Car Forum World

I am totally ignorant about sound systems.. I just bought a car and could like a system in it. I know I need amps but after that I hav no idea. Plz help me any information will assist. I no nothing about this

WIRING

you will have to run the big wires from the positive of the battery to the amp. and a ground wire from the frame/ metal body panel to the amp. I have four gauge 3/8 in thick but its a big system. eight gauge will work good. they sell kits at most big stores meijer, walmart, etc.



there will also be a "remote" wire. typically blue that will go from your radio to the amp. it can be labeled as "remote", "switch", or "power antenna" in your wiring chart for the radio, which by the way is called a "head unit".



if you have an after market head unit this will go lots easier since most have "RCA outputs" red and white plugs that look the same as the ones on the back of any TV, but without the yellow, that',s video and we',re only working with audio . input the RCA wires into the radio and the other end into the amp. if you don',t have "RCA outs" then you'll use the plugs on the amp labeled "high voltage input". for these you'll have to find wires coming from your radio to any of your speakers typically rear and splice this wire to both its meant speaker and the correct spot on the amp left +/ and right +/ . four total you'll only do the "RCAs" or the "High inputs". NOT BOTH



then from the amp you'll run the chosen wires to the sub woofers. if you only have one sub use the + from one sides output and the from the others



AMPS SUBS and BOXES

depending on how much you want to use up you may be able to either get all kinds of pretty subs and amps with stobe lights and neons or you may be able to stay in the three digit range. haha.



when buying you system be sure the Subwoofers "Rated" not peak power is at least equal to the "RMS" not peak value of the amplifier. to do this 1st look at the subs "resistance" 1,2,or four ohms then see what the amp puts out the that particular sub s . heres an example I just grabbed from an amp off Google shopping



Output Power

2 x 200W RMS 10Hz to 20kHz @ four OhmStereo

2 x 400W RMS 10Hz to 20kHz @ two OhmStereo

2 x 600W RMS 10Hz to 20kHz @ one OhmStereo

1 x 400W RMS 10Hz to 20kHz @ four OhmMono

1 x 800W RMS 10Hz to 20kHz @ two OhmMono

1 x 1600W RMS 10Hz to 20kHz @ one OhmMono



this amp will put out 400 Watts a part to two subs that each have two ohms of resistance



next is the box or "enclosure" which is nearly generally underrated. at one of my classes for vehicle Engineering Technology we did a project with every students sound systems in which we swapped out subs and amps with different boxes measuring the decibels volume and had some surprising results. when the biggest sub was significantly underpowered it still reached inside 75 of the decibels that it did with the amp intended for it when it was in the correct box. selecting a box will rely largely on what amp/sub combo you choose on. i',d post another question about it when you come to that step.