i thinnk your getting engine noise

 

that goes to the last post on your amp, theres 12V, ground, and Remote, and that wire goes to the remote. You dont need a big 4 gauge wire for that thouh, just a little 12 or 18 gauge wire will do (like any other wire comin from the back of the HU). This wire tells the amp to turn on when the CD player turns on, that why your amp isnt ALWAYS drawing power from your battery, which would obviously drain it.

 

What about just bolting it to the chassis? Also, I assume that its 10-12 gauge wire from the Posative to the amp?? I am going to do it without a wiring kit I think. And does anyone have any objections if I document a DIY for submittion?

HOWEVER, I have just learnt of my first critical mistake. My headunit doesnt have a Sub Out, only Rear outs. Meaning that if I want to run subs, Im going to have to bridge a big 4 channel amp. I didnt realise and now I'm going to have to rethink my setup. Thanks for your help anyway guys.

 

Dear sweet mother mary of god....I didnt realize you were talking about the REMOTE wire...man I am sorry....I was reffering to getting rid of alternator noise...my bad.

 

yes, i was looking at those amp installation kits, they look really good, they do have all u need and diagrams as well, u could look at sub kits as well from respectable companies, im not sure how their sound is though

 

Amp installation kits are a great basic way to get started. As far as sound is concerened, you will be just fine with just about any kit...as long as the power wire is sufficient for your demands. I have seen several kits claiming to support "1000-1500 WATTS!" but only have an 8 AWG power wire. At a minimum I would recommend a 4 AWG power/ground setup. Anything smaller is asking for trouble. Think of it like a garden hose, if you have a small hose then only a small portion of water can get through it at one time...same with a power wire...

If you have say a class D super mono block 2500 watt sub amp made by kickinpine, and you use an 8 AWG power wire...your subs are going to laugh at you as they barely move at all at full volume. The reason for this is the amp requires a constant velocity of power, as in, it needs a large water hose hooked up to it to supply the HUGE watering demands it has.

I am sure this isnt going to make sense to someone so lets just put it this way...

Bigger power wire is better no matter what the situation. Why? It allows you to get the full potential out of your amp/sub combonation, and allows for upgrade in the future, without having to re-run a larger power wire.

So let the questions come...

 

you don't have to have a sub out

I use rear outs for my subs, only set of pre-amp out's I have on my older Alpine unit.

 

Yup, you dont even NEED pre-outs, but sound quality is hurt a little bit if you use a "hi-level converter." People do it all the time, and like I had said before if you are just using it for subs, the frequency is too low to pick up any kind of "bad" noise/sound.

I have done what stumaster did with his alpine. It works just as well, but you have to have a crossover...and is generally not controlled by the headunit...

 

I had the option of going with a larger amp to run 6x9s and a set of subs but I chose to go with 2 amps and get a new head unit later when I can afford it. (Clearly before I get another amp and subs.)

 

I highly suggest 1 sub amp, 1 high amp.

It's hard to mix power levels when you start hooking high's and subs up to the same amp, even a 4 channel amp.

Sub amps are best run either 1 channel mono, or bridged to 1 channel (if its a 2 channel), they seem to be more efficient that way.

I like a good 4 channel for high's alone, so you can have more options to fine tune stuff.