AHHH Audio Help Needed!

[93 Talon Boy]

OK, when it comes to audio and wiring I do not know much and my friend and I ahve come to a bit of a dilemma. We are re-doing his system in his new 2004 turbo diesel Dodge 2500. Right now he has a small ported box w/ two 10-inch Alpine Type-E's with a 400W MTX amp powering them. But we are switching everything and putting the new system in a new custom enclosure. Anyways this is what we want to do:
~Use Stock Infinity Head Unit
~Use wiring that is already in there from previous setup done by Circuit City
~Two Apline Type-X Subs (500-1000W needed each)
~Two Apline MRD-M501 V12 AccuClass-D Mono Amps (1100W peak)

So is it possible to use the curent wiring setup we have and modify it to make this system work? The guys at Circuit City said it is a bad idea to sue 2 different amps to power the subs due to them not being able to be equal. But they have digital tuning so it seems that would be easy to adjust. Please hlep us out. Thanx
-Lance-

 

[nutshot]

I agree with Circuit. Two amps in a shared enclosure box = lame. You will lose sound.

The stock headunit has preamp outs?

Why is yer friend shying away from one high powered sub (and consequently saving space)?

 

[93 Talon Boy]

OK, well the amps aren't actually in the enclosure, they will be under the front seats and the wiring will be wired to the subs which are under the back seats. And the headunit he has is stock and it is all wired up to hsi first system so it must have preamp outs. And the Type-X's are pretty high quality and he wants one under each seat in the back.
Anyways, so would it be better just to get one high-powered amp to power botht he subs instead of one for each sub? and would we be able to use the current wiring setup he has and just swap out the amp and subs?

 

[nutshot]

OK, well the amps aren't actually in the enclosure, they will be under the front seats and the wiring will be wired to the subs which are under the back seats. And the headunit he has is stock and it is all wired up to hsi first system so it must have preamp outs. And the Type-X's are pretty high quality and he wants one under each seat in the back.
Anyways, so would it be better just to get one high-powered amp to power botht he subs instead of one for each sub? and would we be able to use the current wiring setup he has and just swap out the amp and subs?

I talk pretty. Sorry, Two seperate subs in one shared enclosure powered by a seperate amplifier each will be a nightmare.

A lot of shops will wire a converter that turns the amplified speaker signal into a usable preamped signal. Dirty. Or they use an amplifier that accepts amplified signal. dirty. If the Infinity HU is usable, it will have a subwoofer dedicated preamplified output.

The best setup is one sub, one amp. A large powered sub will sound better than two small ones.

I don't know what gauge the amplifier power wire is. I also don't know how the amplifiers were previously installed. I don't know if there is a capacitor in the system.

If your friend is serious about audio, he wouldn't be sweating a $350 head unit. Using a single sub and amp will probably make the difference.

www.cmttrading.com has the least expensive 0 gauge wire that I have seen, and that is what i recomend for every car audio system. It is far easier to upgrade systems if the power cable is large enough, than to rewire for a larger system.

 

[93 Talon Boy]

Wow! thanx for that great response, that's the type of info I was looking for. However, my friend wants 2 subs, he will not settle with one. So what will we need for 2 subs? One big, powerful amp? And if I can find out what guage the amp wire was and if there is a cpacitor in the system would you be able to give me some more information? Thanx a lot man
-Lance-

 

[yup talon]

~Use Stock Infinity Head Unit
~Use wiring that is already in there from previous setup done by Circuit City
~Two Apline Type-X Subs (500-1000W needed each)
~Two Apline MRD-M501 V12 AccuClass-D Mono Amps (1100W peak)

i would say what you stated here sounds decent for the most part, except suggest to get one powerful amp rather than two. also, rewire with at least 4 gauge power wire.

personally if it were my truck, i would replace the head unit, run bigger power wire, get one big amp, and two awesome 10"s in a ported box (to save space).

i wouldnt worry too much about capacitors run with your power wire, my personal experience (*especially with high power systems) shows they really are no use, if anything, i would suggest getting an optima yellow top if your worried about dimmed headlights or drag on your alternator. hope this has helped.

 

[93 Talon Boy]

Thanx Yup Talon. We cannot replace the head unit in the truck because, dunno if you have seen the 2004 Rams, but they are like custom fit and designed specifically for that truck. It is a very nice head unit, and thanx for the wiring tip. and the subs are going in a custom fited enclosure under the back bench so we saved all space possible. Thanx again
Keep the help coming if you have any more
-Lance-

 

[yup talon]

is this what the stock head unit looks like? i cant see why a new single din cd player wouldnt fit in there just fine with a mounting kit. have you asked circuit city, or maybe a more car-audio specific establishment, if replacing the stock cd player is possible?

post some pics of that custom enclosure too, im curious to see how it looks

 

[frigginlazer]

well as he is set on two subs, you might try using one amp and wire the subs in series. But DEFINATELY dont run the subs off seperate amps in a shared enclosure.

MIke

 

[Mackzero]

There were a couple of statements made that are not exactly true....

First off, "A large powered sub will sound better than two small ones."

Unless you mean that a sub with a large amt. of power will sound better than two subs with a small amount of power you are flirting with being incorrect on this one. For example.... 2 10s with the recommended amt. of pwr. will generally sound better than 1 15 of the same company even with a ton of power on it just because of the characteristics of the woofers.

Second, and this one is dead wrong period, "i wouldnt worry too much about capacitors run with your power wire, my personal experience (*especially with high power systems) shows they really are no use, if anything, i would suggest getting an optima yellow top if your worried about dimmed headlights or drag on your alternator."

I agree with the Optima battery, but the batterys in those trucks are generally bigger than an Optima, so you wouldn't want to replace what you have in front unless you were going with more than one Optima. Anyway to get to the point... There is no way in hell you can tell me that a good Capacitor installed correctly is not going to help out a High Powered System. You really can never have enough. I run 20+ FARAD caps in the high powered systems I do. I just installed a $1,800.00 6-ch Audison Amplifer in a Lexus and put an IXOS cap on it too, even though the amp has some of the best internals on the market. Way higher end than the Alpine amps mentioned above.

Point being: When using amps with that much current draw it would be dumb not to use a cap if you have the money to. The other statements about not using two amps on a shared enclosure are correct, and I would really recommend CALLING ALPINE and asking them what amp you should use in the truck. Their techs will be able to give you better advise about their products in certain installations better than we all can. I believe the number is 1-800-ALPINE1. Good luck.

 

[james13]

Well number one he either needs to get rid of the type X or run suffecient power to the subs so you get what they are made for out of them. To do this you will need 2 mrd-m1000's. (alpine's 1000 watt amp) Type-x subs are rated at 1000 watts rms and 2000 watts peak.

You will have to run 0 gauge wire and then split it into 2 runs of 4 gauge, since the mrd series amps run on 4 gauge.

I would suggest selling the type x subs and maybe going with 2 type r's. Then you could run the 2 mrd-m500's or 1 mrd-m1000.

Also an alpine headunit wouldn't hurt to have. The ability to control the amps from the head unit is great!


-james

 

[93 Talon Boy]

OK guys well me and my buddy are gonna figure everything out with Alpine in a couple days once we finish his enclosure. We just started it today and it is turning out pretty nice so far. Here's some pics and a pic of his headunit. (He just put a good chunk of money inot GPS and navigation so we have to sue that headunit.)
1st pic- Head Unit
2nd pic- Old setup with cardboard template in place
3rd Pic- Beginning of new setup w/ MDF board and subs in place

 

[yup talon]

I agree with the Optima battery, but the batterys in those trucks are generally bigger than an Optima, so you wouldn't want to replace what you have in front unless you were going with more than one Optima. Anyway to get to the point... There is no way in hell you can tell me that a good Capacitor installed correctly is not going to help out a High Powered System. You really can never have enough. I run 20+ FARAD caps in the high powered systems I do. I just installed a $1,800.00 6-ch Audison Amplifer in a Lexus and put an IXOS cap on it too, even though the amp has some of the best internals on the market. Way higher end than the Alpine amps mentioned above.

what i was meaning by what I said was yes, ADD another optima, not replace the existing battery.

and after re-reading what i posted about capacitors, i agree with you, mack. i mustve been assuming he wasnt about to shell out $300+ for a nice capacitor, most people i know jsut low-ball it and get a 1 farad, or .5 farad cap.

but i would say a capacitor thats actually going to do anything is going to be overkill unless your going all out, or to compete. hence me suggesting the yellow top, sorry for the confusion

 

[evileclipse420]

well i got a big question for anyone brave enough to answer. with everybody saying not to use two amps for two subs , why ? is there a reason the loudest vehicles in the world are using two and four amps on one sub ? for that matter, i believe alpines demo vehicles all have individual amplification. i dont think alpine would turn you away from it if you asked them. i believe there is alot of good info from people on here, but take it all with a grain of salt and do a little more research from professional audio sites, and dont feel bad to call the company you just spent 1000 dollars on. most companies would love to hear you get it right too.

 

[yup talon]

i guess the only real reason i can come up with is that you can easily get away with getting one good amp, that will save you money as opposed to buying two amps... i would also like to hear any other pros/cons other than cost...

 

[DSMturbo11]

Alpine Type-X is 1000w RMS 3000peak. Use a Line Out Converter for the stock head. Simple. Easy install. ....get a cap. Maybe two.

 

[DSMturbo11]

No, #### the stock....get CDA-9835. Nasty.