Car audio, help quick!

[Zakradu398]

How would this set-up be?

2 kicker compVR 12" dual 4 ohm 800w rms combined

Kenwood KAC-9105d 900 watts x 1 at 2 ohms

If i wire the subs in parallel that would be 2 ohms, correct? Thus giving each sub 450w of power?

[rbgnwa45]

Google "wiring two DVC 4 ohm subwoofers".

Depending on what you think is good, in a ported box they'd be decent, and to a basshead like me, no.

[slightlybent47]

Yes if you connect two 4 ohm speakers in parallel then the amp will see a 2 ohm load.

[Kickstarts-suck]

No 2 DVC 4 ohm subs will either have to be wired to 1 ohm or 4ohms.

But that amp is 1ohm stable so your good.

Here is a very useful website for alot of things.

http://www.the12volt.com/caraudio/woofer_configurations.asp?Q=2&I=12

[slightlybent47]

I had to re read and if there duel voice coil then yes that would be a 1 ohm load.
Sorry I didn’t pay attention, I thought you had two 4 ohm singles subs.
If you already have them then use them but if you haven’t bought them yet then get single coil subs, if your going to use two of them.
i would just use one coile in each speaker, it would be much cleaner that way.

[Zakradu398]

So if I wire them in parallel that is 1-ohm?

It says output regulated to 900w at 1-ohm, what does this mean?

[Zakradu398]

Would this have what i need to wire it or am i better off just buying wire?

http://cgi.ebay.com/KENWOOD-KAC-9105D-MONO-CLASS-D-1800W-AMPLIFIER-AMP-KIT-/390204508688?cmd=ViewItem&pt=Car_Amplifiers&hash=item5ada004a10

[slightlybent47]

I have been an audio file for a long time now and I read a revue in audio file magazine about speaker wire and the myths behind it.
Without going into the long story, the conclusion was confirmed that regular zip cord
(multi stranded copper wire) worked better then all the high end high dollar wire on the market, at any price.
As long as the gage is sufficient to carry the wattage that is being used, it will do as well or better then the high end wire.

On the other hand your line in wires should be good quality shielded wire. But it doesn’t need to be extremely expensive.

I run a 6000 watt pa system and my speaker wire is just a 14 gage 4 conductor wire that’s 30 feet long. I’ve been doing it for twenty years so if there was a problem I would have found it by now. You can buy it by the foot at Loews. I run the tops on two of the wires and my subs on the other two.

Up to 10-15 feet you’ll be fine with 12-14 gage wire, if you’re pushing 1000 watts.

I personally wouldn't run 12/14 gauge wire at 1000 watts. I would run atleast 8 gauge.

[slightlybent47]

Nothing wrong with using a heaver gage wire but I think it's a bit over kill.
The larger the wire the heaver the load is on the amp, the wire itself creates a load to some extent.

Originally posted by slightlybent47
Nothing wrong with using a heaver gage wire but I think it's a bit over kill.
The larger the wire the heaver the load is on the amp, the wire itself creates a load to some extent.

I really don't think it's enough to have much effect though.

[Zakradu398]

It is 4 guage for the power and ground

[Zakradu398]

Well, I ordered those subs and the amp. Hope it all works out

[ben300]

Originally posted by slightlybent47
Nothing wrong with using a heaver gage wire but I think it's a bit over kill.
The larger the wire the heaver the load is on the amp, the wire itself creates a load to some extent.

the difference between a pa system and a car system is the current being sent through the wire. sure you can handle 1000 watts on a 14 gauge wire, but that wire gives off a tremendous amount of heat, and has little thermal insulation. i've seen people use 8 gauge wires in regular cab s10's because the power wire needed is so short, they use the 8 gauge for minimal power dissipation because the shorter wire has internal resistance. problem is, ive seen the inline fuses off the batter melt, along with the 8 gauge wire, to the point where it becomes a fire hazard.


you can get away with this in a pa system because you are using higher voltage/less current than in a car. plus you are usually running the wires out in the open where they can easily dissipate thermal energy thats lost in the wires.

if your gonna be running 1000 watts, especially to a system that you spent a good amount of money on, play it safe and go with atleat 4 gauge wire. you dont have to go over kill and use 1 or 0 gauge, but for your moneys sake, id wouldnt throw caution to the wind

[slightlybent47]

I’ll have to take your word for that, as I’m a pa guy and not a car amp guy.
I do know DC currant carries more heat then AC so you could be right about that.

But I would suspect that the same principle would apply, that gage is the most important factor and not how expensive it is.

Also my 6000 watts is a total of both the tops and subs and both sides (left & right)
So if I break it down my subs require the most power and one wire going to a single sub is carrying 2000 peek power and 1200 continuous power. (per wire)

I should have broken it down earlier, sorry that’s my fault, it’s Monday and it’s been a long one.

[ben300]

Originally posted by slightlybent47
I’ll have to take your word for that, as I’m a pa guy and not a car amp guy.
I do know DC currant carries more heat then AC so you could be right about that.

But I would suspect that the same principle would apply, that gage is the most important factor and not how expensive it is.

Also my 6000 watts is a total of both the tops and subs and both sides (left & right)
So if I break it down my subs require the most power and one wire going to a single sub is carrying 2000 peek power and 1200 continuous power. (per wire)

I should have broken it down earlier, sorry that’s my fault, it’s Monday and it’s been a long one.

its ok, mondays always suck. ya, its basically the same principles of P=V*I

only in car audio, your operating between 10 to 14 volts usually with high current....with a pa audio system you run forsay 240 volts and a lower current...

so both systems could be continusly producting 1000 watts of power, but the car system will have lower volts/higher amps, while the pa system will have higher volts/lower amps

another reason for this is, is the heat given off in distance. the wires in your car are alot shorter than forsay 240 or 480 volt wires used in a house. these shorter wires can carry a higher current and not have to worry about thermal emittance because of low resistence in a short distance. this is different for your pa system.. some times your wires cover much longer than for say 10 ft....this can generate alot of heat. thats why electricity in a home is high voltage low current. at power plants, the electricity produced is high current electricity. When it is put into distribution lines to be sent to customers, a step up transformer is used to shrink the current and raise the voltage, sometimes to hundreds of thousands of volts (this is why its awesome to watch a transformer station blow up). with this extremely high voltage, the power companies are then able to send electricity through power lines over very long distances...


also...i would agree, imo, that you can get away with using a cheaper power or ground wire over and expensive scosche or fosgate wire and achieve the same results. if i was going to be competing in spl comps, i would buy the better stuff.

where i would not skip on is your signal processing lines. like your a/v lines coming from your head unit to your amp. this is the signal line that the musical data is carried from the head unit to the amp, adn then to the speakers. it is important to have good a/v lines so that signal is not lost to distortion and the such.

i know i never skipped on this.. the first jl set up i did in my first explorer, i used $110 16' scosche RCA's to run between my pioneer premier headunit and my jl 1000/1 amp