I've got a 2001 Acura Cl and currently have a 1000 watt amp wired up to 2 12's. The only problem is that the way I have the wiring to the amp, it isn't from the stereo, since there is no outputs... I currently have it linked from the rear left speaker and am getting my output through there... this does work but I'm not getting my full 1000 watts that I'd like, I'm getting only about 250-300 watts...

Is there any way possible to wire this up differently while keeping the stock cd player with the car?

It's greatly Appreciated,

KenjiJ

 

well 1 whats ur set up. what kinda amp what subs what kinda box. i imagine you prolly have kicker or somthing. just a lil fyi even with a diff hu you wont get ur 1k watts n e ways. The reasons be you dont have the proper electrical like a ho alt a 2nd batt and better front batt, big 3 done 0 gauge wire. if you do then excuse me but i really doubt it. also unless ur amp is a very high quality ur 1k rating is max not rms. rms is what is always being pushed many high end amps like dd sundown us and so on are rms rated. also is ur unit factory amplified if so it's best(from my experianced to go behind the hu). Also I imagine ur using a cheap loc(right)?? If so i believe your suppose to branch it off 2 speakers left and right for proper installation. Hope this helps. And everyone correct me if im wrong

 

Your inbound signal isn't hampering your output aside from maybe distorting it.

Are you just spliced into one of the speakers directly, or did you run an RCA converter? Line level output is unamplified - speaker level output has full signal. When feeding your amp, you want line level input feeding your RCA connections. Some amps have speaker level inputs (these will be screw or snap terminals) where it does this conversion.

Spend the $10 or whatever on the converter box from speaker level to line level.

Most sub amps, yer gonna get more punch in bridged mode, combining your two channels into one channel and then running the subs in series...get em down to 4ohm stable or better. Read up on your amp, if it supports bridging or not (usually running the positive from one side and the negative from the other) and then run the leads into your one sub as marked, and out of the first sub into the second, flipping the leads (plus on first sub to minus on second, etc.)

Whatever sounds best for your setup, go with. Parallel, series, whatever, just takes some tinkering.

Inevitably, if you aren't feeding the amp line level input signal, it's going to sound like crap when you turn the gain up any amount.

 

Yes

Ish... Don't just "play around" with wiring up your amp. If you run it at too low of a resistance level (ohm load) you're going to start breaking shit. This is bad, and will end up costing you more money...

Like on1wheel said, what's your setup? People need more info in order to truly help you out...

 

Not that I've been wiring car stereos for the last 17 years or have an engineering degree or anything...... but changing how the sub is connected isn't going to blow up your amplifier if it's of any substance. If you're running some Jensen or Pyramid crap, then you got what you paid for - and you're not going to get any substance out of it without bridging.

Again, read the manual - check out the bridging setup for the amp. If it allows it (and most sub amps made in the last 10 years do), bridge it and run them in series (plus on sub 1 to minus on sub 2). Try them in parallel (both sets hooked to the bridged connector) and see if that sounds better.

 

No. Did you not read what I said? Don't just play around with shit if you don't know the gear you're working with. Do your research, find out what you have, then do more research to find the best way to hook everything up. For example, if you have 2 dual 4 ohm subwoofers, and you wire everything in series, you're going to get a 16 ohm final load. If you wire the coils in series, and the subs in parallel, you get a 4 ohm load. If you wire everything in series, you get a 1 ohm load. A 16 ohm load will get you very little power output. A 4 ohm load will (possibly) get you the most out of your amp. A 1 ohm load will (likely, but depending on the amp itself) will cause one of a couple of outcomes: 1. The amp will go into protect, 2. The amp will draw too much current and blow the fuse, or 3. The amp will draw so much current without blowing the fuse that the voltage will drop below a certain point and fry the amp. None of these are good results, and this is why you don't just "play around" with your setup... ALWAYS do research to determine what you're working with before you start hooking things up...

 

yeppers..... you can have any degree u want and have installed for 17+ years but still not know wtf ur doin. Not sayin u do or dont have knowledge but this guy seems to know lil to nada and sayin play around with it(which is what u said and what Matt is making a point) is bad advice to give to someone with no knowledge of car audio.

 

Give a man a fish....teach a man to fish.

My S2000 is still running a 12 year old Orion Cobalt 250 4ohm stable amplifier. It's been used to push 2 10s and 2 12s, 2 15s, and currently a single 12 - having been hooked up every way possible, in and out of 7 vehicles, and having been a guinea pig amplifier MANY times. With a farad cap in line, on 4 gauge wire, it's never overloaded even when getting the load up to an ohm. Amps are much harder to kill with speaker load than they are with inadequate power and overloading the inputs.

1. You cross the threshold, the amp is going to pop fuse or go into protect.
2. You overload, you're going to pop the fuse on the power source, the inline fuse, or the fuse on the amp - it's kinda why they're present.
3. This is post number uno from dude - is he even reading any of this?

You don't tinker, you don't learn.

Bridge the damn thing, load the amp up and see what sounds good.

 

Well, knowing what amp you're running, I can see why it didn't blow, go into protect, or anything else. Those old school Orions are cheater amps. They're rated well below actual output, and play down to crazy low impedances... His amp is likely nowhere near as well built as yours...

Also, his amp is likely internally bridged. Therefore, you shouldn't bridge it, or you'll end up at a crazy low impedance that won't go over well for the amp.

As for your "you don't tinker, you don't learn" statement, I disagree. I too learn better when I can get my hands on something, but I have learned most of what I know about car audio through online research, then applied it to my personal car. That way I understand the theory behind it, as well as the application.