x 10" MT at a later date

the 12"XXX has dual 2ohm coils no amp at the moment thus no virbations

Just remember that there are serious supply demands in AU regarding RE subs at the moment. :(

On saturday I moseyed-on down to see Marty in person and get him to have a look at my system.

He gave me a few great pointers, stuff I have never considered with car audio.
In fact, mostly stuff I already knew, just needed to be hit around the head a few times to remember. :redface:

We added something very simple, the system sounds heaps better, and although we have not fully killed the headlight dimming problem, it is alot better than it was, the system cranks HEAP harder and cleaner too boot. Once I set the gains properly (more power to amps so everything changed....) it will be sweet as.

I am also looking to this now as a headlight wiring problem, not an audio wiring problem. If you have been watching the headlight thread, I will be upgrading the wiring with relays as suggested by heathyoung.

And he didn't charge me for it.... :D You're a legend Marty!

One thing I found interesting that he didn't have a listen to it, but then again, we were in a residential area.

I have always sung FHRX's praises on here, some of the advice and information he gives out on here and other forums (he told me he is a member of like 200 of them !!! ) he really should be charging for. Not only that, he gives everyone on here a 10% discount.

It is my highest personal recommendation that if you are into car audio and want to buy some equipment, or get something installed if you are in Sydney, get in touch with Marty.

I will be purchasing further stuff from him, Looking at Bostons for the front with pods, plus a full wiring system, including a grounding system like the one he was installing into a Wrexy when I arrived. I also want one of those FHRX stickers for my back window :badgrin:

And for eek/magnat: a few of the NSW crew heard my JBL subs going at Lithgow. Dee was mightily impressed.

Feel the love:)

Wat was the simple solution? A cap? Cleaning up battery terminals? Makin the ground lead shorter???

Pixie dust? :p

Peace

Tim

I won't say exactly, but it was very simple. I couldn't believe it after I left, breated myself badly on the drive home :redface:

When you guys told me to check my grounds, I did, but not in the right place. It was the grounding that was a problem. Don't want to give away all the secrets.

Also, the voltage and resistance readings I took were correct, I just didn't interpret them properly.

Hmm Didnt sand back the ground?

Ah well lessons learned... We'll let you keep ur dignity and will just assume it was some complex mathematical problem... ;)

Peace

Tim

Hmm Didnt sand back the ground?
No tim, the other end of proceedings.....
The amp ground is fine, but I am going to go back and re-sand it, maybe a touch of solder to the mix.


Ah well lessons learned... We'll let you keep ur dignity and will just assume it was some complex mathematical problem... ;)
You are a gentleman.....

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