Sub and Amp Help

[Brad!]

Please help my pickle...

Here is what i have

Pioneer 800w Sub

Sony 1000w Sub

Pioneer 2ch Amp

Sony 4ch Amp

Basically i had the Pioneer sub + amp and it was all well and dandy, and i decided i would like some more bass.

I went and got my self a Sony Sub and bought and amp under the impression that i could run both subs off it.

Unfortunately the Sub's front channel doesn’t have LPF (I think that’s what it is), so its not bass on the front channel, which i have heard is not good news.

I rigged the subs parallel, and am running the two in bridge mode off the rear channel - My reading this morning is starting to show this is not a good idea.

Anyway, intermittently, the amp protection light comes on. High bass no bass, doesn’t matter when, just sometimes the amp switches off. I turn my car off, then straight away back on and its fixed.

I checked all my wiring and it all seems fine - might be wrong

Questions

1. How should i wire the subs up

2. Would you run one sub off each amp, and leave the front channel on the 4ch amp for front speakers when i get them.

Im a knob when it comes to audio, so excuse the improper use of lingo.

Thanks heaps

[JJCRU23R]

either connect both amps or sell the 2 that youve got, and buy another amp that would surely power 2 subs.

my rough understanding about amps is that if you have 2 channels on the sony amp for example and its 1000w max, that would mean it would make each channel just 500w max.

putting both subs on one channel would overload the amp.. making the amp go into protection mode.

am i wrong in saying this? im not good at all the technical jargon either, but i understand it if someone is talking it to me. :P

to connect both amps, you need to buy thicker wiring and fuses. the thicker the better.

ive got 2 amps in my car... i posted a thread about it while i was building it.

Edited October 30, 2007 by JJCRU23R

[Brad!]

So leaving it set up the way it is now is only going to lead to problems?

[JJCRU23R]

since its cutting into protection mode, id think your cutting the life expectancy of the amp...

but yea, would be simpler to find a amp that would definately handle both subs.

[Neon]

putting both subs on one channel would overload the amp.. making the amp go into protection mode.

am i wrong in saying this? im not good at all the technical jargon either, but i understand it if someone is talking it to me. :P

Yes you are wrong in saying this. it all depends on the way the subs are wired up. assuming the both the subs are single voice coil and 4 ohm independce wiring them in parallel would make the amp see 2ohm and assuming your amp is stable at 2 ohm this should be fine. really need more specs to answer this question properly.

As for the amp going in to protection mode the first thing i would do is check the ground. it should as big or bigger than the power wire also check the ground wire from the battery to the chassis.

Personally i wouldn't run two differnt types of subs at the same time because it opens up a whole lot of problems and won't sound very good at all. i would sell one of them and get 2 that are the same

[JJCRU23R]

As for the amp going in to protection mode the first thing i would do is check the ground. it should as big or bigger than the power wire also check the ground wire from the battery to the chassis.

ima have 2 agree wit you on that.

ive only ever gone into protection mode coz i didnt scratch off the paint properly to get a good contact on my negative wires.

[Whip Cracker]

As mentioned...

It is a HIGH priority that the Negative be the same, if not larger gauge.

If you're running 2 amps, I suggest running a 2 gauge cable to the back of the car... a distribution block at the boot, and 2 x 4 gauge cables off that. Get a 4 channel to run the speakers... at least 70w RMS from each speaker, and make sure the speakers are at the same spec.

You're best off running a sub or two off a Monoblock amp my friend. See if you can get a hold of a 300w RMS Monoblock (1 channel) if you're wanting to run just one sub, or maybe a 500w RMS monoblock if you're wanting to run 2 x subs. Get 2 x 250w RMS subs on a 500w Monoblock, and connect them in the same connections on the amp... it'll haul ***** mate!

1 - Only talk in RMS language... lol... I don't know the wole PMPO thing, coz that's what I call "bullsh!t power". You can't just half the PMPO rating, because it's still not 100% correct for the RMS power.

All in all...

1 x 4 channel amp running speakers... 70w RMS each channel or better

1 x 500w RMS Monoblock... connect 2 x 250w RMS subs (12 inch is good). The monoblocks these days are 2 ohm stable anyway.

My 2c :)