Amplifiers / Head Units / Processors / Electrical

Found this guide on another forum, and given the slew of recent threads on troubleshooting noise, thought I would post it here. One word of warning is that some HU's and/or processors nowadays have a zero bit mute, which essentially cuts off the output during low signal passages to reduce noise.....so be aware if this is a feature your unit has. Onward to the guide; How can you eliminate alternator whine in a car audio system? If you have alternator whine in a car audio system and want to get rid of it, there is only one sure-fire way to do it. David Navone and Richard Clark from Autosound 2000 in the USA developed the following step-by-step instructions. If you follow th…

Ok, so lets take for example the Sundown SAE-1200D. 1200W @ 1ohm and an input sensitivy ranging from .153V to 5.6V. For everything in this post lets assume no clipping of the audio signal from the source unit and say the source unit is putting out 3V from the pre-outs. What is going to happen if you turn the gain knob "up" (as in toward the .2V) after you have matched the gains of the amp to the sensitivity of your source? I assume it will not put out more power. Will it begin to send the amplifier into clipping?

Another great read that I felt was worth having here also: Anatomy of the Power Amplifier Dissecting the Modern Audio Power Amplifier and Power Supply By Robert Zeff With the Proliferation of Different Amp Types, Which is the One for You? In the past we had essentially two types of amplifiers to choose from: Class "AB" and class "A". Today we have AB, A, D, G, H, & T, in addition to some that do not have a class name. New technology brought down the size and price while improving performance and efficiency. We'll review the various topologies of the modern amplifier, spending extra time on the aspect of efficiency (as the quest for smaller, more efficient designs have…

i work at a shop and have a customer who wanted to buy a large power amp. none of our main dealers have anything in his wattage range. so.. down for sound has a JP53 that calls for 600 amps of fusing... then we have a tara amp thats calling for 209 (music) 419 amps sine. both claiming 5KW of power. 120 - 390 amps of difference is (any way you slice it) a massive change in electrical system demand. why would anyone buy a ...? is tara incorrect? bottom line - im digging into efficiency numbers that ive never really had to care much about when working with 500-1500w JL and rockford amps...

Well I once again thought an update was in order. A few interesting developments. Recently won an amplifier naming contest for **Zed Audio**. I named the new 6 channel amplifier 'LEVIATHAN' This contest awards me $100USD towards a Zed Audio Amplifier, and another 'free amplifier of Stephen's choice (from other manufacturing at the Zed Audio factory). I don't know what the free amp will be, but I trust Stephen will make it intersting. The $100 credit towards a 'Zed Audio Amp' Will go towards my purchase of the Leviathan when they are built. The Leviathan is still in the design stage now. Recently I got a great deal on an **OmniFi System** that comes with the car and h…

Hey guys I’m new to this forum but I will just get straight too it I have 2 svr12s from Skar and the rp1500 from Skar too it’s rated for 1500rms and 2300max I have my system wired at 1 ohm as it recommends and have done the the big three and have a 200amp high output alternator and a dual battery setup with 0awg going from the front battery to the back battery and I’m still having a bad voltage drop when I play music wondering what else I could do to fix it, it will drop down to 12.4v and will slowly get lower if I’m playing a continuous bass type of song and it’s an older car 1989 cutlass Calais idk if that would anything to do with it any thank you

So I decided to finally put my two L78's (4 ohm) to use on my new blazer rs. The thing is that im using a shitty "2500 watt" power acoustik amp. What amp should I get? Ported box. Under $300 because it's pretty rough out there these times around. I also have the lc2i installed... if that makes a difference. Thanks!

I have two kicker comp q 12’s dual 4ohm and looking at two different amps , the kicker cxa 1800.1 and the D’Amore engineering E1500.1 . Love the idea of the E1500 but I feel like the kicker would be better power wise just not sure .

I’m having trouble tuning my mrd-m1000 to my 12” kicker l7t at 600 rms I’m not sure how to tune it properly to my subs specifications and I’m looking for help please!

I have had this system for over a year and it has been working fine until I got a short on the remote wire coming from my amp and going into the remote IN on the lc2i. It shut my system off, so I installed a new remote wire. once I installed the new remote wire my system worked again however I woke up the next day to find my battery was dead. It turns out I accidentally had a few strands of wire coming off of the lc2i's remote IN and touching the 12v port causing my amp to stay on all night. My issue is that when I properly install the wire into the remote IN port, It no longer turns my amp on. Could the remote IN port on the lc2i be bad or am I missing something else tha…

Kinda new to this but just need an idea as to what I need to upgrade on my truck to run my 4 15s 600 watts rms 1200 max I got a 3k amp coming and 0 gauge wire my truck is a diesel so it already has 2 batties and a 110 amp alternator from the factory. I just want to make sure I don't have to worry about power loose. Anything helps thanks.

Lookin to pick up a new 4 channel to run mid and tweet in an active 3way. Anybody heard these ssa A/B demon amps? There is no info anywhere on them! They look awesome, fit the bill power wise and cheap as hell! Are they worth trying?

I have a rp-2000.1d from skar and want to run it at 2ohm and 1400w.. Do I still need to wire it for a total of 2000w or can I use a 4gauge ofc since I'm only gonna run it at 2ohms and 1400w?

Im switching amps and am intersted in the sundown Sfb-3000d. My question is can I hook up a dual 2ohm(wired down to 1ohm) to each +/- terminal for a total of 2 subs on one Amp? Any help is much appreciated.

I know this is a really stupid question but I want to make sure I'm tuning my amp correctly. On my amp the subsonic goes from 10hz at its lowest and 60hz at its peak. If I turn the dial to it's 12 o clock position is that 30hz or is it 40 Hz due to it starting at 10hz and not zero? Same with LPF. At its lowest it's 35hz and at its peak it's 300hz. At the 12 o clock position is that 150hz or is it 185hz due to it starting at 35hz and not 0?

I currently own a 2000 Chevrolet Cavalier that I am currently building a subwoofer install in. My complete and current installs: New Kenwood KDC-BT378U radio with built-in speaker amp, All new door and deck speakers. (COMPLETE) Big 3 Kit, Mechman 270 AMP Alternator, (1) Sundown ZV6 12" 2-OHM 2500W Subwoofer (wired to 1 OHM), One run of 1/0 gauge wire complete with fuse and capacitor), Fiberglass Subwoofer Box(Not sure what size yet, any help on this would be greatly appreciated) Just wondering if all the above installs with be able to comfortably power a 3000 watt amplifier to run the subwoofer properly? I know Sundown Subwoofers are underrated, just n…

Does anyone know what the accurate specs are for the sundown audio SAZ 1500d v.3 is? I lost the paper work for this and i've found 2 sites that claim to have the specs but they are different from one another. I'm just trying to figure out the accurate inline fuse to use and the accurate watts.

Few months back i installed the dsp on my vehicle and after few weeks of setting it up the mid bass dont play music sometimes after about 10-20 minutes then start playing. Also all the time left channels play music very low that you barely hear them then after 20 minutes they play fine. Once vehicle is turned off and turned back on after a while ill have the same issue again or they be playing fine. 2007 4runner, HU pioneer x4700bs, RCAs stinger 8000,helix dsp.3s, arc audio xdi 6ch & mono amp, peerless ne25vts tweeters, audison voce mids & lows and memphis m5 10s subs. System is ran active.

So I just purchased this subwoofer Sundown SA12 v2. D4 RMS power 1000watts I have a sundown saz 1500d v.3 but I feel like it's a bit much Specs for amp 2ohm =3000watts x 1CH 1ohm= 1500watts x 1CH 4ohm= 400watts x 1CH What amp would you recommend for this single sub?

First DIY battery bank for my daily 2ssa evil 18 taramp md8k 320amp alt. This bank will be dedicated for the audio ONLY.. My question is had anybody had any luck or first hand experience with these?

Few months back I started to get strange sounds through my speakers like, white noise, speakers popping, buzz, thumping or like when you disconnected a RCA and accidentally ground the male tip. It does this everyday then the music stops playing but could hear a low floor noise & stereo still be counting down like if it’s playing music. It wont play music until i turn off vehicle & turn back on and sometimes it wont still play. I sent out the DSP because sometimes when this happens the controller for DSP sometimes dims and cutoff, the technician said there’s nothing wrong with the DSP. My head unit is a pioneer x4700bs & im using stinger 8000 series rcas

as the title what are your thoughts on doing this? what are the pros and cons on using this type of power cable to run from my engine bay battery to my rear distributor block. i curruntly have kicker flex power and 4 awg from battery to dist block and 4 awg continued to two amps.my amps sundown saz 1000.1 d and a cadance xenith series 125.2. in currently runnig my sundown at two ohm and i what to be prepared to run the amp at 1 ohm in the future. feed back would be great thanks

I'm nearing the finish line in an installation that includes a new HU with FT/RT, FR/LT RR/RT RR/LT, and a SUB output, plus an unmarked, unidentified in the manual, RCA output on the back of the HU next to the SUB output. I have a 5 channel amp that has Channels 1(white), 2(red), 3(white) and 4(red) marked clearly on the amp, plus a SUB RT(white) and SUB LFT(red) input, all input by RCA. The same amp has 4 sets of output terminals, 1 each for + & -. It also has 2 terminals for the sub (+ & -), which connects to the sub on R &L posts. So, first question: How do I run a cable from the HU, which is 1 RCA connection, to the AMP, which has both LT and RT RC…

I’m considering changing the amp for my FI q 12. may sound picky, however, the fan is kind of annoying. Even when I had it mounted all the way in the back of the old Jeep, it was noticeable. I am planning on mounting the amp for the q under the driver or passenger seat in this build and would like some input. I’m sure it will cost a little more. Not sure how much I can get out of the Taramps, or if a trade of some sort is possible somewhere. Seems to have plenty of power though.

I'm running 1 Linear Power 5002iq to 1- 12" sub rated for 500 rms. Linear Power suggests a 60 amp fuse, 1 at the battery and 1 at the amp. The amp has 8 gauge power wire hardwired in to connect to. Do I need to run 4 gauge from the battery to a distribution block or can I get away with 8 gauge from the battery all the way back? Thanks