I just installed this today and last night. To the people who said 450.2 wasn't going to be enough...how wrong you were. I had my truck on the driveway and I turned it on and my girlfriend ran out and said that stuff in the house was rattling. I think it looks pretty cool lookin' though. My only complaint is that the cap only lights up/comes on when it needs it(just starting the truck or running on just the battery). At any rate...I love it. What you think? I am not quite sure how to put pics directly on the post so here's the link

My cardomain

 

not to shabby.

 

not too bad!

 

Here's a commonly overlooked rule of electronics concerning power. If you double the wattage, you only increase sound output by 3 dB.

 

learn me. I don't know what youre exactly talking about. I don't know much about car audio

 

Looks good!

 

Damn!!!

 

I read in my amp manual that the fuse needs to be within 18" of the battery. Does it really matter all that much? I touched it after running it for a while and it didn't get warm or anything. I thought about putting a couple small fans behind the amp but not sure yet. How do you post pictures directly in the post? I should know this but I am not that educated in posting, blogs, etc. lol. thanks guys!

 

The fuse will not get warm. It needs to be as close to the battery as possible because if the wire gets cut and shorts, the fuse will stop it before it reaches the battery. If it shorts within that 18" or less between your battery and fuse your battery could explode. Any length of power wire between the fuse and battery is "unprotected from a short, that's why it needs to be close to the battery to lessen the chance of failure. 18" is actually too far it should be less than 12".

 

I only brought it up because you mentioned others suggested a bigger amp. While as in most electronics there is the practicality called the law of diminishing returns. Explanation follows.


Say you have two identical sound systems, but one is 3 dB louder than the other. 3 dB is about the point that it would make a noticable difference, but not a huge one.

Ever see the "sensitivity" rating of a speaker? From a high level, sensitivity is measured sound output SPL (measured in decibel) of 1 watt of power at one meter distance. So if a speaker's sensitivity or efficiency is rated at 92 dB, the following is the expected output:

1 watt = 92 dB
2 = 95
6 = 98
12 = 101
24 = 104
48 = 107
96 = 110
192 = 113
384 = 116
768 = 119
1536 watt = 122 dB

Keep in mind this is 1 channel of amplified signal to one driver/speaker.

Special enclosures, and other factors can affect the output of course. Take a subwoofer for example. A 400 watt RMS amplifier that costs $150 will give you about 116 dB using the chart above. But that $325 dollar bigger amp rated at 800 watts will only give you an extra 3 dB.



To sum up, get the biggest amp you can afford and within reasonable RMS range of your speakers. Don't sweat if you couldn't get the next biggest model because the difference will just barely be noticable.

 

Ok. I get it. Thanks. This was the most expensive amp my parents could afford(birthday present). But it works. However, I found a problem with it...my pioneer receiver has two sub control. On the first one I can control all 4 door speakers but can't control the amp(only with the provided remote) and a couple other settings. Then on the second one only the front door speakers are on but I can control more settings and the amp from the receiver. I don't know much about audio so I don;t know if this is normal but it doesn't make sense to me that when I want to control the amp from the receiver only the front speakers work and visa versa.

 

i saw wire nuts on soemthing under your seat thats bad!!!!

 

IT really depends on the deck you have...and the settings the deck has..theres many factors to look at..on a deck with sub outs such as this alpine 9856 or something i jsut bought for a crap deck till my exad screen comes in its has lots of adjustment..0-+15 for sub..60,80 and i think 125 hz Frequencys and blah blah blah..some decks have FRONT and REAR preouts and no sub preouts...also depends on the model.. looks good though and trust me youd still love more power..you think thats loud come sit in my truck..haha im a kicker fan! that and i figure capacitors are overrated... youll never be dissapointed in your set up either looks really nice!





2-1000watt amps power these bad boys in a 8.25 cubic foot vented box..

 

damn. that looks sweet. if i/ the parents had the money i would have gotten more but my system works nicely. each box is like 1.4 cubic feet. my receiver has all those settings, though but only are available in the setting where only the front speakers are on.

wire nuts...i have a Whelen strobe pack for my corner strobes. it is temporary until i get my internal LED lightbar. then everything will be permanent and soldered. but i need lights so it works for now.

 

Well, I learned about correctly placing fuses the hard way =\

From this....






To this....





Because of improper fuse placement...

 

how was it placed? what made it catch fire. suprised it didnt spread. did you stop it?

 

Just improper fuse position from the manufacturer. Hell, that was only 14 gauge wire that did that. Amps are usually supplied by 4ga minimum.

The wire shorted, overheated, caught fire, and spread to the battery. It was unnattended at the time it caught fire. I cam back and the damage was done...Too bad the fuse wasn't in the proper place to do it's job.

 

14 GAUGE?!?!?! GEEEZE no wonder. I have 4 guage on everything. 14...what were they thinking!?!?!

 

I am pretty sure the 14AWG was used as part of a e-fan install, NOT the same ampacity as your #4AWG is sized to serve.

Not only to you want to put the fuse in the propoer LOCATION, you also need to make sure the fuse is properly SIZED for the load & wire size. Too large of a fuse, and not a large enough wire size, and you can cause just as much damage, as putting the fuse in the wrong spot....

 

Yupper!

 

Nice lookin system hombre!

 

thanks guys! it's pretty sweet. only bad part of it all is that my back center window rattles some. not sure how to fix it but it's fine for now

 

I had one of those 12's and a clarion amp and it POUNDED, so it must sound good.....

Rocky

 

Yes thump thump thump.....looks good buddy.



My center window rattles a little too, im not sure there's anything you can really do about it.

 

doing tha same thing but with 1 15".