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Speaker Wiring Help

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Old 12-31-2011, 05:58 AM
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I am getting 2 2ohm dual voice coil kickers. It's the ones in this link. Kicker - CompVR 12" Dual-Voice-Coil 2-Ohm Subwoofer - CVR122

I have this amp at home: Rockford Fosgate® - P400-4 so I'd like to use it. It's a 400w 4 channel amp. It says it runs at 200w for 2 channels at 4ohms bridged. This is the back of the amp: http://www.rockfordfosgate.com/produ...P400-4_2_l.jpg

My wiring idea is this: http://i44.tinypic.com/359x1dd.jpg
Basically make the amp a 2 channel amp and wire an amp to each channel. Does anyone see any problems with this? I know it is underpowering it but from what I've read too little power shouldn't damage it and the installation will be 0 gauge wiring to have it ready for the future when I upgrade the amp.

Anyone have any experience with these subs and any specific enclosure tips for these specific subs?
 
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Old 01-16-2012, 02:32 AM
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Originally Posted by juanfpina
I am getting 2 2ohm dual voice coil kickers. It's the ones in this link. Kicker - CompVR 12" Dual-Voice-Coil 2-Ohm Subwoofer - CVR122

I have this amp at home: Rockford Fosgate® - P400-4 so I'd like to use it. It's a 400w 4 channel amp. It says it runs at 200w for 2 channels at 4ohms bridged. This is the back of the amp: http://www.rockfordfosgate.com/produ...P400-4_2_l.jpg

My wiring idea is this: http://i44.tinypic.com/359x1dd.jpg
Basically make the amp a 2 channel amp and wire an amp to each channel. Does anyone see any problems with this? I know it is underpowering it but from what I've read too little power shouldn't damage it and the installation will be 0 gauge wiring to have it ready for the future when I upgrade the amp.

Anyone have any experience with these subs and any specific enclosure tips for these specific subs?
First of all to get a better bass out of your subs its better to go with a 2 channel or mono amp. 2ohm sub will make your 4ohm amp unstable because it's not designed to run at the 2ohm load. If you do it that way it might work for a while then it will over heat burning your amp. I suggest just get a new amp. About the wiring people say its better to run 0 gauge wire, i disagree i have run and installed numerous amps and soundsystems and ive used 8 gauge and 4 gauge wires. Never had a problem if you hook them up right. Then again it also depends on the brand you get, I once had a 8 gauge wire that i bought and it was much thicker than a 0 gauge from a different brand. IDK though to me hooking up all the connections right its what matters. I wouln't use anything else than 8 ,6 ,4,2 or 0 gauge. Hope it helps.
 
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Old 01-16-2012, 08:09 AM
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No... you can go with what you've got. your diagram is right, you've wired the voice coils in series and have the polarity correct; thus the speaker impedance as seen by the amp is 4ohms

See this:
http://a248.e.akamai.net/pix.crutchf..._2-ohm_2ch.jpg

That assumes the amp with the outputs not bridged is 2 ch 4 ohm each.

No I'm not a sound guy, I'm an EE. But I dunno what benefits front and back have. Anything below 450 hz is non-directional to the ear. Why it's hard to find a hidden sub in a room.
 
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Old 01-16-2012, 10:39 AM
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The amp is a 4 channel amp, so bridging it gives me 2 channels.
I've hit a little snag with this. I built the enclosure, installed the subs, and ran the wiring but turns out the amp was burnt out. So I'm in the process of repairing it.
 
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Old 01-16-2012, 10:51 AM
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Originally Posted by juanfpina
The amp is a 4 channel amp, so bridging it gives me 2 channels.
I've hit a little snag with this. I built the enclosure, installed the subs, and ran the wiring but turns out the amp was burnt out. So I'm in the process of repairing it.
Okay... nothing's ever simple as it seems. Good chance that amp is burnt out because someone bridged it wrong.
If you have any questions, Crutchfield has always had good technical info:
Subwoofer Wiring Diagrams

You can go backwards from that point and probably find how to make sure you bridge an amp properly.
 
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Old 01-16-2012, 10:20 PM
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I decided I want to use the subs full potential, so I'm looking for a new amp(s). I have my tax return coming soon so I decided I want to just invest in something new. I dont know whether it would be better to get a good 2 channel amp or two monos. Anyone have any recommendations? The speakers by themselves can be wired to be either 1ohm or 4ohm at 400rms, together they can be made 2ohm at 800rms. Budget wise I'd like to stay under
$500. It would be way better if it's something available through best buy because I have the employee discount.
I'm looking at this one: Kicker DX1000.1 (11DX1000.1) Mono Class D Car Amplifier
1000w rms at 2ohm stable. I've read that these kickers are underrated, and I'd be sure not to turn it up too loud, also plan on getting warranty on all this so it's covered.
 

Last edited by juanfpina; 01-16-2012 at 10:47 PM.
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Old 01-18-2012, 04:50 AM
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Originally Posted by juanfpina
I decided I want to use the subs full potential, so I'm looking for a new amp(s). I have my tax return coming soon so I decided I want to just invest in something new. I dont know whether it would be better to get a good 2 channel amp or two monos. Anyone have any recommendations? The speakers by themselves can be wired to be either 1ohm or 4ohm at 400rms, together they can be made 2ohm at 800rms. Budget wise I'd like to stay under
$500. It would be way better if it's something available through best buy because I have the employee discount.
I'm looking at this one: Kicker DX1000.1 (11DX1000.1) Mono Class D Car Amplifier
1000w rms at 2ohm stable. I've read that these kickers are underrated, and I'd be sure not to turn it up too loud, also plan on getting warranty on all this so it's covered.
Sounds great man, keep us posted. Just make sure you disconect the battery before installing it and hook it up right i'm sure you'll like it. Good luck.
 
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Old 01-19-2012, 04:40 PM
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Im skeptical about the new dx series kicker amp bc they say a 1000w amp only needs 8 gauge wire wich most 8 guage kits are only for 600w - 800w. you should look into hifonics. pretty much all there amps 1ohm stable which is nice. and there not too expensive. ive had the brutus brz1700 for a yr now and its still running strong.
 
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Old 01-20-2012, 10:59 AM
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Originally Posted by 99bblazer99
Im skeptical about the new dx series kicker amp bc they say a 1000w amp only needs 8 gauge wire wich most 8 guage kits are only for 600w - 800w. you should look into hifonics. pretty much all there amps 1ohm stable which is nice. and there not too expensive. ive had the brutus brz1700 for a yr now and its still running strong.
I did look at them but 1) they dont sell them at bestbuy so I'd get it at full price instead of half the price, but also 2) my speakers can't be wired down to 1ohm unless I wire them up separately. Unless I got two 1 ohm stable amps... hmm now I got myself thinking.
 
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Old 01-20-2012, 04:21 PM
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go to sonicelectronix.com. they have good deals on there hifonics stuff. u dont have to have a 1ohm sub for a 1ohm amp u could use and ohm sub down to 1ohm like ur cvrs dual 2. u can wire in series and parrallel and have them come out in a 2ohm load by wiring 1 positive to 1 negative on each making it a 4ohm sub then wire sub 1s postive to sub 2s positive to the amp and the same thing for the negative and your amp will see a 2ohm load. or what you could do is get two dual 4ohm speakers and run them in parrallel and it would come out to be an 1ohm load thus getting all the power from the amp. hard to explain the wiring in text
 

Last edited by 99bblazer99; 01-20-2012 at 04:27 PM.


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