so i recently bought 2 sundown sa 12's, 1 saz 1500d, a box that the subs came in tuned to 34 with about 3 cubes, and a spare battery plus 2 gauge wiring all around ( i think) for $1000 bucks. i traded the battery for a new box from a friend of a friend thats 4.5 cubes and tuned to 28. i also bought a new kenwood deck with the setting to turn down bass in your car ( cant think of the term for it atm) to go with these subs. when we first hooked them up we had them on 35 which is max for the deck and it slammed. but since then ive turned them up to 35 on the song put on by jeezy and at the lowest note my subs shut off entirely (including music) for a sec or 2 and i turned it down in the mean time. this was also at night when i had my lights on. and since i had it on 32 on a song during the day and they shut off completly again.i can listen to them at 31 or 32 with no probs usually but when it hits the real low notes it shuts off sometimes. my thoughts are im clipping the amp or my stock battery ( in the stock location) just isnt powerful enough to power these fully when they are at 35 on the lows, but im not really sure. my buddy had the same problem as i when he had these and thats why he got the spare battery and he said it fixed it completely. so im wondering if i could get some help on why this is happening. btw i am running them at 1 ohm. any help would be appreciated.

oh and these are in a 4 door 98 cavalier lol.

You need more battery or a larger alternator. And Im pretty sure the saz-1500s require 1/0 not two gauge.

well the alternator was just replaced last year, so im kinda leaning on the battery side. also im not quite sure what it is i forgot lol but ill ask my buddy shortly. thanks for the input, anyone else have an idea? all would be appreciated.

edit: if it was 2 gauge wire could that be the problem? and is it hurting my subs/amp when it is hittin low then cuts out?

Edited August 3, 201114 yr by perple_k

how many amps is the alternator? larger wire and a bigger starting battery or even a secondary battery will help you immensely. Monitor your voltage with a DMM and see how low your voltage is dropping.

Also check the voltage at your alternator, at your front battery, and then finally at your amplifier and report back the voltages with your car running.

im not quite sure, its just a stock alternator we bought from a shop cuz the last one crapped out. and i wanted to get another battery i just wanted to ask some people here for their opinion on what might be wrong before i went out and got one when i need to get something else instead to fix it ya know. im going to go check my manual for my car and see if it has an amp rating on it. also i dont have a voltmeter on my car and i wont be able to let u know till thursday cuz i let my buddy use my voltmeter till then

Alright, Well from what i've read it's most likely your electrical. Electrical in most cases is always the weakest link, monitoring your voltage at full tilt will tell you that your electrical is the weakest point. Also a big question i forgot to ask was have you done the big 3?

also my wire says 2 awg on it, so will having 2 gauge instead of 1 hurt my performance?

also my wire says 2 awg on it, so will having 2 gauge instead of 1 hurt my performance?

1 awg is not the same as 1/0

ah ok well thats what it says on the wire so idk if its 1 or 2 lol.. and no i didnt do the big 3, i cant afford it right now. my buddy who installed re wired my battery to alternator wire with the 2 awg and said that was like 1 of the 3 i think? not sure if hes right tho but thats about it.

I'd stop trusting your "buddy" no offence but he seems to not know what he's talking about.

Keep it dialed down until you can afford the big 3 at the LEAST larger wiring will help too so will a battery even more so.

I'd stop trusting your "buddy" no offence but he seems to not know what he's talking about.

Keep it dialed down until you can afford the big 3 at the LEAST larger wiring will help too so will a battery even more so.

alright im not sure if i said what he did right but it was something similar to that. also im planing on getting a new battery hopefully next week. would i be ok with a new battery for now do u think? like i said my friend who owned it before me said he was droppin below 10 volts with it and he got a new battery and that helped alot according to him. also is it gonna hurt my subs if it cuts out like that?

It'll hurt your amplifier a lot, the Sundown's can take some abuse, but nothing like that for an extended period of time. A larger battery will help, i'd get the largest one you can get. I'd suggest a on a budget such as a Deka Intimidator.

Sounds to me like you need Have your battery checked out before you replace it, and if it's ok, buy a secondary battery rather than replacing it. Keep the gains and volume down until you can get your voltage figured out.

It'll hurt your amplifier a lot, the Sundown's can take some abuse, but nothing like that for an extended period of time. A larger battery will help, i'd get the largest one you can get. I'd suggest a on a budget such as a Deka Intimidator.

where can i get one of these? and whats one of these run?

edit: i think the battery in my car is new but im not sure, and ill get it checked thanks for the suggestion ohjay

Edited August 3, 201114 yr by perple_k

It'll hurt your amplifier a lot, the Sundown's can take some abuse, but nothing like that for an extended period of time. A larger battery will help, i'd get the largest one you can get. I'd suggest a on a budget such as a Deka Intimidator.

where can i get one of these? and whats one of these run?

edit: i think the battery in my car is new but im not sure, and ill get it checked thanks for the suggestion ohjay

http://www.remybattery.com/Products/Deka-Intimidator-Battery-Group-31__9A31.aspx

You need more battery or a larger alternator. And Im pretty sure the saz-1500s require 1/0 not two gauge.

The amplifier does not require 1/0 wiring, really depends on its use, 4 awg wire is good till about 120-150 amps so his wiring is not the issue. It accepts up to wire up to 1/0.

ah ok well thats what it says on the wire so idk if its 1 or 2 lol.. and no i didnt do the big 3, i cant afford it right now. my buddy who installed re wired my battery to alternator wire with the 2 awg and said that was like 1 of the 3 i think? not sure if hes right tho but thats about it.

Yes what your buddy did is part of the big 3, the big 3 consists of adding these wires:

1. Battery (+) to Alternator (+)

2. Battery (-) to Alternator (-) or Chassis

3. Chassis to Engine Block

Finish up the rest of the big 3 wiring and get you a secondary battery. I would suggest in purchasing a volt meter to monitor your voltage until you are in the safe zone, please keep the volume down on your system till you upgrade your electrical to protect your equipment.

Yeah, pretty much what everyone else is saying here, keep the volume down! Or else your gonna smoke your amp for sure. Finish the big three in 0, get a second battery for the rear, use 0 gauge wire throughout, it has those size inputs for a reason. Make good grounds. I won't even run my system with my lights on at night, just to protect my equipment. Get a voltage meter, if your dipping below 11v your putting extreme stress on your system. My last setup I had a optima up front, big three, tiny ass battery in rear, and 0g throughout, and I would never see below 12v at full tilt with 2k rms.

And the box you had first was much better suited for your subs. Over 4 cubes is way too big.

Uhh...I have a Kenwood too and it starts to sound like balls at 29 out of 35. If he's listening to it at 31 and 35, shit is gettin real nasty. That's why he's sucking up all his alt, cuz he's clipping like crazy.

Turn your gain on the amp all the way down

Turn your radio volume up to 29, turn the sub control to +5 (it puts almost no pre out voltage otherwise, trust me).

SLOWLY turn your gain up until you start to hear it sound like crap(By this I mean...it should always sound like clean, clear bass NO MATTER WHAT. When the sound suddenly changes (to some people, this is considered loud.) Stop turning it up. That's your limit.). If you can turn the gain all the way up and still like the sound, you're used to clipping. If you like how it sounds when it's clipping you need a better setup cuz your stuff just isn't loud enough.

Oh and yes, Wood is right, your box is way too big. It's making the power handling of the subs go WAAAAY down.

Edited August 5, 201114 yr by An-i-no

Uhh...I have a Kenwood too and it starts to sound like balls at 29 out of 35. If he's listening to it at 31 and 35, shit is gettin real nasty. That's why he's sucking up all his alt, cuz he's clipping like crazy.

Turn your gain on the amp all the way down

Turn your radio volume up to 29, turn the sub control to +5 (it puts almost no pre out voltage otherwise, trust me).

SLOWLY turn your gain up until you start to hear it sound like crap(By this I mean...it should always sound like clean, clear bass NO MATTER WHAT. When the sound suddenly changes (to some people, this is considered loud.) Stop turning it up. That's your limit.). If you can turn the gain all the way up and still like the sound, you're used to clipping. If you like how it sounds when it's clipping you need a better setup cuz your stuff just isn't loud enough.

Oh and yes, Wood is right, your box is way too big. It's making the power handling of the subs go WAAAAY down.

I was about to say something very similar so I'll just second this post.