Car audio questions

SyKRyD

SyKRyD

Active Member
Have a few car audio questions...

1. Is it beneficial to run a good earth cable directly from the battery to the amps? I can't seem to find a good point for earth and I'm not keen on drilling into the body. FYI.. Running 4 amps at a total of ~2000wrms

2. Is it detrimental to run more than one speaker off a single channel in your amp? I am contemplating adding several speakers to each door but am reluctant to add any further amps.
 
Personally, that would consist of a LOT of wire... so, why not earth the amp to the body and then add another REALLY DECENT earth from battery to body. That will save you about 5m of 2Ga cable!

I would only run one speaker from a single channel. There is no physical reason why you could not run another, but you know speakers like to be driven, not under-driven. Dividing the power or loading the amp may not be the best option. I used two 4-ch amps bridged, so that I could get the best out of my Polks. Each 4-ch runs only two speakers.

I think, finding a small-footprint pair of amps could be the answer. Several companies are making small-footprint amps.
 
To simplify my set up, I have the ground cables from all amps go to a distributor. Then from the distributor to the body. The battery itself is earthed to the body quite well already. The main concern is there is no decent mounting point in the boot. So I would run one 0 gauge cable direct from battery to the distributor. It shouldn't be too messy.

So there's nothing physically stopping me from daisy chaining speakers? Hmmm. I'd like more amps but the extra wiring and weigh in the door would be a concern. Not to mention the $$$. Will have to think more about it.
 
daisy chain would not be as accurate as saying, sharing terminals. I stress, make sure the output is high enough, to halve, so you drive your speakers correctly.

Running it all the way back to the battery is simply not needed. You could just mount it to any bolt going into the body, or chassis (in situ).

Why have so much extra cable?
 
Its actually called 'running in parallel'. A simple search on Google will show you thousands of answers about this.

Wiring speakers in parallel is simple. Connect the + terminal on the amp to the + terminal on each speaker. Then do the same for the - terminals. For two 4 ohm speakers, the total impedance would be 2 ohms. The total impedance of speakers in parallel, will halve the original value.
parallel.gif
 
Don't actually know if you can get different Ohm speakers, but if you have two resistors in parallel with different Ohms then the resistor with the lower resistance (lower Ohm) will have the high current flowing through it then the resistor with high resistance (higher Ohm), working off the principles of a speaker (uses an electromagnet to move a pin that moves the speaker its self) lower current will mean less magnetic force (refer to F=nIlB) hence the speaker will be producing less power. Also that being said, resistors (speakers) in series (daisy chain) will have lose the current as you go down the line. I'm pretty sure that's infos right, if not scald me I should know it :p
 
The spot I always use for my earth is where the seat belt bolster bolts in. I use a big ring terminal to fit around the bolt snugly and I sand back any paint from the contact point. Because of the bolt size its ideal for 0 gauge, its easy to get to and its nice and neat without too much wire.
 
Yes, of course you can get 1/2/4/8 Ohm speakers... they're all used for different application (some car, some home) and for varying sound level requirements.
 
If you are using DVC, are you going to use a mono-block with only a single or dual channel? I have a dual-channel mono-block. That allows me to use one channel per VC. If you only have a single channel the use example 1 or 4 (depending if you are using one or two speakers) on page two of your document.

Obviously it depends on the rating of the speaker and your needed results; 1ohm, 2ohm, 4ohm or 8ohm?

I am not sure of the terminals, are they screws or plugs?!

If they are the screw-type, you can simply crimp on a connector to your wire end and tighten down. If it is a plug, then yes, banana plugs would suit.
 
i think google answered my question.. the sub takes both types of connections? or are the banana plugs socket designed just for accepting jumpers?

swr1222dmd0.jpg


as for your question tryg.. i was running it using a dual channel. but i want to play around with the configuration a bit and bridge the two channels.
 
tryg said:
That will save you about 5m of 2Ga cable!
Click to expand...

uhh, 2ga, i have 0ga running from my battery for both + and -
The usage is high tho.

the best spot in the boot to earth you amps from is the read seat bolts in the floor just put a large round clip on the end and put the bolt through it. Soild earth and no mess.

As said, sharing the channels on the speakers is ok but will half the performance, don't expect them to go too loud, if you try to push them the amps can over heat and just switch off
 
You guys play around with much more gear than I want clogging up my boot!!

Must have to wear aural defenders in your car mdclear!!

Pass the ear plugs....!
 
hmmm... well, it surely is a statement, from near or far !!

I am happy with just a moderate 103db...!!
 
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