Finally I was able to hook up my amp and one of my subs.
For those who dont know, I am going to have two different subs for two different occasions. The one that I installed today is the compact sub and box, this is the one well use when we need the trunk space. Ill show off the other one once I get the rest of the equipment for that one.
This sub is a 12" Polk Audo DXi124SVC (I believe) Its 4 ohm independent and its very decent for my small box, not really sure though if im going to keep it or return it! Im contemplating getting an excellent BOSS Phantom 12" DVC sub. While Im no big fan of BOSS, this particular speaker is their top of the line model and for about 60 bucks its the same price as the polk currently in the car. So we shall see.
For my larger Ported enclosure I should have a 12" Pioneer Championship Pro Series Sub. A very high quality sub indeed. But me and the seller are having issue its seems so I might have to pick a different speaker from them if they give me a decent deal on it.
My Amp is an Audiopipe Class D. Its capable of 1500 RMS at 1 ohm and 1000 at 2 ohms. Currently Its wired up as a 4 ohm to this particular speaker because its a SVC. With the big system It'll be wired to 2ohms, possibly 1 ohm if I decide to use two.
Of course what good is using a amp and sub if its not wired! So I had to install an aftermarket head unit (radio) and run wires.
The wires I had to run was a 4 Gauge Amp Power Wire, From battery, through fuse, through firewall and ran along the car trim to the amp. Then there was the RCA and Remote Wire from the head unit to the amp along the trim. Then there was the gain knob ran from the amp to the drivers seat. And you cant forget the Ground wire!
In these photos you can see where I removed the old head unit, in the next two you see where I removed the trim under the back seats and ran the wire underneath them, then put the trim back on to give it a more professional appearance. Its very important to note the ground wire in the last photo. First of all I chose this central location as where the wires would go so incase I went to a show and took out the back seats I could push the sub and amp back towards the front and have long enough wires. The ground wire is black, I had to first find a good spot, and what better spot than right above the gas tank!
Honestly theres no way I was close to drilling into it as theres tons of metal inbetween them, but this spot I chose is perfect. When running the ground wire you have to remember to sand around the area down to the bare shiney metal, because you want a great connection for the ground so you dont end up frying your equipment. So I drilled a hole and attached the ground wire from the screw to the amp.
The last thing I did was run the power wire. This was quite difficult as you have to somehow manage to get the power wire through the firewall (the wall that separates the engine compartment and the front cabin in the car. So after realizing that the wiring kit I recieved called for the fuse to be about a foot from where the cable starts I had to stick my fuse under the hood... not really something I prefer but Ive driven around all day and Ive had no issues and it hasnt gotten that hot. From the fuse I managed to get a hole large enough to run the amp power wire through. From there I just ran it along the trim to the amp.
Now afterwards I finished hooking up the radio. Take Note People, Look at how nice and clean my wires are. At the least use wire nuts like the ones above (the blue caps). While wrapping everything in electrical tape will work, you will get a much better connection and it will look better using the caps. For added reliability, you can solder the wires together. Use zip ties if you want to really organize everything but I didnt go that far. I also ran a 3.5 mm cable from the rear of the head unit to a cup holder temporarily until I make a permanent solution. So moral of this paragraph? Dont skimp on your wire quality or the quality of the connections.
So now that everything is hooked up its time to rattle the walls right? WRONG! Unfortunatly all speakers have a break in period. Following this rule will prolong the life of your speaker and give it longer life. So after adjusting all the settings the amp is set just how I want it so that when it comes time to crank it up all I have to do is turn the knob installed at the front of the car.
I am surprised that as strong as this amp is, I havent had any issues with my lights dimming with the bass. So I might not have to upgrade wiring under the hood, but I might anyway later on.
Heres my Pioneer head unit installed and my iPad playing my pandora station trying out everything. Im very happy with the way this sounds. Once the bigger sub comes for the big box ill let everyone know more about that one.
If you have any questions or comments about my install feel free to add a comment below!!
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